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Comments on news posted 2009-06-26 17:17:45: It's been a few months since the last time a mobile broadband user received a roaming bandwidth bill that required a second mortgage, so we were clearly overdue. ..

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Karl Bode
News Guy
join:2000-03-02

Karl Bode to FFH5

News Guy

to FFH5

Re: People don't know what a GB is...

Interesting comparison! thanks
iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Austin, TX

1 recommendation

iansltx

Member

My 2¢

This DSLReports page is now over 100KB, so $1.50 on data roaming on AT&T. Which is patently ridiculous.

IMO AT&T should, the minute an HTTP page is requested either over a roaming network or over the 5GB limit, redirect to a quick webpage saying something like the following:

===

[logo]

This is a free courtesy message from AT&T. You are now roaming. Data usage on this network will cost 1.5¢ [important to use the ¢ sign] per KB. This web page is 50 KB long including images. Therefore a similar page would cost 75¢ to view.

To add a data roaming plan for less expensive roaming data access, click here [link to a usage-free text-based page for an upgrade]. You can also call our customer service number at 611 on your AT&T cell phone (free) or 1-800-xxx-xxxx from a landline (not free).

You can also choose to keep roaming data disabled. Your data card will remain non-funcitonal until you re-enter AT&T's domestic service area and all web requests will be redirected to this page. You will not be charged for roaming data in this case.

You can also choose to continue data usage at 1.5¢ per KB. Be advised that anything other than text-based website viewing is not advisable, as a single YouTube video will accrue over $100 in roaming charges. Turn off images in your web browserif possible to avoid heavy data transfers.

Would you like to:
Upgrade your service
Continue at the 1.5¢ per KB rate
Keep data disabled

===

If someone's in roaming mode their signal would've dropped anyway upon heading out of an AT&T area so go ahead and prevent all network activity until the person decides whether to roam or not.

Call me heavy-handed, but I'd MUCH rather have the above than a $10000 overage/roaming bill. $0.05 per MB on Sprint and Verizon for overages sounds downright reasonable compared to 50¢ per MB (right?) on AT&T for overages and $15.36 for international roaming in Canada.

If this doesn't happen, I'll bet AT&T will get itself regulated. Seems like they're always getting into trouble on this; haven't heard of Sprint and Verizon horror stories in awhile. Maybe I'm not listening hard enough though.

Oh, and AT&T, if you do happen to use my wording above (I'll even write the copy for the overage page) send me a GoPhone SIM with $50 and a year of service on it. I'll be using it in my unlocked, jailbroken first-gen iPhone

drew
Radiant
Premium Member
join:2002-07-10
Port Orchard, WA

drew to Karl Bode

Premium Member

to Karl Bode

Re: This Day and Age

Good plan! Thanks Karl.

Ride on Savage's coattails and get this system better for all... Sad that it should come to this to make a difference.

ninjatutle
Premium
join:2006-01-02
San Ramon, CA

ninjatutle to ee4

Member

to ee4

Re: Myth BUSTED

Why doesn't he post his account log?

PapaMidnight
join:2009-01-13
Baltimore, MD

PapaMidnight to FFH5

Member

to FFH5

Re: This Day and Age

said by FFH5:

said by morbo:

they can, they just don't want to.

why? they make more money this way. they've run the numbers with providing instant feedback or at least, daily feedback on usage to users vs. dealing with negative PR from these types of stories. you can tell the choice they have made.
My Sprint account keeps up to date within about a 15 min window. I can check minutes used; data used; # text msgs; etc. If Sprint, the poster child for poor customer svc can do this so easily, so should AT&T.

[att=1]

Used about 49 MB of data in 3 weeks. A weakly enforced 5GB/month is the cap.
I don't if Sprint has a cap. If they do, that image alone is enough to get any such cost for breaking a cap thrown out if someone sought to do so in court. It clearly says unlimited there. That would be false advertising if I ever saw it.
me1212
join:2008-11-20
Lees Summit, MO

me1212 to drew

Member

to drew
Still if it helps, then it can be good.

Ya know some how I am not surprised it was him not another mythbuster.

Rogue Wolf
An Easy Draw of a Sad Few
join:2003-08-12
Troy, NY

Rogue Wolf to iansltx

Member

to iansltx

Re: My 2¢

This is useful, helpful and cuts into the telcos' ridiculous profit margin (do you think they mind if you have to pay more?), so we can all rest assured that it'll never happen.
tdumaine
Premium Member
join:2004-03-14
Seattle, WA

tdumaine

Premium Member

ATT rates

The .015 per kb earlier is the pay per use rate.

You can get 20MB of international data for 24.99

At least give all the info, not just part lol
rradina
join:2000-08-08
Chesterfield, MO

1 recommendation

rradina to Joe12345678

Member

to Joe12345678

Re: Myth BUSTED

Yes but the first month I had my iPhone I went nuts and still only managed to consume 1GB of download. It's now running no more than half that.

Unless Adam was taking and sending lots of big pictures or watching lots of streaming video, I don't know how he managed to use that much with an iPhone.

I assume we're talking about an iPhone here, right? If we're talking about a different phone to which he tethered a laptop or a laptop card, then 9GB isn't all that much.

asdfghjklzx5
Premium Member
join:2004-05-03

asdfghjklzx5

Premium Member

I wonder...

...if his computer was infected with a bot and whatever/whoever owned it transferred the bulk of that 9GB.
Turbocpe
Premium Member
join:2001-12-22
IA

Turbocpe

Premium Member

Update

said by Adam's Twitter page :
Today the tweeps became twoops. Just got off the phone with AT&T and they've taken care of everything to my great satisfaction.#twitterrules

I'm guessing that simply means the charges were dropped.

Unit649
I B U, Who U B?
Premium Member
join:2000-01-22
Stockton, CA

1 edit

Unit649

Premium Member

Expert?!? HA!

With all of the applications out there to measure data, there is simply no excuse to not know what your usage is on a regular computer.

I put them on all of my computers as soon as Comcast instituted the 250GB cap. Someone as savvy and "expert" as Adam Savage should be able to handle this too.

Oh wait, maybe computers are outside of his league of blowing stuff up. Perhaps he should come on DSLR and get some help on installing such a simple application.

I mean I'm a pretty big fan of Mythbusters, don't get me wrong, but for all the "don't try this at home we're experts" stuff, he seems pretty illogical when it comes to "technology." He shouldn't have had to tweet. He should have been able to call them and told them what he used, and took care of it without making it into a big deal.

But that would have been too easy
Expand your moderator at work

KrazyDawg
join:2001-02-07
San Francisco, CA

KrazyDawg to Maccawolf

Member

to Maccawolf

Re: Myth BUSTED

Isn't NJ the state attempting to pass a law to ban GPS operation in cars?

»www.foxnews.com/story/0, ··· ,00.html
slckusr
Premium Member
join:2003-03-17
Greenville, SC

slckusr

Premium Member

duh

it costs money to make international phone calls, these guys are smart dont they realize it might cost to actually use a phone in a different country.

Jodokast96
Stupid people piss me off.
Premium Member
join:2005-11-23
NJ

Jodokast96 to KrazyDawg

Premium Member

to KrazyDawg

Re: Myth BUSTED

said by KrazyDawg:

Isn't NJ the state attempting to pass a law to ban GPS operation in cars?

»www.foxnews.com/story/0, ··· ,00.html
God, I hate these assholes.

pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium Member
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD

pnh102

Premium Member

This is Stupid

While Adam Savage might be able to pay an $11k phone bill, I still wonder how AT&T and other phone companies sincerely expect others to pay such bills.

Looking at it strictly from the phone companies' perspective, I would imagine that very few people actually pay these bills and this can cost the company a lot of money. So it only stands to reason that they should work like any other company that extends credit to its customers... impose a preset spending limit on the amount that can be billed to a customer's account and only increase that if the customer explicitly agrees to it.

KrK
Heavy Artillery For The Little Guy
Premium Member
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK
Netgear WNDR3700v2
Zoom 5341J

KrK to a333

Premium Member

to a333

Re: Hardly surprising...

Let's not mention that the advertising ACTS like you get default service while overseas and mentions nothing about extra service plans or paying extra.

Look at AT&T's whole "Slad and Veeder" campaign. TV and radio blanketed with these ads about AT&T network worldwide.

I'm betting a lot of people think that means they can use their phones on that network on their existing plans. Bzzzzzzt. Wrong guess. Oh they can.... they'll just get the mega-bill later.
BarneyBadAss
Badasses Fight For Freedom
Premium Member
join:2004-05-07
00001

BarneyBadAss to a333

Premium Member

to a333
GB isn't that Great Britain
Thislilfishy
join:2008-10-28
Dundalk, ON

Thislilfishy

Member

More bell thievery!

The roaming charges would have come from Bell Canada (check DSL reports for reviews on these crooks!). Then AT&t would have added a few points mark-up to the bill. Thus the bill Adam got. It doesn't make it right, and Bell is just this side of a Mafia in Canada. Rogers Cable in Canada actually states very clearly in the sign up pages that 3g devices should NEVER be taken outside of Canada, as Rogers cannot control what other data providers will charge them for data transfers. Rogers, is also not typically well respected around here, but obviously they've run in to this problem before and have at least taken a bit of an effort to warn their customers.

All of this is likely a case of "well they do it to us, so screw em, we'll do it to them" mentality between large corporations. Trying to make the other company look bad by forcing them to send outrageous bills to their customers. Regardless of TOC, or EULA's, no one can tell me that 9G of data transfer costs anywhere near $11G! I don't give a flying 'F' where you did that data transfer from!

Ian

Adam20
Premium Member
join:2007-07-19
Sarnia, ON

Adam20

Premium Member

The roaming rates would not come form bell canada, ATM bell uses cdma technology and att uses gsm/hspa(or hspda whatever you want to call it), its rogers who is charging crazy rates.

dvd536
as Mr. Pink as they come
Premium Member
join:2001-04-27
Phoenix, AZ

dvd536

Premium Member

Phone companies / robberies without a gun

"Confirmed"
BlitzenZeus
Burnt Out Cynic
Premium Member
join:2000-01-13

BlitzenZeus

Premium Member

To those who think he should just pay the bill

Use some common sense!!!

No way did the combined usage cost anywhere this much, there is some very inaccurate data reporting here, along with some very high charges. He knew he would have some charges, but I'm getting he thought he might of had a couple hundred at the most even at their insane rates, however $11k? Yeah right.... If he had paid for a month of service with a unlimited internet plan in canada, and in the us at the same time both combined wouldn't be anywhere near this amount, along with he was only there for a short time.

Hopefully this bad press will get them to pull their head out of their ass, and actually not screw the customers in the future. If they are gonna charge by the data usage they just need to cap it out at a certain point as if they paid for an unlimited data plan, but that would make too much sense....
chuckkk
join:2001-11-10
Warner Robins, GA

1 recommendation

chuckkk

Member

AT&T

My family recently changed from AT&T to another wireless carrier because:
AT&T changed our data and internet access plan without our knowledge or consent, and refused to restore it when we complained. In addition, frequent "bearer not available" messages and related no data service were often the case, preventing reasonable and reliable use. AT&T is still GSM/EDGE in our area.

What was unusual was that our service plan dated back to the early days of conversion from analog to digital, and originally was part of a DOD contract plan. The data plan charged for minutes used, not the amount of data. Our original analog phones had data and fax capability via a serial interface cable, as did the replacement GAIT/GSM phones. (Until AT&T (Cingular) killed the fax capability.) They also locked out the ability to use analog roaming in areas without digital(GSM) service. This was a real killer, as large northern parts of our state still have analog service only, due to small independent carriers and the mountains.

What we suspect, and have no way to prove, was that AT&T deliberately killed the old data plan, hoping that we would allow them to convert the account to the current plans, costing far more and not including tethering.

When all was said and done, all of the family's cell phones were replaced with unlocked, non carrier bound, tether capable 3G phones, used on a non AT&T provider. I was hoping to wait for about two years longer before doing this, as by then at least 3G should be available in the area.

I rated AT&T lower than "dirt" on the usual departing customer phone survey. Constant customer service problems, in addition to the problems mentioned above were cited.

DOStradamus
MVM
join:2003-11-04
Santa Rosa, CA

2 recommendations

DOStradamus to Jodokast96

MVM

to Jodokast96

Re: Myth BUSTED

Here's the core of the problem... Ever hear some Congressman or State legislator say something on the news that makes you say "How'd he EVER get in office... you'd have to be a complete, f-***ing IDIOT to cast a vote for him!"?

He's just looking out for his core constituency! There's a *lot* of idiots out there, and we allow them all to vote.

Q: What do you get when you form a majority coalition of idiots, authoritarian leftists, and the corrupt or corruptible?

A. California

-NK

Maccawolf
Premium Member
join:2001-02-20
Hillsdale, NJ

Maccawolf to BlitzenZeus

Premium Member

to BlitzenZeus

Re: To those who think he should just pay the bill

Yes, but even unlimited data on AT&T has an invisible cap of 5G. In other words, unlimited with AT&T really isn't unlimited. And from what I understand. (I don't, so I don't worry about it), tethering is a big NO-NO. Not saying that he did, but just that it's forbidden

Technogeez
Agape in amazement.
Premium Member
join:2007-01-20

Technogeez

Premium Member

Don't try this at home...

He's a professional stuntman...
Thislilfishy
join:2008-10-28
Dundalk, ON

Thislilfishy to Adam20

Member

to Adam20

Re: More bell thievery!

said by Adam20:

The roaming rates would not come form bell canada, ATM bell uses cdma technology and att uses gsm/hspa(or hspda whatever you want to call it), its rogers who is charging crazy rates.
I stand corrected, although I am a bit surprised. As I did mention though, neither company is well liked. Unfortunately if you want a smartphone it's one or the other, (or one of the companies they own/sell too) at least here in Canada. I wanted an Iphone but it's either Rogers or Fido and Fido is getting the short end of the stick from Rogers...so their rates are a bit wonky.

Ian

blahblahpeople12
@74.198.8.x

blahblahpeople12

Anon

Big Bill $$$$$$ = Stupid Carrier (not person)

As far as i know, Cell phone are the only providers that can bill any amount for anything with out giving a immediate notice,

On TV, if I try to watch a PPV, i have to 'purchase' it... there are steps and notifications.

If i try to make a Long Distance call without dialing "1" first, i get a notification or a warning and then it's connected.

Same with DATA PLANS, how many hotspots have a login page / billing page that automatically comes up when you connect to their network?.... WELL, why can't carriers do that when roaming... YOU WILL BE BILLED AT $$$$ / MB while ROAMING... Do you still want to surf???

Aside from greed (not profit), but absolute greed, why on earth would ANY provider let a bill for service exceed $11,000?? I thought most places had limits in place, so that when exceeded, it would cut off service.

They have no problem implementing new technologie to squeeze EVERY cent out of a consumer, but how about some to PROTECT the comsumer... right, how good is that for the bottom line...

dodgetech2
join:2002-01-01
Gouldsboro, PA

dodgetech2 to morbo

Member

to morbo

Re: This Day and Age

said by morbo:

they can, they just don't want to.

why? they make more money this way. they've run the numbers with providing instant feedback or at least, daily feedback on usage to users vs. dealing with negative PR from these types of stories. you can tell the choice they have made.
Exactly.....
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