Verizon Decides “2 Years Of Free Data” Actually Means 1 Year

This is a screengrab of how the Chromebook Pixel was sold on the Google Play store in 2013. As you can see, it clearly states the price includes 2 free years of 100/MB of LTE data from Verizon.

This is a screengrab of how the Chromebook Pixel was sold on the Google Play store in 2013. As you can see, it clearly states the price includes 2 free years of 100/MB of LTE data from Verizon.

When Google released its LTE-enabled Chromebook Pixel in the spring of 2013, it was advertised as coming with two years of 100MB/month in data from Verizon. But as Pixel owners cross the one-year threshold, they are suddenly finding out that this relatively meager amount of gratis data is no longer free.

According to ComputerWorld [via DSLreports.com], Pixel owners are being told that the 100MB offer was only good for one year, though the original announcement — seen in the screengrab above and in this archive of the page on Google Play — states that the computer “includes 100 MB/month of mobile broadband service from Verizon Wireless, free for 2 years.”

When ComputerWorld’s JR Raphael, himself a Pixel owner, tried to get confirmation about the data plan from a Verizon Wireless rep, he was told there was no record of a two-year promotion. Likewise, the folks at Google Play were only able to escalate his complaint without actually providing an answer or resolution.

He rightly points out that 100MB/month won’t get you very far in terms of browsing the web, but it is enough for a Pixel owner to bust out her Chromebook to send some e-mails or book plane tickets when stuck in the airport terminal. Regardless, the fact is that these people paid $1,450 for a computer with the understanding that this 100MB of data would be included every month for the next 24 months.

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