At&t is getting ready to screw iPhone users with data charges

[fireballnc]

I have been an At&t customer for 3 years. I have 1 iPhone and 2 treo 750's on my account. I received a letter from at&t advising me I have gone over my 6MB limit off their network for the past two months. Their solution to this problem was to discontinue my service of their network. This overage was from my treo's that sits idle on a charger everyday. I called AT&T customer care to discuss resolution and was advised my only option was to switch carriers. I inquired how this was possible and there have been no problems over the last 3 years. They advised my treo was averaging 1MB a day and all I have installed is microsoft
exchange and google maps. I asked if there were any options and was again advised "no". Then the customer agent advised me of some interesting information.

It is in the terms and conditions that you may only use 6MB per month off network. FWIW Sprint allows 300MB off network in their contract. If you exceed the 6MB you are in violation of your contract and AT&T will now turn off your device off network. I asked how this was possible with all the millions of iPhones sold. She advised the were terminating hundreds of iPhone daily for off network overages and customers would then sign up under a relatives name and they would then also terminate that service. She had personally terminated 1 customers service 11 times under various aliases. She also advised that under older contracts AT&T could not charge for these overages, only terminate service. However newer contracts are getting ready to come out where in the fine print AT&T will instead charge you for the off network services. I asked her how much that would run and she advised on average 1000.00 to 1500.00 a month on the average user iPhone. I then asked how AT&T expected to keep customers and she advised they didn't care and could not afford to keep losing the massive amount of money they were losing on iPhones data service.

The bad news in this is AT&T seems to have people "addicted" to the iPhone experience and willing to pay more just to have the iPhone service as it will only be unlimited on their network which is very limited in more place than you might think. A standard coverage map does not show AT&T's network only their "coverage" area. The good news is if you receive written notice of this, you are allowed to terminate any contract you have with AT&T without charge or recourse. This applies to any and every phone you may have with AT&T. I have this in writing from AT&T not just some rep told me so rhetoric. I love my iPhone but hate to think of the charges that I may start incurring. The good news is I have a 16 gig iPhone that is 4 months old with no contract and I'm buying another one tomorrow so I can cancel and sell with no ETF's. Just a heads up to be careful with your data and watch your bill.

[Duvi]

Sorry to hear that... you may want to quote this in Ash's thread for bad CS, although I don't feel it's bad, just business.

Does the iPhone have this issue? Off while roaming should be on by default for the iPhone.

Your Worst Customer Service Experience?

[nickanglin89]

holy crap i bought my iPhone in Alb NM where i stay on the weekends & i work in a town 2hr away where they have no At&t coverage & where i stay in Alb it's always on "E" i get no 3G coverage there even tho it's in the city so i'm screwed i got a email saying i'm violating my contract i haven't used it since bummer i loved my iPhone too

[slimcjr]

Originally Posted by fireballnc

I have been an At&t customer for 3 years. I have 1 iPhone and 2 treo 750's on my account. I received a letter from at&t advising me I have gone over my 6MB limit off their network for the past two months. Their solution to this problem was to discontinue my service of their network. This overage was from my treo's that sits idle on a charger everyday. I called AT&T customer care to discuss resolution and was advised my only option was to switch carriers. I inquired how this was possible and there have been no problems over the last 3 years. They advised my treo was averaging 1MB a day and all I have installed is microsoft
exchange and google maps. I asked if there were any options and was again advised "no". Then the customer agent advised me of some interesting information.

It is in the terms and conditions that you may only use 6MB per month off network. FWIW Sprint allows 300MB off network in their contract. If you exceed the 6MB you are in violation of your contract and AT&T will now turn off your device off network. I asked how this was possible with all the millions of iPhones sold. She advised the were terminating hundreds of iPhone daily for off network overages and customers would then sign up under a relatives name and they would then also terminate that service. She had personally terminated 1 customers service 11 times under various aliases. She also advised that under older contracts AT&T could not charge for these overages, only terminate service. However newer contracts are getting ready to come out where in the fine print AT&T will instead charge you for the off network services. I asked her how much that would run and she advised on average 1000.00 to 1500.00 a month on the average user iPhone. I then asked how AT&T expected to keep customers and she advised they didn't care and could not afford to keep losing the massive amount of money they were losing on iPhones data service.

The bad news in this is AT&T seems to have people "addicted" to the iPhone experience and willing to pay more just to have the iPhone service as it will only be unlimited on their network which is very limited in more place than you might think. A standard coverage map does not show AT&T's network only their "coverage" area. The good news is if you receive written notice of this, you are allowed to terminate any contract you have with AT&T without charge or recourse. This applies to any and every phone you may have with AT&T. I have this in writing from AT&T not just some rep told me so rhetoric. I love my iPhone but hate to think of the charges that I may start incurring. The good news is I have a 16 gig iPhone that is 4 months old with no contract and I'm buying another one tomorrow so I can cancel and sell with no ETF's. Just a heads up to be careful with your data and watch your bill.

Thanks for the heads up! I am looking to get an iPhone soon, and this information is very important.

[aprasad]

Do they unlock the iPhone when they knock you off their network and terminate your contract?

[whmurray]

I do not understand the title of this thread. It is not about AT&T "getting ready" to do anything. It is not about "data." It is not even about the iPhone.

It is about AT&T enforcing its terms of use for data while roaming on other networks.

It is not even an abuse of its exclusive contract with Apple for the iPhone. They are simply saying that if you use large amounts of data while roaming on other networks, they cannot make money on you and do not want your business. They do not appreciate or value customer loyalty and are not willing to deal with marginally profitable customers to retain them.

All that said, this policy is one more piece of evidence that the "steaming pile of failure" does not get it. They are clueless. Instead of building out their network and services to efficiently provide what people want, they try to restrict use to what they can make money on with their limited facilities. While they may be able to get away with such policies in the short run, they cannot do so in the long run.

4G cellular will provide more network independence than 3G; they will have more competition. Their competitors are investing both in 4G and in customer loyalty.

[nickanglin89]

i'm w t-mobile now haha take that At&t w your charges!!

[PHATSPEED7x]

I live in an area where ATT doesn't have 3G. I'm on the 2G network. I don't get this post at all. I have friends with the iphone, and they use the data 24/7. One friend used almost 10GB worth of data in one month, and wasn't charged for any overage use of data.

[chobbs1]

He's talking about data that's being used off of at&t's network. While in at&t's coverage area you can use (almost) as much data as you can handle.

[PastorGadget]

Sorry, but an iPhone newby. How do I know if I'm off network?