var json_comments = new Array("
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Underpants Gnome
March 2, 2010 2:35 PM
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Seems like a pretty cut-and-dry case of false advertising. If comcast doesn't want to provide unlimited usage, they shouldn't sell it.

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10 replies
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txvoodoo
March 2, 2010 3:26 PM
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Also, mail fraud? Websites don't trump physical mail, not yet, and things sent via USPS have different regulations

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JoJack82
March 2, 2010 2:53 PM
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exactly, its 2 options. You either have unlimited data or you have limited data. You can't advertise the one and sell the other. Cell phones do that commonly up here in Canada. \"Unlimited Data! as long as you don't go over the limit in the fine print that we aren't telling you about\"

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supercereal
March 2, 2010 6:06 PM
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\"Unlimited usage\" (which is what they claimed) doesn't necessarily translate to \"unlimited data\" (which is what you falsely quote them as saying).

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Alessar
March 3, 2010 3:58 PM
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Agreed! The \"constant connection\" is covered in the line after it. Since it was well-publicized that Comcast had instituted some kind of data caps, an \"Ultra Tier\" with \"unlimited\" usage sounds like a special high grade plan with NO CAP.

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smileboot
March 2, 2010 8:20 PM
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If your not transferring data your technically not using it.

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FredKlein
March 2, 2010 8:17 PM
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Of course it does. My \"usage\" of the connection is unlimited. Now, what does one use a data connection for? Maybe.... transferring data? Therefore, since I USE the connection to transfer data, and my use IS data...

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christoj879
March 2, 2010 10:32 PM
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I object to the use of usage when it's used in place of use. There's nothing wrong with using use; it's been in use a long time and I'm used to it. It isn't that usage isn't useful; I simply have no use for its current usage. The use of usage should be consistent with good usage: I'd prefer to

say, \"My use of the Internet\" rather than my usage.\" If I meant it collectively, I might say, \"American usage of the Internet.\" But so far I haven't meant that. And, as I'm using space on usage, I'll use some more on utilize. Using utilize instead of utilizing use is one of those attempts to make things sound more important than they really are. Sports announcers do that all the time; they misapply big words: \"He's not utilizing all his skills.\" They don't understand that an athlete doesn't utilize his skills, he uses them. The coach utilizes his players, but the players use their skills. Don't use utilize when you should be utilizing use.

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A Pimp Named DaveR
March 2, 2010 2:43 PM
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It's actually not cut-and-dry at all. There are plenty of situations where words are not intended to be taken as literal. For example, there are goods advertised with \"unlimited warranties\". NO warranty is ever competely unlimited -- if they were, you could intentionally destroy the product yourself and receive a warranty claim. The term \"unlimited\" is meant to be construed as \"not limited by the usual limitations for warranties of this product\". Comcast would argue that \"unlimited\" in this sense is meant to be construed as \"not limited to particular times of the day\", which is an anachronistic interpretation, but one that at one point (long long ago) was relevant to internet service.

But they're definitely being shifty, and if I were their GC I'd advise them to change the wording or footnote it or something.

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Elcheecho
March 2, 2010 4:02 PM
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no one should ever advertise unlimited warranty, then.

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Difdi
March 2, 2010 3:54 PM
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Words have defined meanings in ordinary life. They especially have defined meanings in advertisements and contract law. If a huge corporation that spends millions of dollars on advertising and contracts each year cannot be bothered to own a dictionary (or even to use a free online one) then there is something seriously wrong.

But that doesn't change the fact that if they advertise unlimited, and you sign up for unlimited based on that advertisement, and they claim to be selling you unlimited, it had better be unlimited, or the company has broken the law.

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starxplor
March 2, 2010 4:58 PM
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But if they have to look up all the words in all their ads online, they would go over their data usage limit.

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osiris73
March 2, 2010 3:50 PM
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Actually, I believe Sears still has a literal unlimited warranty on their non-powered Craftsman tools. At least that's always been my experience with Sear and Craftsman branded products. Here's the conversation at the checkout counter at Sears.
Me: \"Hi, my screwdriver tip is broken.\"
Clerk: \"Okay, let me get you a new one.\"
(20 seconds later)
Clerk: \"Here you go, sir.\"
Me: \"Do I owe you anything...? No transaction, no receipt... nothing?\"
Clerk: \"Nope, you're good to go.\"
Me: \"Sweet, thanks!\"

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Tasty Consumer
March 2, 2010 3:00 PM
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It is not a subjective term, like \"we have the world's best burger!\". It is cut-and-dry false advertising. Just because a company likes to use the term \"unlimited\" in their marketing doesn't make it right. It is untrue, therefore, false.

If this is allowed, then ISPs can sell \"unlimited\" plans at 200GB, 50GB, 10GB, 5MB, where does it stop when unlimited doesn't mean unlimited?

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dbaker0810
March 2, 2010 2:58 PM
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As far as \"Uniimited Warranty\" How about Craftsman hand tools?

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Loias calls you out if you can't RTFA
March 2, 2010 2:50 PM
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\"There are plenty of situations where words are not intended to be taken as literal. \"

There's a strong case to argue a purposeful lack of clarity. And also a good case to argue a reasonable person would interpret usage in this case to mean bandwidth.

Show me someone with an \"unlimited warranty.\" Please, show me one. Companies don't use that verbage for the very reason it's illegal false advertising. Howdo you know it's illegal? Check case law and precident. Any company who puts that verbage out will get sued and eventually lose.

I read your posts on this topic, and I come to one conclusion. You're a shmuck

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apd09
March 2, 2010 3:02 PM
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I take that back they claim to have a limited warranty, but if you search unlimited warranty in google you see lots of companies that offer unlimited warranty.

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apd09
March 2, 2010 2:53 PM
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one example of an unlimited warranty are the knife sets like Ginsu or whatever they are called. They have a life time warranty that if it ever dulls you can return it and they will replace the knife.

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Tomas
March 2, 2010 3:31 PM
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That is a \"Lifetime Warranty\" in you example, not an \"Unlimited Warranty.\"

And \"Lifetime\" is always under suspicion as a waranty term, and it usually oindicarted the expected useful life of the product, not \"forever.\"

(An unlimited warranty for your incredible Ginsu knife set would even cover against loss and theft, and you know they aren't going to cover that. Keep in mind that a warranty simply warrants that a products met it's specs when delivered, and if it doesn't meet the advertised specs because of a defect the responsibility of the supplier, they will take some corrective action.)

In most consumer suits, US courts take the \"plain language\" interpretation of common English words as the basis. \"Unlimited\" means \"without limits\" so \"Unlimited usage\" would mean \"usage without limits\" and that would include limits on time, bandwidth, etc.

If Comcast wishes to offer a bandwidth limit on its service they should not be able to use the term \"unlimited usage\" in the advertising for that service.

(Their \"out\" here may be that their T&C clearly state that the actual contract is the most current things shown on line, not any other document or claim.)

Bah!

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BlkSwanPres
March 2, 2010 3:55 PM
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I live for a Lifetime, do I live forever?

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tekmill
March 2, 2010 3:18 PM
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Craftsman Hand Tools Have unlimited warranty. Never had an issue returning a Screwdriver there. I think there was a discussion about that here before. This is probably the \"truest\" forever/unlimited warranty I have ever seen executed by a major company.

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Chmeeee
March 2, 2010 3:38 PM
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LL Bean is pretty good about that too. I returned a pair of 3 year old boots because the sole was seperating. No receipt, no questions asked, cash refund.

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Hanshiro
March 2, 2010 2:36 PM
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Two words: Class Action.

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5 replies
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missdona
March 2, 2010 3:00 PM
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Class actions do nothing other than make lawyers rich. Free compitition is the only thing that could fix this nastiness.

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UlimaLibizzle
March 2, 2010 5:03 PM
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Oh wow!

A comment about how class action suits serve only to enrich lawyers!

And another comment about how without class action lawsuits companies would never change their behaviors!

How shockingly original!

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trentblase
March 2, 2010 3:36 PM
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Well, even if the plaintiffs don't get rich, class actions are strong deterrents. If Comcast had to pay a hefty sum, they might change their ways. Or an injunction may simply prevent them from claiming \"unlimited\" usage. These are effective remedies to the problem.

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PencilSharp
March 2, 2010 3:47 PM
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Problem with that line of reasoning, Trent: The hefty fine goes on a law firm's coke mirror, the cost is passed along to the customers, and you still have a 250 GB limit. And rest assured, there will be absolutely zero legislation to cover it.

However, isn't Comcass (deliberate) regulated by the state as a public utility? A complaint to Matt's Public Service Commission might raise more dust...

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Peer to Peer Nachos
March 2, 2010 6:01 PM
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Seconding the utility commission. When I had a problem with the electric company here I called up our state commission to lodge an \"informal complaint\" on a Thursday and Monday morning I had an engineer (not PR, no CSR) calling me with a solution to our problem.

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domcolosi
March 2, 2010 3:30 PM
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Does free competition apply to spelling, also?

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missdona
March 2, 2010 6:04 PM
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So, I had a typo. Call a lawyer and start a class action suit.

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Duke_Newcombe sez íViva la Revolucion de Chihuahua!
March 2, 2010 3:16 PM
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Free competition. After all, it's worked in health insurance. Wait, what?!?

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OrlandoDude
March 2, 2010 8:24 PM
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Health Insurance is heavily gov't regulated- there is NOT free competition. Can't buy across state lines/can't opt out of certain covered procedures/ etc etc.


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opfreak
March 2, 2010 3:34 PM
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nice straw man.

Anyways, why class action?

individual action should work just as well.

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The Epic Chicken
March 2, 2010 2:36 PM
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I have absolutely no idea why this isn't considered false advertising. Since when has the word unlimited come to mean something with a \"large\" limit? This is the same crap that the cell phone companies are pulling. \"You can have unlimited internet usage as long as the amount that you use is under 5 GB!\"

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Bob
March 2, 2010 2:37 PM
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They don't want you watching and paying for movies from other vendors :) You only need your pay per view from comcast.

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2 replies
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tape
March 2, 2010 7:28 PM
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you can watch things online via Comcast's Fancast thing, but they then also count that bandwidth against your cap.

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Sorta Kinda Lucky Soul
March 2, 2010 2:37 PM
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Ha, try what HughesNet does to you if you violate their FAP....they don't revoke access for a year, they just cripple it for a minimum of 24 hours to less than a dialup speed. It's slow enough at it's normal \"blazing fast internet\" speeds (or so they advertise) so imagine what it's like to wait through 24 hours of turtle dialup speed.

Such joy for $70+ dollars a month; be happy you can get Comcast,

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3 replies
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Slave For Turtles
March 2, 2010 7:11 PM
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I absolutely do NOT miss DirecWay, er, HughesNet. The price was horrifying. The service, even if you knew what you were in for with the lags, was abysmal. No, I'd go to dial-up before I ever use them again. Thank goodness DSL moved in. Even if we're at the tail of the line, it's still a world better than HughesNet. And yes, their FAP was maddening.

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TerpBE
March 2, 2010 3:58 PM
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Wait, they give you a FAP limit? What's the point of even having internet access then?

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Verucalise (Est.February2008)
March 2, 2010 2:47 PM
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I have Wildblue... they don't monitor your usage by day, like Hughes Net (My dad had them... awful) They give you a certain amount a month to use, and if you use it all up before the 30 days, they'll slow you down. But their slow down isn't anything like Hughes.

If you use a lot in one day, then go a few days in between that high usage, Wildblue is much better. I don't download much myself because satellite internet isn't \"Blazing fast\" as they like you to believe, but it works for what I need.

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A Pimp Named DaveR
March 2, 2010 2:38 PM
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The OP should realize that Comcast doesn't need a reason (such as effect on their network) to limit its users' downloads unless the agreement with the user states that they need a reason. Which it probably doesn't.

Comcast is tiptoeing on some thin ice here, though, with respect to misleading advertisement. Their case is actually pretty easy to make, even if most of us customers don't like it: \"usage\" is, as the CSR said, meant to mean \"access\", as in you can USE the modem and connection Comcast gives you. The term, when used in this ad, doesn't encompass access outside the Comcast network (i.e. to the internet), which is limited.

But that isn't what an average consumer would take away from that wording, which puts it into 'shaky' territory.

But I agree with the more general point regarding how they should deal with their limitation policy -- just charge some clearly-stated fee for overages, and let the market create competition (if any).

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5 replies
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Amish Undercover
March 2, 2010 5:20 PM
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By \"misleading advertisement\" I'm sure you mean \"false advertising\".

And by \"'usage' is... meant to mean 'access'\" you must mean \"'usage' does not mean 'access'\".

\"But that isn't what an average consumer would take away from that wording\". Yes, because words hold meaning. Once we can flex words to mean whatever they want them to mean, then all contracts will lose meaning since all statements become ambiguous.

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A Pimp Named DaveR
March 2, 2010 5:43 PM
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But this isn't a contract. It's an advertisement. There's a HUGE difference between the two.

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Amish Undercover
March 2, 2010 6:55 PM
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If I sell you something that I say plays Blu-ray but it only plays DVDs, then the terms of our transaction have been breached -- I have lied. But your argument above says that if I \"meant\" it was a DVD player then it is your fault for not understanding me. Does it matter whether I put this information in a Craigslist ad, spoke it out loud to you, or wrote it on a piece of paper? Not legally -- I lied and the law says you get your money back.

If we allow meanings of words to be ambiguous under the law (\"usage\" does not mean \"access\"), then anything that uses words -- including contracts -- can become meaningless.

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Amish Undercover
March 2, 2010 5:23 PM
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\"whatever they want\" = \"whatever we want\"

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alfundo
March 2, 2010 3:41 PM
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huh? the ad clearly states they are selling unlimited access to the internet, not some Comcast network.

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A Pimp Named DaveR
March 2, 2010 5:10 PM
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If you sued them, they'd say you misread the ad, and then probably point to a bunch of language in the fine print and the customer agreement that supports their position. Given what you have to prove to get a judgment against a defendant for false advertisement, that would probably be enough. Sad but true.

False advertising claims are hard to sustain -- you need to demonstrate that the advertisement copy is deliberately misleading as to a material term in the contract, or as to a material trait of the product in question. In practice, only outright lies and clear bait-and-switch ads wind up being actionable false advertisements.

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kylere1
March 2, 2010 2:38 PM
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I moved and got away from Comcast, if I was stuck with them as my only high speed net choice again? I would use dialup.

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nakkypoo
March 2, 2010 2:39 PM
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Sorry, but more than 8GB of data per day is excessive, although I doubt it had any real impact on Comcast's network. I still can't imagine downloading \"quite a bit over\" 250GB of legal content each month. That's about 1mbit sustained transfer 24-hours a day, every day.

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18 replies
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BigSlowTarget
March 3, 2010 9:48 AM
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Everyone should back up their hard drives in case your work, home or family computers are damaged in a fire, HD failure, theft or disaster. It's strongly recommended you do not store the backups close to the originals for obvious reasons and online storage is inexpensive, efficient and enviromentally friendly.

Given the size of hard drives these days it's also impossible to back up a family's worth of computers once a month and stay under 250Gb. These services are pretty much shut down under this plan, at least for the initial backup.

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notovny
March 3, 2010 1:02 PM
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Luckily, Comcast has announced an onlinke backup service provided by Mozy.


http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10456264-1.html?tag=mncol

For twice the price of Mozy's standard unlimited service, you get 200GB of storage, and uncertainty as to whether uploads and downloads count against your bandwidth cap.

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Genocidicbunny
March 3, 2010 7:50 AM
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Maybe for you it is, but for a family of 4 heavy internet users, 250GB quickly adds up. 8GB per day divided by 4 gives you 2 GB per person per day. I watch a movie or two on Netflix or elsewhere and I am already at that limit. Now combine all the other stuff I do in a day and Im well over 4 GB per day. Even if no one else goes over 2GB, we're still at 10GB per day which is 60GB per month over the limit.

It all adds up.

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r01984
March 3, 2010 1:20 AM
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Nope.
It may be excessive for you but not someone else.

Everyone uses the internet for different things, there is no such thing as excessive use.

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stormbird
March 2, 2010 9:19 PM
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Netflix lets you stream movies for a flat rate. My brother has about a hundred 'in queue'. I listen to streaming radio and podcasts several hours a day. A household can burn through a lot of bandwidth without being the Dread Pirate Roberts.

As to unlimited usage, I do not thing those words mean what you think that they mean.

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morlo
March 2, 2010 4:58 PM
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Comcast is now rolling out 50mbit service, and you can't imagine having an average of 1mbit sustained transfers?

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macdude22
March 2, 2010 3:39 PM
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I hammered Steam for 43GB yesterday so I wouldn't be so quick to say 8GB is excessive.

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txvoodoo
March 2, 2010 3:24 PM
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Anyone catching up on the Olympics online would have gone way over 250 g.

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Shadowfax
March 2, 2010 3:16 PM
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It's excessive *for you.* Not for everyone. And if it's excessive for Comcast, then they should advertise \"Up to 8GB per day\" instead of \"unlimited useage.\"

If you buy a car, and the dealer says it will go 100mph, and the brochure says it will go 100mph, and you get it out on the freeway and it won't go faster than 60mph, they don't get to say \"Well anything faster than 55 is excessive anyway, no matter what we said, so we don't have to live up to our claims.\"

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chpdx
March 2, 2010 3:15 PM
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You've got this whole Internet thing figured out then, right? Good. Glad we have a final arbiter of \"excessive\".

In my house, at any given time there may be three laptops accessing the Internet for various reasons, one or two people playing FPS games online with video chat going, a Netflix streaming movie playing, a hulu stream and VOIP or video calls going on - all while remote desktop and VPN sessions to my workplace are open as well. I frequently backup my data locally and online, so there's another large transfer that happens at least once a week.

I'm stuck with Comcast and I pay for the high-tier broadband service. I haven't received any letters or rebukes form them, even though I must have exceeded the transfer cap.

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QuantumRiff
March 2, 2010 3:11 PM
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Sure.. Just make the contract that says:

Up To 8GB of DATA A DAY!!!!! Sign up now!

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HannahK
March 2, 2010 3:08 PM
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What you (and Comcast) are forgetting is that this isn't like a cell phone, where one person can only talk or text so much a day. If you live with a big family or a large group of roommates, and everyone is downloading and streaming on a daily basis, 250 GB starts looking pretty skimpy. People aren't making a fuss about this just out of principle, like they would if a cell phone company capped your unlimited talk time at 1439 minutes a day. It's an unrealistically low number to call unlimited.

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guroth
March 2, 2010 5:48 PM
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It would be more like if cell phone companies started offering unlimited minutes but gave you a monthly word limit. Sure you can keep a phone call active 24/7, but if you speak more than 5,000 words a day then you're in trouble. No one needs to say more than 5,000 words a minute, that would be excessive.

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psm321
March 3, 2010 3:08 AM
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Nice. Can I take that analogy and use it elsewhere? :)

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dolemite
March 2, 2010 2:59 PM
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I just think it's funny we live in the USA, and have to think about rationing our data usage. \"I think 2 GB should be enough for any law-abiding American citizen in this day and age!\"

Meanwhile other countries have 10x our speed, usually at less cost and our telecoms really don't seem interested in expanding service or offerings in the least.

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PSUSkier
March 2, 2010 2:45 PM
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It's very possible, although maybe not common. There's a lot of legitimate content out there that is huge. For example, I digitized my DVD collection on my home PC and for my job I travel a lot. Many nights are boring so I just VPN into my network and start streaming.

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notovny
March 2, 2010 3:05 PM
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The three months it took me to back up through Mozy resulted in monthly upload amounts of around 150 GB. Admittedly, some of that came from the fact that I wound up backing up podcasts as well as music, and was backing up virtual machines for awhile as well.

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SlappyFrog
March 2, 2010 6:02 PM
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Perfect example, I have 300GB of legitimate data that took over 6 weeks to upload to Mozy.

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temporaryscars
March 2, 2010 2:45 PM
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Excessive according to who? You? Different people have different needs. What's excessive to you might not be to everyone.

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nakkypoo
March 2, 2010 2:51 PM
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Clearly it's excessive to Comcast as well.

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veg-o-matic
March 2, 2010 3:32 PM
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\"Excessive\" doesn't come into play here. The terms clearly stated \"unlimited.\" It doesn't matter if anyone, anywhere, corporate entity or otherwise thinks it's excessive - no boundaries of \"excessiveness\" were ever advertised.

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HannahK
March 2, 2010 3:12 PM
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Obviously Comcast recognizes the fact that people like HD video. They have no problem providing it to you for your television, and they certainly don't cap your consumption of HDTV. They can't really claim that they thought 250 GB worth of HD video was more than a person could possibly watch, when they themselves sell it in another form.

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PSUSkier
March 2, 2010 2:41 PM
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My average usage over the last three months according to my router: 290 GB. Downstream. Yes I do a lot of movie watching and stream the vast majority in HD.

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lucifa
March 2, 2010 2:43 PM
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My previous internet supplier tried something similar on me. paid for unlimited use, only to have me connection throttled for over useage, dispite my computer being in for repairs for 2 weeks out of a 4 week billing cycle. I voted with my feet and took my money elsewhere!

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Razor512
March 2, 2010 6:48 PM
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if your router is on, and someone packet floods you, it will count towards your bandwidth cap

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Nisun
March 2, 2010 2:46 PM
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Yea hats bull crap. My local cable company pulls crap like this from time to time that's why i ditched cable and got 20MB fiber optic for way cheap! Fortunately for me we have a nice Local Telephone company that has been investing in fiber and upgrading the area!

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Major Annoyance
March 2, 2010 3:32 PM
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I envy you. We have AT%T and they haven't invested in or upgraded anything in our area for decades. But it's either them or Comcast... the free market trickledown never got this far.

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SlimGoodBody
March 2, 2010 2:56 PM
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That makes me very jealous to hear. I have been waiting for Verizon Fios for ages, and Time Warner & their monopoly held in nYc is not letting up. It's all interconnected with local & state goverments, bush loads of $$ & and enough red tape to go around the world twice.

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Vandil
March 2, 2010 2:49 PM
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That's a lot of movie rentals and Linux ISO downloads.

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Scuba Steve
March 2, 2010 3:01 PM
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That's like 3 movie rentals in HD.

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JG2002
March 2, 2010 2:59 PM
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250gb a month does seem excessive, though if you live in a place w/ 3 roomate and you are all total nerds, this could turn into a major issue.

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Conformist138
March 3, 2010 6:51 AM
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Nerd, Gamer, work-from-home, film or tv buff, multiple users in one house... the list is endless for people who use \"excessive\" data for legit purposes. In my house we have 4 people, 3 of whom are under 25 (the 50 year old homeowner isn't really a tech person). Our internet bogs down so much due to 3 or 4 computers competing, each with streaming video, MMORPGs, online backups, etc. By the time we are 50, we're going to look back and laugh at the idea of 250gb/mo being debated as excessive to the point of being disconnected. Sort of like when I checked out my grandmother's computer: 128mb of ram and a 16gb harddrive.

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shadowhh
March 2, 2010 3:19 PM
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Well, If he liked to watch HD movies it could fill up fast. At 1 HD move a day he could be at the limit in less than a month.

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varro
March 2, 2010 2:59 PM
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Class action lawsuit - you can get a coupon for $10 off your next month's service, the phantom cap will disappear, and lawyers for your class will get a ton of money. Everyone wins except for Comcast/Xfinity/Pr0n0cast....

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supercereal
March 2, 2010 6:13 PM
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Ha -- you're insane if you think that anyone would \"win\" if Comcast \"loses.\" They get more regulation handed down, and they conveniently pass along worse service and higher costs to you.

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TerpBE
March 2, 2010 4:00 PM
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No, the cap won't go away, they will just add a line about it in the fine print.

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manta
March 2, 2010 3:02 PM
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Why broadband with Comcast is a joke. Ran into this exact same issue. Spoke with multiple people on the broadband side and they were intentionally rude about the entire process.

They considered it a take-it-or-leave-it situation and they would disconnect without warning or notice if you went past the bandwith cap. At the time they also did NOT have a way to measure usage, they considered that a \"user problem.\" They had their tools, but would NOT reveal current usage or any information except a cap was in place, and they it was not their problem to provide information of any type to the customer.

Oh, and if you were cut off - too bad if that changed your plan, discount, etc... It wasn't their problem, it was yours.

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daveinva
March 2, 2010 3:06 PM
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... annnnnnnnd that's why I made the switch to FIOS so long ago. Unlimited HD joy.

I can't wait until that Google network comes along, Comcast is going to look *really* stupid then for this nickel-and-dime stuff.

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robetler
March 2, 2010 3:06 PM
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I can understand why Comcast would charge for going over 250GB per month, but this is clearly a case of false advertisement. Again, life imitates the SImspons.

Lawyer: Does this look like a man who has had ALL he can eat?

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MauriceCallidice
March 2, 2010 9:20 PM
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\"Why, I've not seen such a meritorious case since I sued the producers of 'The Never-Ending Story'!\"

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varro
March 2, 2010 5:29 PM
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Kevin Smith: \"That could be me!\"

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sirwired
March 2, 2010 3:06 PM
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This fix is easy! Talk to your local Public Utilities Comission. (This is usually a county agency.) They are the ones tasked with dealing with this stuff.

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louis805
March 20, 2010 10:21 PM
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Comcast is not a PUC regulated service. It is not like the water/electric/gas company, which are. Comcast's services are considered a luxury item, and that is why when people file for welfare, they can not list Comcast as a living expense.

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Tasty Consumer
March 2, 2010 3:34 PM
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Deal with some government agency? That doesn't sound easy at all.

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Friday7261965
March 2, 2010 3:18 PM
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No, most cable companies are in franchise agreements with a city, or governing body. It is not a \"utility\". The rules are determined by their contract with the agency. Of course their contract with he consumer AND the entity must both be followed. They are given preferential treatment to dig up city property etc for this right.

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sirwired
March 2, 2010 5:25 PM
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Yes, the cable contract is handled by a franchise contract. And in some municipalities (city, county, whatever), the cable franchise is handled via the Public Utility Commission, which makes sense given that it sure looks like a \"utility\" to the end-user, and they are given similar rights for infrastructure, just like the power company or phone company.

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Skellbasher
March 2, 2010 3:12 PM
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Comcast is not the only one who advertises service as 'unlimited', but still has an arbitrary cap that you're not allowed to cross.

Until the FCC or FTC steps in and does something about it (not likely), it's going to continue.

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Puckstopperga
March 2, 2010 3:26 PM
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Or until someone like this sues them for false advertising. Any corporate attorney worth the paper his degree is printed on will put a stop to these false claims in a heartbeat, especially after big juicy suit makes the OP rich.

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bdgbill
March 3, 2010 8:37 AM
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Corporate attorneys are the ones causing this problem. I'm sure that Comcast has a statement buried deep in the fine print of the contract this guy signed that says \"unlimited is not unlimited\". Thats all it takes for a company to tell lies legally these days.

There is a new commercial out for Pizza Hut advertising any size pizza for $10.00. At the same time that the voiceover is screaming \"any pizza, any size, any crust for $10.00!!\", a message pops up in minuscule white lettering at the bottom of the screen for about 3 seconds saying \"Additional charge for stuffed crust\". The three second message at the bottom of the screen makes it OK that the rest of the commercial is a lie.

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coldfire409
April 17, 2010 3:42 AM
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The problem is that the corporate attorneys will say send out a new notice. Send an e-mail to all of the accounts and let them know about the new cap. Now they'll only send the e-mail to the address you have through them, and many people never use that e-mail address. I knew when I worked for them they didn't.

It would piss me off so much with the contempt that upper management would treat both the customers and employees. They only wanted to answer to the shareholders, and even then they acted like it was only them.

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Duke_Newcombe sez íViva la Revolucion de Chihuahua!
March 2, 2010 3:14 PM
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AT&T finally laid fibre to our neighborhood. Is it time for me to get U-verse yet, and leave behind these shennanigans?

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DM752
March 2, 2010 3:14 PM
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I went thru the same thing when I started using Netflix streaming. They only tell you to install yout own bandwith monitor. How can a computer bandwith monitor tell me what I've streamed to my XBox 360?
I called the local number and was told I could find a monitor on the website. He then realised he made an error and hung up on me. I called his extension back for days and everytime I got hung up on.
Doesn't Comcast just have the greatest service? NOT!

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versuspdx
March 2, 2010 3:18 PM
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Does Comcast Frank have any comments about this? Seems more like a policy issue than directly customer service but policies do effect customers, especially since the banned for a year seems harsh.

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HunterZ
March 2, 2010 3:29 PM
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They'll probably just echo the comment about a local franchise being stupid.

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Kishi
March 2, 2010 3:24 PM
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Their new brochure won't state unlimited, they'll just say you can download xfinity gigbytes a month.

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Del Ray VA
March 2, 2010 3:35 PM
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They're just trying to protect their TV franchise. If you use Netflix, Hulu, and Youtube for most of your entertainment, you can cancel their crappy cable service and rely solely on an internet connection. By limiting (actually banning) your ability to do so, they are effectively eliminate a large chunk of their competition.

Outright banning by Comcast should be illegal under anti-trust laws. This definitely will hinder competition from online media.

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keen314
March 2, 2010 3:37 PM
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When I switched from Qwest DSL to Comcast, I knew that 250GB cap would be a pain in my rear, so I inquired with Comcast's Business Services instead of residential. They have no cap. I pay $15/month more than I would for the same speed with Residential service, but it's worth it to have unlimited internet and no throttling if I \"use too much bandwidth\".

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Bodger
March 2, 2010 3:38 PM
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To paraphrase: Friends don't let friends use Comcast.

In my admittedly-limited experience they are the pits when it comes to service. Every \"tech support\" call I made to them while trying to fix a simple Internet glitch for a friend resulted in speaking to a different script reader who knew nothing about computers or communications. The final answer was always \"We'll send somebody around next Thursday; Make sure that you are there\". Yeah, right, I'll just tell my boss that I'm not coming in...

Sad thing is, Comcast is big enough and has enough political clout that nothing will ever come of false advertising or anything else they screw the customer with.

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Bodger
March 2, 2010 3:38 PM
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To paraphrase: Friends don't let friends use Comcast.

In my admittedly-limited experience they are the pits when it comes to service. Every \"tech support\" call I made to them while trying to fix a simple Internet glitch for a friend resulted in speaking to a different script reader who knew nothing about computers or communications. The final answer was always \"We'll send somebody around next Thursday; Make sure that you are there\". Yeah, right, I'll just tell my boss that I'm not coming in...

Sad thing is, Comcast is big enough and has enough political clout that nothing will ever come of false advertising or anything else they screw the customer with.

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Bodger
March 2, 2010 3:39 PM
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To paraphrase: Friends don't let friends use Comcast.

In my admittedly-limited experience they are the pits when it comes to service. Every \"tech support\" call I made to them while trying to fix a simple Internet glitch for a friend resulted in speaking to a different script reader who knew nothing about computers or communications. The final answer was always \"We'll send somebody around next Thursday; Make sure that you are there\". Yeah, right, I'll just tell my boss that I'm not coming in...

Sad thing is, Comcast is big enough and has enough political clout that nothing will ever come of false advertising or anything else they screw the customer with.

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D0GG
March 2, 2010 3:40 PM
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IMHO... Comcast should just tell the truth.

250GB of data transfer per month!!!! That is more bandwidth than any other ISP offers on their cap.

If you are offering a huge amount of bandwidth.... more than pretty much everyone else, dont lie and say it is unlimited.

Take the upfront approach and tell your customers the truth.

Because with a 250GB cap, that is a pretty nice truth.

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dwohio
March 2, 2010 6:34 PM
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250 gigs is a lot...but it's not unlimited.

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kylere1
March 2, 2010 3:48 PM
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My ISP has no cap, most do not. Where are you acquiring your data?

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NarcolepticGirl
March 2, 2010 3:48 PM
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we rec'd a class action notification in the mail about Comcast and its throttling.

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Jason
March 2, 2010 3:56 PM
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I left Comcast over a year ago when they announced the 250GB cap as I was going far over it. My router was showing 380GB/mo. I have 2 kids that do nothing but watch music videos and Xbox Live. Wife and I stream HD movies. When I canceled, they assured me that they would just inform you and had no intentions of canceling accounts. I left regardless and took my $260/mo bill to U-verse. Been happy and not a single usage notice even though I am using over 400GB/mo now.

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jaycooke
March 2, 2010 3:59 PM
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This is not new - Cox Cable does the exact same thing. Please someone start a class action suit. This is false advertising.

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amcfarla
March 2, 2010 4:00 PM
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You gotta love the monopoly of comcast...or xfinity, or whatever they are called this year. Please Google save us from this hell comcast and qwest have put us in.

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Altari
March 2, 2010 6:13 PM
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I have Charter and thank god they don't have a usage cap.

They just throttle everyone back to DSL speeds between 11PM and 4AM...

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ARVash
March 2, 2010 4:07 PM
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If you can't control your local branches you should scale down, or take responsibility.

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ThomFabian
March 2, 2010 4:19 PM
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The word unlimited, indeed, is misleading (and intentionally so).

The problem, though, comes in what harm is coming to the consumer since he is not under a contract. Comcast should be able to choose with whom it wants to do business, so if it thinks your usage is overboard then it can walk away and say \"No Thanks\" to any future business with you.

Similarly, if you don't like the 250GB cap (which is NOT the same as unlimited) then you can take your business elsewhere as well.

However, since Comcast dd not stop you from downloading whatever you wanted, then you paid for (and received) a month of unlimited usage.

Caveat : There may be some \"bait and switch\" style false advertising issues that make the water murky for Comcast, but the individual consumer himself received what he paid for.

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sqlrob
March 2, 2010 7:21 PM
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Take your business elsewhere? Where? There's one broadband provider for my house. Count 'em, one. And I live in a high tech city. (although it's Time Warner and not Comcast)

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no_wallmart
March 2, 2010 5:07 PM
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Yet another reason why I don't use Comcast for anything! And I urge my friends to stay away from Comcast.

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The hand that feeds, now with more bacon
March 2, 2010 5:11 PM
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https://postalinspectors.uspis.gov/forms/MailFraudComplaint.aspx

File a complaint here. Under the \"Subject of Your Complaint\" select \"Merchandise or Service -- Failure to Provide\".

I would also file a complaint with the BBB and the FTC.

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vastrightwing
March 2, 2010 5:15 PM
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If Comcast limits your usage with unlimited advertized limits, how can they possibly rationalize giving you a way to measure something that’s unlimited? The reason they offer unlimited usage is because they have no way for you to monitor your usage. There are a few choices 1) Let everyone use as much internet without limits, 2) State the limit publically and allow consumer to monitor their usage 3) Turn off the connection after said consumers reach limits. 4) pay off politicians and frighten consumers into using no internet but continue to charge them. I bet they choose #4.

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JollyJumjuck
March 2, 2010 5:20 PM
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\"Unlimited\" in this case means you can use (\"usage\") the Internet at any time. They won't restrict you from going on at 5 pm, or 3 am. Weasel words, but there you have it.

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Sys Admn
March 3, 2010 11:46 AM
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\"But your sign says 'Open 24 Hours!'\"

\"Well, it doesn't say, 'in a row'\"

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dwohio
March 2, 2010 6:03 PM
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Vote with your feet. Aren't there other providers out there?

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bisous
March 2, 2010 6:23 PM
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bait and switch

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Smd75
March 2, 2010 6:54 PM
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Golly, I cant imagine how many GBs I've gone through in the last few month watching movies and tv shows online and always downloading legal things. Boy, comcast must love me. I wonder if there is something from google that will track my usage.

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Jay Fitz
March 2, 2010 7:43 PM
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That flyer is very, very old. Comcast email accounts now allow up to 10GBs of storage per username...

Something's off here...

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Span_Wolf
March 2, 2010 7:51 PM
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In a letter to customers, they noted that 250 GB was enough to \"download 125 standard definition movies.\"

Hmm and what if you lived in an apartment or household with 3-5 internet users. What if you were all gamers or had Netflix for streaming? Imagine 5 gamers downloading games via Steam or D2D each month then playing online games non stop.

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xanxer
March 2, 2010 8:00 PM
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Just upgrade to business class.

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xanxer
March 2, 2010 8:01 PM
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You can also take that to your chamber of commerce and have them investigated for false advertising.

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comcastcares
March 2, 2010 9:21 PM
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Matt was kind enough to email me, including the images. I have contacted leaders in that area and requested all marketing materials, including the pricing document that was mailed out. I also shared his email with a number of leaders in the company. I will report back when I receive the full materials and discuss with the right people.

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corkdork
March 3, 2010 10:03 AM
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Hey, it's good to see a response other than the normal PR \"taking it seriously.\" I hope you can get the issue resolved, Frank.

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sheriadoc
March 2, 2010 10:14 PM
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I just got a Comcast bundle against my will (limited options here), and am glad to learn of this 250GB cap! I don't download much, but I told my boyfriend to watch it. I don't want to deal with them anymore than I'm obligated to.

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Shonky McShonk
March 2, 2010 11:04 PM
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two more words
attorney general.

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Adam
March 2, 2010 11:28 PM
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Everyone just needs to drop comcast. Go to Uverse, or Satellite, or other cable providers and make comcast eat shit.

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morlo
March 2, 2010 11:38 PM
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Kind of pointless, however, since Comcast will keep the cap and change the wording of their advertising. Maybe spend a couple million coming up with new legalese and marketing propaganda rather than upgrading network capacity.

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HogwartsProfessor
March 3, 2010 10:14 AM
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This looks like false advertising to me. I'm sick of companies saying one thing and doing another, and getting away with it.

And the expression is \"cut and dried,\" not \"cut and dry.\" Gaah!

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Urgleglurk
March 3, 2010 10:14 AM
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Pass this one along to your State Attorney General. IANAL, but it sounds like a case of clear cut fraud to me.

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pot_roast
March 3, 2010 11:03 AM
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Sue the crap out of them. AOL was sued for something similar.

Comcast really needs to do a \"rollover data\" thing like AT&T (wireless) does. Some months people use more data, sometimes they use less.

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slim150
March 3, 2010 12:17 PM
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I saw this in one of the Digg comments:

The meaning of \"Unlimited\" is only the tip of the iceberg.

I got the warning phone call saying I exceeded the 250gb one month (I actually used about 790gb), and they told me if it happened again in 6 months I would be shut off. I then installed DD-WRT firmware on my router, which shows monthly totals for bandwidth usage. Comcast now has a tool online where you can view your monthly totals according to them. For the last four months straight, the Comcast tool has reported my total usage on average about 120gb-150gb higher than DD-WRT is showing. I called Comcast, emailed them, and even did a live chat, reporting their tool as inaccurate. I explained to them that DD-WRT is open source, therefore anyone can look at the source code and see how it is calculating the totals. Comcast refuses to even say where their tool came from or how it calculates the totals. Since I called them out, I have exceeded the monthly limit every single month (according to both Comcast AND DD-WRT), and have not received a single phone call. I also emailed my state attorney general's office, with no reply.

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rwalford792
March 3, 2010 4:17 PM
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Here in San Francisco, nothing is stated as a limited usage clause of 250GB of data from Comcast, but then again, nothing Ive seen for months states it is \"unlimited\" either. Simply it is not stated even in the finer print.

Astound here in SF however is another story, its 100GB or 250GB per month depending on the plan you have. It isnt advertised as such either way as Unlimited or Limited, but in the fine print it states the amount of GB usage.

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DangerDoug
March 5, 2010 11:04 AM
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This EXACT thing happened to me over the last month. I was called last month by Comcast telling me I went over on usage. I explained it was unlimited and they not so politely disagreed. They said if I go over again I will be cut off a year. I went ahead and changed my usage and made sure I had a count on how much I used, but they shut me off the next month anyway. Come to find out, I had already used my limit for the NEXT month on the initial call. I said this may be the case on the initial call and they said they would work with me. They did alright, by banning me for a year. I got AT&T now and they say they are “unlimited” also. I guess we will find out.

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themope
March 6, 2010 9:09 PM
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@robetler: Or the worst case of false advertising since \"The Never-Ending Story.\"

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Thanatos
March 9, 2010 11:27 AM
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Can't they just file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau (BBB), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)?

This false advertisement seems to violate a number of laws and regulations.

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