Re: AT&T To Impose Caps, Overages
04-05-2011 05:09:33 AM
U-LostMe wrote:
jmsherman8 wrote:
U-LostMe wrote:
sirmaru wrote:
callmeox wrote:I simply don't trust the same company that can't get sports blackouts correct to measure my use correctly absent a very detailed bill that I can review to check their math.
We haven't seen their usage site yet. It may provide daily bandwidth usage so the user can check to see what he downloaded that day. It may well be current to the day prior to the day of inspection. It may even provide details like downloads of Netflix movies, etc.
As I stated in an earlier post, ATT's only big error in this change was not to have that customer usage site ready BEFORE the announcement of the caps. That would have saved everyone a lot of speculation.
Charter has ALREADY implemented usage caps and will SUSPEND those who exceed them. ATT's policy is much more lenient allowing us 2 months grace and then just charging us $ 10 for each 50 Gb we exceed the caps.
The Charter policy can be viewed here:
http://gigaom.com/2010/11/11/charter-follows-comca
st-with-broadband-usage-caps/
On that site they say 1 hour of streaming a Netflix movie would eat up 1 Gb of bandwidth. That means we could watch 250 hours a month on Netflix. I doubt if any of us could even be capable of that stress.
The Charter limit for my speed of service would be 250 Gb matching ATT. In my area I only have two choices: ATT or Charter. ATT is far better in services and far more lenient with the cap policy.
All the complainers here should check their own options and may just be pleasantly suprised at how generous ATT is compared to the competition.
Well, I am not really complaining, but I have checked my options as a result of this move by AT&T and I am not surprised at what I found. TW is offering me a lower cost, faster speeds, no usage limit, more channels, digital phone service and did I mention NO USAGE LIMIT? I don't currently have digital phone service through U-verse, not that I didn't order it or want it, but when the installer came to install the service well over a year ago he asked, "are you sure you really want that?”. Of course it prompted me to start asking him questions about his unusual question. He said he had seen too many problems with it in my area and didn’t suggest that I use the service and keep my analog line. As a result of his honesty, I went ahead with the install without the digital phone service.
Don’t get me wrong, I really disliked cable and it is no light decision for me to consider to move or to go back, but they are offering me a less expensive service with no hidden “surprise, you’ve just hit your usage limit” fees on the broadband service, even after the promotional offer expires. Sure, they may add usage limits in the future, but I haven’t seen the TOS from TW that states it as of today, unlike the one I received from AT&T several days ago. I, like others have done here, can speculate that they will follow AT&T’s usage limit terms, but as of today they do not have one, so that is good enough for me.
I just checked again and my usage limit meter is not functioning and the new TOS go into effect in less than a month. Like I have stated before, I may or may not even be close to the limit, but the changes to the terms were delivered to me and there is no way for me to know, although I don’t really care at this point. Yes, I could keep speculating that my usage is lower, but it is not a fact like the TOS changes that have a specific execution date of May 2, 2011. The fact that the usage meter isn’t functioning really doesn’t concern me at this point, why should I as a customer have to burden myself to check my usage in the first place, or for that matter wait for the “surprise, you’ve just hit 90% of your limit for the month, get ready for a fee” message from AT&T? Should I really wait for that message? It makes me think of another failed business model known for their iconic “You’ve got mail”.
I have been a long-time customer of AT&T’s, and the former companies that now fall under their corporate name, including PacBell, SBC, and Cingular, even after they acquired L.A. Wireless which I dropped due to their billing problems. I have used my for what are now called AT&T services for moderate to heavy data usage for many years going back to 1992, including 14.4K, 28.8K, 33.3K, 56K, shot-gunning 56K on two analog lines, ISDN, tethering on my mobile phone, DSL and now the U-Verse service. No matter what the service that I agreed to pay for, I was never hit with a usage limit on data and I would never agree to one if it was offered as part of the service, as I saw this as the AOL model of doing business with an hourly meter. I am grandfathered in on the data plan for the iPhone which was unlimited when I agreed to the service. Of course this means nothing today, that was in the past, as my AT&T statements will be when the new TOS are in effect.
It is now AT&T’s burden to keep me as an overpaying customer for analog, mobile and U-verse service, excluding digital phone, as a result of the new TOS. I don’t intend to accept the terms because I don’t like surprises. I am happy to pay the price that I agreed to, but I did not agree to being hit with potential hidden fees, which may or may not change due to my usage regardless if AT&T’s usage meter works or not. I agree with you simaru customers should shop around, they might be surprised what they can and will find. I will make this perfectly clear so that there is no surprises for AT&T, if the terms I received are not rescinded that I received, I will drop drop all services without complaint.
Truly, the only surprise I can see here is anyone accepting or trying to justify the usage limit. Good luck and keep up the great work on your metering effort AT&T, your terms are unacceptable and there are still choices. Surprise!
I wonder how they would react to all these posts about people leaving in the corporate boardroom if the stockholders were present?
I am sure the reaction would be, "We just figured out a way to add even more surprise fees to our under-utilized service and more to your bottom line, can you approve our bonuses now?".
I don't see the stockholders being that forgiving. LOL.