Beware of the $99 laptop offer from Radio Shack/AT&T on clarkhoward.com

RIP-OFF ALERT: Radio Shack and AT&T have teamed up to offer a $99 laptop, but there may be more than meets the eye to this offer.

The deeply discounted netbook is only available once you agree to a 2-year AT&T data plan…with a 5 gigabyte Internet usage cap that can really eat up your wallet. Keep in mind that the average consumer probably has no idea what constitutes 1 gigabyte of use or 5 gigabytes of use! And apparently there aren't any warnings either.

No surprise then that FierceBroadbandWireless.com reports people are getting clobbered on this "deal." In fact, a customer filed a lawsuit after her first month's bill amounted to $5,000!

We're not just picking on AT&T here. FierceBroadbandWireless.com has also taken Verizon to task over similar marketing practices.

So the takeaway here is make sure your wireless card is unlimited or you'll risk being charged massive overage fees. And you never want to tie the purchase of a computer into a commitment to use any particular provider's wireless card or data plan.

Likewise, you want to beware of T-Mobile's WorldClass International Roaming plan. One person allegedly got verbal assurance from T-Mobile's customer service that this was a cost-effective way to make calls from overseas. Then the customer was hit with a $5,000 bill, according to The Orlando Sentinel.

Remember, always buy a prepaid chip once you get overseas to make your calls!

What others are saying

ATT burns me up
I called at&t because my employer has entered into discount agreement with them for employees... called the number and gave them the code. They told me that it would take 60 days to process my employee discount and that it would not start from the day called, but from the day processed. Huh! 60 days to process a 10 percent discount (about 7 dollars) by a COMMUNICATIONS GIANT!!! But they could process a new 2 year contract in about 60 seconds! What rip offs!!!
By Herb @ 03/24/09 12:06:55 PMreport abuse
I don't need an air card
I'll stick with the $600 to $900 range of laptops when it comes time that I would need one. I don't go for that very very cheap stuff of a $99 laptop and then get a $5,000 bill for usage time. I'll stick with the Toshiba laptop that works very well.
By Ross @ 03/24/09 02:30:58 AMreport abuse
att free
I would not have gone 60m for any bargain like that, except for a car or similar large ticket item.

Phone deals are among the worse deals u can get, except for unlimited minutes type of deals for a set fee.

Rare.
By Paul @ 03/22/09 04:25:56 PMreport abuse
Actual experience with ATT&T "free" aircard offer
I currently have a Sprint unlimited broadband aircard that works quite well with 3 computers networked to share the connection. I received a flyer in the mail about a free aircard from ATT&T, so I called ATT&T direct and was told it was an unlimited plan as long as I already had an ATT&T landline, which I do.
Next I went to the nearest Radio Shack/ATT&T dealer in Ocala, FL. They took my SS# & checked my credit, authorized the aircard and then printed out the contract. Alas! It was then discovered the 5 gig limit. I told the agent I could not sign the contract because I would likely go over the limit and be into the penalty overage charge. We use on average about 12 gigs per month. I left the store, no aircard, no nothing.
10 days later I got a bill in the mail and called their 800 number to handle the problem. I was told by a supervisor that I would have to return to the store(60 mile trip) to cancel the account. Arghh! After about an hour the agent was able to cancel the account over the phone. Again, more customer non-service. It should have taken about 5 minutes.
By Tom in Florida @ 03/22/09 01:36:37 PMreport abuse

ATT burns me up

I called at&t because my employer has entered into discount agreement with them for employees... called the number and gave them the code. They told me that it would take 60 days to process my employee discount and that it would not start from the day called, but from the day processed. Huh! 60 days to process a 10 percent discount (about 7 dollars) by a COMMUNICATIONS GIANT!!! But they could process a new 2 year contract in about 60 seconds! What rip offs!!!

By Herb @ 03/24/09 12:06:55 PMreport abuse

I don't need an air card

I'll stick with the $600 to $900 range of laptops when it comes time that I would need one. I don't go for that very very cheap stuff of a $99 laptop and then get a $5,000 bill for usage time. I'll stick with the Toshiba laptop that works very well.

By Ross @ 03/24/09 02:30:58 AMreport abuse

att free

I would not have gone 60m for any bargain like that, except for a car or similar large ticket item.

Phone deals are among the worse deals u can get, except for unlimited minutes type of deals for a set fee.

Rare.

By Paul @ 03/22/09 04:25:56 PMreport abuse

Actual experience with ATT&T "free" aircard offer

I currently have a Sprint unlimited broadband aircard that works quite well with 3 computers networked to share the connection. I received a flyer in the mail about a free aircard from ATT&T, so I called ATT&T direct and was told it was an unlimited plan as long as I already had an ATT&T landline, which I do.
Next I went to the nearest Radio Shack/ATT&T dealer in Ocala, FL. They took my SS# & checked my credit, authorized the aircard and then printed out the contract. Alas! It was then discovered the 5 gig limit. I told the agent I could not sign the contract because I would likely go over the limit and be into the penalty overage charge. We use on average about 12 gigs per month. I left the store, no aircard, no nothing.
10 days later I got a bill in the mail and called their 800 number to handle the problem. I was told by a supervisor that I would have to return to the store(60 mile trip) to cancel the account. Arghh! After about an hour the agent was able to cancel the account over the phone. Again, more customer non-service. It should have taken about 5 minutes.

By Tom in Florida @ 03/22/09 01:36:37 PMreport abuse

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Mar 19, 2009 -- Beware of the $99 laptop offer from Radio Shack/AT&T

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