Buzz Out Loud Lounge: Requiring a data plan

I take it all back!!!

I was all set to recommend ATT, telling you that you can use any phone you want, until I got my last bill. Can you believe it? There's a note on my bill saying that, effective in September, you can no longer use a smart phone without a data plan! I called to ask a few questions, like, "um, why not???" Their answer was that they've had too many customers unknowingly run up huge data bills, then request refunds. I replied, "I'm not a child or an idiot. How about you let me use the phone I want? I don't use the internet anyway. I understand the pricing and won't use it." He replied that sure, customers say they won't but that with all the cool features available on the phone, eventually they do, so they created the policy. Of course, I asked "instead of forcing your customers to pay for something they may not use, why not just charge for actual usage but cap the price at the unlimited price when usage goes up? One plan, best of both worlds." He replied "hey, that's a really good idea. I'll submit it as a suggestion." Yeah. Right. I asked "what if I don't want to use the internet at all? What if I just want to use the advanced phone features? He replied, literally from a script: "we have had a large number of complaints about the new policy. Many customers want a built-in keyboard for texting. I'm supposed to read you the following. We have added a large selection of texting phones with keyboards that will not require a data plan. go to our website to see the many choices." Gee, thanks. I said "I don't text. I want ALL the advanced features of the phone: contact management, organizer, PDA-type applications, wifi, which, ahem, you can't charge me for. Is this the REAL reason for the policy? Actually, I currently have both data and texting DISABLED on my phone. If I keep them disabled, how about then?" He said that he certainly understood that there may be some users like me, for whom it would make sense to get a smart phone without a plan, but there really wasn't anything he, personally, could do. I then asked if that meant that maybe someone else, like his supervisor, or perhaps the retention department when I call to cancel my plan, would be able to do something? He replied "maybe. They have the authority to offer things that I can't." By the way, he did also mention that if I were already using a smart phone before September, then it would be "grandfathered" and I wouldn't have to get the data plan. I realize that doesn't help you or me now, though. The original note on my bill said that they would AUTOMATICALLY switch me to the data plan if I used a smart phone, even if I didn't change plans voluntarily. I asked exactly how they would determine that, by data usage or will the system detect the model number of the phone I use automatically? He didn't know. I asked, what if I just plug my sim card into my friend's phone to try it? Then what? He didn't know. What a load of absolute crap. Just another excuse to get more money from us. What's funny is they're having capacity problems already. Forcing people to pay for unlimited data plans will just encourage them to consume more, making things worse. I carry around a cell phone and a small wi-fi internet tablet. I'd love to have them both in one device. Oh well.