It’s been noted recently in some online news media articles that Verizon participates in deceptive marketing practices. Most of this appears to be FUD, and reading responses to these articles, unfortunately it seems to work. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not going to defend Verizon simply because I work for them, because that would imply I’m justifying deceptive marketing. What I want to do is actually clear up the truth in what is actually blatant lies about the marketing practices that Verizon practices. Verizon isn’t exactly the golden child of honesty, but the rumors and, in some cases, libel just needs to be put to rest.
So what is this all about? The rumors have been spreading around for a long time now, but this more recently appears on Slashdot, which linked back to a PCWorld article. The claim is Verizon advertises unlimited data plans for their phones and smartphones that is actually limited to 5gb according to fine print, and further advertises additional tethering and their broadband connect plans as unlimited, and again imposes this hidden 5gb limit. Many users responded to these articles attempting to debunk the false claims, but many users who refuse to read comments of other users ignored them and rallied against Verizon, in some cases, demanding lawsuits for deceptive marketing practices. The fact is, these rumors are outright lies.
Verizon does advertise and sell unlimited data plans for phones and smartphones. Upon reading the fine print, there is no mention of a 5gb limit. There is, however, mention of possible additional charges or termination of data services if Verizon finds the service is being abused, such as tethering without a tethering plan, using the data excessively (many users go beyond 5gb with their devices without action from Verizon), or using it in other ways that Verizon deems the services is not intended to be used for. As far as I can tell, Verizon is, in fact, providing the advertised service.
Verizon, however, does not market or sell unlimited tethering or mobile broadband connect plans, and there is no reading of fine print required to discover this. When browsing through the tethering and mobile broadband plans, I see a very clearly visible limitation on the service, with the limitation isolated from the service offering, and the emphasis added. The terms and conditions also list this information in its so called fine print. The fine print also includes overage charges.
For smartphone devices, Verizon sells two unlimited data plans, one for consumers that costs $30 per month, and one for business accounts that costs $45 per month. The extra $15 per month cost on business accounts is suppose to enable advanced access to Exchange services. Other than that, the differences are not well documented. The cost of tethering will vary depending on which data plan was purchased. If you have a consumer data plan, tethering will cost $30 per month. If you have a business data plan, tethering will cost $15 per month. In the end, in order to have unlimited device data, and tethering with a 5gb limit, both plans will cost $60 per month in total. The 5gb limit is only imposed when tethering.
I’m not sure how it can get any more clear than that. I honestly don’t see where the deception is.
The only way I can figure people are being fooled is a convoluted thought process. I’m guessing they see their phone’s data plan is listed as unlimited, and without paying attention, assume that applies to all data plans. When it’s discovered there’s a limitation on service for the plans that have it, it is then assumed the limitation is for all data plans. Since the limitations are not just in the fine print, this seems to be a pretty big stretch to me. It could also be a matter of bad information for sales agents, as that tends to happen with Verizon. I tend to pay attention to what I’m doing when it comes to spending a lot of money on services like this.
The more recent articles came in response to the release of the new Android based devices that were released last Friday on Verizon Wireless, referring to the data plans for the Droid. One thing these articles did get right is tethering is not yet available for the Droid, nor Droid Eris, if you intend to use the services within Verizon’s terms. The reason is not a limitation being imposed, but rather the management software needs to be updated to accept these devices and has to go through some testing. The articles mentioned this ability may not come until 2010. 2010 is only a couple of months away, and I suspect the developers and QA are hard at work on getting the software out the door.
leave a reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.