"Free" NFL Mobile

[PhantomII]

I communicated with Amber over this yesterday.  Supposedly, if you use your phone to watch a 'live and local' football game via NFL Mobile, you will not be charged any data. Sadly, this does not appear to be true.

Not trusting that statement, I decided to watch a little of my local game on the phone, just to check out if I was going to be charged data or not.  I watched perhaps ten minutes of the game, after checking my data usage level on the Verizon App.  Before watching the game, I was at .803 GB (803 MB).  I watched for, again, about ten minutes. There was one commercial that ran during that time.  I then logged off of NFL Mobile, and checked my data again.

It was at .887 GB (887 MB), which meant that those ten minutes added 84 MB to my data usage total.  I wandered through the Verizon support web site until I found a link to the Facebook page.  After lengthy (mostly waiting for a response) discussions, I was told that 1) I shouldn't have been charged any data, except for 2) commercials, that I am charged data for (does that make any sense?  They're pushing a product and you have to pay to see it???), and 3) that I should have automatically been given a data 1GB credit because of that.

I checked my phone this morning, and the data usage shown on the Verizon App.  The App widget put my usage at .887 GB, but the internal data usage monitor said I had used .904 GB.  Not a large difference, but a difference nonetheless. 

So my question is, what's going on?  Why did I get charged data usage when Verizon said I wouldn't be?  Also, why did i not get the 1GB credit I should have 'automatically' received?  Any help would be appreciated.  And yes, before you ask, I am in a 4G LTE coverage area.

[zofire77]

Same exact thing happened to me yesterday.  I have the 4gb plan and had a little over half a gb left with a week to go.  Watched a 1pm game through the nfl mobile app and an hour later i got the text that I had used all my data for the month and was being charged 15 for an extra gb and nfl mobile is showing on my phone as having used .78gb during this cycle when yesterday was the first time i streamed a game over nfl mobile this year and only for an hour.  What good is "free data" if its gonna bring me over my limit.

[SuzyQ · Accepted solution]

You're not alone.  The app seems to work a bit differently for everyone; some have been getting freebee data, with no impact to their plan data, AND a bonus GB to cover the ads.

In my case, I seem to be getting the "freebee" data (it finally showed up in my account as freebee data and the .3GB or so showing as data use on my phone is NOT showing as usage on line or in my Verizon phone app.  So that's good.  I'm not getting the bonus GB for ad coverage though,  so I am getting charged data when the ads come on.

The data may show on your phone as cellular data, but check the account at verizonwireless.com for the breakdown on the day/evening you watched the game and see if there is a spike for that time.  Also, check the data details and see if any of your lines is using the FreeBee data.

Check this thread for other info too:  Why am I being charged data overages for NFL mobile? My bill is already up 150$!!!

[SAMOEDADDY]

The way that I understood it was that they would credit the data used when utilizing the app to watch a game. Could be wrong.

[SuzyQ]

OK--here's what I've learned today, and what I have experienced using this app.  FIrst off, the streaming video is excellent quality - watching the games on a 5" screen is not ideal, but when you don't have cable, and want to see a Monday night game, it works and works well.

My data allowance has not been used for the games, but the ads do use data, and they make up a good portion of the games 3 hours, so they will use data.  Some have reported getting a text that they reply to and they are granted 1GB data in their account almost immediately.  I was not so lucky - I started an online chat to see how I could get the 1GB data promised in the ad on the website:

Get NFL Mobile to watch live local and primetime games, highlights, NFL RedZone and more. All without using any data*. Only on Verizon.

*Available to Verizon Wireless postpay customers over LTE. Other app activity, including downloading and browsing, counts against your Verizon Wireless data plan. Add'l data and/or bill credits will be provided to cover data usage for ads included in NFL video content. Subject to change.

The gal gave me a $15 bill credit (that showed up right away) to use for a data boost to cover the ads.  This is good - the boost data also carries over if I don't use it all.  BUT, I had to specify and ask that it be applied every month through the football season (till February), not just this month.  And I need to remember to go in and add the data boost each month too - the data is not automatic.

Seems like they are offering a great deal, but nothing happens unless you ask for it.  Good luck for any of you that are trying to get this figured out.

UPDATE:  My freebee data counter has gone back to 0 - it was showing data used this month and now it doesn't show any.  But my plan data isn't showing the game usage either - it's not anywhere but on my phone.  I guess I shouldn't worry unless I get billed for it...

[vzw_customer_support]

Phantomll AdsI enjoy using NFL Mobile just like many of our customers. We're glad to see that you are taking advantage of the promotion to stream live games. We'd like to provide some additional information about data usage. Ads within NFL Mobile video content count against data allowance and customers receive either extra data and/or a bill credit to cover data consumed. An additional 1GB of data per month is added for each line for those customers. In order to receive the 1GB, you have to watch NFL streaming content each month.

SheritaH_VZW
Follow us on Twitter @VZWSupport
If my response answered your question please click the "Correct Answer" button under my response. This ensures others can benefit from our conversation. Thanks in advance for your help with this!!

[SuzyQ]

Verizon Wireless Customer Support wrote:

... customers receive either extra data and/or a bill credit to cover data consumed. An additional 1GB of data per month is added for each line for those customers. In order to receive the 1GB, you have to watch NFL streaming content each month.

However, sheritah_vzw,  it's NOT automatic - at least it hasn't been for me.  I had a lengthy chat and was able to get the bill credit.  I need to go and do the data boost each month or I won't see the additional data ... it wasn't just applied to my account as advertised and implied.

[LANDOLIVINLARGE]

Why only 1gb to cover the ads, if one were to watch all of the fewer games offered surely the ads would consume more than 1gb. No where on any of the promotions does it indicate as such. It simply states "Add'l data and/or bill credits will be provided to cover days usage for are included in NFL video content". At this point in the cycle I anticipate that I have used 3gb of data simply watching added within the NFL mobile free games.

[42ezra]

Verizon is obviously a fraudulent enterprise and some folks should get together and mount a class action based on their fraudulent advertising of DATA FREE NFL MOBILE STREAMING - you see and hear the ads on TV everywhere and I hear and see "stream live NFL football games without using any of you data". But that is not true. You only can stream data free if you have one of the larger plans. Folks, this is misleading advertising in the best possible light. In the worst light it's shameful fraud and definitely illegal. What can we do?

[deloused]

What can we do? Learn to check full offer details in fine print when an advertisement interests us and get over it. Pretty much any offer from any company anywhere has details and eligibility requirements.

Just like commercials from any of the carriers offerring 'Free' phones that require certain plans or a contract to be eligible for the offer. Or a commercial for a new car at 0% interest which would require a certain credit score.

Certainly not fraudulent or illegal, this is how advertising works. In order to be successful in a class action or any other type of lawsuit you'd have to have actual legally recognized damages, not just being mad.