AT&T Makes Its Terms of Service Even Worse, To Discourage Lawsuits

techmuse writes "AT&T has changed its terms of service (including for existing contracts) to prevent class action suits. Note that you are already required to submit your case to arbitration, a forum in which consumers are often at a substantial disadvantage. Now you must go up against AT&T alone." This post on David Farber's mailing list provides a bit of context as well.

Comments

Speaking of Class-Action Suits

[klenwell]

Not sure if this is related or not, but I had a puzzling experience with AT&T related to my DSL service recently.

I have had a AT&T Basic DSL plan for over a year now. It's ~350kbs down/~750 kbs up. It's never been great, but I'm a pretty light user, just internet surfing and moving files back and forth every once in a while between a remote server and my machine, and internet radio. I run Ubuntu 8.4 with a Linksys Router (wireless off) and use Firefox.

About a week ago, my internet connection started getting really sluggish. Couldn't even support my streaming radio. I opened Ubuntu's system monitor and download rate was capped at 40kbs. I would it test it by trying to load youtube videos. Every once in a while it would briefly spike above that, like at 60kbs, then right back down. Youtube was impossible.

I called AT&T customer support at the beginning of the week. They referred me to tech support recommending I request "Tier 2". So I finally had time to call this evening. After about 20 mins on hold and with Tier 1, I got to Tier 2, a woman in Texas, who opened a ticket and told me I would get a call back this evening or tomorrow. About an hour later, I get a call back with a recorded message saying everything is fixed and asking me to press 1 or 9 or something to confirm or press 0 for a technician. I'm curious to find out what happened so I press 0. Meanwhile, I fire up youtube, look at my system monitor, and sure enough it's scaling up to 80, 100kbs.

After a 10 min wait, I get a guy in California who sounds like he's been dealing with AT&T customer support for the last 2 hours. I'm polite, do my little Columbo routine, tell him I'm just following up and am curious and am updating my own notes (which I've learning to always take in these situations) and ask him if he can tell me how the issue was fixed.

He was pretty vague saying he didn't see anything that indicated it "was optimized." He said they just ran a line test and that seems to have fixed it. I asked him if it would have been restricted for some reason? He said it might if the line was showing "intermittent signal." I didn't press the issue. I just said, "Well, it looks like the issue is solved," thanked him and said goodbye.

Anybody have any further insight into what might have been happening? Was AT&T capping my broadband -- at 40kbs!? Is there a more innocent explanation?

Re:Speaking of Class-Action Suits

[JavaManJim]

I have had ATT for about three years now.

First I got ATT BASIC DSL like you have. Same speed as you only my down was ~750kbs and UP ~350kbs. That was via copper physical medium to the switching station. I was just inside the max distance. I think I had the last or only copper connection. An ATT guy living below me could not order a an ATT DSL connection.

BEWARE THE ATT PRO UPGRADE! Had connection issues not related to ATT (long story omitted). ATT tech said oh you need to go fiber instead of that crummy old copper. The ATT repair tech was great. She even showed me the nearby HVAC underground switching station.

UNANNOUNCED PRICE INCREASES. Yes fiber is faster and used to cost $20 a month. This month Aug my ATT long distance was cut about a third. But my internet DSL was raised to $30. Guess what? The changes cancel each other out. By the way ATT told me about long distance but DID NOT TELL ME my internet was going up.

So I wonder. What happened to market competition? Where else can I go for cheaper phone and DSL service? Better than a total of $84/month.

Thanks

no, the term to be familiar with is "material"

[Anonymous Coward]

As Lolly, Jr. and Lolly, Sr. could have told you http://www.schoolhouserock.tv/Lolly.html, "materially" is an adverb which is (restrictively) modifying the adjective "adverse".

So their change to the contract takes away one of your rights ... while that's certainly an adverse change to the contract, what is the material item affected? They're not providing you with less service or charging you more money.

I do believe it's contrary to the interests of society to permit a contract that requires you to accept without re-negotiation any and all adverse changes as long as they have no material impact, but that's what your contract said when you signed it...

AT&T

[Punker22]

People still use AT&T? I though after their whole NSA/CIA spying fun more people would have ditched them... oh well, your fault for using such a immoral carrier.