Judge Orders AT&T to Pay Customer $850 for Throttling His Unlimited Data Plan

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Posted February 24, 2012 at 10:19pm by Shalom Levytam

A Southern California judge has awarded $850 to an iPhone user who had his unlimited data plan throttled by AT&T, reports The Associated Press.

Pro-tem Judge Russell Nadel found in favor of Matt Spaccarelli in Ventura Superior Court in Simi Valley. Spaccarelli filed a small claims case against AT&T last month, arguing the communications giant unfairly slows speeds on his iPhone 4's unlimited data plan.

Nadel's ruling could pave the way for others to follow suit. AT&T has some 17 million customers with "unlimited data" plans that can be subject to throttling, representing just under half of the company's smartphone users.

Spaccarelli said he was being throttled after using 1.5 to 2 gigabytes of data. This is similar to a recent report that revealed unlimited plan users were being throttled at the 2gb mark since that put them in the top 5% of users. Meanwhile AT&T is providing 3gb to tiered data plan subscribers for $30/month.

It's unclear if AT&T plans to appeal this decision; however, it's likely they will since this ruling could open the door for a class action suit.

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justabrake - February 26, 2012 at 4:48pm

shepard smith from foxnews and and editor from mashable were talking about how ATT&T gets you in with an unlimited data plan and then throttles you and the editor from mashable said phones were'n like that when they offered you unlimited he said now you have 8MP cameras in phones which make data high, and shepared said I guess we can't do nothing about it and the editor said nope.

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PReaper - February 26, 2012 at 4:20pm

2 GB usage puts you in the top 5% users!?!? That's not even the bottom (% users in Sweden.. More like bottom 2%..

PReaper - February 26, 2012 at 4:23pm

*bottom 5%

Bryron - February 25, 2012 at 4:31pm

I very well understand why he did that and also I am having the same problem with AT&T with my unlimited plan.

Big D - February 25, 2012 at 5:40am

That's right AT

Real abe - February 25, 2012 at 3:19am

They took away my unlimited plan and automatically switched me to the tiered 3 gb data plan. Can I sue?

justabrake - February 25, 2012 at 3:26am

Take them to small claims court itll only cost 15 bucks to see how far you'll get

Real abe - February 25, 2012 at 7:57am

Will I need to hire an attorney to get anywhere with it? Because I'll do it if I know I won't be wasting my time.

budsal - February 25, 2012 at 3:43pm

My experience tells me that any court case needs to be viewed as a probable waste of time and money. When you win though the high is a good one.

John - February 26, 2012 at 8:13am

Hey of people nowadays sue for HOT coffee then why not you???

justabrake - February 25, 2012 at 1:49am

This is why i don't take paperless billing I want proof of my usage

dodgerking - February 25, 2012 at 2:00am

You can check your usage online at anytime. They even have a usage APP for you phone as well.

Why - February 24, 2012 at 11:50pm

@busal also this iPhone don't support aws witch is what t mobile uses but the next will

MRod057 - February 25, 2012 at 12:35am

i wish I could Sue them they've been doing the same bullshit to me!!!

Nick - February 24, 2012 at 11:39pm

The only reason I haven't left is that Verizon no longer offers unlimited data plans and I don't like T-Mobile or Sprint.

budsal - February 24, 2012 at 11:33pm

I fear you are right. Hopefully this is really just a cue for companies who have unlimited plans that they have to make good on the word unlimited. It's clear that a throttled data plan is usless and thusly the unlimited is truly limited and therefore a lie to call it unlimited. Bad business. Even worse though is that you cannot get a straight answer. Top 5% is bullshit. ATT store rep told me after 2gigs you get throttled. Two days ago a telephone support rep told me I will get throttled after 5gigs. The truth is there is no truth and we all are subject to the whims of big bullys, er ah... big businesses.

Nick - February 24, 2012 at 11:37pm

They should not be holding the unlimited users to a standard that is different from the tiered data users as far as throttling goes, but sadly that's what it sounds like they're doing. That's just bad business. They're just trying as hard as possible to get people off the unlimited plans and onto the tiered plans so they can make more money.

MrYogi - February 24, 2012 at 10:44pm

I would like to here this too. I wanna be qualified for an early termination so I can move to Verizon

Nick - February 24, 2012 at 11:06pm

The problem is that the only carriers left that have unlimited data are sprint and tmobile, but tmobile also throttles you.

Rob - February 24, 2012 at 10:42pm

I'd be interested to see how he came up with that number. I finally moved to a tiered plan specifically because my phone was unusable with the throttling. I was unable to get AT&T to tell me that the cap was 2.1gb (which it was consistantly for 2 months) and they wouldn't offer a way to "fix" the issue. I finally had to give in. Why is it ok for a carrier to bully their loyal customers into plans that work against the customer? I'd switch to T-Mobile if they had the iPhone, but I just put my folks on my plan and I don't see T-Mobile getting the phone any time soon.

budsal - February 24, 2012 at 11:28pm

Hey, obviously I don't KNOW anything but it seems to me that Tmobile will have iPhone with the next go-round. I think the only reason they didn't get it last time is because they were going to be bought by ATT and so there was no need to build an iPhone for Tmobile. Obviously there is now such a need and that is the basis for my belief.