Data Plan Idea

pacohaas · ‎01-07-2006

As a customer-oriented company, I would expect AT&T to be looking for innovative ways to help their customers and I think I have a simple one related to data plans.

Here is my suggestion:

1. Get rid of overages on DataPlus 200MB plan

2. Automatically upgrade customers to DataPro 2GB plan if they go over 200MB in a given month

3. Continue to charge $10 overage on DataPro for each 1GB over 2GB.

This simplifies things greatly and doesn't actually change anything since customers can already change their data plan towards the end of the month if they are about to go over and then change it back to DataPlus (200MB) the next month. Nobody should ever pay the $15/200MB overage on DataPlus since DataPro is only $10 more and gets you an extra 1800MB+ for those months when you're travelling or need a little more data.

Please implemet this "auto-upgrade" data plan and simplify things for your customers.

Wild Banchi · ‎12-11-2009

I'm sorry, but I disagree with your suggestion. Here is why...

If AT&T did automatically upgrade their customers utilizing the 200MB data plan, people would complain that they are being charged a difference of $10 more per month just to.have their plan updated to be "safe". Not all people would like that idea. Plus, AT&T would have to send out even more text message reminders than they currently do now to inform their customers that their data plan has been upgraded temporarily or permanently, depending on what the customer's wants are. They cannot just upgrade their data plan without notifying them first.

Remember that Wild Banchi... 1993-2010

mikewho · ‎12-17-2008

I think att should offer a $5 data plan that would give enough mb for light users maybe 50mb. The $1.99 per mb charge is nice but it runs up so quick even with super light use.

pacohaas · ‎01-07-2006

@Wild Banchi, I don't see how it's any different than them automatically "upgrading" you to 400MB when you go over your 200MB. This costs the customer $15 extra whereas if they auto-upgraded them to the 2048MB plan, it would only cost $10 extra and gives more data.

The text to the customer would be something like this: "We've switched your monthly plan for this month, saved you $5, and given you plenty of extra data instead of just an extra 200MB"

Maybe this makes more sense for you, but it's the same thing:

Only one data plan, $15/month. If you go over 200MB, you get an extra 1848MB for $10. If you go over 2048MB, then it's $10 for each GB.

Again, this is possible now, if you go into your account near the end of each month and backdate a data plan change if you see yourself going over 200MB. I do this myself each month and it works fine, but AT&T should just simplify things and do it automatically for the benefit of the customers. It would be a good marketing ploy too: "Simplify your data".

wingrider01 · ‎05-26-2008

pacohaas wrote:

@Wild Banchi, I don't see how it's any different than them automatically "upgrading" you to 400MB when you go over your 200MB. This costs the customer $15 extra whereas if they auto-upgraded them to the 2048MB plan, it would only cost $10 extra and gives more data.

The text to the customer would be something like this: "We've switched your monthly plan for this month, saved you $5, and given you plenty of extra data instead of just an extra 200MB"

Maybe this makes more sense for you, but it's the same thing:

Only one data plan, $15/month. If you go over 200MB, you get an extra 1848MB for $10. If you go over 2048MB, then it's $10 for each GB.

Again, this is possible now, if you go into your account near the end of each month and backdate a data plan change if you see yourself going over 200MB. I do this myself each month and it works fine, but AT&T should just simplify things and do it automatically for the benefit of the customers. It would be a good marketing ploy too: "Simplify your data".

that is part of the agreement, it cost 10.00 per GB for overages, there is a lot of difference between that what what you want to see, charging for overages is a lot different the automaticly upgrading the user to the next plan up.

If you are going inot your account and backdating, YOU are making the choice to do so, YOU agree to do so, automaticly ugrading is not a decision for the carrier to make, but a decision for the end user to make.

Better idea, take the personal responsibility and regulate yur data usage, that way you don;t have to pay for the overage or have the carrier "automaticly" upgrade you without your permisison.

pacohaas · ‎01-07-2006

Sounds like you still don't get it. Maybe someone else can explain it better than me.

wingrider01 · ‎05-26-2008

pacohaas wrote:
Sounds like you still don't get it. Maybe someone else can explain it better than me.

No I get it, what you don;t get is people would be screaming if that occurred, they would have to completely re-write the tos to allow the carrier to do this, basicly what you are proposing is exactly what is in place now

pacohaas · ‎01-07-2006

Which one of these people would be screaming:

person 1: Uses only 150MB data, but is paying $25 for the 2GB plan she thought she would need.

person 2: Uses around 200MB each month, switches manually between the $15 and $25 plans accordingly

person 3: Uses >500MB each month, paying $25

person 4: Uses 100MB each month, paying $15, but goes on a road trip one month and ends up using 450MB that month. With the current plan, they would be paying $45 that month because of the 2 overages. With my proposed "overage" charge, they would simply pay $25 that month and then go back to the $15 automatically next month.

There is no consumer that would complain about this. Think of it as an overage charge rather than an "auto-upgrade" if that helps you understand it.

Currently we are charged $15 plus $15 for an additional 200MB or $25 plus $10 for additional 1GB. I am simply proposing a merging of the two data plans to simplify things for everyone. The new plan would be the same concept as the current choices of $X per month for Y data, plus $A for an additional B data. X=15, Y=200MB, A=$10, B=1848MB. If they want to stay with the $10/GB overage for going over 2GB, then that's another simple addition to the equation.

ChrisWorthington · ‎01-07-2012

When i had my iphone 3gs i chose the 200mb plan. If i ever went over 200mb I simply got charged another $15 and was given 200 more megabytes

pacohaas · ‎01-07-2006

Thanks Chris, that's a perfect example. If you had been pro-active, rather than paying $15 for an extra 200MB, you could have upgraded your plan (just for that month) for only $10 instead of $15, and gotten 2048MB total instead of 400MB total.

The problem is that this would have taken some work on your part to switch plans and then switch back next month. My proposal (again, it's just a suggestion I don't understand the hostility) would be to just have one plan that would upgrade you (for $10) automatically when necessary for those heavy-data months. Wouldn't that have been nice rather than automatically being charged $15 for only 200MB?

aristizzle · ‎10-22-2010

Think about your recommendation in terms of how the billing works. It won't work but it was a nice thought.

If you are switching to the data pro 2GB plan for $25 in order to cover the usage if you go over the 200MB data plan it would actually cost the user more, especially if they rarely go over and this is their first time. In order to cover the overage you would have to backdate the change.

With a backdate in advanced billing, you will see a credit for the MRC for the old plan (15.00), and two charges for the new plan (25.00). One charge for the current bill period and a charge for the month in advanced.

DataPro 2GB is at $25.00 - Overage rate: $10 for 1 GB

$25 (Charge for current bill period) + $25 (month in advance) - $15 (credit for the old plan) = $35

Data Plus 200MB at $15 - Overage rate: $15 for 200MB.

If you go over once it would be $15 (Monthly charge) + $15 (Overage) = $30

So with your idea it would actually be charging the end user $5 more and that would definitely leave a lot of customers furious. As it is everyone already thinks AT&T likes to nickel and dime their consumers, so that would just add more fuel to the fire.

pacohaas · ‎01-07-2006

Yes, I am talking about backdating, not prorating. So yes because of the month in advance nature of the bill, your bill is more for that month, but you make it up when you backdate the next month back to the lower plan.

This is yet another thing that would be fixed if AT&T got rid of the 2 separate plans and just did what I propose with the additional $10 "overage" getting you the additional 1848MB.

BadBadLeroyBrown · ‎07-12-2011

The hostility comes from the fact that this is a customer-oriented forum. There are a handful of AT&T (or Lithium) employees - 2 Community Managers and a handful of Admins/Mods/Tech Specialists - here to address individual CS issues, ensure everyone plays nice in the sandbox, and very occasionally answer questions of a technical nature. If AT&T higher ups are actively monitoring the forum, they're not doing so in an open manner.

Your idea would probably require a significant rewrite of AT&T's plan provisioning software. Never been an AT&T employee, so I can't really tell you what it looks like, but I did spend a lot of years with software consulting firms.

The problem with your suggestion is that you remove any sort of personal responsibility from a customer to monitor his or her own usage. The reason that the incremental add-on for the 200MB plan is more expensive than simply changing to the 2GB plan is to ensure the customer is monitoring their own usage. Customers select the 200MB plan because they simply don't use a lot of data, for any of a variety of reasons. The add-on blocks ensure that the customers don't get charged at the $1.99/MB rate. That $15 for an extra 200MB creates a psychological incentive to monitor your own usage proactively, and change yourself to the 2GB plan if you see that you are nearing th 200MB limit. Those who don't choose to be proactive will pay accordingly.