Internet

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T-Mobile’s “Unlimited?” 4G Service

Few services advertised as “unlimited” are truly unlimited. And T-Mobile continues to be a case in point.

When T-Mobile began advertising “unlimited” data on its cellphones in April 2011, the fine print indicated that only the first two gigabytes were truly unlimited. Any use beyond that would be slowed down or “throttled.” And of course, that fact was not as prominently disclosed as their unlimited claims.

Fast forward to September 2012. T-Mobile published full page ads with a new unlimited claim:

T-Mobile unlimited

However, at the bottom page in almost unreadable type was this:

*MOUSE PRINT:

T-Mobile unlimited fine print

Not obvious on its face, the new unlimited plan is not considered “Ultra” or “Premium” where customers’ data transmission speeds will be given priority when traffic is heavy. That could put those on the new unlimited plan in coach and thus they may not experience the same fast speeds.

Beyond that, on T-Mobile’s “test drive” website, the company seems to proclaim a list of benefits to those who select the new 4G unlimited service (note: graphic has been compressed to fit this page):

T-Mobile

The top-listed benefit is the ability to create a wi-fi hotspot so that data can be shared with other devices nearby such as a tablet. However, when clicking on that benefit, one discovers that this is NOT a benefit of the new unlimited 4G plan.

*MOUSE PRINT:

TM

NOTE: MrConsumer is a member of Verizon’s Consumer Advisory Board, and often criticizes that company for its advertising missteps.

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Best Buy to Match Online Prices, Sort of

A couple of weeks ago, Best Buy announced that its brick and mortar stores were going to match online prices. Hurray! What could be better than being able to shop locally *and* pay lower Internet prices?

Not so fast. Have we forgotten who we are dealing with?

At the very end of the page describing its price matching policy, Best Buy added these catches:

*MOUSE PRINT:

Best Buy will match the new, identical, immediately available current pre-tax appliance and electronics hardware products price for these designated major retailers: Amazon.com, Apple.com, Bhphotovideo.com, Buy.com, Circuitcity.com, CompUSA.com, Crutchfield.com, Dell.com, hhgregg.com, hp.com, homedepot.com, lowes.com, newegg.com, officedepot.com, officemax.com, Sears.com, Staples.com, Target.com, Tigerdirect.com, and walmart.com. Appliance and electronics hardware products include audio hardware, video hardware, cameras, camcorders, desktop computers, notebook computers, e-Readers, tablets, TVs, MP3 players, small appliances, major appliances, gaming handheld devices and consoles. Best Buy will not price match accessories, during the return and exchange period or the online prices of third party vendors (Marketplace Vendors) on major retailer websites. Valid for purchases made between October 7, 2012 – November 17, 2012 and November 27, 2012 – December 24, 2012. Best Buy may amend these terms at any time. All other terms and conditions of the Best Buy Price Match Guarantee apply. See Store for details.

*MOUSE PRINT Summarized:

1. Best Buy will not match all Internet prices, just at those specific sites listed above.

2. Best Buy will not match Internet prices of all products it carries, just electronics and appliances.

3. Best Buy will not match Internet prices during Thanksgiving week, Black Friday or Cyber Monday — the days when prices are likely to be the lowest.

4. Best Buy will apply all its other restrictions to online price matching, including that limited quantity, out of stock, and “Deal of the Day” items are excluded.

Best Buy garnered huge headlines for being one of the first brick and mortar retailers to match Internet prices, but the fine print of the actual policy reveals that it will not apply on the best days to shop nor to the lowest prices you are likely to find.

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Become a Personal Shopper, Earn $1000 a Month?

The email offer seemed enticing:

… you’ve been selected to become a Personal Shopper in the new SHOP YOUR WAY Personal Shopper program. It’s free, it’s easy, and it’s profitable! (You’d be surprised at how easy it can be to earn $1,000 per month!)*

Well, since MrConsumer likes to shop, the opportunity to make an extra $1000 a month without a lot work seemed too good to be true.

The email went on to give a simple example:

When a client makes a qualifying purchase—for example, a new TV at $2000—you earn 1%, or $20 in this case.

Huh? If I am going to earn only 1% on purchases, how in the world is making an “easy” $1000 a month possible? I’d have to find 50 people who each want to buy a $2000 TV a month, every month for a year. Sure, that is real easy.

Actually, the mailer says once you get 20 clients, you earn 2% on purchases. Now I would only need 25 people a month to each buy a TV every month of the year. Whewww.

Put another away, I would have find people who collectively spend a total of $600,000 to $1,200,000 a year in order to make that “easy” $1000 monthly. Easy. Real easy.

Oh, did I mention the purchases must be made at Kmart and Sears?

An accompanying brochure gives another example of how easy it is to make money:

Personal Shopper

Lucky Susie, she only has to get her other eight clients to spend $94,400 a month every month to earn that easy $1000 monthly.

So what is Sears’ example of how to make $1000 a month? The answer is in a fine print footnote in the email:

*MOUSE PRINT:

*Make $1,000 a month when you get at least 250 of your friends and family to spend $200 a month in Qualifying Purchases with Sears, Kmart, Lands’ End, Sears Outlet, Sears Auto, mygofer and Sears Home Services.

Of course, now I only have to make 245 more friends and get each of them to spend thousands of dollars a year at Kmart and Sears.

easy