Tomorrow I will begin crowdsourcing a cramming complaint against Verizon to the FCC. I intend to pay the $250 and ask for a formal vote from Commission members. Yes, that means (hopefully!) going to DC and appearing in-person. First draft will go up tomorrow on relevant VZ user communities.
The complaint stems from three related situations where Unlimited Data Plan (UDP) holders – many on two-year contracts (like myself) are losing their UDP… particularly in the middle of a plan contract.
1) Some have activated non-Verizon devices, and are losing UDP for doing so. Verizon signed a $1 million settlement with the FCC agreeing not to do this, and they’re still doing it.
2) Some used accepted tools for extending their contract, without buying a new device on the affected line of service – extending the contract, without a prohibited device upgrade stripping UDP from the line. Verizon is now retroactively claiming this was offered in error, but is not letting those out of contracts. Instead they’re just stripping the UDP off the account, and leaving it locked in a contract.
3) People who use more than 100GB on their UDP are being randomly terminated. While abuse claims are reasonable to make, Verizon refuses to say what they find to be abusive – in part, because their settlement with the FCC required unlimited to truly mean “unlimited” and unthrottled.
Now, Verizon would have an out – if they give me back my UDP (I fell into “Category 2” above), I would lose the standing “teeth” to push for a vote from the Commission. But I do plan to document all this so that other UDP holders can file similar complaints, and keep the fight going if that happens.
P.S. Thank you T-Mobile for gifting me a free upgrade to Unlimited – Picking up the slack, and doing a good job all around!
Update: As an epilogue, the complaint that I ultimately filed, did result in the restoration of my Unlimited Data Plan. Click the link to the update, in order to see copies of the successful complaint, and feel free to use it should you find yourself in a similar boat.