My ISP, Inter.net, is threatening to shut down my unlimited Internet access account if my family members use it more than 5 hours per day, on average.  In other words, since there are four of us, this amounts to less than 1 hour and 15 minutes per day usage, individually, on average.  Quite a stretch on the phrase "unlimited Internet access".

We subscribe to Inter.net's "Unlimited Plan" which offers "Unlimited Internet access," as quoted from their Price Plans page.  We just received this email from Inter.net, as quoted in full:

From: Inter.net Canada
To: Inter.net Canada
Sent: Thursday, June 16th, 2005, 3:35 PM
Subject: Inter.net Canada

Dear customer,

The following is to inform you that our reports show that your dial-up account is being used in a manner that is in violation of our service agreement (please see http://www.ca.inter.net/en/join/agreement.php).

The preamble of the service agreement states: [...] "This is a residential subscription and is not intended for business use. Furthermore, this subscription provides you with an access to the Service based on an intermittent and interactive use, not a dedicated access. The term "intermittent" means that, for each and any 24-hour period, you can access the service for sessions of up to 8 consecutive hours. After 8 consecutive hours, you must disconnect, or the system may automatically do so. In case of automatic disconnection by the system, Inter.net Canada will not be responsible for any damages that might occur." [...]

We kindly ask that you reduce your monthly usage to no more than 150 hours on average. If next month our reports still show that you are using more than the general average of 150 hours, we will have no other choice than to suspend your account without any further notice, nor compensation.

If you require a permanent connection to the Internet, we recommend that you consider our high speed Internet service. For more information, please visit http://www.ca.inter.net/en/join/agreement.php. To order, please call us anytime at (800) 920-7873.

We thank you for your cooperation and your understanding.

Sincerely,

Customer care

Tel: (800) 920-7873 or (514) 481-2585
Fax: (888) 478-2745 or (514) 481-2785

Inter.net Canada (www.ca.inter.net)

Notice that the email's "to:" and "from:" addresses are identical.  This means the email was a mass email.  So, we are not the only customer being threatened.  Please contact us if you are being threatened by Inter.net, too.

We also received an unfriendly phone call, the next day, threatening to shut us down.  It was from their (514) 481-2585 number.  The representative claimed we could use up to 8 hours/day, which is approximately 60% more than the 150 hours/month mentioned in the email.  Nonetheless, we specifically signed up for unlimited Internet access, so something was wrong.  Not much was said in response to this representative as we wanted to check out the facts for ourselves before making any quick judgments.  We did that, and here's my full response to Inter.net Canada, rejecting their 150 hour/month usage request:

From: (Matthew) Doucette
To: Inter.net Canada
Subject: Re: Inter.net Canada
Sent: Tuesday, June 21st, 2005, 5:48 PM

Inter.net Customer Care,

As quoted from your Price Grid, we purchased your “Unlimited Plan” with “unlimited Internet access” where “...you can surf as much as you want...”  Your “Unlimited Plan” section asks, “Are you crazy about the Internet?” Yes, we are; which we why we purchased unlimited Internet access.

Now, you are THREATENING to shut down our account, without compensation, if we do not reduce our usage to less than 150 hours/month.  A 150 hour limit equates to less than 1 hour and 15 minutes per day per family member (in a four member family) on average.  Hardly what someone who is "crazy about the Internet" would use.

We are thoroughly rejecting your request.  We are not going to monitor our Internet usage to ensure we remain below 150 hours while paying for “unlimited Internet usage”.  This defeats the purpose of purchasing an unlimited service.

I have just viewed the service agreement and found that we are not in violation of it.  As per technicalities of the service agreement violation(s), there are only two possible violations mentioned:


Possible Violation #1; Intermittent Use:

As quoted from you, “the term ‘intermittent’ means that, for each and any 24-hour period, you can access the service for sessions of up to 8 consecutive hours.” This violation is an impossibility. Your system automatically disconnects connections after 8 consecutive hours, thus it is impossible to remain connected longer than this. The service agreement mentions no limit to the amount of sessions or grace period between sessions, thus we are permitted to reconnect immediately and as often as we want. Even if a grace period or sessions limit existed, it would contradict the “unlimited Internet access” element of our plan. “Unlimited” means no restrictions.

Possible Violation #2; Interactive Use:

You mention “interactive use” without an explicit description; therefore, I can only assume a reasonable understanding of it: Interactive use means Internet usage that requires the interaction of a user. (Internet usage that does not require the interaction of a user could be a web server, for example.) My family only uses the Internet interactively. (Unless waiting for a download to finish on a slow dial-up connection is considered non-interactive use.)

In conclusion, we are not violating the agreement.  Besides, it is an impossibility to violate an unlimited service via overusage.


We are paying for and using a service within the agreement, and we will continue to. If your equipment is insufficient to render the service, then do not look to us for a solution.

We would greatly appreciate if you would cease the calls and rude threats from your customer service representatives. We do not appreciate threats to have our Internet account cancelled, without compensation, for using a service that we purchased as advertised.

The entire transcript of this conversation will be publicized on a web page, Violation: Unlimited Account Overusage.  According to the website's traffic, it would not be unreasonable to expect this transcript to be read by hundreds of thousands of visitors in the upcoming months.

I will remove it if appropriate action is taken. I highly suggest you start respecting your customers and your services as advertised.

Regards,
Matthew Doucette

I think it is completely unreasonable that we are being requested to use the Internet fearful that we may step over an unknown usage line and get shutdown without notice and without compensation, while being subscribed to an "unlimited Internet access" plan.

I am trusting that Inter.net will honor the agreement as it stands, and continue to offer us unlimited Internet access.  I await their response...

Five days later, on Sunday, June 26th, 2005, Normand Charpentier responded in our forums:

Dear Mr. Doucette,

An unlimited access cannot be taken as a dedicated line and be used during 700 hours per month! Unfortunately, that information was omitted in your message, let's be fair with the facts.

By unlimited access, we suggest an avereage usage of around 150 hours, -intermittent-, that means that every 8 hours, activity or not, you will be disconnected so you must be in front of your computer to reactivate the connection.

In your case, it appears that you are using a software or a device to reconnect automatically. You seem to use the connection as if you were operating a business. We have a special rate when a customer requires a dedicated connection. We also offer high speed (where available) that allows you to stay connected 24/24, which you have denied.

Any other ISP would say the same to stay in business. Should you be the owner of a restaurant, I wonder if you would give me a second meal for free because I'm still hungry after eating a full plate of pasta?

Comon sense is to be used here. Respect is bi-directional in good commercial exchanges. We thank you for taking the time to write in this forum so we could use the opportinuty to clarify this situation with you and to share it with others.


Truly,

Normand Charpentier (charpentiern@ca.inter.net)
Customer Service Manager
Inter.net Canada Ltd (ca.inter.net)

I replied to Normand Charpentier the next day, on Monday, June 27th, 2005:

Normand Charpentier,

Your high speed is not offered in our area, otherwise we would subscribe to it immediately.

An unlimited food purchase would be an all-you-can-eat buffet, where second meals are always given free.

I am being as factual, as logical, as respectable, and as reasonable as I can with this situation. Either your service is limited or unlimited, it cannot be both. We purchased it as advertised, unlimited: without limits, restrictions, or boundaries. An unlimited service can be used limitlessly. You cannot over-use an unlimited account. "Unlimited Account Overusage" is an oxymoron.

We do not use our "unlimited Internet access" as a dedicated line, we just use the Internet a lot. If we happen to use 700 hours per month, then this is within the limits of our "unlimited Internet access." The amount of time we spend on the Internet is completely irrelevant, as no time limit exists. You suggest an average usage of around 150 hours for your unlimited service, but this is omitted from your promotional and service agreement sections of your website. Regardless, it is not a restriction.

My Windows XP connects when a connection is required. This automatic reconnection does not breach the service agreement, as it is due to interactive use. The required connection is always onset by interactive usage. For example, downloading is an essential part of using the Internet, and, although not instant, is still interactive usage. If a download takes longer than 8 hours (as many of our downloads do on our sub 3k/s connection) it does not mean it was not started interactively. While downloading, I could set an alarm clock to warn me every 8 hours to manually reconnect to the Internet, but I have my computer "keep it alive" for me. There are no restrictions in the service agreement on redialing to keep a download alive that was started interactively. Downloading is a fundamental requirement of Internet usage, and since all our downloading is started interactively it is under the umbrella of interactive usage. Starting a download is the user's job, the "keeping it going" is the computer's job. Our Internet usage is entirely interactive, and therefore is not a breach of the service agreement.

We use the Internet a lot, but we are not operating a business. Your business Unlimited Plan is exactly the same as your residential Unlimited Plan. So there is no need for concern in this area, anyway.

It is unfortunate for you if your service of "unlimited Internet access" only makes financial sense for those who use it under 5 hours per day. We were never trying to take advantage of Inter.net. We wanted "unlimited Internet access", and you advertise that precise service. We purchased and used that service as advertised on your website. This is not being unfair or disrespectful. We understand it is intermittent and interactive access, but it is unlimited intermittent and interactive access.

(I am not sure what your dedicated connection plan and special rates are, as they are not a part of your "five affordable plans" found on your Price Plans webpage. I also could not find it while specifically Googling only your website for it.)

Thank you for your response.
_________________
Matthew Doucette / Xona.com

Jacques Thibault also responded to my original reply, not to my reply above, six days after my original reply.  (I apologize for the out-of-order structure of this article.)  Here is Jacques Thibault's reply:

From: Inter.net Canada
To: (Matthew) Doucette
Sent: Monday, June 27, 2005 12:04 PM
Subject: Re: Inter.net Canada

Dear Matthew Doucette,

Thank you for taking the time to contact us.

In response to your email, we kindly ask that you reduce your monthly average usage to no more than 200 hours. We decided to increase the average from 150 hours since we last communicated with you. Please note that your account is indeed unlimited and the 200 hours goal is an average; there can be months when you use more and months when you use less. As per the dispositions in our service agreement, your plan is unlimited based on a non-dedicated and residential use. What we want to avoid is a situation whereby the usage is consistently and significantly over the normal average of all of our customers. If your needs are such that this is not possible, you can subscribe to our dedicated dial-up plan for 65$ plus taxes per month.

Please contact us as soon as possible and inform us of your decision. You can reply to this email or call us at (800) 920-7873. We are open 24/7.

We thank you for your understanding.

If there is any other way we can be of assistance, please contact us by replying to this email or calling our customer service department, which is available to you 24 hours a day. We are always pleased to assist you.

Sincerely,

Jacques Thibault
Customer care representative
Tel: (800) 920-7873 or (514) 481-2585
Fax: (888) 478-2745 or (514) 481-2785
Inter.net Canada (www.ca.inter.net)

I have been very busy, so it has taken quite some time for me to respond to Jacques Thibault's email (quoted above).  Here is my response to the above email, sent 7 days later on July 4th, 2005:

From: (Matthew) Doucette
To: Inter.net Canada
Subject: Re: Inter.net Canada
Sent: Monday, July 04, 2005, 9:41 PM

Jacques Thibault,

Thank you for explicitly clarifying that our account is indeed unlimited.

While we appreciate that you raised the suggested use limitation to 200 hours per month, we must reject this request, as we cannot guarantee that our use will not exceed it. 200 hours per month is only 6.5 hours per day average. For a family of four, this is 1.6 hours daily per family member. Even if the majority of usage results from two main users, this is only about 3 hours daily each. Considering some downloads can take from hours to days, due to low connection speeds, this is minimal connectivity. You have advertised this package for people who are “crazy about the Internet”, yet you are dismayed at customers who are actually intensely involved with (i.e. crazy about) the Internet. Inter.net has yet to point out where the wrongdoing has occurred in our usage of their service.

That being said, we have made efforts to reduce our Internet usage. We set our “Idle time before hanging up” to the lowest setting of “1 minute”. We will raise it as needed to eventually find the lowest reasonable setting. This will ensure we do not remain connected when interactive use ceases. This setting was previously set to “never”, which maintained connectivity for eight hours if we failed to disconnect manually. This oversight lead to greater usage than necessary, although it should be noted we were unaware there would be any concern regarding over-usage of the unlimited service. In addition, we are making efforts to close down applications that needlessly maintain connectivity. Our Internet usage will drop with these changes, but a 200 hour ceiling cannot be guaranteed.

We are not going to subscribe to your dedicated dial-up plan, as it is unneeded. The “Unlimited Plan” serves our needs, and we will continue to use it within the guidelines. We would be more apt to subscribe to a dedicated dial-up connection, and drop this over-usage issue, if the price was reasonable. $65 + taxes / month is significantly higher than even a high speed line. Have you published any details regarding your dedicated plan online? We could not find information on it using Google.

The aforementioned topics deal with usage amounts. We cannot violate the “Unlimited Plan” agreement due to the amount of usage; we can only violate it due to the type of usage:

As for business usage, we are not a business. Therefore, the residential vs. business plan is not an issue. Please confirm this is correct. If this is an issue, please make it clear so we can switch over to the business account. Please note that both plans are exactly identical - $22.95 / month for “Unlimited Internet access”.

As for non-interactive usage, our Internet connectivity is due solely to interactive use. We are not abusing your service; we simply use the Internet a lot. We are “crazy about the Internet,” as your promotion asks. The only process we deliberately leave running that uses the Internet are downloads, which result from interactive use. If downloading is an issue, please make it clear to us so that we may deal with it accordingly.

I appreciate the company’s desire to avoid “a situation whereby the usage is consistently and significantly over the normal average of all of our customers.” We understand the concept of offering a service knowing the average customer will use it minimally compared to the extreme possibility. Google’s Gmail service with 2GB+ of space is an excellent example; most users will never use the full 2GB+ but Google does not complain when a user does. Promoting a service you are unwilling to provide is improper. It is unreasonable to enforce these suggested limitations. Google does not suggest that users minimize their usage to approach the average, nor do they threaten to terminate accounts without notice that do not comply with their suggestions. Ultimately, the normal average usage of all your customers is irrelevant. The situation you wish to avoid is a legitimate possibility. Our usage is within the guidelines of the service agreement.

Thanks you for your response.

Regards,
Matthew Doucette

Hopefully this discussion will come to a close soon.  Please discuss your thoughts on the matter.

Off topic, but I just noticed that we are the #1 result in Google for "inter.net unlimited Internet access", "inter.net account violation", and "inter.net violation" (all without quotes).  The results may still link to www.sawtoothdistortion.com or not appear at all as we just switched over to xona.com just over a week ago.  It may take a few weeks to a month for Google to award Xona.com the proper PageRank to be ranked as highly as Saw Tooth Distortion was.  (There may also be some results linking to www.xonatech.com, as we used that domain name temporarily between the Saw Tooth Distortion / Xona.com switch.)   There are various other Google searches [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,...] that result in our article in the top 10 results.  This reminds me, if anyone else has been threatened by Inter.net, please contact us or discuss it in our forums.

February 8th, 2006 Update:

We have stopped using our Inter.net account.  Some of our family members will continue to use it, but they are not heavy users.  Inter.net never made any further contact than what is listed here above.  They also did not shut us down, ever.  It seems the story ends here.

Discuss:

Discuss.

By: Matthew Doucette
(Interested in Writing Articles For Xona.com?)