Lawsuit accuses AT&T of overcharging iPhone, iPad customer data use
 

Is there anybody left that you can trust. :disgust

http://www.appleinsider.com/articles..._data_use.html


" A new class-action lawsuit filed against AT&T has accused the carrier of measuring data use for the iPhone and iPad "like a rigged gas pump," and asserts that the company overstates web server traffic by as much as 300 percent.

The complaint from Patrick Hendricks of Alameda County, Calif., claims that the plaintiff and his counsel hired an independent consulting firm to assess AT&T's billing practices for data use. The analysis allegedly found that AT&T's bills "systematically overstate web server traffic by 7% to 14%." In some cases, that traffic was said to be overreported by more than 300 percent.

As an example, the suit claims that an iPhone user on AT&T's network who downloads a 50KB website would usually be charged 53.5KB for a 7 percent overcharge. If the data were to be calculated 300 percent higher, it would register as a 150KB use of bandwidth.

The lawsuit also alleges that AT&T "bills for phantom data traffic when there is no actual data use initiated by the customer." The independent consulting firm hired by Hendricks allegedly took a new iPhone, disabled all push notifications, location services, had no e-mail account configured, and closed all applications. Over 10 days, the phone allegedly used 2,292KB of AT&T's data plan.

"This is like the rigged gas pump charging you when you never even pulled your car into the station," the complaint reads. AT&T is the only defendant in the suit, which does not target Apple.

The suit also asserts that AT&T's billing system does not accurately record the time and date when data usage occurs. This, Hendricks argues, makes it more difficult for customers to monitor their data usage, or spot potential overcharges."

oh that is just great and on may 2 they started capping BW for their internet subscribers of which I am one. WE logged into their website to check the usage and it was giving an error for over a week. AT&T sucks

Could it be some sillyness with 1kb really being 1024 bytes and some error in their programming, causing it to round numbers in their own favour everytime?

I know many European mobile phone companies which will charge you the full minute price per started minute. So if your call is 61 seconds long, you will be charged the full price of two minutes. Also note that most European plans do not come with a set of free airtime or minutes, like the regular american plan does. Instead you pay by the minute. More often than not, it comes down to billing practices and it's extremely difficult for phone companies to keep up with all their different pricing plans, roaming fees, and so on and so forth. They have simply lost control over their own billing and are just trying to work out something feasible which works without too much headaches. Three years ago I saw one of the largest consultancy firms in the world fail to be able to develop and implement a billing system for one of Europe's largest carriers. So it's not easy.

That, on the other hand, does not in any one way warrant any errors or overcharges. Being incompetent to bill for your own services, is not an excuse for not doing what's right.

Old news. It was covered in XBIZ a month or so back.
:winkwink:

That being said, it doesn't surprise me. I am sure there is more of this type of thing going on than is being reported across the board.

anyone who thinks data plan for phones should cost anywhere near $50 a month is silly... the amount phones cost per month is way more than it should by any definition of how technology has gotten better.

Hopefully, they will all get busted for over charging

That's exactly what came to mind for me as well.
WG

I first heard of this on the TODAY show this morning and one of the anchors said AT&T
said the lawsuit is without merit because many apps are running in the background or being updated.

Yesterday on my local news they did a story about a pest control company that comes out and sprays your lawn for weeds and pests. Some lady caught her pest control guy on her surveillance camera pulling up to her house, sitting in his truck for 20 minutes and then getting out to place a sign on her lawn and front door that the lawn had been sprayed. She payed $42 a month for nothing.

Same with gas stations jacking their pumps.

What I don't understand is why this isn't a criminal act instead of civil dispute. If I walk into a store and shoplift some merchandise from the retailer its considered criminal and I get arrested. If a retailer steals my money its a civil matter and I have to take them to court to get action. :disgust

+ protocol overhead :2 cents: