[dsoneil]

Has anyone else been charged ($8/meg) by Telus for tethering their Playbook? I was very surprised when I received a text message saying I racked up over $70 for 9 meg when I was testing the Playbook.

I spoke to the Telus customer service department and they were adamant that I could not tether and had to upgrade my data plan. Right now I have an unlimited data plan for $30/month, which is just over 2 years old.

I've looked everywhere on the Telus site and nowhere does it say I need to upgrade my plan / or get a new plan to tether with the Playbook.

I'm perplexed and irritated, as this basically constitutes false advertising on their part.

[Mercury]

First welcome to crackberry.

Secondly, always need to check with your carrier about any impending charges you may incur. I have a 6GB for $30 data plan on rogers that allows me to tether for free. But with Rogers you need a 1gb plan or higher to tether for free.

I would talk to customer relations and get try to get the charges reversed and if they don't, you will move to Rogers with the 6GB data plan (which is being offered for a limited time) and will not charge you a tethering fee.

[Steve Rizla]

Bell, Rogers & Telus all charge extra for tethering if you have a plan that is under 1GB.

[Mercury]

Bell, Rogers & Telus all charge extra for tethering if you have a plan that is under 1GB.

Ya but he has an "unlimited" data plan. So that shouldn't matter.

[laurah2215]

All I can think is that since your plan is older then it wouldn't have included tethering in 'unlimited' usage. Tethering is something newer and included as part of Telus' newer packages. I checked with Telus before I started to tether my PlayBook, even though my plan was put in place before I got my PB. Just better to be safe.

[Steve Rizla]

Ya but he has an "unlimited" data plan. So that shouldn't matter.

Oops, I missed that part. Either they screwed up or the OP has some special plan (eg. Student, etc.) that might have a clause and some fine print.

[rauldela]

im wondering if t-mobile charge you for tethering .... their blackberry data is at 1 price unlimited

[MobileMadness002]

Ya but he has an "unlimited" data plan. So that shouldn't matter.

Since there are no "NEW" unlimited plans this person would be on a grandfathered plan that does NOT allow tethering on it. Charges are valid.

[BlackBerry Guy]

The older data plans (from about a year and a half back or so) did not include tethering, even if it was unlimited.

Most of the current in-market data plans now do.

I had the same unlimited plan as you before, but switched over to 6gb/$30 last year for the very reason that I wanted tethering. The 6gb is now available again as of a few days ago.

[MikeLip]

Ya but he has an "unlimited" data plan. So that shouldn't matter.

I have true unlimited with Verizon, grandfathered in before the new tiered plans. I cannot tether without paying extra - $20 for 2gig.

What kills me is the carriers are all advertising all the cool stuff you can do with 4G, but they sure as **** don't tell you they will nail you for it. Whats the point in 4g if it will just run you out of data faster?

[egranlund]

Tethering != Unlimited SmartPhone data

Unless your plan is vastly different than any other plan I've heard of, tethering is an additional "feature" that you need to pay for.

[canuckvoip]

Ask them to watch their own commercials. They advertise connecting a playbook to a BB at no extra charge. They do not specify bridge OR tether.
Data Sharing | Tablets | TELUS Mobility

[rauldela]

anyone have t-mobile data?? are you getting charge??

[BlackBerry Guy]

Ask them to watch their own commercials. They advertise connecting a playbook to a BB at no extra charge. They do not specify bridge OR tether.
Data Sharing�*|�* Tablets�*|�* TELUS Mobility

That's because the op is on an old "unlimited" data plan that isn't offered anymore as that doesn't include tethering. That ad on tv is for current data plans that do include tethering.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[stevedee]

I have an old 8330. My data is for 500 MB. Before I d/l the patch to os5 I experimented with tethering, and saw data usage go up but no xtra charge for tethering. Now with 5 I just bridge. Yes I'm with telus. I would not phone, I would use the 'contact us' webform and get a response from their real representatives.
It does not state that he has a BB, just that he tethered to a phone. And tethering brings up a warning about potential fees. And there is no fee for bridging or tethering unless you then use that connection to move data across the phones connection. But contact them as above and threaten to jump ship, and u might make out ok.
Good luck to ya!

[dsoneil]

Thanks everyone. And yes I do have a Blackberry (Tour) and my main point being that no where, in any advertising from Telus, even on their website does it say that the Playbook tethering is only available on "newer" plans. Even though the original plan may have said "no tethering" but when that was written the Playbook didn't exist. But I should know better that anything that sounds too good to be true, probably is.

The rep offered to cut the charges in half, but I still beleive in "truth in advertising". Oddly, if I "upgraded" my plan it would cost the same, but they still won't reverse the charge.

And I'm also not a fan of calling the telecom companies to ask about everything. If they put out TV commercials saying it's "free" and indicate so on their site, then it's free.

I suspect my best option is to file a CCTS complaint and see what happens. Then plan on moving to another company.

[MobileMadness002]

Thanks everyone. And yes I do have a Blackberry (Tour) and my main point being that no where, in any advertising from Telus, even on their website does it say that the Playbook tethering is only available on "newer" plans. Even though the original plan may have said "no tethering" but when that was written the Playbook didn't exist. But I should know better that anything that sounds too good to be true, probably is.

The rep offered to cut the charges in half, but I still beleive in "truth in advertising". Oddly, if I "upgraded" my plan it would cost the same, but they still won't reverse the charge.

And I'm also not a fan of calling the telecom companies to ask about everything. If they put out TV commercials saying it's "free" and indicate so on their site, then it's free.

I suspect my best option is to file a CCTS complaint and see what happens. Then plan on moving to another company.

Right on Telus website here, step #7 spells it out.

[OniBerry]

Thanks everyone. And yes I do have a Blackberry (Tour) and my main point being that no where, in any advertising from Telus, even on their website does it say that the Playbook tethering is only available on "newer" plans. Even though the original plan may have said "no tethering" but when that was written the Playbook didn't exist. But I should know better that anything that sounds too good to be true, probably is.

The rep offered to cut the charges in half, but I still beleive in "truth in advertising". Oddly, if I "upgraded" my plan it would cost the same, but they still won't reverse the charge.

And I'm also not a fan of calling the telecom companies to ask about everything. If they put out TV commercials saying it's "free" and indicate so on their site, then it's free.

I suspect my best option is to file a CCTS complaint and see what happens. Then plan on moving to another company.

Warning bells always go off when someone says they did not see any information on the website. Large companies always have the information you need in respect to plans/data/etc... Even more so now that Bell got dinged for about 10,000,000 for false/misleading/omission of critical information

Search

Hit the telus site, searched for Blackberry and Tethering

It was that simple.

[dsoneil]

As I said, it's more about truth in advertising. If it's only free to certain people, then don't advertise it as free with a big glitzy ad campaign. Just say it "may be free, to some people". Also, the Bridge vs Tether debate is a bit misleading. From what I understood, Bridging was just extending the Blackberry handset, not running on a seperate data system.

I've read Crackberry for years, but I don't spend a lot of time reading the ultra-fine print on things. The Playbook seemed different than tethering to say a laptop.

[OniBerry]

As I said, it's more about truth in advertising. If it's only free to certain people, then don't advertise it as free with a big glitzy ad campaign. Just say it "may be free, to some people". Also, the Bridge vs Tether debate is a bit misleading. From what I understood, Bridging was just extending the Blackberry handset, not running on a seperate data system.

I've read Crackberry for years, but I don't spend a lot of time reading the ultra-fine print on things. The Playbook seemed different than tethering to say a laptop.

No, tethering a laptop or a Playbook is pretty much the same.
Bridge vs Tether debate was not misleading unless you were an AT&T customer.

[FF22]

I have true unlimited with Verizon, grandfathered in before the new tiered plans. I cannot tether without paying extra - $20 for 2gig.

What kills me is the carriers are all advertising all the cool stuff you can do with 4G, but they sure as **** don't tell you they will nail you for it. Whats the point in 4g if it will just run you out of data faster?

To earn the carrier more money - not to reasonably serve you.

[jwn66]

Bell, Rogers & Telus all charge extra for tethering if you have a plan that is under 1GB.

BZZZZZZ, wrong. Bell doesn't.

[OniBerry]

BZZZZZZ, wrong. Bell doesn't.

That is true, Bell let's me tether like a mofo with no extra fees..well, unless I go over my cap, they don't care how you use your data, just as long as you pay for it

[donjunto]

im wondering if t-mobile charge you for tethering .... their blackberry data is at 1 price unlimited

They do, it is a $14.99 extra if you want to add to your plan, and they also state they can ban you if you don't let them know if you're tethering!

[narci]

Only unlimited plan I know of that allows tethering is the old Fido $50 unlimited data plan.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com