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New AT&T Residential Service Agreement --What does it mean?

UCAN News

UCAN found a good CBS5.com story from the San Francisco area about the new AT&T long "legaleze"-type contracts recently sent to AT&T residential service customers. Read More.  
What does it mean?  It means that after January 1, 2009, AT&T
can raise your rates as high as it wants and whenever it chooses to do so.

There is a two-sided cover that comes with the AT&T written service agreement.  Read it here.  Finally, attached is the 16-page contract for your review.  Read the full agreement here.  UCAN encourages you to post your questions on our web site.  We will do our best to answer each person in the state of California. 

UCAN is reading the new AT&T contract to provide you with a breakdown of its contents well before the deadline of October 1, 2008.   Watch for UCAN's breakdown of the "gotcha" areas--coming soon.  UCAN also measured the length of the AT&T fold-out service agreement and it is close to 1 yard long.  UCAN has found an Indemnification Clause, a possible statement meaning that AT&T is holding the customer responsible for all charges on the phone bill including unauthorized charges, and is wondering if AT&T is asking customers to sign that they agree to allow 3rd parties to monitor their services---Does that sound like giving permission to wiretap to you? 

Again, watch for updates on this contract and UCAN's dissection of it.  

 

 

 

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Communications: Landline -

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Thank you, UCAN. As soon as I

Thank you, UCAN. As soon as I opened this mailer from AT&T, I put it aside so I could check with UCAN - I wonder if the implied permission for "monitoring" is the primary purpose for this unprecedented mailing to subscribers?

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To me, the most outrageous

To me, the most outrageous terms are:

7a. YOUR ONLY AND SOLE REMEDY FOR LOSS OR DAMAGE CAUSED BY OPERATION OR USE OF ANY SERVICES PROVIDED UNDER THIS AGREEMENT, OR FOR THE DELAY, MALFUNCTION OR AT&T’S PARTIAL OR TOTAL FAILURE TO PROVIDE OR PERFORM ANY SERVICES UNDER THIS AGREEMENT, SHALL NOT EXCEED THE APPLICABLE CREDIT SPECIFIED IN THE RELEVANT AND APPLICABLE TARIFF OR GUIDEBOOK, OR, IF NO CREDITS ARE SPECIFIED, SHALL BE PAYMENT OF AN AMOUNT THAT DOES NOT EXCEED THE CHARGES PAID OR OWED BY YOU TO AT&T FOR SUCH SERVICES FOR THE PERIOD SUCH DELAY OR FAILURE TO PERFORM OCCURRED.

(Isn't it funny that AT&T itself determines how much it's willing to compensate customers for it's "partial or total failure to provide or perform any services"? And mentioned guidebooks are still not available at this time)

7e. YOU AGREE THAT THE OPERATION AND USE OF ANY OF AT&T’S SERVICES ARE AT YOUR OWN AND SOLE RISK. AT&T SHALL HAVE NO LIABILITY OR RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE OPERATION, USE OR MALFUNCTION OF ANY OF ITS SERVICES, REGARDLESS OF WHETHER AT&T HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES AND REGARDLESS OF WHETHER SUCH DAMAGES ARE FORSEEABLE TO AT&T.

(Isn't this called willful and gross negligence?)

and, of course the whole

and, of course the whole sec.5:

5. INDEMNIFICATION

YOU AGREE THAT AT&T, OUR EMPLOYEES, OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, AFFILIATES, SUBSIDIARIES, ASSIGNEES AND AGENTS, SHALL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY CLAIMS, DEMANDS, ACTIONS, CAUSES OF ACTION, SUITS, PROCEEDINGS, LOSSES, DAMAGES, COSTS AND EXPENSES, INCLUDING REASONABLE ATTORNEY FEES, ARISING FROM OR RELATING TO ANY USE OF ANY SERVICES, .... INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO MATTERS RELATING TO: INCORRECT, INCOMPLETE OR MISLEADING INFORMATION; DEFAMATION, LIBEL OR SLANDER; INVASION OF PRIVACY; IDENTITY THEFT; .... ANY DEFECTIVE PRODUCT OR SERVICE SOLD OR OTHERWISE DISTRIBUTED ....

YOU AGREE TO INDEMNIFY AND HOLD HARMLESS AT&T, OUR AFFILIATES AND SUBSIDIARIES, AND OUR RESPECTIVE EMPLOYEES, OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, ASSIGNEES AND AGENTS FOR ALL SUCH LOSSES, INCLUDING ATTORNEY FEES, UNLESS SUCH CLAIMS ARE BASED ON OR ARISE FROM OUR WILLFUL MISCONDUCT OR GROSS NEGLIGENCE. THIS PROVISION WILL CONTINUE TO APPLY AFTER THE CANCELLATION OR TERMINATION OF THIS AGREEMENT

and if you consider sec.7e ("AT&T SHALL HAVE NO LIABILITY OR RESPONSIBILITY ... REGARDLESS OF WHETHER AT&T HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES AND REGARDLESS OF WHETHER SUCH DAMAGES ARE FORSEEABLE TO AT&T") -- what would constitute "AT&T's willful misconduct"??

(Isn't it funny that AT&T

(Isn't it funny that AT&T itself determines how much it's willing to compensate customers for it's "partial or total failure to provide or perform any services"? And mentioned guidebooks are still not available at this time)
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AT&T Residential Service Agreement

Thank you, UCAN. As soon as I opened this mailer from AT&T, I put it aside so I could check with UCAN - I wonder if the implied permission for "monitoring" is the primary purpose for this unprecedented mailing to subscribers?

Old-fashioned land-lines vs. portable phones or cell phones

RE: new AT&T "Residential Service Agreement"

If I don't agree with certain terms, most especially the implied permission to wiretap if asked to by the Federal government, I have no choice other than to cancel my AT&T service. The biggest problem that I see is that, without a land-line hardwired into a hard-wired telephone - that is, not a portable handset with a base, which depends on electricity - I would completely lose home telephone service in the event of an outage.

A phone with a fixed base & portable handset will no longer work. And a cell phone is only a temporary substitute, still dependent on a means to charge the battery. If you don't have a generator or don't want to use your car battery to charge the cellphone using the cigarette lighter connection, you're out of luck when the cell battery runs down. Then there's the potential for lack of service for cell phones in an emergency that can result from a disaster that damages or destroys cell towers....

The historical "old-fashioned" land-lines - the kind where you have to stay by the telephone base because you're tethered to it - will continue to work if the electricity goes out - if you have kept an old-fashioned telephone and subscribe to the old-fashioned telephone connection.

I don't know if the same would be true for digital telephone service to a land-line - e.g. Cox or Verizon - so I'm left with nothing but electricity-dependent telephone service as an alternative to AT&T, and the possibility of having no telephone at all in a serious emergency.

I have been bothered for some time now by advertisements for cell phones that encourage consumers to use a cell phone as the only phone - I doubt that even many people my age (early 60s) know about this. Most people younger than 30 or 40 very probably have never heard of this. I think it is a mistake to rely exclusively on telephone service that requires electricity and/or vulnerable above-ground transmitters/receivers, creating the potential for many people to be cut off from communication in certain emergency situations.

Not mentioned in the

Not mentioned in the aforementioned summary was.....

1. The right to perform credit checks.

2. The right to require a security deposit.

3. Resolution of complaints through arbitration.

4. The right to discontinue service at the Company's discretion.

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