Some folks never learn.
More than three years after settling a $40 million lawsuit over the improper use of the phrase "unlimited data," Straight Talk Wireless is at it again.
Straight Talk Wireless says its $55 "ultimate unlimited plan" comes with unlimited talk, text and data. However, a couple of Reddit users found out the hard way that the plan does not in fact come with unlimited data. They found this out when Straight Talk decided to completely block the users from accessing their data network. When the subscribers inquired why, customer support directed them to their website's terms and conditions which now state:
"We further reserve the right to limit, deny, or terminate Service to anyone we believe is using their Service in an unauthorized manner or whose usage, in our sole discretion, adversely impacts a Carrier’s network or customer service levels. We will presume you are engaging in an unauthorized use in violation of these Terms and Conditions, if in our sole discretion, you are using more than 60 GB of data in a 30-day period....."
I say "now state," because previously these terms were not listed on the Straight Talk Wireless website. In fact, the only sort of data limit I ever noticed on their website was something shown in part of a promotion that they ran several months ago. At that time, they advertised a data prioritization policy which said that if a subscriber goes over more than 32GB of data consumed in a month, they may see their data speeds reduced. This is a practice employed by virtually all unlimited data providers.
Straight Talk's new policy seems to deviate from the industry norm. Will that get them in trouble again?
It just may.
TracFone's FTC Settlement Requirements
While I'm no lawyer, when TracFone (the brand behind Straight Talk) settled the lawsuit with the FTC, it did so under the following conditions:
TracFone must clearly and conspicuously disclose any limits on the speed or quantity of its data service. According to the settlement "clearly and conspicuously" means the following:
- In print communications, the disclosure must be presented in a manner that stands out from the accompanying text so that it is sufficiently prominent, because of its type size, contrast, location, or other characteristics, for an ordinary consumer to notice, read, and comprehend it.
Do you think hiding the limit in small print satisfies this requirement? I certainly don't!
Furthermore:
- “Close Proximity” means on the same print page, webpage, online service page, or other electronic page, and proximate to the triggering representation, and not accessed or displayed through hyperlinks, pop-ups, interstitials, or other means.
Is the limit being shown in close proximity to the plan? Certainly not!
They are many other requirements that TracFone and its brands are required to follow in order to remain in compliance with their settlement with the FTC. While I'm not going to list all of them, if you are interested you can view a copy of the settlement here.
So what do you think of this latest gaffe by Straight Talk Wireless. Will there be a price to pay, or is this just going to slide on by?
Update:
It also doesn’t help that when you call customer service, your call is directed straight to India and there is a language barrier which makes it that much harder to resolve any issues, which is probably intentional. Straight talk is just scandalous. Its not like they are losing any money if you breach the 60gb limit, so it doesn’t even make sense. I mean, if somehow when you reached the 60gb data limit, your $55 was magically refunded and they lost that payment and you could keep using highspeed data and repeat every month, then there would be a reason for them to get butt hurt over it. As that is not the case and wouldn’t even make any sense if it were, there should be no issue. Whoever manages the company are just a bunch of controlling asshats. I have Straight Talk and have never reached the 60bg limit as far as I know, but my download speed for games and stuff was recently decreased like greatly for no reason. I know its got nothing to do with the limit cause its like that from start to end. I don’t know. They’re eventually going to destroy their business and become a thing of the past.
Yep! This happened to me today. I woke up and my internet wasn’t working and I was like wth? So I called them and they told me I used all of my high speed I said how is that possible its unlimited? They said I violated their terms amd conditions by using an excessive amount of data ???????? I said yes I use a lot I use it for work and I also watch tv on my phone which I saw in another comment he said Pluto tv too which is what I use! I wonder if that’s the issue that we watch a free app instead of Hulu or Netflix they always trying to get us to pay for it some way or another! It’s crooked! So in order to work today I had to go ahead and pay it and I have over a week until my bill was actually due but i have to have data in order to access my google maps! I really hope they get sued again because unlimited means UNLIMITED. So sick of straight talk but I hate at and t as well and the other carriers because they are always up to similar bs! There is a HUGE settlement that could be done here if a lawyer is looking to win a case! They are screwing over thousands of customers so i suggest a lawyer jump on that for an easy case! If I had the money I would hire my own attorney for sure. Not to mention why does it say $55 when I paid $65?!? That’s A LOT OF TAXES! Straight talk is some crooks for real!!
Is anyone else buying the Straight Talk Ultimate Unlimited data plan& your data cutting off WEEK’S before your end service date? This has happened to me twice& customer service is a joke!!!????
I just got told my 10 gigs if data is gone and I have to buy another 55 dollar plan if I want more data I told them card said ultimate unlimited anyone one any lawyers plan to sue the pieces of shit let me know I called talk to customer sevive she transferred me to the tech department they didn’t say a word picked up the ph9ne and hung pieces of shit need put out of business if they keep screwing people over
Straight talk fkd up my girlfriends phone killed the mobile data wifi hotspot had to buy new phone saying “violation” then bought new service plans got Full bars and network is still slow as crap. 3 days after putting the service plans on the phone. If anyone is starting a class action suit against straight talk, let me know. We’ll join. Have had straight talk for almost 10 years now and now it’s crap.