Supreme Court Says AT&T Can Avoid Class Action Suits
Another Nail In Consumer Power.
This a major loss for consumer advocacy.
It is very tough, if at all possible, to overturn a Supreme Court ruling. This will ruling will be forever written. Think about that.
In an industry that is not consumer friendly, this essentially allows carriers to "Make mistakes" easier and being held accountable harder. Imagine the millions of reimbursed customer dollars carriers could have kept in the past if not for class action suits. The carriers would have gotten away with murder. Now add in the fact that ATT wants to acquire TMO eliminating more competition. This narrows the gap between ground and six feet under. All power will be forfeited into the hands of carriers. Consumers will be fighting Wireless City Hall.
For all th...
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It is very tough, if at all possible, to overturn a Supreme Court ruling. This will ruling will be forever written. Think about that.
In an industry that is not consumer friendly, this essentially allows carriers to "Make mistakes" easier and being held accountable harder. Imagine the millions of reimbursed customer dollars carriers could have kept in the past if not for class action suits. The carriers would have gotten away with murder. Now add in the fact that ATT wants to acquire TMO eliminating more competition. This narrows the gap between ground and six feet under. All power will be forfeited into the hands of carriers. Consumers will be fighting Wireless City Hall.
For all th...
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Arbitration has been in the contract for years. If you don't like it, don't use the service.
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arbitration has been in contracts for many years. however, until now you could still file class action suits
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Nope, class action suits are barred in the Terms and Conditionas as well.
Honestly, when will the people wake up and realize that signing a one sided agreement with a company for two years is insane! Sign up with Metro, Cricket, Virgin, or Boost.
Honestly, when will the people wake up and realize that signing a one sided agreement with a company for two years is insane! Sign up with Metro, Cricket, Virgin, or Boost.
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You must realize that arbitration works heavily in a corporation's favor. Please read up on the disadvantages of arbitration. You might change your view. Arbitration is the equivalent of family members settling their own disputes. I'm not a family member of a carrier. I hired them to give me the best possible service and billing practices.
If you need to dispute an evident of malpractice for these services, would you rather count on arbitration that is put in place to eliminate the need for outside courts, or would you like some assurance that you have some sort of fighting chance against a wealthy company that has taken advantage of thousands upon thousands of people? With arbitration, the carrier is betting that one person feels it is...
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If you need to dispute an evident of malpractice for these services, would you rather count on arbitration that is put in place to eliminate the need for outside courts, or would you like some assurance that you have some sort of fighting chance against a wealthy company that has taken advantage of thousands upon thousands of people? With arbitration, the carrier is betting that one person feels it is...
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ok please understand this opinion comes from a bias of never having billing issues, very rarely a dropped call and living in metro saint louis wih perfect 3g wherever i go:
i dont get why consumers expect anything else when they sign a contract with a carrier. the fact is we as american consumers dont want to pay the 300-700 the manufacturer would charge for their product to be used on(insert your network here). the contract has nothing to do with the billing, service(or lack there of) or customer service. it has everything to do with the subsidy offered by the company in exchange for us consumers paying their monthly bill on time. nothing more, nothing less.
go here: www.att.com/planterms
i've stated this on many occasions in this ...
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i dont get why consumers expect anything else when they sign a contract with a carrier. the fact is we as american consumers dont want to pay the 300-700 the manufacturer would charge for their product to be used on(insert your network here). the contract has nothing to do with the billing, service(or lack there of) or customer service. it has everything to do with the subsidy offered by the company in exchange for us consumers paying their monthly bill on time. nothing more, nothing less.
go here: www.att.com/planterms
i've stated this on many occasions in this ...
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---"i dont get why consumers expect anything else when they sign a contract with a carrier."---
I don't understand how a company should be allowed to get away with abusing a system because of a contract.
If I could think of a current affair of injustice, it would be VZW's practice in billing of extra charges. Honest mistake? It doesn't matter. The carrier had to have some sort of concessional reprimand to prevent this in the future. Arbitration would NOT have set the record straight for a ruling in the subscribers favor.
This is the exact point I'm trying to make of this Supreme Court ruling. What will prevent carriers from "making an error"?
---"the fact is we as american consumers dont want to pay the 300-700 the manufacturer...
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I don't understand how a company should be allowed to get away with abusing a system because of a contract.
If I could think of a current affair of injustice, it would be VZW's practice in billing of extra charges. Honest mistake? It doesn't matter. The carrier had to have some sort of concessional reprimand to prevent this in the future. Arbitration would NOT have set the record straight for a ruling in the subscribers favor.
This is the exact point I'm trying to make of this Supreme Court ruling. What will prevent carriers from "making an error"?
---"the fact is we as american consumers dont want to pay the 300-700 the manufacturer...
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John I must respectfully disagree with you. My bill at Metro PCS is $80 for two lines. This includes taxes and fees and it's unlimited. It's highly unlikely that I'll ever have a billing dispute. The worst case scenario is a service disruption and this is a risk you take with ANY form of communication.
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I respect your candid response, but again my point is evaded.
I live in a metropolitan city with no access to MetroPCS. This is one of my points. There are only 4 major carriers with nationwide coverage. The fourth is looking to get consumed by the second. As this gets worse, the smaller carriers that rely on piggy backing off the larger, will indeed be effected by the pricing and/or business practices that the larger control. The prepaid advantages will be shortened as competiton is sequestered. Essentially, no carrier under the controlling spectrum rights of the larger that the smaller carriers use, will be immune.
My whole initiative in these forums is to point out how the future can be greatly effected by the present actions. The...
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I live in a metropolitan city with no access to MetroPCS. This is one of my points. There are only 4 major carriers with nationwide coverage. The fourth is looking to get consumed by the second. As this gets worse, the smaller carriers that rely on piggy backing off the larger, will indeed be effected by the pricing and/or business practices that the larger control. The prepaid advantages will be shortened as competiton is sequestered. Essentially, no carrier under the controlling spectrum rights of the larger that the smaller carriers use, will be immune.
My whole initiative in these forums is to point out how the future can be greatly effected by the present actions. The...
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I just want you to know i am with you on this 100 percent and yea the little guys like my job (uscellular) is going to get the boot.
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straight from att.com/planterms:
You have received certain benefits from us in exchange for any Service Commitment greater than one month. If we terminate your Services for nonpayment or other default before the end of your Service Commitment, or if you terminate your Services for any reason other than (a) in accordance with the cancellation policy; or (b) pursuant to a change of terms, conditions or rates as set forth below, you agree to pay us with respect to each device identifier or telephone number assigned to you, in addition to all other amounts owed, an Early Termination Fee in the amount specified below ("Early Termination Fee"). If your Service Commitment includes the purchase of certain specified Equipment on or after June 1, 2...
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You have received certain benefits from us in exchange for any Service Commitment greater than one month. If we terminate your Services for nonpayment or other default before the end of your Service Commitment, or if you terminate your Services for any reason other than (a) in accordance with the cancellation policy; or (b) pursuant to a change of terms, conditions or rates as set forth below, you agree to pay us with respect to each device identifier or telephone number assigned to you, in addition to all other amounts owed, an Early Termination Fee in the amount specified below ("Early Termination Fee"). If your Service Commitment includes the purchase of certain specified Equipment on or after June 1, 2...
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and when the sales associate says SIGN here and most people dont ask because they TRUST their provider. These things should be explained and manditory to do so. it might be, but i would bet my life on it that 90 percent of sales associates dont.
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and how many percent of customers who are upgrading to their new smartphone are paying any attention to the expectations being set by that sales rep?
i went into my local store to buy a charger, and i watched as a grown man buying an iphone was more interested in putting his case on his phone than he was with what the sales rep was telling him.
i get that there are some folks out there that do whatever it takes to make their numbers. and those people dont last very long.
but how much responsibility NEEDS to be laid at the consumer's feet? we have to get educated! we cannot expect the government or any other entity to do that for us. we have to know what we're getting into. ask questions, pay attention. you cant honestly believe that...
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i went into my local store to buy a charger, and i watched as a grown man buying an iphone was more interested in putting his case on his phone than he was with what the sales rep was telling him.
i get that there are some folks out there that do whatever it takes to make their numbers. and those people dont last very long.
but how much responsibility NEEDS to be laid at the consumer's feet? we have to get educated! we cannot expect the government or any other entity to do that for us. we have to know what we're getting into. ask questions, pay attention. you cant honestly believe that...
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Slammer said:
Secondly. The contract does indeed have to do with billing etc. I don't know where you failed to perceive otherwise.
John B.
WE DO NOT GUARANTEE YOU UNINTERRUPTED SERVICE OR COVERAGE. WE CANNOT ASSURE YOU THAT IF YOU PLACE A 911 CALL YOU WILL BE FOUND. AIRTIME AND OTHER SERVICE CHARGES APPLY TO ALL CALLS, INCLUDING INVOLUNTARILY TERMINATED CALLS. AT&T MAKES NO WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, SUITABILITY, ACCURACY, SECURITY, OR PERFORMANCE REGARDING ANY SERVICES, SOFTWARE OR GOODS, AND IN NO EVENT SHALL AT&T BE LIABLE, WHETHER OR NOT DUE TO ITS OWN NEGLIGENCE, for any:
act or omission of a third party;
mistakes, omissions, interr...
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I'm fully aware of what the contract states and I'm not denying a certain obligation of the consumer. If a mistake, error or whatever someone wants to call it happens once, that is acceptable. It shows the carrier addressed the issue, fixed the issue and moved on.
I'm simply implying that if same mistakes or errors happen month after month to millions of subscribers, there needs to be some responsibility to find out what the issue is. Carriers making the same mistake many times without recourse, reaps the carriers potentially millions of dollars in extra revenue and costs the subs extra paid out. This is where the rubber meets the pavement. It may require litigation in which arbitration fails. A Class Action suit is sometimes the only ch...
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I'm simply implying that if same mistakes or errors happen month after month to millions of subscribers, there needs to be some responsibility to find out what the issue is. Carriers making the same mistake many times without recourse, reaps the carriers potentially millions of dollars in extra revenue and costs the subs extra paid out. This is where the rubber meets the pavement. It may require litigation in which arbitration fails. A Class Action suit is sometimes the only ch...
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in those instances, yes i have a tendency to agree.
Contracts are VERY one sided. Geared toward making sure the company recoups their money and cannot be held responsible for prety much anything.
but at the same timei gotta go back to the fact that customers dont have to be in contract. if they arent they cannot be held by wireless agreements.
under that logic if those things happen like you were stating earlier they technically could be eligible for class action suits. right?
Contracts are VERY one sided. Geared toward making sure the company recoups their money and cannot be held responsible for prety much anything.
but at the same timei gotta go back to the fact that customers dont have to be in contract. if they arent they cannot be held by wireless agreements.
under that logic if those things happen like you were stating earlier they technically could be eligible for class action suits. right?
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There is that option to purchase the device straight out. However, I will be perfectly frank here.
I have a Wife and kids. I also have a home, three cars and other obligations that cost money. I simply don't have the financial resources to just go out and purchase 400- 600 dollar each handsets to accommodate mine and my communication needs. We have gone the prepaid road. At the end of the day, they are not family friendly not to mention coverage lacking.
The subsidizing of phones is a whole other argument and I think it needs a major jack slapping. But even so, it initially allows you to walk out the door with less hard to find cash. The carriers have molded this over the years and my harsh arguments are split down the middle for the c...
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I have a Wife and kids. I also have a home, three cars and other obligations that cost money. I simply don't have the financial resources to just go out and purchase 400- 600 dollar each handsets to accommodate mine and my communication needs. We have gone the prepaid road. At the end of the day, they are not family friendly not to mention coverage lacking.
The subsidizing of phones is a whole other argument and I think it needs a major jack slapping. But even so, it initially allows you to walk out the door with less hard to find cash. The carriers have molded this over the years and my harsh arguments are split down the middle for the c...
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This forum is closed.
