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Tags : AT&T

“How To Lose Friends and Alienate Customers”… by AT&T

Posted on 10 August 2009 by


Firefox

I don’t have any huge issues with AT&T’s service, certainly not to the extent of others. Sure, I have a hard time getting and keeping a signal at home, but I knew this area had a weak signal when I moved here. Moreover, thanks to a signal booster and to Google Voice it is less than an issue than ever.

At the same time, however, I am getting sick of AT&T treating iPhones and Blackberries differently when it comes to things like SlingPlayer and Google Voice. And I have a HUGE issue with the various attempts they have made to change customer service agreements. This latest move, however, is nothing short of OUTRAGEOUS, and I really hope the FCC can do something about it.

MobileCrunch posted a suggestion that everyone using AT&T go check their contract. It is probably a good idea, but I’ll save you the trip. If you use AT&T you just lost the right to enter into a class action lawsuit. That’s right, the contract now reads…

Any arbitration under this Agreement will take place on an individual basis; class arbitrations and class actions are not permitted.

Yup, we’re talking David and Goliath time… if you have an issue, you have to go after the corporate giant as an individual. Any lawsuit will now be

you

verses

THEM

I thought the idea behind a class action suit was to allow small individuals to go up against large corporations when there is an issue? What nerve, a contract paragraph telling us what we can and can’t sue them about?? I know our society is way too litigious, but this is crazy.

I’m not a lawyer, so I don’t know the ins and outs of such things, but I am a customer. And what they can’t take from me is my right to choose whether or not I want to do business with them. And we’re getting close to a chance. We have time left on our contracts, but I may just might be leaving them as soon as I can, if they keep this up.

This post was written by:

- who has written 2795 posts on Gear Diary.

Having a father who was heavily involved in early laser and fiber-optical research, Dan grew up surrounded by technology and gadgets. Dan’s father brought home one of the very first video games when he was young and Dan remembers seeing a “pre-release” touchtone phone. (When he asked his father what the “#” and “*” buttons were his dad said, “Some day, far in the future, we’ll have some use for them.”) Technology seemed to be in Dan’s blood but at some point he took a different path and ended up in the clergy. His passion for technology and gadgets never left him. +Dan Cohen

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  • davrosdiablo

    So can we disagree with the terms, leave AT&T and still keep our iPhones? That’s all I’m interested in.

  • http://geardiary.com Christopher Spera

    I think so, but you’re going to be hit with an early term fee for the privilage…

  • Dan Cohen

    *cough cough* jaibreak/unlock*cough cough*

  • http://www.geardiary.com Michael Anderson

    I find it hard to believe that we can actually be forced into abandoning our legal rights as part of a user agreement. I know other EULA’s have been invalidated in teh past for overstepping their bounds.

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  • davrosdiablo

    And that’s what I thought. They’re saying “We’re changing the original contract you agreed to when you committed to 2 years with us” so I would have thought we’d have the option to say, “Well in that case I don’t want to be with your stinking, overbearing,, tyrannical organization any more” (or words to that effect).

    Otherwise, what’s to stop them from doubling the cost of calls, or halving my number of minutes, or stating that there’s no arbitration, just AT&T’s decision is final? Once you’re in the contract how can they make changes without your consent?

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  • http://www.geardiary.com Judie Lipsett

    “(7) Notwithstanding any provision in this Agreement to the contrary, we agree that if AT&T makes any future change to this arbitration provision (other than a change to the Notice Address) during your Service Commitment, you may reject any such change by sending us written notice within 30 days of change to the Arbitration Notice Address provided above. By rejecting any future change, you are agreeing that you will arbitrate any dispute between us in accordance with this provision.”

    I don’t see any provisions on the Q&A that tell you your rights if you disagree with *this* change – only future changes. Did anyone else find anything?

    http://www.wireless.att.com/support/knowledgeBase.do?content=KB50041.html

    It seems like legally they would have to offer the same option to get out of the contract as Sprint did when then they changed theirs.

  • pradley

    This is not my area of law, but I can assure you that if you contest this provision, on the grounds that its insertion is itself illegal, you can start a class action, if a number of other conditions are met. It is not unusual, in any case, for an arbitration clause to include particular conditions.