Does anyone know if the 5GB cap has a legitimate purpose? Is there not enough bandwidth for everyone to share? If that's really the case then I can be OK (albeit unhappy) with the policy. But if it's just so Verizon can make a fortune on 5 cent per MB overage charges then that's another discussion. Just wanted to share my 410KB worth.
Cheers.
Yeah, I hate it... can't stand it. It's waaaaay to expensive to have such a small cap. And the internet traffic is such a pain!!! I get disconnected all the time; it irritates me to see that I'm "connected" yet "dormant"... when really I wasn't dormant, there was just so much internet traffic I couldn't get online anymore. So dumb.
And yes, the overage charges are total bull... If they wanna nitpick mb usage, then why don't they charge per mb instead of charging us every month as if we used our entire 5 gig allowance? I want my money back!!!
Their really is no reason for them other then to make huge profits at our expense. It is in my opinion that we the rural user are being raked over the coals. We finally have HIGH speed broadband after suffering for years at 56k or less because of our countries inability to reach rural America.. Blackberry and other smart phone users are not the main consumers of high speed mobile broadband, we are. The future of the internet is not in wired but in the more cost effective wireless market and companies like Sprint, Verizon, or AT&T know this.
They didn't have to lay cable for us to become customers. Imagine if the wired companies ie cable, fiber imposed a 5GB cap. People would turn off there cable, fios in a second and simply do the DTV route which I currently do. 21 digital channels that I pay not a penny for. So no there really is no reason. If I'm mobile I just pull into about every place on the road that has free wifi and connect that way . I don't need email on a phone or the ability to surf over my phone whatsoever and neither do most other people. I can blow 25mb an hour just surfing and not downloading anything. Now most websites push flash movies on you that load without you even giving consent. or big flashy ads like on the Verizon main page.
Can you imagine a family of 4-6 where their children need to access the internet for school or people that take college courses at home trying to get buy on 5GB a month. Should they be penalized for wanting to use the internet or even worse have to go for 200 bucks a month for 10GB a month cap. I think not. These caps are not even close to a fair amount of data for the price we pay. I'm actually quite amazed that in today's crappy economy that wireless companies have done nothing to ease the burdens on our families. Lower costs etc, etc. In case you haven't figured it out I'm on a mission to get these caps removed one way or another by spreading the word. Contacting government officials agencies like FCC, FTC, BBB, Congressmen and Senators who do actually investigate consumer complaints. Regretfully we consumers can't do anything to change these big corporations from doing whatever they so choose.
I say get rid of early termination fee's. That in itself would change the mobile and wireless world as we know it now back to businesses competing for our business once again.
Zehan: I guess all us rural area folks could move to the city. Then what would we do about the services some of those rural areas provide. LIKE FOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You did "You wanted to live "away from it all," and guess what? You do" Do you think we haven't been on the phone with every internet provider that we can talk to about getting service.
My problem is, I was sold a service and was told the 5GB limit would be enough for what I do online. For 7 months everything was fine, then suddenly the usage amounts doubled. I have NOT changed the way I use the internet. After many calls they finally tell me it is a problem with the tower. Now I have to call every month and stay on the phone forever. I just want what I pay for and it to be right.
I don't think Verizon should limit it to 5GB, maybe 10GB. I found that in my first 3 days, I used almost 400MB, this was just visiting Gmail, Facebook and browsing some other websites, I didn't visit YouTube since, I knew that would eat up a lot of bandwidth. I don't know how they arrived at 5GB, since most websites now have a lot of images, streaming media and such, no all text sites of yesteryear.
I can understand Verizon's position though, they wish to maintain the integrity of their network for all their subscribers but, I still think that in this day and age of media, that having a viable mobile (i.e. not tied to any one area: home, work or school) broadband connection that you can still get an enjoyable browsing experience. I think a lot of people are using the internet more and more so spending 5-8 hours on the internet a day is not all that uncommon, through home surfing, doing things at work and even for students research projects for school and such.
Otherwise, I think they should be upfront in advertising the product that its is LIMITED and is not for browsing media heavy sites like YouTube, MySpace or downloading files like MP3s, which most people think that it is unlimited, when its not, based on the way Verizon has marketed it.
ALL of this is CLEARLY spelled out on the Verizon web site.
Personally I would also like to see Verizon drop the price of their wireless internet services, but I don't think that's the point here. The fact is Verizon does spell out the terms and conditions of their service, so if you agreed to those terms you don't really have a leg to stand on when complaining about the limits Verizon sets.
I also realize that some users' costs for this service might have gone up recently, and that those users might feel that they're being taken advantage of by Verizon. Honestly, I find it very hard to believe that Verizon is just picking random customers and hiking up their usage so they can rake in the overage charges. My experience in customer service has taught me that, whether the customer realizes it or not, THEY are the ones who have changed something about how they use their service which resulted in the overage. How many people come in to a store screaming from the mountaintop that there's NO WAY they used enough minutes to cause an overage but, when the minute usage is added up, find that they did in fact use more minutes than they believed?
I guess the real point I'm trying to make is that if you feel the service you receive is not satisfying your needs, then the best way you can let Verizon know this is to cancel the service and tell them exactly why you're canceling.
This is what I posted on "My reply from VZW to the BBB"
[J Shook, I called Verizon Monday to get my account credited for the overages. After 7 months of using Verizon suddenly my usage amounts doubled. Since then I have been keeping notes, making screen shots of their usage amounts, etc. I questioned them about the negative usage they told me that I must have written it down wrong. I told them I had screen shots of it. Then he said I'll credit your account now. They claimed I had used 5389MB according to my calculations I used 2715. My amount is more in line with what I was using before they started doubling it. When the amount first double after many calls to Verizon I was told it was a tower problem. Mulitple lighting strikes I was told. They now tell me the tower has been repaired. Last night my brother and I was coming home in a thunder storm, at the same time we said tower strike. I can see the tower from my window. One night I was standing in the kitchen saw it hit the tower and it shook my house. My advice to any one using Verizon is to keep good notes and call every month.]
Yesterday I went to the store with my notebook. I went over my notes with the person at the store. He couldn't believe what I was showing him. He called into Verizon. The person he talked to said she could see some mis calculations and was coming up with more what I was saying I had used. My account is now being reviewed.
And no I did not go into the store "screaming from the mountaintop." I showed them what I had, about 50 pages of notes for 2 months. I know that the person I'm talking to on the phone or in the store just works for a living.
Zehan the point I'm trying to make is, If you really think something is wrong, keep good records.
I do agree there are some people that just want to complain, but there are some that have a ligitimate complaint. Problems can come up in any service you use. Example, several years ago I had a problem with my water bill. I didn't think it could be right. I was told several times that I must have a water leak. I had to pretty much beg them to come check the meter before I hired someone to dig up my water lines. I live quite a way from the highway, so it would have been quite expense. Finally they checked the meter, it was bad, a new meter put in and the water bill went back to normal. I was credited for the overages.
I was very happy with Verizon until this happened. After 3 months yes I'm am getting a bit frustated, but hopeful that I can get this issue resolved soon.
Thank you to everyone who has replied to my original post. Despite many great points being brought up, I feel that my first question is still unanswered, which was essentially that I don't understand why Verizon sets a cap in the first place.
I agree that it is my responsibility to read and abide by the contract. Indeed, I knew before signing up that I would have a 5GB cap and what the charges would be if I went over. I still have the right to be upset about it, though. Like many who have posted on this and other threads, I live in a rural area. The cap is especially inconvenient for me because I work from home as a web developer, and it is virtually impossible for me to do my work without exceeding the cap. I do realize that this is also my responsibility. I could move or find a different job, and no one forced me to get Verizon's service.
What I'm trying to figure out, is whether Verizon has the cap because it is necessary for them to operate this service successfully, or if it is just so that they can make extra cash at the expense of people who have little other choice. If the purpose of the cap is to prevent the system from being overloaded, then I'm OK with the policy, so long as the overage rates reasonably represent the demand for usage. If, however, there is a significant amount of unused bandwidth but Verizon charges for overage anyway, then I feel it is important that we make an effort express our concerns. I think most of these types of situations would resolve themselves in the free market, but since Verizon is the only provider of this certain service in many areas, it is largely up to us as the consumer to demand from businesses directly that changes be made.
You don't have the right to demand anything. Either you buy the product or you don't. This is a free market society.
Good point. I should say request, not demand.
Verizon has a finite amount of available bandwidth. They have to decide is it in their best interest to spread this over more customers at 5 GB per customer or less customers at something more than 5 GB. I suppose if they were only in the business of selling broadband for computers, it would actually be more efficient for them to have less customers. For instance, they could have 1/2 as many customers and charge us all $120 for 10 GB. However, since they also sell telephone service, they have to decide how to best use all of their capacity for all of their products to maximize their profits. Unless you work for them and understand their business plans, you can't understand their reasoning. That's why, as customers, we simply have to decide if we like the product or not. If not, go somewhere else.
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