yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Epic 4G General] Trahloc:
Tiered would be annoying but livable. Make $40/mo something reasonable with X charge per GB and then past some other reasonable point make it unlimited. But a mandatory charge of $10 for a feature I neither want or use just pisses me off. At least metro pcs had the decency to say "that phone isn't allowed on that plan" when we tried snagging their android phone for the folks using that network. Sprint should do that same, you don't want folks using high end phones on the cheap plans don't allow them on, don't create a fake tax.
[Epic 4G General] Sh0wNuF:
You shouldn't have bought the phone then. Every single person who bought this phone or the evo KNEW that there as a $10/month fee but still bought it because they just HAD to have the newest phones. If the fee is really that big of an issue then you wouldn't have bought the phone. When I bought the phone.I too the cost into consideration and decided that the$10 fee was justifiable and even with it I would still be paying less than ANY OTHER CARRIER for the same plan. People need to stop *****ing just to *****
[Epic 4G General] Doppler808:
I agree with you right there. Before any ever bought the phone the fees were right there.

I say good luck with the lawsuit. 99% sure you will not get what you want out of it regardless if you win or lose.
[Epic 4G General] pissinguoff247:
Let me clarify one thing... I'm not assuming jack. I read the agreement and I know it's not just a 4g charge. My post was purely informative. Hence "4g tax" in quotations.
[Epic 4G General] ficjay:
This just end cost all of us more. Some of these lawyers need to be reigned in.
[Epic 4G General] crabjoe:
There is no justification without 4G. The reason is you've purchased the phone.... You own it and it's capabilities. It's connection to the internet is a separate issue.

Would you pay more for wired internet service because you have a better graphics card and faster CPU in your home PC?

Tiered pricing?? I don't think Sprint wants that because people will then jump to Verizon or T-Mobile. Both of those carriers still offer unlimited data. TMO might slow down your data speed, if you go over 5GB, but it's still all you can eat.

Sprint's justification for the $10 premium fee is to make a few extra bucks and to cover the cost of what they pay to Clearwire. Clearwire charges $5 per WiMax capable phone Sprint has on it's network. So Sprint had a choice.. Pass the charge along or eat it as part of doing business. Personally, being that Sprint advertises unlimited data, and they're not subsidizing their 4G phones like the other carriers are doing with their top end phones (Have you seen what the other Galaxy S variants sell for on TMO, ATT, VzW, etc?), I think they should have just eaten the $5 (What Clearwires charges them) and also renegotiate their contract with Clearwire to only pay them the fee where Clearwire has service.

Here's another thing. Unlike ATT, Sprint has excess capacity on it's existing EVDO network, so it's not really costing Sprint anything to offer unlimited data on it's 3G network. It just doesn't make sense for Sprint to offer tiered data.
[Epic 4G General] gTen:
Verizon plans to go tiered Data as well..as for T-mobile not sure yet..but it might end up all of them going Tiered data...such dumb lawsuit is only going to push them towards tiered data... mostly if Verizon and ATT go that route...

In the end the lawyer will be the only winner...these lawsuits last YEARS...

Actually if clearwire doesn't have service sprint doesn't pay them and takes money for themselves..thats what clearwire has been complaining about to sprint...

The CEO of Sprint said for now he doesn't see a reason to go Tiered data but if the need arises they will..so take that as you will..

-------------------------

Overall though the TP2 went for 350$ on sprint...now phones are 200$-250$ top tiered..I say that about covers most of the $10 fee
[Epic 4G General] Deleted member 2173701:
but what you fail to understand is it is called "premium data":

this includes:

free sprint tv

sprint navigation

unlimited roaming

unlimited data (3g or 4g)

sprint is aware that by owning a 4g capable device (ie epic, evo, shift 4g) that this higher end devices have better capabilities and can actually use 3g faster and better than any other device.

they are also aware that through android (did you think about the fact that all 4g capable devices are android only) there are programs that will allow you to have connection to 3g/4g on your computer via wireless tether or wired tether for free. and instead of filtering out these units, placing caps, or throttling data after it hits a certian point...they give a 10$ fee. instead of going like the other wireless giants and tremendously increasing their rates or placing outrageous caps (seriously a 2 gig cap on the iphone plan att?). and it gives you the ability to connect to 4g whenever you go to a place that has 4g.

so is the charge unfair? i think not.

but then again, this is america, where we can ***** and moan about a hot cup of coffee and make a billion in a law suit.

i honestly believe if you dont like the premium data is "unfair" go to att or verison. seriously, ***** and moan about not getting froyo or something that really matters.
[Epic 4G General] Unknown Zone:
+1

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=868877&highlight=lawsuit
[Epic 4G General] drewsg:
Sprint played this dumb from the get go, it's their fault. Dan Hesse said there wouldn't be a 4G fee of any kind. Since they did indeed have to charge a 4G fee, they tried to play customers dumb by saying it's a premium data fee because it consumes more data. True, but then why don't phones like Transform, Hero, Pre and other smartphones get the fee, because I don't see them consuming any less data just because they don't have 4G.

But quite frankly, I think anyone who participates in this lawsuit is dumb and should be banned from signing contracts.
[Epic 4G General] lviv73:
I swear something is wrong with you,what specs?Should a gas station charge you more for regular gas if yo driving bmw instead of honda?Should Audi charge you $100 for "awesomness" of the car that you already paid in full for?

Phones get faster every two months,its only right that they get better specs.Yo dont see Vibrant/Fascinate/Captivate charge 10 dollars for their Cpu being able to process data faster?Epic is the same phone as Vibrant.

When I bought my Epic reps said that extra 10 was for a 4G service that was coming in october,but now when I ask them they say "its for Epics awesomoness and fast CPU",so which one is it sprint?

Charging me for fast CPU that I own,lol,sht is beyond ridiculous.

Remember one thing that Pentium 1,2,3,4(with same eathernet card" and beyond all download data at same speed speed and same thing applies for cell phoned.Do Time Warner charge you extra 10 dollars because you have the latest $10000 computer?No.Just to expain this to all you people that dont know no better or falling for sprints bs.
[Epic 4G General] bennysangel:
I think the 4g cost was a little outrages but no one held a gun to the peoples head that don't have the coverage to buy the phone. Now that everyone was *****ing now every smartphone owner pays the $10!:eek: You should have just shut up...
[Epic 4G General] Theboognish:
Having this phone and 2 evos on my account, it would be nice

to save the 30 bucks. I live in a 4g area (nashville) but I can only pick it up if I am on a freeway. Is still cheaper than an AT$T.
[Epic 4G General] :
..Exactly..
[Epic 4G General] usfslacker:
It's definitely the baseless thing... since the case is baseless. Regardless of any religious beliefs you may hold as to whether the fee is "just," you signed a contract that said you agreed to pay for it and what it is for. You don't just get to reneg on the whole thing 3 months later and lie about knowing about it. Why would a lawyer take this case regardless of its baselessness? Because suing corporations in America is stupid-easy. They don't want the bad press, the people claiming foul will get nothing, and its cheaper to just pad a few lawyers pockets than pay for the whole proceeding. Then crap like this happens and the entire Sprint community ends up paying for a couple of whiny children who don't understand what it means to sign a contract.

Personally, if I were running a company I would have a similar tax on any and all smart phones. It doesn't make sense that the unlimited plan for an LG Rumor costs the same as one for an HTC Hero. The fee should have, for all intents and purposes, been for all smart phones from the beginning. But lets all run off to ATT and Verizon right away so we can pay much more for much less because of this outrage that doesn't affect us!
[Epic 4G General] :
actually all phones that were labled "smart" phones were supposed to get the 10 dollar add on, however it was decided to only put the premium charge on 4g devices and lines that are under employees (advantage lines) so everyone did not have to eat the charges. lawsuit will most likely be settled just because sprint doesnt want to have to deal with these mcdonalds "i didnt know my hot coffee was hot" lawsuits.
[Epic 4G General] TheDub:
This is stupid. Everyone just keeps *****ing and moaning about a 10 dollar fee. They call it a "premium data fee" and for a justified reason. The Evo and the Epic are both "super phones" they are both so fast that you can burn through as much data as a blackberry user uses in a month in a single sitting.

Let's all keep pushing Sprint towards tiered data, great idea, heck lets push them to raise their prices to. Fact is even with the fee they are the most affordable carrier and people need to suck it up. If you can't deal with the 10 dollar premium data fee then go switch to Verizon, you won't have a data fee but your plan will cost you at least 30 more dollars and have fun with tiered data and no true unlimited.

Ridiculous.
[Epic 4G General] TheDub:
It's a premium data fee. Not a 4G fee. You link it to the two 4G phones as a coincidence as the two 4G phones are their only super phones at this time.
[Epic 4G General] adamr240:
After this I said and don, sprint will probably just bring out a special "advanced phone" version of the Simply Everything. It will be $10 more than the other plans. It will be required fot the Evo, Epic and Evo Shift.

Seriously, this is ridiculous. Sprint announced it when they were launched, and it is always mentioned when the phones are activated, so just deal with it. Its still cheaper than other carriers.
[Epic 4G General] :
yeah that doesnt make sense. 100 dollars for awesomeness? what services would audi be charging you?

and the vibrant/facinate/captivate dont have 4g, plus through their carriers they arent getting any premium services.

and yeah time warner makes you pay more money to have DSL verses Dialup.

your analogys make about as much sense as att u-verse making you pay 100 bucks a month for dialup service.
[Epic 4G General] iil:
The average blackberry user uses 50 mb of data each month. It is not surprising that sprint is charging extra for devices that they expect to use more data on average.

I love the way it is now, I hope they don't change it.
[Epic 4G General] shellee:
Whinning a$$ people...

no one twisted anyone's arm and made them buy a 4G phone in a 3G only coverage area and Sprint was VERY transparent about the fact that they'd include the surcharge either way... Now people want to biotch about what has amounted to what a total of $40. So far?

Let all the tools sing, "And I'm proud to be an American, where at least I know I'm freee...", to be an idiot.

If you want to sue, sure over the mess ed up GPS!!

Stock DI18 to Stock DK28
[Epic 4G General] lviv73:
Dumb?Sprint promissed me 4G in two months,so I said what the hack I will pay that extra 10 dollars for 2 months(for nothing) untill 4G comes in october its no big deal.But now itJanuary 2011 and now sprint reps are telling me they dont know when 4G is comming,lol.Giving sprint 20 bucks is no big deal,but continuing paying extra 10 dollars for a another year for norhing is a fcking rip off.Its sprints fault in the first place for promising me something that never came.First they were telling me that 4G charge is for 4G and now its for "Awesome CPU",thats a breach of contract right there.
[Epic 4G General] lviv73:
Let go through this one more time,lol.It doesnt matter if you have a Pentium 2 or Pentium 4,with same cable modem and same eathernet card they will download files at same speed and Time Warner will not charge you extra because you happen to have latest PC.Time Warner/Fios Verizon WILL CHARGE YOU SAME PRICE REGARDLESS OF HOW "AWESOME" OR FAST YOUR PC IS,WEATHER ITS CABLE/DSL/FIBER OPTIC CONNECTION THE PRICE WILL NOT GO UP BECAUSE YOUR PC IS JUST TOO FAST,LOL.

Audi will not charge you for an "Awesemome" engine inside of the car that you already bought,you can drive that car as fast as you want and as long as you want and you can blow up the engine if you like but Audi will not charge you extra for it.Sprint cannot charge you for anything inside of Epic that you have bought and own.

Vibrant ant other galaxy phones dont have 4G,but people in New Jersey get equal and sometimes greater speeds on Tmobile with Vibrant on regular HSDPA(Not HSDPA+) network than,on Sprint's 4G.

Bottom line is my MyTouchSlide3gs had 3-4 times faster 3G speed than what im paying for on Sprint now,to simplify the matter:Tmobile HSDPA+ is faster and better than Sprints 4G and you dont get charged for awesome Vibrants,2G,MTS4G cpu or extra for fast speed.
[Epic 4G General] vita10gy:
Not really a fair comparison. Pretty much all computers are capable of using most of the bandwidth at their disposal, which is kind of the point here, because that wasn't the case with phones. Either their internal processing power wasn't high enough, or the practicality of using it wasn't there. More and more these are becoming portable computers, with fewer technical or practical limitations. (A bigger screen, for example, means it's more practical to use for more things, longer.)

Not to mention the prices are tiered, and often go up.

I'm annoyed by it, but ultimately it's a cost they are upfront about, and they're still cheaper, so I don't see the big problem. Instead of just raising their prices across the board, they charged the latest/greatest.
[Epic 4G General] vita10gy:
Yes, because they just charge everyone as if they have a computer capable of easily maxing out the bandwidth fairly regularly, even if you only have a 500mhz pentium II with a 2 gig hard drive.

This argument is stupid. What the hell is the difference if they charged an extra $10/mo because the phone was black. You agreed to it when you bought it.
[Epic 4G General] vita10gy:
You also seem to be ignoring the fact that Time Warner didn't spot you $500 towards your computer in exchange for agreeing to some stipulations.
[Epic 4G General] :
touche' capitan. touche'

however, given we have been told since day one that the 2.2 update is gonna be available in <pulls number out of his magic hat> 11 days, no wait <shakes magic 8 ball> end of october, no wait <pulls number out of the pooping end> end of january, im not supprised they promised 2 months and they are a bit behind.

but even if their speeds are faster, you arent just paying for network data. you are paying for premium services. which most other phone services make you pay for. seperately.

the extra charges are completely just the same as having onstar and having to pay for it. or satelite radio. just because you are in your car port and not able to recieve satelite radio doesnt mean you wont be charged for it. whenever you get into an area with open sky you can get reception.
[Epic 4G General] lviv73:
I chose Epic over Vibrant because Sprint rep promised 4G withing a month of my purchase,so I dint mind paying 4G charge for one month.Without 4G I dont want to be stuck with Sprint's 3G that is only a little faster than 2G.Next time I get a phone im taping on tape the whole conversation between myself an sprints reps.
[Epic 4G General] othan1:
This is exactly why I hope they throw this useless lawsuit out. I don't want my rates raised just because someone didn't read their contract or wasn't told "the way they wanted to be told" about the fee.

I don't like it but I am paying it because I wanted the phone. I like my low rates even better.
[Epic 4G General] lviv73:
What about people that bought their Epic out front for $500+?I bet they still paying for Epics "awesome abilities that no other phone in the world has".
[Epic 4G General] iil:
You can't compare mobile data pricing vs fixed cable pricing. They both allow you to access the internet but are also very different technologies with different price structures. Mobile data use is fairly preditable among devices - something they are able to control and track..you can't really say the same for a home network.
[Epic 4G General] vita10gy:
Yeah, we went through a similar thing on the Sprint forums when the Hero came out. (Sprint required a move from the $15 add on to the "Everything" plans)

Exact same arguments refuted over and over.

Sprint is still cheaper.

You don't have to upgrade.

Yes, there are similar phones that don't have the extra, and that's irrelevant.

a) you agreed the charge when you moved to this phone

b)Anytime things are separated into tiers without obvious boundaries there are going to be arbitrary cut offs. Picture a sports stadium. Upper and Lower Decks are obvious, but there are 1000's of seats in the place that are $10-$20 more than a seat 5 feet across the isle, or directly behind them, and the same price as a seat much closer to the action. Better and better phones are going to use more and more resources, and the cutoff has to be somewhere.

Just like before, the alternatives are:

a) Sprint should just suck it up because even though I'd pay more to leave, companies trying to profit are evil

b) Raise the price for everyone
[Epic 4G General] agonzalez1010:
Exactly! Why make some laywer rich while we get some $5 dollar settlement and then Sprint is forced to do metered data billing. Let's not screw up a good thing here. Sprint seems to be the only one holding the line on not going to metered billing. Besides if anyone ever bothered to look into the whole $10 story it's more to do with Clearwire then Sprint and Sprint is already trying to get out of a way to stop paying Clearwire that 10 dollar premium. http://androidandme.com/2010/11/carriers/sprint-to-remove-10-monthly-premium-for-its-4g-handsets/
[Epic 4G General] vita10gy:
If you turned around and wanted to sign up for Sprint, then I'm sure they would. Sprint is providing a service for a fee, and it's their prerogative to set the terms and price of that service, and it's yours to walk away if you don't like it.

Sprint isn't charging $10 a month extra for you to use a better phone, they're charging an extra $10 to use that phone on their service.
[Epic 4G General] ungovernable1977:
Can these people get on Boost mobile, or some sort of prepaid plan, if they want some ridiculous cheap base price, and add up to their own personal, special needs? This is silly, it is still cheaper than other carriers, no tiers, this is one of the only markets where I have seen the early adopters (or wannabes) cry about paying premium for getting the best gear first. Do they complain about this in threads about 3D LED tvs? I think its only because due to subsidizing your phone cost, most of us average people can use the newest, baddest phones. Along with that is the whining about Froyo... its called early adopter... you pay for bragging rights and need to accept things like delays in software updates, even if the combo of sammy and sprint seems to be worse than others phone-wise. Suits decided to put these phones on the market before froyo was ready for them, and guess what, they were right, look at sales. This is all part of being an early adopter, you didnt figure this out already??? I seem to recall some stipulation when I got my first blackberry, and comparing it to some crap flip phone, it made sense. I dont want to reward this behavior, but I wish they would just drop gingerbread on us so the whiners would stfu. R&D has to be paid for, netowrk buildout has to be paid for... it has to come from somewhere, and even though for most people cell is becoming the new 'phone company', govt subsidies to build the networks would be communism according to the current brainless status quo. UGH.... No offense OP, ive seen this lawsuit posted before, and its obvious you were just throwing it out there... but I personally think this lawsuit is retarded, and will fail.

Did you people really believe what a sprint sales rep told you??? they are told lies to tell you to sell phones, its called salespeople. Thats what they do. But I havent heard of anyone having their 10 dollar fee not mentioned up front, my rep said it repeatedly. I would love to see the epic made entirely in the USA, and you had to pay what the production was really worth, not whatever slave wages the builders make, just like almost ALL other electronics. Spoiled ass americans...

Oh, and maybe they changed the 'playbook' (read sales misinformation) when I bought my epic since the evo launch, because I ASKED of the cost was because of 4g, and my rep said no, just the data capabilities of the phone... back to blackberry vs sanyo flip phone... This kind of crap creates data governors and tiered data... further screwing net neutrality... good job... cheap asses...
[Epic 4G General] :
i agree with everything except for alternative A. companies trying to profit may or maynot be evil, but without that profit you lose several different things on sprint:

a. service and repair. you may believe this is a joke, but being a tech this is my livelyhood. my bread and butter. and i do a damn good job. if there is a problem i fix the problem. i never/B] resort to hard resetting unless there is no other option available. i pull the error logs from every phone i look at and find the error and solve it.

b. replacement devices. regardless what everyone says, replacement handsets have to come from somewhere. and someone has to foot the bill. usually that someone is sprint.

c. newer phones. did anybody notice that since sprint has been making money, newer and newer handsets are coming out? buying nextel was one of the worst things sprint could have done. and because of that they took a big hit. honestly, the only phone sprint really had going for them was the HTC Touch Pro 2. start making money, and here comes the HTC evo, Htc Shift 4g, Samsung Epic, LG optimus, HTC hero.

d. cheaper plans. if sprint doesnt make money, how can they afford to be the cheapest wireless provider? how can they afford to have a $30-$50 a month savings when compared to everyone else?

e. 4g. if sprint didnt make money we wouldnt have as many cities with 4g. before anyone replys back with "sprint doesnt do the towers, clear does" bullsh*t, sprint is a nondecision making majority owner of clear. someone has to foot the bill...
[Epic 4G General] vita10gy:
My "evil profit" comment was sarcasm. Some people have an attitude of "I've been a loyal customer for 2 whole years so they should take what I want to give them and like it, even if it costs them money to have me as a customer, and if they don't like it I'll go to the competition [and spend an extra $25 a month]"

As I said before, Sprint can charge whatever the hell they want for whatever the hell they want. As long as charges are up front and obvious, I can accept their offer, or go elsewhere, or pick a different phone.

If no one is willing to pay what they want, the price will drop, if lots of people are willing, then obviously the cost isn't that absurd.

(Hurray for capitalism)