this feels like bait and switch for deaf people

[grimgibber]

There was no info on phone plan and i assumed that i can just get the data plan alone. Till i called TMOBILE to activate the G1. They tell me that i MUST add a phone plan even thou i am deaf and don't need this. This is a HUGE disappointment to me even when i was looking forward to this phone. I might have to reconsider sending the phone back. 29.99 for the lowest phone plan and umlimited data plan comes to 60 bucks. THat's still too high. What a gyp

[richard]

Hmmm, I have to say that is disappointing. I understand that they want to sell a voice plan along with it, but why not bend the rules a bit for the very small segment of customers who don't need it?

Maybe you should try going a little higher up the chain?

[grimgibber]

i'm currently on the phone and they are trying something to see if they can knock off the plan or credit me the plan every month but i strongly doubt this will happen. I got 14 day buyer remorse so i will just try it out for 14 days and see how it goes but i dont' know if i'll keep this phone just to pay 60 a month and throw away 30 bucks for nothing

[ebrewer2224]

if your not stuck on the g1 you could always go with a sidekick i know with those you can get the data plan only you will still get a number but if you ever use the phone part of it you will be charged for each minute and the sidekick is really a great phone go for the tony hawk sidekick

[NetCom]

There was no info on phone plan and i assumed that i can just get the data plan alone. Till i called TMOBILE to activate the G1. They tell me that i MUST add a phone plan even thou i am deaf and don't need this. This is a HUGE disappointment to me even when i was looking forward to this phone. I might have to reconsider sending the phone back. 29.99 for the lowest phone plan and umlimited data plan comes to 60 bucks. THat's still too high. What a gyp

This information was communicated by several sources and I am not sure if that information somehow did not get to you on time. Sorry to hear that - but as Google Officials stated - G1 is not internet device but telephone and then everything else :)

[snoslicer8]

Do you already have the phone?

If so, try activating just a normal data plan (not the G1 specific plan). Rumor has it that it works the same.

[Jorsher]

I'm about 95% sure if you speak with someone higher up they will take care of you. It would look horrible for a company to force a deaf person to have a voice plan, and I really don't see them doing it. Worst case, you might have to fax them info that you are, but I doubt they'd even take it that far.

Also, let them know you'll be returning the phone if they can't work with you. A company would rather have some business than no business.

[the_infamous]

Do you already have the phone?

If so, try activating just a normal data plan (not the G1 specific plan). Rumor has it that it works the same.


I doubt that, only because my unlocked iPhone stopped being able to connect via data services, & when I called they said it was because the G-1 works on a completely different gateway... I know, I know, they all give you different answers, but I thought I would let ya know what they told me.

[betawind]

There was no info on phone plan and i assumed that i can just get the data plan alone. Till i called TMOBILE to activate the G1. They tell me that i MUST add a phone plan even thou i am deaf and don't need this. This is a HUGE disappointment to me even when i was looking forward to this phone. I might have to reconsider sending the phone back. 29.99 for the lowest phone plan and umlimited data plan comes to 60 bucks. THat's still too high. What a gyp

I feel for you man, but I can't see how this is a bait and switch....they didn't tell you that you could just get a data plan and then told you that it wasn't possible...you assumed and were incorrect..

[enri]

i'm currently on the phone and they are trying something to see if they can knock off the plan or credit me the plan every month but i strongly doubt this will happen. I got 14 day buyer remorse so i will just try it out for 14 days and see how it goes but i dont' know if i'll keep this phone just to pay 60 a month and throw away 30 bucks for nothing

How are you on the phone with them if you're deaf?

Had to be asked.

[betawind]

How are you on the phone with them if you're deaf?

Had to be asked.

They have services where you can sign to someone and they talk for you and sign back to you. They also have type services where you type to a person and they talk for you and type back to you.

[Blasts]

They have services where you can sign to someone and they talk for you and sign back to you. They also have type services where you type to a person and they talk for you and type back to you.


That is called Relay service on videphone... here is www.csdvrs.com

I currently have sidekick lx. Sidekick has phone, aim, internet, email, and sms. so G1 is similar to sidekick but touch-screen. Tmobile can give standalone data!!! Profoundly deaf people can't hear phone at all.

Deaf people uses primary communication on instant messenger, email or sms.

[Melody]

does this fall into the discrimination category? there has to be a law that this falls under. after all, there is a law about everything else!

[seriousthinker]

That is why I returned my phone, G1. I am trying to tell thousand people do not buy G1! They are foolish....... And also I heard about T-Mobile Rate Plan will increase on November 1! http://tmonews.com/2008/10/t-mobile-updating-data-prices/

I AGREE !
Re: this feels like bait and switch for deaf people
does this fall into the discrimination category? there has to be a law that this falls under. after all, there is a law about everything else!

[GrimShadows]

That is why I returned my phone, G1. I am trying to tell thousand people do not buy G1! They are foolish....... And also I heard about T-Mobile Rate Plan will increase on November 1! http://tmonews.com/2008/10/t-mobile-updating-data-prices/

I AGREE !
Re: this feels like bait and switch for deaf people
does this fall into the discrimination category? there has to be a law that this falls under. after all, there is a law about everything else!

I just barely skimmed over this post and already noticed several things that the blogger wrote, that are just plain wrong.. I would pay absolutely no attention to it!!

[Fare]

I dunno...I'm going to sound heartless but...

you bought a phone...phones are for talking through and listening with...just because you're different doesn't mean that T-Mobile has to bend to you...

If there is a way to get around this, good for you. I myself wouldn't expect people/companies to cater to me because I was different...

[natraj]

Ugh, I wish I had seen this forum before I bought the phone.

With me it really was a bait and switch. Which is, by the way, illegal, even leaving aside the discrimination issue.

I called T-Mobile last week before purchasing the G1, specifically to make sure that I could get a data-only plan for it, as I am also deaf and therefore incapable of using a voice plan. I spent a while on the phone with customer service, who assured me that not only was it entirely possible to get a data-only plan for the G1, they would go ahead and change my service (I had a unlimited data plan for the sidekick) to make sure it was the right plan for the G1. Unlimited data, no voice. I asked multiple times to make sure it was the correct plan, and was assured that she had updated my plan correctly and when I got the phone it would be all set to go.

I got the phone today, switched my simcard into it, turned it on, and -- it didn't work. Because the plan wasn't correct. So I called them up to see what was wrong, and then they tell me that in order to make it work I need to purchase a voice plan.

The person on the phone was extremely obnoxious, too; they told me "Do you think you're the only deaf person who wants a G1?" and to buy voice minutes or get rid of the phone, no other options.

Considering they had sold me the phone (and an extended 2-year plan for it) under the false pretenses of being able to get a plan that was useful to me as a Deaf person, this was not only discriminatory but outright lying.

I am so angry and frustrated right now, I've been on the phone most of the day with customer service and also went in person to a store and it looks like there's nothing I can do about it. UGH.

[crazythunder]

I dunno...I'm going to sound heartless but...

you bought a phone...phones are for talking through and listening with...just because you're different doesn't mean that T-Mobile has to bend to you...

If there is a way to get around this, good for you. I myself wouldn't expect people/companies to cater to me because I was different...
so,if you were born blind, you would want to be treated just like everyone else? when the kids at school push you in the street,you'd just say "oh well, i don't expect the world to treat me differently"? what if you were born with no legs and wheelchair bound? and the restaurant you wanted to dine out at had no handicap entrance? what if NO restaurants had handicap entrance? eventually you'd cry discrimination.
it's called a handicap for a reason. some people are physically handicapped. some people are mentally handicapped. but some other people are just braindead.

[Stanovoy]

I dunno...I'm going to sound heartless but...

you bought a phone...phones are for talking through and listening with...just because you're different doesn't mean that T-Mobile has to bend to you...

If there is a way to get around this, good for you. I myself wouldn't expect people/companies to cater to me because I was different...

"Phones" are for communication in general. Even decades ago, phones are not used solely for auditory communications. People used it for data connections through their modems. The only difference today is that instead of displaying the data using a separate machine, i.e., a computer, we now have the technology to integrate the two.

When computers first came out, they were used as typewriter replacements. Is that how we still think of them as? Times change. Definitions have to follow. If computers are now considered as entertainment centers, why should we not consider phones as mobile communication centers?

I agree that T-Mobile shouldn't HAVE TO bend for special needs. But I also think they should cater to certain needs, such as people with hearing problems. Either way, it is not a matter of what "phone" is, but whether T-Mobile wants to go the extra mile for customers with special needs.