Very well put.
Did anybody also notice that it appears Connecticut got a better deal with them than the group of AGs did? The following sentence is part of that news release:
The agreement will give consumers the opportunity to receive a minimum refund of one month for the service problems experienced since the company began an unlimited service option last December 1.
I also noticed (happily, since I'm a Missourian) that the Missouri AG backed out of the agreement at the last minute:
Ryan said the pact originally covered 37 states, but said Missouri's attorney general backed out at the last minute to take a closer look at the proposed refunds.
Though it's vaguely worded, it appears that AOL and the AGs decided that 15 hours per month in December or January constitutes unlimited access for the whole two months. Again, the wording is vague in the news release. Could be 15 hours in each month, or it could be 15 hours in one of the two months. In the very likely scenario that one was able to get on maybe twice in those two months, and stayed on a long time so as not to relinquish a hard-fought connection, and never connected again, would be out of luck; they'd gotten unlimited access.
I sure hope that agreement isn't binding on all of the subscribers in those states.
What really irks me the most, though, is that NY AG Vacco said on CNBC that AOL was acting like they weren't going to have any part of it, but caved at the last minute when Vacco made it clear to them they were going to court. It seemed obvious that Vacco was quite upset with AOL (and we haven't seen the last of him in this matter). But later Case made it sound like he was the knight in shining armor with a plan to make all of his subscribers happy, and was ecstatic that the AGs would let him do as he'd wanted all along.
I think it's totally laughable, but have to admit that, though I get extremely angry reading most AOL news releases (they don't seem to mind lying or telling half-truths, do they?), I have to concede that though Case isn't very bright on his feet ("refunds are not something we're considering"), he's absolutely *brilliant* (from a PR standpoint) when he can pre-meditate what he'll tell everyone.
Not to worry, though, AOL bears. This is far from over, and the AG meeting was only a small taste of the future. |
