Apple, AT&T sued over iPad data plan change

People ordering before June 6 were supposed to be grandfathered... but I ordered mine June 3 and just called to activate the unlimited plan. Nope, apparently you had to activate the unlimited plan before June 15. My unit didn't even arrive by June 15!

In my case, 2GB is probably enough - but I'd prefer to just not worry about it. Bought the unit planning on Unlimited for $30. Doesn't seem right...

(Before this morning, I was one of the few AT&T fans)

It most certainly IS a bait and switch, and as a lawyer I've been waiting to hear about just such a class action from the moment i heard "unlimited data" was reduced all the way down to 2gigs/month.

I personally bought the plain wifi iPad, since I am not gonna carry it with me wherever I go and I have the iPhone for 3G (and I do have unlimited data on that).

The only problem with this lawsuit is I thought the people who bought 3G ipads and got the unlimited data plan were being grandfathered in so they can keep paying the $30/month for said unlimited 3G data plan. If that's the case, then nobody lost anything, there was no bait and switch. As for people who wanted to buy one and wanted to get unlimited data, that's too bad, but nothing to sue over.

But for the people who bought a 3G iPad, had it delivered and didn't receive it in time to active the unlimited plan before the unlimited plan option went away ... they certainly have a good case. But I'm sure that's not a very large # of people and AT&T could easily solve this by letting anyone who bought/ordered a 3G ipad within, say, 10 days of their decision to get rid of the unlimited plan be grandfathered in so they too can have the plan... problem solved, no damages.

AT&T is going about this the wrong way. The issue here isn't the charges, it's the removal of data freedom.

If they charged $40-50 a month for unlimited data and the current capped plans, they'd make plenty on those of us who can't work with a 2G cap, and still rein in the more casual users and those not willing to pay.

Problem solved.

I really think what AT&T should do is something like unlimited access to google / apple / yahoo / bing stuff so that people will complain less about their necessary usage.

other than those, 200MB / 2GB is reasonable, I think.

Class actions make the lawyers rich and get class members a gift card or coupons. It was misleading for Apple to announce a groundbreaking deal as if it was anything other than a loss easing bait and switch scheme to get a lot of ipads sold. Honestly, the only thing that would make it right is to refund early buyers $130.

Normally, I'm not a supporter of anyone who sues Apple since the suits are usually over something really stupid. However, in this case, I have to agree with this lawsuit. I'm not sure though that Apple was fully complicit in this bait and switch tactic, but they were still involved. What I'm angrier about is AT&T trying to sell tethering to us for an extra $20, and still cap the data at 2GB. They're greedy bastards!

Companies do this all the time, it is called the "fine print"; I am not saying I agree, just stating a fact.

This was also as I recall pre-announced at a prototype demo. Do you mean *insert collective gasp* that the T&C (Terms & Conditions) changed from prototype to finished product?

Remember that "class action lawsuit" is an anagram for "I assist actual clown" which refers to the lawyers who file these. Do you realize that at least 50% and as high as 78% of the fees collected go to the lawfirm? No one has insurance for class action suits, as they are uninsurable. A suit like this just adds to the cost of doinng business, which in turn adds to the cost of any product/service.

What AT&T should have done was offer an "unlimited" for the same $, but as someone noted but a "fine print cap" on it, and offer a cheaper $15/2 GB.

They deserve to be sued. Specifically AT&T. I don't know how much of this Apple knew. It's probably not too bad of a deal for iPhones, but it's very bad for iPads, and AT&T REALLY deserves to lose this battle.

Glad I wasn't the only one who felt this way.

I hate superfluous lawsuits, but this one has legs - touting the unlimited data for $30, making a huge deal about it, and then removing it as an option roughly 2 months later?

Not good business. And certainly opens both Apple and ATT up to this lawsuit. I don't use that much data via 3G, but glad someone got pissed off enough to do it for those months I do.