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Required Data Packages

awells527

Well-Known Member
Jul 15, 2010
113
12
NW Indiana
I bought my younger brother a Samsung Galaxy S/Captivate (Can't remember which one is on AT&T) out of contract. His current phone was a Flight w/o data.

My theory was that if I swap the SIM card into the Captivate phone and disable packet data, AT&T would be none the wiser since he is using the phone for voice only, and data only when on WiFi.

This phone was bought back in May, and I just realized that they auto-subscribed us to the 2GB data plan and have been charging us ever since. To their credit they, retroactively switched it to the 200MB and refunded us the difference. The frustrating part was that we were not notified of the appended fee to the family account.

I understand that they require data plans on new phones that were subsidized by AT&T, but I didn't think they applied to phones we bought ourselves. Why do they care what type of phone we are using when all I want is voice?

The bottom line is that he has no reason to pay for mobile data and those unemployed teenagers can't afford it anyways :p.

Is this accurate that there is no way to use a smart phone w/o data, even if it's not a phone purchased directly from AT&T?
 
Back in the day the smart phone data plan was optional (back when I had an htc pure) now no matter where you got your att smartphone from (even off of ebay) they can add the data plan. But i thought they usually sent a text to the phone that needed a plan? They did for a friend of mine when he switched to a phone he bought off craigslist thinking the samething you did. However for him the automatically added the 200mb plan.
 
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Even an out of contract phone bought from AT&T has a known IMEI number in their database. This database entry includes phone make/model. They can see who on their network is currently using any smart phone they sold. If you get a phone from Europe with the right frequencies for AT&T's service and they don't know what it is by the IMEI they will normally leave your plan alone.
 
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They find out as soon as your phone connects to the network, and will add the $25/month, 2GB data plan onto that line automatically.

I'm not sure if you are notified via email or SMS or anything, most customers find out when they get their next bill. I'm sure this is detailed somewhere in your contract terms and conditions (which they will point out to you), but it is typically just an innocent misunderstanding on the customer's part, and you can usually get them to adjust the charge for the data plan if you claim ignorance.
 
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