"I pay $50/month for 500MB on Telus"What you fail to mention is that this is your voice and data plan combined, not just a data add-on. They charge $25 for 500 MB data add-on.$50/month = 100 minutes, nights from 9pm (or 6pm during promotion), all day weekends, voicemail, call waiting, call forwarding, 500 MB data, and your choice of doubling those daytime minutes, unlimited talk/text to 5 faves anywhere in Canada, or unlimited texting.
Yes, this is capitalism at work. One company is charging whatever it wants, defying all logic except, "well, it seems that under our agreement you have royally f**ked up." Nothing illegal about that, but it is immoral. It is the very definition of capitalism, to do not what you should (in this case charge him the same as he would have if he had the most expensive plan they offer), but what's in your best interest, with the hope that if everyone does the same, what is in all of our interests will balance out.The catch is these big companies have contracts that only a legal expert in league with a someone familiar with the actual services could truly understand. For making a mistake you could easily make this man was charged almost 20,000$. You assume he should have know this could happen, but aren't you part of any agreements that have conditions that are unfamiliar to you? You have a credit card? A mortgage? A student loan? I'm sure you are liable for a lot money you don't realize. Sure, you probably won't f**k up, but if you are looking at 20,000$ and a legal battle that will cost about the same, you won't feel regulation is a bad idea. You will feel that it would be nice if you could avoid having your life completely f**ked up because you didn't calculate your horny teenager would use the service and technology you can barely use to incur fees measured in units that are almost impossible to verify.
The sad part is that I could download 1GB of data in about half an hour. Verizon is absolutely insane if they think they can get away with charging anything more than a couple of bucks.
No company would do that, then it's more like pay what I use. sometimes I use 20mb of 3g data on my iPhone, sometimes I use 500mb. I still pay $30 bucks. While I agree with your statement, it doesn't agree with the stockholders and the executives bottom line.
The fault is on the son. This isn't the same story like we've heard before with the cost per MB or KB or whatnot. The original contract was for free downloads (probably Get It Now stuff). The son probably heard something or found a website that said he could use his cell phone as a modem. This raises some other questions like was his cell phone able to tether without modification? I know the cell phone I had before the Smartphone I bought I had to "hack" it to be able to tether it to my computer. I was also aware that by tethering I assumed certain risks and only used it when I had to as a last resort. It appears the son did basically the same thing and when the dad renewed the contract, the son didn't know about the free downloads ending. This is not Verizon's fault. I doubt the dad knew his son was using data, in fact, the son was probably violating the terms of use by tethering his phone without an appropriate plan. This isn't Verizon's fault. This isn't about the cost per MB. This isn't really about a data plan as I doubt the son's phone was a smartphone. Should Verizon offer to notify it's customers when there is a spike in charges? Maybe. (However, as a side note, their system probably didn't detect abnormal data usage as the son had been downloading a lot in the past.) The point to this story, know what you are buying, or signing into a contract, ahead of time. Don't assume something, know. If you don't understand, ask. And if you are going to give your children cell phones (no matter how old they are) know what they are doing with it and if it will cost additional money, because in the end, your name is on the contract and will be held liable for all charges. It's called being an informed consumer, but in this case it doesn't seems to be about not reading the contract or not understanding it. It's about not knowing what your son was doing with his cell phone and not purchasing the additional services.
crumbworksMay 1, 2010
"I pay $50/month for 500MB on Telus"What you fail to mention is that this is your voice and data plan combined, not just a data add-on. They charge $25 for 500 MB data add-on.$50/month = 100 minutes, nights from 9pm (or 6pm during promotion), all day weekends, voicemail, call waiting, call forwarding, 500 MB data, and your choice of doubling those daytime minutes, unlimited talk/text to 5 faves anywhere in Canada, or unlimited texting.
withearsMay 2, 2010
What part of "The two-year wireless promotional period allowing free downloads had expired" don't you f**king understand?
morpheousmartyMay 2, 2010
Yes, this is capitalism at work. One company is charging whatever it wants, defying all logic except, "well, it seems that under our agreement you have royally f**ked up." Nothing illegal about that, but it is immoral. It is the very definition of capitalism, to do not what you should (in this case charge him the same as he would have if he had the most expensive plan they offer), but what's in your best interest, with the hope that if everyone does the same, what is in all of our interests will balance out.The catch is these big companies have contracts that only a legal expert in league with a someone familiar with the actual services could truly understand. For making a mistake you could easily make this man was charged almost 20,000$. You assume he should have know this could happen, but aren't you part of any agreements that have conditions that are unfamiliar to you? You have a credit card? A mortgage? A student loan? I'm sure you are liable for a lot money you don't realize. Sure, you probably won't f**k up, but if you are looking at 20,000$ and a legal battle that will cost about the same, you won't feel regulation is a bad idea. You will feel that it would be nice if you could avoid having your life completely f**ked up because you didn't calculate your horny teenager would use the service and technology you can barely use to incur fees measured in units that are almost impossible to verify.
psythikMay 2, 2010
I could download 1GB of data in half an hour! Imagine if ISP's were as insane as Verizon.
psythikMay 2, 2010
The sad part is that I could download 1GB of data in about half an hour. Verizon is absolutely insane if they think they can get away with charging anything more than a couple of bucks.
sevenaliveMay 2, 2010
No company would do that, then it's more like pay what I use. sometimes I use 20mb of 3g data on my iPhone, sometimes I use 500mb. I still pay $30 bucks. While I agree with your statement, it doesn't agree with the stockholders and the executives bottom line.
flatulencyMay 3, 2010
Rules are rules and contracts should be respected: they MUST pay the bill; this us the right and fair thing to do. I am sick with pirates!!
crdanieMay 3, 2010
@kaji823 - it's the price for unlimited data on a non-smartphone.
swollentikiMay 3, 2010
The fault is on the son. This isn't the same story like we've heard before with the cost per MB or KB or whatnot. The original contract was for free downloads (probably Get It Now stuff). The son probably heard something or found a website that said he could use his cell phone as a modem. This raises some other questions like was his cell phone able to tether without modification? I know the cell phone I had before the Smartphone I bought I had to "hack" it to be able to tether it to my computer. I was also aware that by tethering I assumed certain risks and only used it when I had to as a last resort. It appears the son did basically the same thing and when the dad renewed the contract, the son didn't know about the free downloads ending. This is not Verizon's fault. I doubt the dad knew his son was using data, in fact, the son was probably violating the terms of use by tethering his phone without an appropriate plan. This isn't Verizon's fault. This isn't about the cost per MB. This isn't really about a data plan as I doubt the son's phone was a smartphone. Should Verizon offer to notify it's customers when there is a spike in charges? Maybe. (However, as a side note, their system probably didn't detect abnormal data usage as the son had been downloading a lot in the past.) The point to this story, know what you are buying, or signing into a contract, ahead of time. Don't assume something, know. If you don't understand, ask. And if you are going to give your children cell phones (no matter how old they are) know what they are doing with it and if it will cost additional money, because in the end, your name is on the contract and will be held liable for all charges. It's called being an informed consumer, but in this case it doesn't seems to be about not reading the contract or not understanding it. It's about not knowing what your son was doing with his cell phone and not purchasing the additional services.
Closed AccountMay 9, 2010
If I wanted a data plan, I'd sign up for one. Setting it so that I'll accidentally use it at some point is just plain greed.