Cuomo's investigation found that Verizon marketed the plans as "unlimited," when in fact common uses such as downloading movies and playing games were prohibited.
Rather than offering unlimited internet service, Verizon abruptly cut off users who reached a undisclosed usage limit. These users were not able to use their accounts and were not offered refunds.
"This settlement sends a message to companies large and small answering the growing consumer demand for wireless services. When consumers are promised an 'unlimited' service, they do not expect the promise to be broken by hidden limitations," said Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. "Consumers must be treated fairly and honestly. Delivering a product is simply not enough - the promises must be delivered as well."According to the AG's office Verizon terminated over 13,000 customers nationwide for "excessive" use of its "unlimited" service.
Verizon has agreed to reimburse all users nationwide for the cost of their wireless cards and will pay $150,000 in fines to New York State. They also stated, "Verizon Wireless fully and voluntarily cooperated with the Office of the Attorney General throughout this inquiry. Since April of 2007, Verizon Wireless has voluntarily ceased cutting off customers based on their data usage and no longer prohibits common internet uses."
VERIZON WIRELESS AGREES TO SETTLE DECEPTIVE MARKETING INVESTIGATION [NY AG](Thanks, Lisa!)
(Verizon Face By: chickee510)
I was so disappointed in Verizon's wireless air card service! I travel on tour and was really looking forward to not having to deal with looking for hotspots when I was in the middle of BFI somewhere! Coverage was certainly never the problem(Yeah!) IT'S WHAT THE COVERAGE COST ME!!!!
My happy little 59.99, 5G service turned into $3000.00!!
I did the whole dance on the customer service phone conversation; and Verizon would remove the eccessive byte
fees as a COURTESY, but I still needed to pay the cancellation fee, plus a slew of other nondiscript fees!
I don't think that's very courteous in my book!
What would be COURTEOUS,would be honestly providing good
service for a fair price!
No longer wireless...hooked up to my AT&T DSL Internet...
where I can do what everyday people do on the internet
24/7 for $24.00 a month! Ahhhhhhhhhhh!
@Baz:
Umm, because it's a fine? Do you pay a speeding ticket to the minivans you passed or to the police/court?
Accoridng to the post, VZ Wireless is also refunding customers. This is an additional fine - a penalty. Breaking the law should carry a penalty, no? Employing the investigators and attorneys necessary to investigate and prosecute isn't free, funding these kind of investigations with fines is a good thing. Enforcing the law doesn't make the NY Attorney General's office greedy, it means they're doing their job.
This story is about Verizon Wireless. It has as much to do with Verizon as it does with Vodafone.
]]>Why is that not fraud as well?
]]>From Verizon's EVDO TOS (what it used to be at least):
Under the heading, "Unlimited NationalAccess/Broadband Access," the brochure states, "� data sessions may be used with wireless devices for the following purposes: (i) Internet browsing; (ii) email; and (iii) intranet access. � services cannot be used: (1) for uploading, downloading or streaming of movies, music or games; (2) with server devices or with host computer applications, including, but not limited to, Web camera posts or broadcasts, automatic data feeds, Voice over IP (VoIP), automated machine-to-machine connections, or peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing."
I'm not so sure they changed jack.
]]>Verizon is the only company I gladly paid to break out of the contract. Sprint has been a dream compared to them.
I'm glad they are being forced to pay, the term Unlimited is misleading to the customer and obviously meant to deceive.
]]>Taking money under false pretenses is a felony. Verizon is getting off easy by only having to refund the money they stole from customers. Look for Cuomo to become a member of the Verizon board of directors when he retires from public life.
]]>Verizon is paying out for its shadow limitations. When will Comcast do the same for the phantom bandwith caps on their services?
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