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I had T-Mobile starting in ~2003 and it included unlimited tethering. After they introduced the Netflix included offer I inquired and they offered an "upgrade"

I had T-Mobile starting in ~2003 and it included unlimited tethering. After they introduced the Netflix included offer I inquired and they offered an "upgrade" that they swore up and down would not change my current service. After agreeing, I was traveling and tried to tether and boom nothing. Their upgrade that would change nothing got me out of this grandfathered situation. Over time the cost of Netflix resulted in a higher fee for Netflix and ultimately I pay more for less. Can't trust any company not to do anything in their power to squeeze another dime out of you.

Almondsetat 2y ago
Why accept oral promises when a contract with the term is definitely available? I guess you didn't record the conversation so why not giving the papers a look?
- nkozyra 2y ago
  It's a lesson we all have to learn at some point, that was mine. Recording calls is always tricky because of party consent rules, although telling people you're recording probably puts some guardrails on behavior.
  - bityard 2y ago
    "Your call may be recorded for quality assurance," is ubiquitous when calling the official sales/support number for any US company. However, every single one of those call centers _also_ instructs their employees to hang up immediately if they are told (or have good reason to suspect) that the _customer_ is recording the conversation. It sounds hypocritical (and it is), but this rule comes from the company's legal department, whose sole job is to shield the company from legal liability.
    - reaperman 2y ago
      When I’m recording (usually using the Rev app on iPhone if its not particularly sensitive or legally confidential information) I always start the human conversation with something like “hey so this call is recorded right? Thats what the message told me when I picked up. Just double-checking that we should consider this call to be recorded?” I figure that it is completely legally unnecessary but it guarantees there’s an understanding between all human participants to expect a recording, which brings it in line with my own personality morality when conversing with an “innocent / relatively powerless human” (my morality exceeds the ethical and legal framework we operate in).
    - anigbrowl 2y ago
      You don't have to tell them. You're dealing with the company, not the individual employee. If the company is recording the call, so can you.
      - ixwt 2y ago
        I can't find an app that lets me record both sides of the conversation on Android. Only my side. When I looked into, it seems that Google has disabled that part of the API that apps cannot record both sides of a conversation. Does anyone know of a reliable way to record conversations?
        genewitch 2y ago
        I got around this by paying for a VoIP line and running 3cx to utilize it, 3cx can record calls. I've never actually done it - not even to test - because right around the time i got it set up covid hit and the people i used to spend 1-2 hours a day talking to on the phone about tech and other interesting things stopped having to drive to work so my phone usage is now down to maybe 4 hours a month on private calls that no one else would be interested in. Technically i've been paying for a voip line for 20 years, and shoehorning it into 3cx was mostly to allow my young kid to be able to call his aunt or someone who isn't on our PBX (grandma and grandpa and his siblings are, already). believe me i was really annoyed when android stopped being able to reliably record calls. Another alternative that i did actually use is a 3 channel breakout connector on my cellphone, a DAC/ADC, PC microphone and headphones. You could tell the OS to "monitor" the microphone, and record mix (remember those days?). Or now-a-days you'd have to use VAC(virtual audio cable) or something to manage the routing. Speaker out goes to mic in on phone, and vice versa, hit record on your PC, and both the remote side and your side will be recorded. I never got too deep into this because it's a huge hassle unless you have a phone just for this; but multi-channel recordings would let you have synchronous audio, for, say, correct transcriptions.
        anigbrowl 2y ago
        Can't you just put it on speaker?
      - 2y ago
    - newsclues 2y ago
      I’ve worked for those call centres and they don’t tell employees to hang up if it’s being recorded by the customer, because the company is already recording everything and trains their staff to operate as such. “Cool you are recording too, IT will be happy we have an offsite backup” That’s been recorded!
Merad 2y ago
For anyone who might not be aware, this is true for most companies. Any changes to your plan will usually require the removal of any grandfathered features, regardless of what the tier 1 CSR tells you.

Almondsetat 2y ago

Why accept oral promises when a contract with the term is definitely available? I guess you didn't record the conversation so why not giving the papers a look?

nkozyra 2y ago
It's a lesson we all have to learn at some point, that was mine. Recording calls is always tricky because of party consent rules, although telling people you're recording probably puts some guardrails on behavior.
- bityard 2y ago
  "Your call may be recorded for quality assurance," is ubiquitous when calling the official sales/support number for any US company. However, every single one of those call centers _also_ instructs their employees to hang up immediately if they are told (or have good reason to suspect) that the _customer_ is recording the conversation. It sounds hypocritical (and it is), but this rule comes from the company's legal department, whose sole job is to shield the company from legal liability.
  - reaperman 2y ago
    When I’m recording (usually using the Rev app on iPhone if its not particularly sensitive or legally confidential information) I always start the human conversation with something like “hey so this call is recorded right? Thats what the message told me when I picked up. Just double-checking that we should consider this call to be recorded?” I figure that it is completely legally unnecessary but it guarantees there’s an understanding between all human participants to expect a recording, which brings it in line with my own personality morality when conversing with an “innocent / relatively powerless human” (my morality exceeds the ethical and legal framework we operate in).
  - anigbrowl 2y ago
    You don't have to tell them. You're dealing with the company, not the individual employee. If the company is recording the call, so can you.
    - ixwt 2y ago
      I can't find an app that lets me record both sides of the conversation on Android. Only my side. When I looked into, it seems that Google has disabled that part of the API that apps cannot record both sides of a conversation. Does anyone know of a reliable way to record conversations?
      - genewitch 2y ago
        I got around this by paying for a VoIP line and running 3cx to utilize it, 3cx can record calls. I've never actually done it - not even to test - because right around the time i got it set up covid hit and the people i used to spend 1-2 hours a day talking to on the phone about tech and other interesting things stopped having to drive to work so my phone usage is now down to maybe 4 hours a month on private calls that no one else would be interested in. Technically i've been paying for a voip line for 20 years, and shoehorning it into 3cx was mostly to allow my young kid to be able to call his aunt or someone who isn't on our PBX (grandma and grandpa and his siblings are, already). believe me i was really annoyed when android stopped being able to reliably record calls. Another alternative that i did actually use is a 3 channel breakout connector on my cellphone, a DAC/ADC, PC microphone and headphones. You could tell the OS to "monitor" the microphone, and record mix (remember those days?). Or now-a-days you'd have to use VAC(virtual audio cable) or something to manage the routing. Speaker out goes to mic in on phone, and vice versa, hit record on your PC, and both the remote side and your side will be recorded. I never got too deep into this because it's a huge hassle unless you have a phone just for this; but multi-channel recordings would let you have synchronous audio, for, say, correct transcriptions.
      - anigbrowl 2y ago
        Can't you just put it on speaker?
    - 2y ago
  - newsclues 2y ago
    I’ve worked for those call centres and they don’t tell employees to hang up if it’s being recorded by the customer, because the company is already recording everything and trains their staff to operate as such. “Cool you are recording too, IT will be happy we have an offsite backup” That’s been recorded!

Merad 2y ago

For anyone who might not be aware, this is true for most companies. Any changes to your plan will usually require the removal of any grandfathered features, regardless of what the tier 1 CSR tells you.