NY Wrests $1 Million From Verizon Wireless

netbuzz writes "Unlimited really means unlimited, even in advertising. So says the New York State Attorney General's Office in squeezing a $1 million settlement out of Verizon Wireless for disconnecting 13,000 of its customers who had the temerity to believe that the unlimited service they were promised came with unlimited service. Verizon's statement explaining the settlement is a gem, too."

Please oh please...

[Lumpy]

Let this set precedence and all the other states go after Verizon,Comcast and the others hard like this. hell please go after the Cellphone assholes as well.

They thrive on blatantly lying to the customer, Unlimited internet, unlimited calling, unlimited this that the other... they know they are lying. they need to be spanked hard and forced to not lie.

Petty cash

[sm62704]

What a bunch of sleazeballs, both Verizon AND the New York State's Attorney. I got halfway down TFA (Sorry, I know that's unslashdottish of me to RTFA but I'm not feeling well) before my stomach started turning and I was forced to hit the "back" button.

What Verizon did, from TFA, was FRAUD plain and simple. Their CEO and board of directors should be in prison, not made to take petty cash and give it to New York. In their defense I must say, why isn't MY nad-free AG doing anything?

However, I'm not the least surprised. Nobody from Sony went to prison for rooting millions of PCs, despite the fact that if you did to them what they did to me you'ld be in the slammer for years.

I didn't read far enough to see if they agreed to stop defrauding their customers. But hell, you expect thieves and con men to tell the truth in a contract? I mean, the agreement is about their LIES to begin with!

I'm looking for a new cell phone company. Is there one out there that is reletively sleaze-free? I was happy with Cingular for years, never went over my minutes (always had rollover minutes) and the bill was always the same, under $50. Then AT&T bought them out, and all of a sudden I got hit with a $150 bill. I didn't pay it. The next month they tacked on another $450 on top of the $150, and shut off my service. After shutting off my service, they tacked ANOTHER $150 for the month I was without service, including taxes on the service they never provided.

Verizon was on the list of possible replacements (I'm using pay as you go right now), so this story was just in the nick of time. Thank you, slashdot!

You iknow, I'm a geezer; I don't remember businesses being run by thieves and sociopaths when I was young. Maybe my memory is bad, or I was naive. Or maybe we're heading for another world wide depression like tha 1930s?

-mcgrew

(Oblig link [mcgrew.info] to my blagh posting about Sony rooting my box, titled "SONY MUST DIE!!!!")

they'll clarify the ads, not change the service

[m2943]

There are two things Verizon could do: change the service or change the ads. They can't change the service because it's economically not feasible.

So, what this will mean is simply that ads will get slightly more prominent disclaimers saying something like

Verizon Unlimited Bandwidth*

*Subject to terms of service; file sharing, bandwidth sharing, public servers, or continuous data transfer are examples of prohibited activities.

Re:Assumed Guilt

[jamar0303]

Yep- People wouldn't be complaining if Verizon called it the 5GB plan upfront. In China, for example, mobile data is metered (50MB/100MB/800MB/2GB, ranging from US$4-$30) if you buy it with a cellphone. They have an unlimited datacard plan, which is truly unlimited (as much as you want, no matter what you're downloading) but you can't make phone calls with that card (not regular circuit calls- VoIP's OK).

Not just cell phones

[soupforare]

I've friends in very rural areas that (somehow) actually have cellular coverage. They're only other choice is dialup, so, it's not just cell phones.

What would you propose they do?

Not market it as unlimited.

Re:Oh, wow

[Anonymous Coward]

No, it's not legal precedent-- the case was not decided by a judge or jury, it was settled. Settlements do not become legal precedent. Thus, unlimited != "unlimited"