AT&T just put out a press release announcing new unlimited plans for all of their customers, even the ones with, gasp, iPhones. [More]
cellphones
AT&T Announces Proposed Settlement Over ETF Class Action Lawsuit
By 1.15.10
Chris wrote in to us this afternoon, “I found this gem in my AT&T wireless inbox [today]. I received no notification it was there, just happened to notice that I had a new message from AT&T online.” It’s an announcement that AT&T Mobility has arranged a proposed settlement over a class-action lawsuit concerning early termination fees. If it’s approved, there’ll be a settlement fund created from which AT&T customers “may receive monetary or other benefits.” [More]
Verizon Introduces Mandatory $9.99 3G Data Plan
By 1.15.10
Verizon is cutting its prices, and by cutting them is actually raising them. What? Yeah, let’s let Ars Technica explain it. [More]
Zagat Releases First Cellphone Carrier Survey Results
By 1.15.10
Zagat, the popular consumer feedback-based restaurant review guide, now reviews wireless carriers as well, and they’ve released rankings on the four national carriers. The company surveyed 2,319 wireless consumers and then created Zagat-style scores in a variety of categories. Here are some of the highlights. [More]
Update: All Four Major Carriers Now Waiving Fees For Haiti SMS Donations
By 1.14.10
Update 2: Sprint has also announced that it is waiving fees, retroactive to Wednesday. (Thanks to changebumpin!)
Update: MSNBC has updated their article, and they say that AT&T has announced it will waive fees for donations, and apply the exemption retroactively to those who have already donated. (Thanks to Mathew for the heads up.) [More]
Nexus One Users Say T-Mobile 3G Is Hard To Access
By 1.11.10
Apparently quite a few Nexus One users are having a hard time getting their new phones to connect to T-Mo’s 3G network. Instead, according to InformationWeek, they are getting bounced down to the slower EDGE network. [More]
T-Mobile Changes Mind, Lets Family Off The Hook For Stolen Phone Charges
By 1.8.10
Yesterday I posted about Zeb, a special needs guy whose phone was stolen shortly before Christmas. Between then and when his family found out about the theft and reported it to T-Mobile, the thief had made $6,000 in international calls and texts–and T-Mobile wanted Zeb’s family to pay $1,500 of that.
Today I received word from Zeb’s dad that T-Mobile has changed its mind and won’t hold Zeb or his family responsible for the bogus charges. His email is below.
Starbucks Perv Busted By Customer
By 1.8.10
A Starbucks customer was charged with two counts of public indecency and one count of posession of cannabis after an incident in a Chicago Starbucks where he was said to be “staring at woman and fondling himself.” [More]
T-Mobile Wants Family To Pay $1500 In Bogus Charges On Phone Stolen From Special Needs Customer
By 1.7.10
Jennifer wrote to us about the trouble a family in South Carolina is having over a huge T-Mobile bill: “Zeb, a special needs adult living with his parents, had his cell phone stolen just prior to Christmas. By the time the theft was discovered, $6000 in calls and text messages had been made to Honduras.” The good news is that T-Mobile hasn’t asked the family to pay the full $6,000. The bad news is that they do want them to pay a fourth of that. Update: T-Mobile has let the family off the hook. [More]
Customer Knows Her Stolen iPhone Is Being Sent To Apple, But Apple Says They Can't Return It
By 12.31.09
Alisa was robbed on the subway a couple of weeks ago, and now someone else has contacted Apple about replacing the phone due to a software malfunction. Alisa found out about this because her email account is still associated with it, but neither she nor the police can persuade Apple to return the phone to her once the other party sends it in for replacement. [More]
30-Day Window To Cancel Sprint Without Penalty Starts Tomorrow
By 12.31.09
Starting tomorrow, Jan 1, 2010, you can cancel your Sprint cellphone contract without early termination fee. They are increasing monthly regulatory fees from $.20 to $.40. This constitutes what is known as a “materially adverse change of contract” and means you can break the contract without penalty. An official Sprint spokesperson officially confirmed this for us. A few things to know: [More]
New Jersey Wants To Stop Unsolicited Text Message Ads
By 12.29.09
New Jersey isn’t content with going after unsolicited junk mail checks and credit card offers–it appears to be aiming for Least Friendly Junk Marketing State in the Union. The latest target: marketers who send out unsolicited text messages. [More]
FCC Commissioner Says She's Not Happy With Verizon's ETF And Billing Explanations
By 12.24.09
At least one official with the FCC is not impressed by Verizon’s latest explanations of its Early Termination Fees (ETFs) and Mobile Web billing practices. Commissioner Mignon Clyburn released a statement (pdf) last night where she called Verizon’s explanation “unsatisfying” and “troubling,” and she closed with the fighting words, “I look forward to exploring this issue in greater depth with my colleagues in the New Year.” [More]
Verizon Denies It Charges You $2 Each Time You Mistakenly Press A Certain Button On Your Phone
By 12.22.09
Last month, David Pogue at the New York Times published a tip from a self-described Verizon employee. The employee accused Verizon of deliberately rigging its system to trap customers whenever they accidentally press the “Get It Now” or “Mobile Web” buttons on their phones–even if they cancel the operation immediately, they’re charged a fee of $1.99 each time. Both Pogue and the FCC asked Verizon to explain why this happens. Verizon’s response: it doesn’t, and Pogue and the hundreds of people who wrote in to confirm this practice are all crazy. [More]
This Verizon Store Provides Weird Repair Services
By 12.21.09
Some Motorola Droid phones are having problems with the battery cover coming off too easily. That’s what was happening to Chris’ Droid, so he and his girlfriend brought it into a Verizon store in Pleasant Hill, CA. His girlfriend brought along her defective enV Touch for service as well.
When they left, Chris had a sticker stuck to the back of his Droid, and his girlfriend was told to stop wearing makeup because makeup ruins the enV Touch.
What Happened With Operation Chokehold
By 12.21.09
So what ended up happening with “Operation Chokehold,” the plan last Friday to protest unreliable iPhone coverage by having a bunch of people simultaneously run a bunch of data-intensive apps to bring the AT&T network to its knees? We’ll tell ya. [More]
Dry Out A Wet Cellphone
By 12.21.09
Tragedy! Your phone got wet and now it won’t turn on! What to do, what to do?! Well, there’s actually several things you can do to draw out the moisture and rescue your phone from a watery grave: [More]
Apple Replaces Shattered iPhone After Customer Drops It
By 12.18.09
Someone in Apple’s iPhone Support department just got the crap haunted out of him by three ghosts, I’m guessing, based on what happened when David called to explain that his wife had dropped and ruined her brand new iPhone. [More]
