Unlimited to 2GB Bait and Switch

[RJY]

Greetings All....

I need some advice as I want to raise the red flag on this issue as far as I can.

I placed the order for my 64GB 3G iPad on 5/29/2010 and didn't receive it until 6/17/2010. Because of work issues and vacations, I wasn't able to get around to signing up for the 3G service. Much to my surprise, I find that the Unlimited plan isn't available any longer only 2GB. I bought the iPad in good faith that the plan would be available obviously as that's the way it was advertised. Apparently, the Unlimited plan was cut off on 6/7/2010 and supposedly an email was sent out by Apple on July 27, 2010 explaining this situation (which I never received).

AT&T refuses to honor the Unlimited plan at this point so this to me is clearly a bait and switch and I believe I'm within the statuette of limitations.

The question is.... What would you do now and who would you contact? Obviously, it rests with Apple but this is clearly bad business practice. I spent a lot of money for the iPad with 3G but now I can't use it to it's full potential.

Suggestions? Advice?

Thanks...R

 

[col.bris]

It is customary to introduce your self before you seek help but thats ok. when did you finally try to join up ? I mean it is now August................I should also point out this issue has been in every newspaper and it magazine not only in usa but international. I am surprised you would not have read about it.

col.bris

 

[adoland]

ftc.gov summarizes the definition of bait and switch as:
It's illegal to advertise a product when the company has no intention of selling that item, but instead plans to sell a consumer something else, usually at a higher price.

Assuming the FTC's regulations cover AT&T's sales, we know they certainly had intention to sell unlimited service. I guess the questions is did anyone read the fine print that I'm sure says that AT&T can change it terms any time it wants to and I'm betting those terms did not require them to e-mail you a notice.

C'est la vie!

 

[MikesTooLz]

It has nothing to do with apple.

The iPad is sold without any carrier locks and AT&T offered unlimited plans at the beginning as was advertised. AT&T got overwhelmed with new unlimited data plans with users killing the network so the unlimited plan was discontinued. The warning about the change.

also while I do feal sorry that you are unable to get the unlimited data plan, The plan was cancled about a month before you even ordered your iPad and you should have researched before hand. Your free to use another carrier but even then you wont get anything better than AT&T right now (even the crappy 2gig plan).

 

[Seadog]

Your argument does not stand up. You may have missed out on a good deal, but that is not Apple's or AT&T's fault. Use a little common sense and recognize that you made a decision and it backfired on you. It happens, live with it.

 

[MattIM]

Welcome to the Forum RJY

Sorry that your very first experience with IPad ownership is a negative one. However, as you use your IPad, I hope you'll find the IPad worth all the money you have spent on it.

I also have a 64g 3g IPad. While I didn't buy it for the AT&T unlimited plan, I wanted the 3g version simply because I do a lot of back country driving and having a 3g IPad is very helpful finding my way. Last weekend, it was great having this ability as it is really hard to look across the landscape when the corn is over 6ft tall!

I subscribe to the limited version, US$14.95 250 mgs. My month ends 08/20 and I still have 60mgs of data download still to use. Tomorrow, I'm driving to Chicago and spending the weekend. I plan to really use 3g to find addresses, restaurants, and driving directions for two days. So I hope my data use exhausts my alotment. I've been on this plan for two months and I have yet to exhaust it.

So my question to anyone who has the unlimited or the 2gig plan, is it worth it? Note to Mike: I know you have used 30gigs in one month, but you are our resident master technogeek, so your use is unusual.

 

[ivanmarkchang]

wow, 30gb in a month?

i've used 80mb in 9 days so i guess i'm doing just about right.

 

[xxtypeoxx]

I feel pretty lucky I got grandfathered in on the unlimited data plan on my iphone. At least that is what they told me when I upgraded to the iphone 4 at launch.

I also only had to purchase a non 3G ipad and just the wireless one. Once jailbroken I can use my iphone as a 3g wireless router and connect it to my Ipad in a matter of seconds.

This will come in very handy when we are on Block Island on the boat for a week.

 

[zacheryj10]

I know that I fell into the "not reading before you purchase" category of this forum. I bought the 64 gig wifi/3G iPad before I went on my deployment for the soul purpose of the unlimited Internet capabilities I would have with the unlimited data plan. So, like most anxious iPad purchasers, I bought it as soon as one became available. It was later, after I had already left for my deployment training, that I had found out about the discontinuing of the unlimited plan.

I admit, I was furious. Felt like a sucker even because i just paid $829 for it andI just turned off my iPhone service because the iPad. But the reality is, is that I can only blame myself. It sucked, but I just turned my iPhone back on and now using the wifi capabilities from being jailbroking. Lesson to learn from this, research before you buy and never turn off your phone and turn it back on. You'll be paying more than your regular bill is (over double )

 

[gentlefury]

ftc.gov summarizes the definition of bait and switch as:
It's illegal to advertise a product when the company has no intention of selling that item, but instead plans to sell a consumer something else, usually at a higher price.

Assuming the FTC's regulations cover AT&T's sales, we know they certainly had intention to sell unlimited service. I guess the questions is did anyone read the fine print that I'm sure says that AT&T can change it terms any time it wants to and I'm betting those terms did not require them to e-mail you a notice.

C'est la vie!

The AT&T unlimited scam definitely fits in that category, especially by that definition. AT&T never said, this is a limited time offer for iPad early adopters. They made it sound like the device you are buying and will be using for the next year or two will have a price point of X....but then immediately after millions of people bought the device they changed it to Y, in some cases cutting off people that should have been elegible.

Were the iPad a throwaway 1 month use device I could understand them changing the plans all the time...but it's not. It is something you will rely on for a while.

You can't promote an item with a service promised and then refuse that service to your customer and only offer a MUCH higher priced service....that is the essence of bait and switch.

 

[tosh.jc]

It's not a bait-and-switch. AT&T offered unlimited plans for quite a long time. For a while, even tethering was unlimited (technically it was 5GB limit, but there was no overage rate after that was breached). But tethering caught on like wildfire, and between that and the iPhone 3G, the network was nearly collapsing. It was either they put a cap on their plans, or allow the network to be essentially rendered unusable.

While it's true that they, as well as all other carriers, employ some questionable pricing tactics, the discontinuing of unlimited data plans, in my opinion, isn't one of them. You can blame the mass success of the iPhone for this.

If you're fortunate enough to have already had an unlimited plan, you're guaranteed an indefinite unlimited data service by being grandfathered in. It's only customers who signed on after a certain date who are subject to the data caps.

As far as the iPad plans go, I never really looked into it. Do they grandfather you in if you had the 3G service active before the big change occurred?

 

[bdegrande]

There is a class action lawsuit, which I firmly believe AT&T will lose.

In my case, I got in early enough to get the unlimited plan, but have to pay for it every month when my intention was to use it maybe 2 months a year when I travel. So my pocket is being picked to the tune of about $300/year that I wasn't expecting.

I am even more annoyed at Apple, a company I have liked for decades. If Steve Jobs crowing about the great month to month unlimited deal was NOT part of the original bait and switch, why hasn't Apple been screaming about how AT&T is screwing APPLE'S (not just AT&T's) customers. This is a LOT more serious than an iPhone 4G dropping an occasional call.

 

[bdegrande]

It's not a bait-and-switch. AT&T offered unlimited plans for quite a long time. For a while, even tethering was unlimited (technically it was 5GB limit, but there was no overage rate after that was breached). But tethering caught on like wildfire, and between that and the iPhone 3G, the network was nearly collapsing. It was either they put a cap on their plans, or allow the network to be essentially rendered unusable.

While it's true that they, as well as all other carriers, employ some questionable pricing tactics, the discontinuing of unlimited data plans, in my opinion, isn't one of them. You can blame the mass success of the iPhone for this.

If you're fortunate enough to have already had an unlimited plan, you're guaranteed an indefinite unlimited data service by being grandfathered in. It's only customers who signed on after a certain date who are subject to the data caps.

As far as the iPad plans go, I never really looked into it. Do they grandfather you in if you had the 3G service active before the big change occurred?

AT&T offered the unlimited 3G plan for the iPad for about ONE MONTH.

Yes, they "grandfather" you in, but as long as you pay for the unlimited plan every month, rather than the month to month plan which Steve Jobs promised onstage.

If their aim was to save a collapsing network, they would have been happy to allow us to use the unlimited plan month to month rather than forcing us to use the unlimited plan every month and thus using up MORE bandwidth.

No, this was, and is, a classic bait and switch, and is motivated by nothing more than the desire to gouge customers.

 

[BBSean]

LOL, I just cancelled my unlimited plan. The 3G was painfully slow anyways. If you are only using it a couple months a year, why not just go with the lesser plan anyways? Even if you go over, you will still be ahead.

 

[MattIM]

The Class Action Lawsuit You refer to...

There is a class action lawsuit, which I firmly believe AT&T will lose.

...Is against Apple and AT&T vs the 20 million iPhone customers (or something like that) who purchased the iPhone with a required two-year contract. IMHO, the problem customers have with this agreement is after the two year agreement ends. Neither company had a suitable alternative to offer consumers except to "encourage" the customer to enter into another contract.

It is the undisclosed part of Apple's and AT&T's exclusive agreement that I suppose is at issue. Maybe Apple should have told iPhone customers that buying the phone means you cannot use any other carrier except AT&T for at least five years or the year 2011 whichever comes first.

In the USA, requiring someone to enter a long term agreement without full disclosure is against the law. I am not a lawyer, so if I sound like one, forgive me.

On the other hand, Apple and AT&T have a very compelling argument: neither company forced anyone to buy their product. When the iPhone was produced there were a lot of smartphone providers--RIM, Nokia, Samsung, Motorola, Palm, etc. Those vendors are still around and still provide alternatives to the iPhone.

AT&T customers didn't have to buy the iPhone either. The company offered it's variant of RIM, Samsung, Motorola, etc.--with a minimum two year contract. The iPhone was such a break out product and it's competitors offered inferior alternatives that it seemed almost like you had to own an iPhone. (I resisted, never bought the iPhone, did not need it.)

Same logic applies to the iPad. I wish I had a choice in who I want to buy 3G coverage. But I knew that when I bought the iPad. The most encouragement I got about the relationship with AT&T is that I did not have to enter into any contract with them. I also did not have to buy the iPad, I had alternatives. But the iPad offered everything I wanted it just seemed like I had no other choice. (I couldn't resist the iPad's allure, so I bought it and have found many ways to need it.)

As with any relationship, either party should have the ability to change and modify and redefine that relationship. Is that ethical? Is that good for the customer? Is that against the law?