Petition Against "Unlimited" bandwidth

marleyboy

stebiz wrote: »

Most companies do have a fair usage limit. So unless you are a customer who constantly abuses the bandwidth you should have no problems. I mean who in the right mind needs to download the equivalent of upto 6 movies a day (or more) and then say it is for residential purposes. So for everybody else they should be fine.

Hands up those who have had a phone call from their ISP for going over their bandwidth - and who used the net for genuine purposes as a residential customer - hands up!!! Not many I guess.

Stebiz

Count me in as a customer who will go out of my way to abuse my bandwidth, As my provider does state it its UNLIMITED, well thats what I am paying for, should they DARE ring me up to ask me about reaching any kind of limit, I guess I will ask them to speak to my lawyer.

normanmark

marleyboy wrote: »

Count me in as a customer who will go out of my way to abuse my bandwidth, As my provider does state it its UNLIMITED, well thats what I am paying for, should they DARE ring me up to ask me about reaching any kind of limit, I guess I will ask them to speak to my lawyer.

Then im pretty sure your lawyer wouldnt get very far, in their terms & conditions they would have defined unlimted to a fair use amount with a figure that they deem as acceptable. Your post looks good on paper but wouldnt hold up very far in any legal proceedings

Wayne3765

If I was unhappy with my ISP I'd just get a MAC and take my business elsewhere like I did when Eclipse were only letting me use 0.5 MB of a 4 MB connection.

RACHIE77

I am behind this one 100%!! Imagine if you were allowed to call other things in life 'unlimited' but they had a limit on them - it just doesn't make sense!!

And if they do have to put the asterix and then refer to a fair usage policy it should at least make sense - I read somewhere that Tiscali have a set limit for usage and that basically once you get to a certain point they squeeze your bandwith down and down to make YOU fit the limit - hardly unlimited and hardly a fair usage policy - I heard their limit was 35GB or there abouts - its only hearsay but what else do I have to go on when their 'fair usage policy' doesn't say anything at all??

I think its disgusting that companies can advertise the products as 'unlimited' when they clearly aren't - its false advertising if u ask me, 'fair usage policies' or not....

Rant over!

I've signed this one! Thanks OP!

RACHIE77

normanmark wrote: »

Then im pretty sure your lawyer wouldnt get very far, in their terms & conditions they would have defined unlimted to a fair use amount with a figure that they deem as acceptable. Your post looks good on paper but wouldnt hold up very far in any legal proceedings

Do they actually quote figures then? Cos I can't find one in Tiscalis T&Cs?? :rolleyes:

normanmark

RACHIE77 wrote: »

Do they actually quote figures then? Cos I can't find one in Tiscalis T&Cs?? :rolleyes:

No they wont quote figures, what i was more referring to is that every ISP will have a clause in their terms & conditions that they can change any parts of the terms and service. A similar thing are on mobile phone contracts as well!

With reference to tiscali, heres their fair use policy.

Does make me wonder though how many people who get warnings about excessive downloading are downloading anything legitimate? :rolleyes:

Stebiz's point below sums up my thoughts:

stebiz wrote: »

Most companies do have a fair usage limit. So unless you are a customer who constantly abuses the bandwidth you should have no problems. I mean who in the right mind needs to download the equivalent of upto 6 movies a day (or more) and then say it is for residential purposes. So for everybody else they should be fine.

Hands up those who have had a phone call from their ISP for going over their bandwidth - and who used the net for genuine purposes as a residential customer - hands up!!! Not many I guess.

Stebiz

If anyones expecting 'unlimited' ADSL services then they'll be waiting a long time. If you want true unlimited services then get yourself cable (if its in your local area).

It's not clear for customers, that much i agree with. But consumers should pro-actively do their homework before signing up for a service!

I mean how many adverts do you see of car companies advertising the latest model, making it sure its the top spec model they're showing but then showing the price for the entry level car? Loads! It's all about doing your homework & being clued up before committing yourself to any 12 month term

But i still think the strongest way to make your voice heard is by taking your custom to a provider which is more straightforward! Hit companies where it hurts, the pocket, as opposed to getting any form of trading standards ruling!

Madasafish_Customer_Care

Here are some interesting links for you folks:

Blog detailing a successful legal complaint against an ISP who advertised as unlimited but didn't supply the service as advertise:

http://demonic-tale.blogspot.com/

Guy Kweny article explaining why the economics of offering an unlimited service for less than £20 just don't add up:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/05/08/unlimited_broadband_ads_dishonest/

Clearly "unlimited" services do have usage thresholds which they just don't publish because it makes their services look more attractive.

I agree with Normanmark in that ultimately it's up to the consumer to vote with their feet if they don't agree with the way a product is advertised.

Kind regards,
Samara

stebiz

marleyboy wrote: »

Count me in as a customer who will go out of my way to abuse my bandwidth, As my provider does state it its UNLIMITED, well thats what I am paying for, should they DARE ring me up to ask me about reaching any kind of limit, I guess I will ask them to speak to my lawyer.

And then they will check your usage - ie what you are downloading and were from - and then exclude you from the service if they find any evidence of commercial usage.

Stebiz

RACHIE77

Normanmark, I agree, you do see adverts showing top of the range cars, and the price displayed is for the basic model - what is different is if you went to the car showroom and asked how many gadgets you would get for the price shown they would tell you... They would also tell you how much it costs to get the deluxe version!

I can't imagine they would be able to sell a car with 'unlimited free petrol' and then turn around and say you are only allowed a certain amount but its a secret as to how much - and then stop your allowance after 5 gallons??

Its the clarity issue that annoys me - they should be forced to show the EXACT limit and not talk of 'unlimited' when it is a clear lie...

It just causes confusion for the consumer!

stebiz

RACHIE77 wrote: »

Normanmark, I agree, you do see adverts showing top of the range cars, and the price displayed is for the basic model - what is different is if you went to the car showroom and asked how many gadgets you would get for the price shown they would tell you... They would also tell you how much it costs to get the deluxe version!

I can't imagine they would be able to sell a car with 'unlimited free petrol' and then turn around and say you are only allowed a certain amount but its a secret as to how much - and then stop your allowance after 5 gallons??

Its the clarity issue that annoys me - they should be forced to show the EXACT limit and not talk of 'unlimited' when it is a clear lie...

It just causes confusion for the consumer!

They also say residentail use only - and then you get customers using it for commercial use (we all do) and they turn a blind eye to it. I guess we have broken the contract too. Apologies for those who don't use it for ebay/website design/logging on to work emails etc. Petty I know but that is how it is.

Stebiz