Not sure this will go anywhere like all others but just in case ....
Text for the lazy:
You are Included in a Class Action Settlement Involving Your DSL Service
A proposed Settlement has been reached in a class action lawsuit alleging that AT&T failed to deliver DSL Service to its customers at the speeds promised. AT&T strongly denies these allegations but has agreed to settle to avoid further litigation. You are included in the Settlement because you purchased DSL Service from AT&T* after March 31, 1994. You have legal rights and options, such as submitting a claim for benefits, excluding yourself, or objecting to the Settlement.
Settlement Benefits: AT&T’s records show that you may be eligible for a payment from the Settlement. Because AT&T’s records show that a) the speed of your DSL Service was limited to a rate below the maximum rate for your plan or b) your DSL Service may have operated at speeds lower than certain speeds outlined in this Settlement, or c) both, you could receive:
a) $2.90 for each month your DSL Service was limited to a speed below the maximum rate for the plan you purchased, or
b) $2.00 for each month your DSL Service operated at speeds lower than certain speeds outlined in this Settlement, or
c) $2.90 for each month your DSL Service fell into both categories (a) and (b) above.
To receive Settlement Benefits you must submit a valid claim. Claim Forms must be submitted online or sent by U.S. Mail postmarked on or before July 1, 2010.
Your Other Rights: If you do not want to be legally bound by the Settlement, you must exclude yourself by May 3, 2010. If you stay in the Settlement, you will not be able to sue or arbitrate (ask a neutral person to decide your dispute) against AT&T for any claim relating to the speed of your DSL Service. If you stay in the Settlement, you or your lawyer may object to it by May 3, 2010. The Court will hold a hearing on June 1, 2010 to consider whether to approve the Settlement. Settlement Benefits will not be paid until the Settlement is approved. The Court has appointed attorneys to represent the Settlement Class. You may hire your own attorney at your own expense. For More Information or a Claim Form: Go to: www.DSLSpeedSettlement.com, or Call: 1-877-260-0977, or Write to: AT&T DSL Speed Settlement Administrator PO Box 2290 Faribault, MN 55021-2425
*DSL Service from AT&T is/was provided by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. For a list of subsidiaries and affiliates, visit www.DSLSpeedSettlement.com.
Thank you for posting this. I think I qualify for about 6 years worth of AT&T DSL = approx $200!!
kmully
Member
posted: Mar. 13, 2010 @ 8:19p
Green! Much appreciated. Should net me $84 or so. Thanks!
Crazytree
Senior Member - 8K
posted: Mar. 13, 2010 @ 8:34p
you need a postcard PIN to file apparently.
smackfu
Senior Member
posted: Mar. 13, 2010 @ 8:41p
Interesting. You can't really tell whether you actually qualify for the monthly settlement amount. If AT&T says you weren't affected, you get a one-time $2.
Also, you don't NEED the postcard PIN. That field isn't required.
Crazytree said: you need a postcard PIN to file apparently. No you dont. If you received a postcard notification in the mail, please have it available prior to beginning submission of your claim. The postcard number located on the front of the mailer is not required, but will help validate your claim.
Any backfiring that anybody can think of in case a claim is filed?
limeygit
Senior Member
posted: Mar. 13, 2010 @ 11:06p
I will probably get a check for $2, seeing as it appears ATT get to check their records and decide if you ever had less speed than you paid for. I had DSL for almost 9 years through Bellsouth/ATT across 3 different addresses. Luckily it was the same phone number each time so it should be easy for them to follow the account. The only thing I am worried about is I had to claim I was of sound mind.
Crazytree
Senior Member - 8K
posted: Mar. 13, 2010 @ 11:16p
smackfu said: Interesting. You can't really tell whether you actually qualify for the monthly settlement amount. If AT&T says you weren't affected, you get a one-time $2.
Also, you don't NEED the postcard PIN. That field isn't required.mine came back with an XML error... I'll try and resubmit.
KenD
New Member
posted: Mar. 13, 2010 @ 11:37p
I had AT&T DSL from the first day it was offered in Los Angeles (Called PacBell then). We shall see what they give me, but I have wondered if I was getting the full speed, as DSL at my office always seemed faster. Thank you, I didn't get a post card and would not have learned about this settlement but for FW
The quality of DSL (and phone connection, for that matter) is terrible, yet I only qualify for $2. How can I notify them I want to stay out of the class action to preserve my rights to sue?
Crazytree
Senior Member - 8K
posted: Mar. 14, 2010 @ 1:37p
I was one of the first in SoCal to Beta test their DSL back in 1997... had DSL at several different addresses.
There's a separate lawsuit involving SBC customers (texas and neighboring states). If you take this settlement you're excluded from the pending one for SBC. You have to actively exclude yourself from this settlement in order to participate in the other, so either sign up or exclude yourself. If you don't do anything you are considered a part of this settlement, but since you didn't sign up you get no pay out.
donthurtme said: There's a separate lawsuit involving SBC customers (texas and neighboring states). If you take this settlement you're excluded from the pending one for SBC. You have to actively exclude yourself from this settlement in order to participate in the other, so either sign up or exclude yourself. If you don't do anything you are considered a part of this settlement, but since you didn't sign up you get no pay out.
Oh, I wonder if I should just take this now or wait for the result of SBC (living in Texas and have been using SBC/AT&T DSL since 2000).
Signed up. For over a year one account system at ATT had me at 1.5mbps while I was paying for the 6mbps plan through the other system. I had to FIGHT to get some service credit.
A few years back I moved to another apartment and was forced to upgrade to a faster speed because they didn't offer my old speed as a plan anymore. A few months later checked the status on my modem and they'd forgotten to actually upgrade me to the faster speed I was paying for. Guess it's better than nothing!
dcg9381
Senior Member - 1K
posted: Mar. 16, 2010 @ 5:31p
signed up. They've been screwing me on many fronts for quite a while. Nothing I can do 'cept switch to satellite internet.
limeygit said: Luckily it was the same phone number each time so it should be easy for them to follow the account.I think you're expecting too much from ATT. They're an organizational nightmare right now due to all of the mergers/acquisitions/brand changing from the past decade. A year or so ago when I signed up, they got my phone number up and running, but failed to get the DSL running because they had the wrong phone number on file (even though they had just set it up). Weeks of calling got me nowhere as the DSL and phone businesses were different, and I only got it fixed after posting on another forum where they had ATT techs (DSL Reports).
This is just a rhetorical question, no answer wanted or expected -
As part of the settlement, why do they have to give 3.75 million dollars to charity? Why can't that money also be awarded to the customers they have overcharged? Or be used to fund upgrades in their infrastructure, so their service can better match their promises.
smackfu
Senior Member
posted: Mar. 18, 2010 @ 8:13a
Maybe to account for the significant percentage of people who won't join the settlement. Think of the charity money as being given to the charity in lieu of those people.
Class Action Settlement said: Group B Benefit. If you are not eligible for the Group A Benefit and AT&T’s Records show that your DSL Service may have performed, for one month or more during the Settlement Class Period, at downstream speeds below the following levels, you may be eligible to receive $2.00 for each such month:
* 200 Kbps, if you purchased a plan with a Maximum DSL Speed of 768 Kbps; * 384 Kbps, if you purchased a plan with a Maximum DSL Speed of 1.5 Mbps before October 2008; * 769 Kbps, if you purchased a plan with a Maximum DSL Speed of 1.5 Mbps after October 2008; * 1.5 Mbps, if you purchased a plan with a Maximum DSL Speed of 3.0 Mbps; or * 3.0 Mbps, if you purchased a plan with a Maximum DSL Speed of 6.0 Mbps.
Probably not even that, if the DSL speeds work like they did here.
Notice how the Group B (a.k.a. the "least paid" group) payments require your service to have been confirmed by AT&T records (LOL) that it performed for one month or more BELOW the levels listed, which in most cases means below the minimum guaranteed download speed.
Which means practically nobody qualifies. Since it wasn't the "not getting the minimum advertised" speed that was the problem, but the "not ever getting anything but the minimum" part being the problem.
I helped my mother out a year ago, and got speed reports on three separate visits over a span of about two months. Each time, the download speeds capped out at *exactly* the minimum speed, which just happened to be half of the max speed the plan advertised.
She'd call and complain, and get the usual "signal strength in your area may be affected by recent solar flares" or "if you buy the next plan up, the gnomes in the internet who handle your downloads will yell more loudly down the wires to your house" excuses.
Finally, I called on her behalf. I was told in order to get the speed listed as her plan maximum, she would need to upgrade. With an upgrade, the "signal would be strengthened." They apparently ran tests during this conversation and said it was definitely possible for the upgraded speed based on her location.
I told them it was great they were able to verify the connection already had the potential to reach the maximum speeds of the plan she was already paying for, and maybe they could just turn the signal up enough to help her reach speeds that high. I was told that's not how it worked. Obviously, the idea is you pay for, and are capped at, the minimum guaranteed download speed.
This idea would've been fine, if that's the way it was presented. Instead, they opted to advertise "Up to xxMbps" speeds which were attainable, but, in my experience, were most certainly capped at the absolute minimum.
Nice job on the big paycheck, lawyers. Kudos to AT&T for settling a dispute by agreeing to pay people who were only treated even worse than the policy which got them sued permitted.
I received a postcard today in the mail. I filled out 2 claims, since I've had 2 accounts with AT&T, although I only received one card.
We will see if I get anything.
MATTSONYA
Senior Member
posted: Mar. 28, 2010 @ 12:25a
THANKS A LOT!
Opine
New Member
posted: Mar. 29, 2010 @ 8:07p
Customers could get $2.00 or $2.90 for each month their service was not "up to speed." I read on another website the attorney(s) will get $11 million and $375,000 will go to charity. Seems like the customers are getting screwed... again.
I got the postcard too. I had ATT for 2+ year for their 3MB service. I have never got better than 1.5MB, usually only around 1MB. My only concern is that the website asks for birth date and last 4 digit of SSN. Is this thing legit? I don't care so much about the money. But I am happy to see someone finally sticking it up ATT's behind for screwing me all these years.
I just switched to Charter's 16MB cable service a few months ago at $10 more than I paid ATT. I am actually getting faster than what was promised for a change (often above 20MB).
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