Odd phone bill

DexterPunk · Post by **DexterPunk** » Mon Apr 04, 2011 8:07 pm

I got a phone bill today for $140... I'm on a $49 cap, and have 750MB of data. My calls and texts were within the allowed amount. But my data usage was insane. When I'm home my phone is connected to wifi.. when I'm at work, it sits in a draw. One day I 'apparently' downloaded 696MB, so my cap was exceeded.. and theres constant roaming net charges... I have data roaming turned off, and I have mail to be fetched manually. ....wtf? I have an extra $80 on my bill for net usage.. I barely use any of my net allowance since im either at home on wifi, or at work with it sitting in a draw. Is it worth contesting? I honestly can't see how i would have used that much.

AstrO · Post by **AstrO** » Mon Apr 04, 2011 8:08 pm

Are you with 3?

DexterPunk · Post by **DexterPunk** » Mon Apr 04, 2011 8:17 pm

AstrO wrote:Are you with 3?

yeah i am.

kwijibo · Post by **kwijibo** » Mon Apr 04, 2011 8:35 pm

I think turning off data roaming on the iphone only disables international data roaming. If you stray outside the 3 coverage, zone you'll roam to telstra no matter what and get hit with a massive bill.

I'd have thought the bill would differentiate normal usage from roaming usage though.

DexterPunk · Post by **DexterPunk** » Mon Apr 04, 2011 8:38 pm

yeah it does, but I still don't know why it would be using anything.

kwijibo · Post by **kwijibo** » Mon Apr 04, 2011 10:18 pm

Yeah 696Mb in one day is worth complaining about anyway

DexterPunk · Post by **DexterPunk** » Tue Apr 05, 2011 2:38 pm

Well I rang three... after listening to the guy in India go through every detail with my bill, and taking about 10 mins to get to the point where he told me the extra charge was because of the data usage... I calmly explained that my phone is always conneted to wifi at home, and at work it sits in a draw and isn't used. He then claimed that the iphone auto updates itself, and thats where the extra data would have came from.. I told him I didn't agree, and that i have email fetching set to manual, and didn't see how downloads that large could possibly occur without intentionally using the phone. He offered me $20 credit... I started to get a bit narky and said, well the extra charge was more like $75... and to me it seems to be a mistake. He then upped the credit offer to $50 and I decided to take that. It still seems stupid that im paying more than I should for a fairly obvious error... But I was sick of the phone call. Takes the sting out of it a bit anyway. I'm sure I could have gotten it all back if I really tried, but I just couldn't be fucked with it by that stage, it must be their tactic. Offer them this amount, if they still aren't happy offer a bit more till their annoyance is outweighed by their wanting to get off the phone. They drain my life.

AstrO · Post by **AstrO** » Tue Apr 05, 2011 3:39 pm

On my Android phone I have an app that disables my net when it detects I've left the 3/Vodaphone network (saves accidental Telstra roaming charges). Does the iPhone have anything like that?

PS the app is called "Stop 3 Data Roaming"

DexterPunk · Post by **DexterPunk** » Tue Apr 05, 2011 3:50 pm

I haven't looked to be honest. I'll have a look around for that app or something similar. Cheers.

w00dsy · Post by **w00dsy** » Tue Apr 05, 2011 5:50 pm

DexterPunk wrote:He then claimed that the iphone auto updates itself, and thats where the extra data would have came from..

wut?

DexterPunk · Post by **DexterPunk** » Tue Apr 05, 2011 6:34 pm

yeah, it was bs. He knew I thought so as well.

Vilante · Post by **Vilante** » Tue Apr 05, 2011 8:23 pm

I've heard the same thing from an Optus guy in regard to a wireless card in a latop. He told us windows updates had cause an 8gig overspend in a month.

Perhaps that's rhetoric?

Duke · Post by **Duke** » Tue Apr 05, 2011 8:28 pm

Yep that's bogus...
Dexter, not sure if you thought about going to the ACCC Telco Ombudsman on this?
By them offering you a credit is an admittance of error if you ask me, even if the amount only partially covers the error.
I've heard people have a good success rate going to the ACCC if they have a good case which from what you've said sounds like it.
Not sure how they will view it now that you have accepted their credit offer but maybe worth pursuing all the same.

Either we if there is a next time (I hope not) then when your talking to the CS rep tell them you will be taking your issue to the Obudsman as your unsatisfied with their determination. It is usually enough to scare them such that they usually come to the party if it means you will drop the complaint.

kwijibo · Post by **kwijibo** » Tue Apr 05, 2011 8:41 pm

Just another thing to check, but did your iphone say you'd used downloaded that much data in the usage screen?

KNAPPO · Post by **KNAPPO** » Sat Apr 09, 2011 9:53 pm

AstrO wrote:On my Android phone I have an app that disables my net when it detects I've left the 3/Vodaphone network (saves accidental Telstra roaming charges). Does the iPhone have anything like that?

PS the app is called "Stop 3 Data Roaming"

Thanks Astro

DexterPunk · Post by **DexterPunk** » Sat Apr 09, 2011 10:05 pm

Flinty72 wrote:Yep that's bogus...
Dexter, not sure if you thought about going to the ACCC Telco Ombudsman on this?
By them offering you a credit is an admittance of error if you ask me, even if the amount only partially covers the error.
I've heard people have a good success rate going to the ACCC if they have a good case which from what you've said sounds like it.
Not sure how they will view it now that you have accepted their credit offer but maybe worth pursuing all the same.

Either we if there is a next time (I hope not) then when your talking to the CS rep tell them you will be taking your issue to the Obudsman as your unsatisfied with their determination. It is usually enough to scare them such that they usually come to the party if it means you will drop the complaint.

Sorry, somehow missed these responses.

I'm kinda over it Flinty... prob not the right thing to do, and is probably the reason for how they are encouraged to offer credits as compensation for a fuckup.. but I actually just can't be bothered for $25.

kwijibo, can you do that? I can see my overall usage since i got the phone.... but can you see it for a certain period?

kwijibo · Post by **kwijibo** » Sat Apr 09, 2011 10:11 pm

DexterPunk wrote: kwijibo, can you do that? I can see my overall usage since i got the phone.... but can you see it for a certain period?

You can reset it whenever you please. I reset mine each period if I remember.

DexterPunk · Post by **DexterPunk** » Sat Apr 09, 2011 10:17 pm

ahh ok.

i kinda like having an odometer on my phone that shows the overall stats. It needs a trip meter.

plastik8 · Post by **plastik8** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 12:28 pm

AstrO wrote:On my Android phone I have an app that disables my net when it detects I've left the 3/Vodaphone network (saves accidental Telstra roaming charges). Does the iPhone have anything like that?

PS the app is called "Stop 3 Data Roaming"

Just a heads up for iPhone guys (myself included); such an app would only be available for Jail Broken iPhones, as Apple locks down the standard, non Jail Broken apps to not touch system settings at all.

kwijibo · Post by **kwijibo** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 1:14 pm

plastik8 wrote:
AstrO wrote:On my Android phone I have an app that disables my net when it detects I've left the 3/Vodaphone network (saves accidental Telstra roaming charges). Does the iPhone have anything like that?

PS the app is called "Stop 3 Data Roaming"
Just a heads up for iPhone guys (myself included); such an app would only be available for Jail Broken iPhones, as Apple locks down the standard, non Jail Broken apps to not touch system settings at all.

Its bizarre that there is no system setting for something that has potential to really cost people

plastik8 · Post by **plastik8** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 1:18 pm

Maybe it's a conspiracy!

At least Apple have put in the option to disable international roaming. I guess that's a start.

w00dsy · Post by **w00dsy** » Fri Apr 22, 2011 10:40 am

kwijibo wrote:I think turning off data roaming on the iphone only disables international data roaming. If you stray outside the 3 coverage, zone you'll roam to telstra no matter what and get hit with a massive bill.

that has just happened to me, we went away a few weeks ago and we had shit reception, so i turned off 3g and it worked ok. Obviously it was roaming to Telstras network and we got slugged and extra $170 for only a couple of days on and off the phone.

DexterPunk · Post by **DexterPunk** » Fri Apr 22, 2011 10:54 am

I knowingly did that in Tassie. I didn't care, it was an extra $50 on my bill, but i knew it would happen and in the grand scheme of things while on holiday it isn't that much. I used my phone quite a bit to find accommodation etc. My mate on Optus had nothing... In that case I was happy to roam and at least have the option. I know not to use the net when roaming and rarely ever do. This bill was a fuck up on their part I'm sure of it.

A.R.S.E.

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