ambushed!

[dymonddlady54]

I am in no way a geeky type person that knows the difference between killobytes, data usage etc.  i bought the MiFi because I needed internet access for my job. I bought the 4 G right.  No one in the store ever explained to me that it was not unlimited, or that when a message states something about usage 50% means you are close to your limit. So, I went over and got a surprising verizon bill for More than $500.00!!... the response from the representative."well, we sent you information,you were close to your limit".  YES, to someone who didnt understand that the internet was not unlimited!... so i try to discontinue the service... oh yeah, just try it... contract is until 10/2013.  so, whats to be done?... anyone in the same boat?... do we need to take a computer class before buying data equipment...?... what a ripp off.

[AZSALUKI]

next time you get a warning about your usage limit, you should just call and ask them to explain it. you ignored a warning that they clearly gave you. i feel bad for you, but they did their part to let you know you were going to exceed your limit.

[Spiral]

After reading your post, I would indeed recommend you take some computer classes before purchasing additional equipment/plans.  Maybe you can get the training through your employer?

[budone]

Ya say you did not know it was not unlimited. Did you look at your receipt? Did you ask??? And even the warning which subscribers have been wanting for ages, did not even pique your interest???

Sorry, not a rip off.

[datapoor]

maybe not a rip off but i think some people dont understand until  after the fact of signing that 5 or 10 is not alot of data for a month. you either work for VZW or you are just a genious and know everything. really if you agree that 10 for 80.00 a month is a great deal then i surrender to you as the expert.try for a month to keep your data under 10 , bet you cant!

[verizonmoderator1]

<Thread moved from the "Apple" space to the Broadband & Netbook Community" space for more exposure.>

[datapoor]

i so feel your pain as! i also was mislead in december, we were told that as long as you dont do netflx you will not go over your plan of 5 and that in fact you can tranfer your email account from your origional internet provider. great sign us up, trial was up before the bill got here and was over 2 gigs just with my motorola Xoom and had not even canceled my original ISP. called VZW helpline and she said you should nit have canceled your original ISP as this is used more for people on the go! emailed BBB and then finally was contacted by a so called executive withVZW! she gave e a little credit for the next two years but would not let me out of contract. now here it is 9 days into my march bill and over half way through my data plan. the average household goes through around 22 and a half gigs per month .not a hater, just wish VZW would give us a little mor data for the 80.00 a month ,also think the replies to your post are VZW eemployees since they really dog in this fight. better sign off so i can shut down my computer for the day to save data for my daughter in case she has fifteen minutes of homework tonight. always take a contract to a lawyer or yes take time and study it from top to bottom and front to back. ill bet the trollers here do not have MIFi or again they would not have a dog in this fight! PS good luck as we are just a grain of salt in the sea.

[rcschnoor]

datapoor wrote:

i so feel your pain as! i also was mislead in december, we were told that as long as you dont do netflx you will not go over your plan of 5 and that in fact you can tranfer your email account from your origional internet provider. great sign us up, trial was up before the bill got here and was over 2 gigs just with my motorola Xoom and had not even canceled my original ISP. called VZW helpline and she said you should nit have canceled your original ISP as this is used more for people on the go! emailed BBB and then finally was contacted by a so called executive withVZW! she gave e a little credit for the next two years but would not let me out of contract. now here it is 9 days into my march bill and over half way through my data plan. the average household goes through around 22 and a half gigs per month .not a hater, just wish VZW would give us a little mor data for the 80.00 a month ,also think the replies to your post are VZW eemployees since they really dog in this fight. better sign off so i can shut down my computer for the day to save data for my daughter in case she has fifteen minutes of homework tonight. always take a contract to a lawyer or yes take time and study it from top to bottom and front to back. ill bet the trollers here do not have MIFi or again they would not have a dog in this fight! PS good luck as we are just a grain of salt in the sea.

Just curious, but did you do your research AFTER you bought the mifi? If not, why didn't you think you would be going over your allowance if you were aware the "average" household goes through around 22.5GB/month. Maybe it's just me, but I normally research my needs PRIOR to making a purchase.

And about reading the contract, why would you want to do that? Why not just sign it and hope for the best?

[datapoor]

i did my research after the fact about average household usage. at the time i trusted the salesman at a dedicatedVZW store and yes i am not computer savvy ,i admit that. i have learned alot since dec though we all get screwed some point in life on contracts but in this instance 5 gigs for 50.00 or even 10 gigs for 80.00 is as ive learned not enough for a home internet primary service . i guess my family eats crow for two years thanks to VZW . if i told you how much money i make ,you would laugh as to why this guy is even posting this? the truth is i dont do facebook,twitter as im am a somewhat private person but this has really gotten under msy skin and to think of the families that truly cannot afford a screw up like this and has to maybe pay on a say a overage om 12 megabites are really screwed and with 23 months left on ther contract! there is a new plan coming this year called home fusion , sure  hop VZW lets us switch to it but i highly doubt it?

[TeeJCee]

You are right. Verizon has always gone for the juggler when it comes to pricing their product. I am one who owns a MiFi 4150 as well. I am in an area where I can only get 3G on a GOOD day, so it would probably make you think that I can keep my numbers under 5 Gigs. Not SO! I can run it out faster than a bullet. Verizon needs to UP the data numbers to twice, or three times the current amount to appease most of us. I have had Verizon since the beginning of time (clear back to Air Touch). This is probably the biggest rip off they have ever perpertrated on the public. It really means that you have to stick to cable, or dsl, and forget 4G. It is about useless as it can get. Imagine anyone trying to do what they do on normal internet connections with MiFi.

RIIIIIPPPP OFFFFFF!

[rcschnoor]

TeeJCee wrote:

It really means that you have to stick to cable, or dsl, and forget 4G.

But this is reasonable, though. If you have a static location, WHY would you need MOBILE broadband. Of course you would stick to cable or some other broadband with unlimited data. You pay a premium for MOBILE broadband to have the MOBILITY. Of course it is going to be more expensive. You pay to have the ability to CHANGE.

For the most part, mobile broadband is meant to be a supplement to static broadband. At least in its current state. Maybe at some point in the future it will be seen as a replacement in ALL situations.

No other industry charges the same prices for "static" services over "mobile" or "changing" services. You always pay a premium. There is additional cost, there should be additional price.

Take airlines for example, you pay an additional cost(quite often very large) for the SAME ticket and the MAJOR additional benefit is the ease of which you can change that ticket. Yet I never hear people complain of being ripped off like they do with cellular.

[datapoor]

we live two miles outside of cable so our option i think was limited to satalite and the speed was 1.5 down . love the speed of mifi but it looks like i will pay the 155.00 cancelation fee in a month or two and go with the phone company at speeds of 1.5 i think and a very reasonable price.im the first to admit that i knew nothing going into this when we signed contract and should have done some research,just listened and trusted the salesman . i did for the first time ,email the BBB on this and nicole from big red /head office offered 350.00 credit on account for the next two years , half the price of the cost of the 5 gig and the ten gig and said to call her if she can do anything else? tried to contact her to see if i can maybe pay for 20 gig package or ? she will not return my phone calls ,LOL. well better sign off as we are at our limit for the billing month with 14 days to go and thanks for the clarification on the different options.

[bigtitan]

An "unexpected" bill hurts no matter what the circumstances are and I'm no big fan of VZWs sales force...but, you let yourself get ripped off. 

I know you were advised not to use Netflix but what else ARE you doing? I defintiely suggest working with a knowledgable person in figuring out your internet options and how to BEST utilise/minimize/maximize the data plan you signed up for...good luck! 

[datapoor]

the day we signed with salesman , i did not know enough about the five gig limit and yes it is my fault! we have two ipads, motorola xoom ,dedicated computer. daughter did load pictures and music which i thin did result in using twenty percent of our package in about two hours? signing up with century link as we speak at 29.95.

[Skipgalt]

I hope you realize that CenturyLink is just a middleman bundler. They provide no value add or technology you can't already get or already have from DirecTV or Verizon.  You will either end up paying them more and using Verizon equipment anyway, or using DirecTV equipment (satellite) and suffer the huge latencies of Internet via satellite and the added bonus of weather outages. Good luck with that choice.

[rcschnoor]

You're welcome!