AT&T argues that there is a misunderstanding on how users consume data and are billed for it after responding to another lawsuit brought against the carrier. Thornton, Davis & Fein, a law firm of Miami, FL paid independent researchers $80,000 to test the iPhone data usage and found that AT&T overcharged iPhone and iPad users between 7% and 300% for data usage. This is the second lawsuit, with a prior suit brought earlier in January that went to the Supreme Court in April that ruled 5-4 in AT&T's favor that companies can block unhappy customers (consumers and businesses) from banding together in a class-action lawsuit.
User blogs including Apple's have scores of customer complaints and numerous attempts by users to limit their data usage. The canned response from AT&T to my FCC complaint yielded nothing substantial because AT&T doesn't disclose their billing practices and the FCC won't disclose the complaints filed or information related to the issue. Apple says to their customers, "call AT&T."
My opinion is the same since jumping into this mess: That Apple, AT&T and the FCC have a perfect out--each guy points to the other guy and nothing gets resolved. Apple is tight lipped to reveal anything or any potential wrongdoing just like their "software changes" concerning user privacy uncovered by the WSJ.
In "U.S. Senators Kohl and Klobuchar: Press AT&T for more clear and accurate billing practices," a report from wispolitics.com: “U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar and Herb Kohl pressed AT&T for more transparent billing practices after consumers alleged that the company has engaged in systematic over billing related to data usage. Klobuchar and Kohl wrote to AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson and said that the consumers' claims underscored the need for a competitive wireless market and urged the company to provide specific answers on how it accurately charges customers for data. In the letter the Senators wrote, "Particularly troubling is the accusation that all of the alleged billing errors were made in favor of AT&T and at the consumers' expense." The letter continued, "[It is] critical that billing for data usage be transparent, clear, and accurate."
For those of you that may remember, AT&T's past billing practices that benefit them are not new. The old TWX/Telex (teletypewriter exchange) network used by businesses and government incurred billable calls for unanswered machine-to-machine traffic. After 4 or 5 rings on the network the call was flagged for billing (no answer supervision). The FCC's response to me (around 1980) was that the carrier is willing to provide you credit but you must contact them each month for these uncompleted calls billed to your account.
Okay, so maybe you don't remember that far back--but surely some readers will remember the days of WATS (Wide Area Telephone Service). AT&T's practice was rounding and then averaging. When both occur--and they did every month--between each band (0 thru VI), AT&T's system would average each band's traffic and costs and the result was a slightly higher cost. This was before the days of 6-second billing increments.
Fast-forward 30 years and here we are in a mobility-centric society with great dependence upon the same carrier and seemingly same practices. There's a saying that, "Hell will freeze over before...” For me, the completion to that phrase is: "...I'll upgrade my original iPhone to a newer model." Sure, I miss out on cool new stuff, faster experience and whatever novelties the new iPhone has to offer--curved glass and improved, what, data efficiency? So what?
I don't cherish the idea of being held hostage by AT&T or Apple or any vendor. I view them both culpable--AT&T because I don't trust them and Apple because they are arrogant and unresponsive. I guess what really annoys me was speaking to Apple's support people (again) about the issue and their attitude. I was lucky to even get to hear what they had to say because my "iPhone is out of support," meaning, "Apple considers all iPhones consumer devices" is what the rep told me. So businesses, there's the warning--you are using consumer devices. Not only are iPhones consumer products, their service life is short. Apple recently pushed users to upgrade their MobilMe accounts. The twist: old iPhones like mine cannot use the features; and lucky for me I searched the forums for a solution and found a workaround so our desktop calendars will synch with our iPhones even after upgrading the MobileMe accounts. I also called AT&T and asked if they could cancel my cell (voice) and leave my data turned on. "No" was the reply and then I inquired, how about canceling my data plan and leave the cell voice turned on? Again, "No--all smartphones on the AT&T network require a data plan."
The folks at DataMan (an app maker to track iPhone data usage) contacted me about their new release for DataMan Pro. This app enables an iPhone user to export 3G data usage statistics and location to his/her computer. The user can then open the exported CSV file as a spreadsheet for analysis and to compare and verify the carrier's data bill. DataMan makes it possible and easy to tame data usage and prevent fraudulent charges.
From reading the blogs and discussion forums tracking this issue, I know that many customers are happy with the DataMan app. They write that they must call AT&T every month and dispute the data overage charges to get a credit. This is a classic carrier tactic of "wearing down the customer." No mercy unless you are willing to review your bills every month and get on the phone to challenge your carrier.
In, Is AT&T Ripping Off Consumers With Data Overage Fees?(Must read) the author Brendan McKenna ends with:
And as we all risk losing fiscal control over our lives just to keep up with the latest technology, will outrage grow enough for the FCC to step in and take stronger action than it has so far?
