New Virgin Mobile USA terms of service on 7/1/12

[DavidArr]

Hi,

I got an email about this two days ago and I haven't found what's actually new/different. I'm a $45/month customer with a Motorola Triumph (1200 minutes/"unlimited" data). Virgin Mobile will have new terms and conditions starting July 1, 2012 - it's not clear to me exactly what will change. Here's the page with the legal details:

Virgin Mobile USA

It seems the changes are at the part of the page that says "General Terms & Conditions of Service Effective 7/1/12" (about half-way through the page).

A couple of interesting things I noticed there were that acceptance of the agreement forbids the user from engaging in a class-action suit or a trial by jury against Virgin Mobile (Sprint), and that legal disputes would go into arbitration instead. This seems rather one-sided to me (and I wouldn't be surprised if it's all that uncommon among mobile providers, but I'm not sure).

Are there any legal eyes (or writers working for Android Central, wink wink) who can spot the differences between the old terms and the new ones?

Thanks!

 

[_Severability_]

Terms of service tend to be rear orifice stretchers imo to the end user if things go south.. Nothing rare about that.. Lawyers got a fancy name for it but it's PTA anywhere else.. Protect thy Ass!! Think of it as armor against other lawyers in our super litigates Society filled with stupid ppl and it will make more sense then.. New or old they gotcha or it wouldn't be needed.. Find the differences is a fun game but not when it comes to contracts or agreements.. I feel your pain..

This part can't be good Rhoh Rhoh!! Is that the same as before ?? Jez can you say de-root 3 times fast.. Hehe I don't abuse it and don't worry but just sayin..

Our Right To Suspend Or Terminate Services
We can, without notice, suspend or terminate any Service at any time for any reason. For example, we can suspend or terminate any Service for the following: (a) failure to have or maintain an appropriate account balance for applicable charges; (b) harassing/threatening/abusing/offending our employees or agents; (c) providing false or inaccurate information; (d) interfering with our operations; (e) using/suspicion of using Services in any manner restricted by or inconsistent with the Agreement and Policies; (f) breaching, failing to follow, or abusing the Agreement or Policies; (g) modifying a Device from its manufacturer specifications (for example, rooting the device); or (h) if we believe the action protects our interests, any customer's interests, or our networks.

 

[rcsrich]

I'm betting that the "rooting" language is new. Well, we've been warned...

 

[gedster314]

So what if they catch you rooted, you move on to another carrier or you just start a new account. It's not like they do any screening when you sign up. I transferred a few $25 plans once they stopped offering it. It was just a matter of giving the password of the account to someone and they just changed the name on the account.

I bet the rooting clause is there so if you bork your phone and try to get them to replace it, they can tell you to get lost. When I was on Virgin, they handed out refurbed phones like candy, if the tech could not solve the problem in 30 minutes, bam 2 day delivery a replacement. I borked a couple of Optima V's and they replaced them no sweat.

They will happily collect money from people with rooted phones until it costs them money.