  Romney2012Defeat Obama 2012-Chg we can believe inPremium
join:2002-03-03
USA
kudos:4 |  ETFs OK; but sneaky fraud is not
carriers used to covertly extend a customer's long-term contract if they even made minor changes to their monthly plan -- then sock them with an ETF when they figured their original contract was up and they tried to cancel service. | |
|
 |  sivranBack to Opera againPremium
join:2003-09-15
Arlington, TX
kudos:1 | Re: ETFs OK; but sneaky fraud is not I think you've managed to say something that absolutely no one will disagree with, there. 
--
In dadkins' memory, Think outside the Fox... | |
|
 pnh102Reptiles Are Cuddly And PrettyPremium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD | Worthless Lawsuit Too bad AT&T didn't fight this to the hilt and go after the people who wanted to renege on paying an ETF to which they chose to oblige themselves. How much is the cost of this lawsuit going to raise my rates as an AT&T subscriber? I highly doubt it will be less than the one-time 30 cent service credit that is probably going to be applied to everyone's bill.
I hope the plaintiffs get the ultimate insult of a "reward." That is, a token coupon off their next AT&T purchase. Let them continue to enrich the company that "screwed" them so much.
--
"Net Neutrality" zealots - the people you can thank for your capped Internet service. | |
|
|
1 edit | Re: Worthless Lawsuit I think the ETF shouldn't have been charged to some people, such as those who were migrated to the GSM network only to suffer unusable coverage akin to wifi hotspots, with no recourse other than to suffer with it or cancel and pay the ETF. In NYC I had many dropped calls and it was so frustrating I just called up and canceled. Bam, $150 ETF. That's not right. | |
|
| | pnh102Reptiles Are Cuddly And PrettyPremium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD | Re: Worthless Lawsuit said by fifty nine:I think the ETF shouldn't have been charged to some people, such as those who were migrated to the GSM network only to suffer unusable coverage akin to wifi hotspots, with no recourse other than to suffer with it or cancel and pay the ETF. In NYC I had many dropped calls and it was so frustrating I just called up and canceled. Bam, $150 ETF. That's not right. I agree and a lot of times wireless companies should (and many times do) waive the fee in those situations. It sucks that you had to pay the ETF because of coverage issues. My beef is simply with people who cheerfully signed the contract that gives them a cheaper phone and then don't want to live up to their end of the contract and were able to win a lawsuit to that end.
--
"Net Neutrality" zealots - the people you can thank for your capped Internet service. | |
|
| | |  fatnesssubtleJanitor
join:2000-11-17
fishing
kudos:13
Bright House Netwo..
Earthlink DSL
TekSavvy
Forum Feature Requ..
Need Site Help
| Re: Worthless Lawsuit said by pnh102: My beef is simply with people who cheerfully signed the contract that gives them a cheaper phone and then don't want to live up to their end of the contract and were able to win a lawsuit to that end. It's difficult for people to cheerfully agree to terms they haven't been told about.
quote:
Note that many of these suits weren't against ETFs specifically -- but the way they were being used. For instance, many carriers used to covertly extend a customer's long-term contract if they even made minor changes to their monthly plan -- then sock them with an ETF when they figured their original contract was up and they tried to cancel service.
--
"I cannot teach him. The boy has no pants." | |
|
| | | This wasn't based on people who reneged on their contracts. It addressed the practice of AT&T extending your contract any time you made a minor change to your service plan and not telling you at that time. | |
|
| | pnh102Reptiles Are Cuddly And PrettyPremium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD | Re: Worthless Lawsuit said by battleop:This wasn't based on people who reneged on their contracts. It addressed the practice of AT&T extending your contract any time you made a minor change to your service plan and not telling you at that time. I have my doubts as to how widespread this problem actually is with AT&T. Most people I know, including myself, who have been with AT&T/Cingular for awhile have made many minor changes to our contracts and have not had them extended.
Although I know that each time I've done such a thing I would always ask them if doing so would either extend my contract or put me back into one. In none of these occasions was that ever a factor.
--
"Net Neutrality" zealots - the people you can thank for your capped Internet service. | |
|
| | | | | Re: Worthless Lawsuit I bet this was driven by employee greed. There were probably perks or commissions to be made that encouraged employees to "slam" customers into new contracts. While AT&T probably didn't condone the actions the didn't do anything to prevent them and looked the other way. Similar to how Dish Network turns a blind eye to spammers who peddle their goods. | |
|
|  KrKHeavy Artillery For The Little GuyPremium
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK
 ·AT&T DSL Service
| When these types of punishments are levied on Corporations there should be a requirement that it comes directly out of profits and shareholder equity and they cannot pass along the judgements as price increases.
That way the Mis-Management would take the hit in their pay and options and bonuses and the angry shareholders could direct their wrath on those who deserve it--- even removing leadership if need be.
--
"Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the merger of state and corporate power." -- Benito Mussolini
| |
|
 woody7Premium
join:2000-10-13
Torrance, CA | pffft...... This is only going to work if they are fined, say a couple hundred million in "cash" , I mean what is 18 million to a company that makes Billions? They don't even seem to mind the publicity, they just spin spin spin, and to the fanboyz, They should pay the fine, and part of the structure is that they can't pass on to users, don't know how to do that though. 
--
BlooMe | |
|
| | | Re: pffft...... Yup there goes another "special fee" on our bills. Hmmm... what will it be called this time. | |
|
 jjoshuaPremium
join:2001-06-01
Scotch Plains, NJ
kudos:1 | I'm eligible... For a 200 minute phone card! Who will I call first??? | |
|
|  FBGuyyippee ki yayPremium
join:2005-03-19 | Re: I'm eligible... a 200 minute phone card that will use your minutes if you dont have a landline to use it on.
--
sbcglobal.net speedtest result 11/11/09 - 5256kbps | |
|
 DaveDudeNo Fear
join:1999-09-01
New Jersey
kudos:1
 ·Vonage
·ViaTalk
| Text message rate rise I am waiting to see this next, to pay off this settlement. Rather then punishing the customers, they should have a company offer a service for free, this way there is no monetary impact on the customer. Its just like putting money in one pocket to another. | |
|
| | | Re: Text message rate rise If they could raise the rates of text messages, they would have done so already. Fines are not passed on to the consumer unless a company is able to hide a fine as a "hidden fee" in everyone's bills, and thus avoid being forced to advertise increased rates. | |
|
| | No Damage Seriously AT&T profited 13 billion dollars last year,this is chump change to this company,who cares nothing about it's customers!!! | |
|
organs
join:2006-01-05
North Charleston, SC | Prepaid's day has come.... My "Verizon Nationwide Service" cost me under $11 in December.
No ETF, no contract, no mysterious "fees" or "tax", no games, no lies from the sellphone store, no funny business.
I even got a 10% discount on the whole service that uses the same towers, same system, same coverage as Verizon slaves paying $130/month even if they don't call anyone!
It no longer makes any sense to hand over vast sums to Big Cellular when you can get phone service for 4-5c/min and 46 CENTS per month service fees...anywhere in America Verizon has a tower.
Pageplus with PIN discounts from Callingmart.com
It's almost stealing service! | |
|
GwenH
join:2009-05-12
New York, NY | Straight Talk was my best buy yet. I think it's about time one of these company's was made to pay up, you may think that people should read the fine print before signing but the cellular companies give you no real choice, either sign or don't sign. Well, I have decided not to sign and it has been the best choice of my cellular life. I bought a Straight Talk Samsung Finesse at Walmart with their unlimited talk, texts and data package for $45 per month, it's all prepaid and on Verizon's network nationwide so the signal is great. I will never sign another contract again and they have lost my business for good. | |
|
|
|
