squid7
Premium
join:2006-09-02
1 edit | It's fraud, not puffery
It's simply fraud, no matter what the fine print says. A reasonable person, which is what the court standard would be, would believe that the word unlimited means unlimited. And a reasonable person would not identify use of an unlimited service as damaging the network as in the fine print of the TOS.
Verizon should say 5GB a month, which is fairly generous, if that is what the limit is, and should be fined by the FTC as well as refund hardware fees they received when people signed up for the fraud if they continue to defraud people.
Comcast and other operators in similar industries who used to do this (sell limited use services as "unlimited") changed their advertising practices and it's time for Verizon to do the same or face VERY EXPENSIVE consequences. IOW, they should not profit from their illegal activities. |
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sgossard34
Premium
join:2004-08-26
Philadelphia, PA
| Agreed.
I am in the process right now of finding a mobile broadband solution for my users. I have used cingular for awhile and was very unhappy with the slightly above dial-up speed.
I was planning on going to Verizon EVDO but with this BS "unlimited" tactic still being used I will go else where.
Anyone tried the new Sprint cards supporting EVDO Rev. A? |
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jc1350
join:2004-09-23
| reply to squid7
My Verizon EVDO bill clearly states:
Current
data plan: Unlimited Mb Allowance
Unit allowance unlimited kb
That is bandwidth no matter what VZW claims. VZW claims "unlimited" refers to access (as in connect anytime you want, as long as you want - just don't USE the service). Quite frankly, each department within VZW has no clue what the other is saying. I check via email with customer support about this. Their reply (which I kept should I get a letter) states there are NO limits and VZW is not sending out termination letters. I directed them to the previous article here and at an EVDO-centric site. They replied to that stating again there are no limits for the "unlimited" plan.
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TKJunkMail
Enjoy the sun
Premium
join:2002-03-03
Avalon, NJ
 ·Sprint Mobile Broa..
 ·Comcast
| reply to squid7
said by squid7  :It's simply fraud, no matter what the fine print says. A reasonable person, which is what the court standard would be, would believe that the word unlimited means unlimited. And a reasonable person would not identify use of an unlimited service as damaging the network as in the fine print of the TOS. Sorry, but you are wrong. In court case after court case, ad infinitum, fine print is ruled legal. Don't like that - tough, it is the law.
Verizon should say 5GB a month, which is fairly generous, I agree. And in the case quoted in the Washington Post, they did list that in the ad.
Comcast and other operators in similar industries who used to do this (sell limited use services as "unlimited") changed their advertising practices and it's time for Verizon to do the same A good policy to be up front in the advertising and doing that should make for happier customers, I agree. But it isn't illegal to bury the facts in the fine print.
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emptywig
Huh? What?
Premium
join:2002-08-05
Pasadena, TX
1 edit | If the stipulation in the fine print is clearly illegal, or fraudulent, no court will uphold it. You cannot defraud me just because you got me to sign a contract in which I agree to be defrauded.
Even a contract cannot make illegal conduct legal.
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HotRodFoto
Premium
join:2003-04-19
Denver, CO
| reply to TKJunkMail
said by TKJunkMail :said by squid7 :It's simply fraud, no matter what the fine print says. A reasonable person, which is what the court standard would be, would believe that the word unlimited means unlimited. And a reasonable person would not identify use of an unlimited service as damaging the network as in the fine print of the TOS. Sorry, but you are wrong. In court case after court case, ad infinitum, fine print is ruled legal. Don't like that - tough, it is the law. Verizon should say 5GB a month, which is fairly generous, I agree. And in the case quoted in the Washington Post, they did list that in the ad. Comcast and other operators in similar industries who used to do this (sell limited use services as "unlimited") changed their advertising practices and it's time for Verizon to do the same A good policy to be up front in the advertising and doing that should make for happier customers, I agree. But it isn't illegal to bury the facts in the fine print. However false advertising IS illegal and so is bait and switch. The consumer BELIEVES he is getting and buying "UNLIMITED" service. However, further inspection shows otherwise. Case in point-Listerine-who for years touted the slogan "The cold and sore throat remedy"--FTC made them change that. »www.poznaklaw.com/articles/falsead.htm
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Cjaiceman
Premium,MVM
join:2004-10-12
Parker, CO
·Comcast Workplace
·Comcast
| reply to sgossard34
I have a Sprint PPC-6700 that I tether to my laptop all the time and I will get anywhere from 320Kbits/sec to 1.3Mbits/sec, depending on if I'm moving, how strong my signal is, and what I'm doing. One other thing I would like to point out is that Sprint is MUCH more relaxed about what you do on their service. VW says basically e-mail a web surfing is it. Spring allows and actually encourages streaming music, video clips, VPN and other items of the such. That being said, Sprints coverage is much less than VW's coverage area. |
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Pyrion
Liquid Metal Nanomorph
join:2001-12-01
Poway, CA
clubs:
·Verizon BroadbandA..
·Cox HSI
| reply to jc1350
Ask them for that guarantee in writing.
I'm fairly certain if you just managed to breach the 5GB/month unofficial limitation that you wouldn't get kicked off the network, but if you were using the service constantly for a month or more (easily breaching the 5GB in the first day?) then they'd kick you off the service. It's marketed to business users for a reason: they expect only the basics out of business users. Email, web access and maybe some VPN access thrown in the mix.
Residential users are probably better served by open wifi. On that note, people really need to learn to lock down their wifi routers, unless they specifically intend to offer a public service.
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squid7
Premium
join:2006-09-02
| reply to TKJunkMail
Problem is they don't state in the so-called fine print that there is a 5GB limit, only that your use can't do harm to their network. Now they want to say that someone who uses 5.1GB in a month no matter what time of day or where they're located is harming their network...while they advertise their service as unlimited use. That doesn't fly.
And you're wrong about the fine print. Contracts are found 'unconscionable' all the time. A court can void a contract or part of a contract if the court feels the party to the contract was misled, no matter what the terms of the contract actually stated. It's not always easy to do, but in the case of Verizon, they're advertising unlimited (which is a legal offer) and then changing the offer in fine print while offering no consideration for the change. |
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