So a while back I got a Palm Treo 650 with Aliant mobility, my provider of choice for every phone I've had, plus internet provider. I've always been pretty happy with their level of service until recently.
I was going over my bills at the end of the year, and realized that the "data package" for my phone was going virtually unused, including several months where it wasn't used at all. This is easy to miss as Aliant removes "data" from the usage stats page instead of showing the usage as ZERO! Tricky buggers.
The deal with the data package is that when I "upgraded" my phone, I was told by the salesperson that in order to use the "features" of my Treo, I would have to subscribe to a data plan. I said, OK, give me the lowest plan which is, get this, $25 for 4MB of transfer. That's enough to download one MP3.... The mind boggles.
So, as I realized this "data plan" was going unused, I contacted Aliant and requested to have the data package removed from my setup as I wasn't using it, and will continue to not use it. I was told that because I have a Palm Treo, it is "mandatory" to subscribe to a data plan! I replied to Aliant that this is similar to saying that if you have a BLUE phone, you have to subscribe to a data plan. They proceeded to explain to me that since I purchased a Treo, that is "designed" to browse the web differently than a "regular" phone, the data package is mandatory.
In my last e-mail to Aliant, I explained that since I didn't purchase the Treo with surfing the net in mind, there is an obvious flaw in their billing practice with respect to these phones.
I have yet to hear a final word on this from Aliant, but I expect to get nowhere... and they wonder why their market share continues to shrink. I have had no reason to question my service before, but because of their greedy stand on this, I may be taking my $250+ a month and going elsewhere as soon as I can.
I don't believe Rogers has a similar demand on their similar products. Anyone know?
Just a little beware... FYI.
Like I said, this just seems so obviously lame, I can't believe no one else is after them for this. It would be different if it were just part of a package price, but it's a separate feature added to the bill. I don't mind paying for features, and service, but forcing something onto my package is ridiculous. Especially something as useless as 4MB for $25!!!