Mobile phone excess data charge - I'm in big trouble

[Milbs1]

I talked my other half into me getting a "smartphone" a few months ago, he was nervous about the horror stories of massive bills etc. I had downloaded 3G watchdog and was tracking my usage daily, connecting to WIFI when at home. Well on Wednesday night, I had to switch off WIFI (it conflicts with my non-WIFI PC, thats a different issue) and forgot to turn it back on when I went to bed. Not to worry one might think, I wasn't doing anything on the phone so shouldn't use much data.

I wake in the morning to find the phone has used >1GB of data overnight, I have no idea doing what. I could not see any large files, wasn't dowloading anything, nor looking at you tube etc. I had been browsing facebook, a few web pages incl Flickr and possibly Ausphotography, but even so 1GB is massive.

Virgin have to worst excess data charges of all........my bill stands at $2253 :eek::eek: I received an SMS from them while I was in shock at the phone to tell me my account was suspended as I had reached my credit limit. Phonecalls to Virgin so far haven't got me anywhere, I have got the query passed to Customer Services in Sydney who are due to call me back within 72H. It is so stressful waiting, I feel quite sick. Added to this my partner is FURIOUS as he warned me, and turns out there is a check button on the 3G app that had it been turned on, would have stopped data when I reached my limit. I feel such an idiot.

Anyway, will update as I hear from Virgin, but just wanted to put the warning out there that THIS COULD HAPPEN TO YOU. Please check your settings and make sure you have something that will kill all running apps on your phone should data limits be reached.

If I dont receive a positive outcome from Virgin (I'm not confident) I will raise a complaint with the TIO.

Has anyone had a similar experience?

[ricktas]

Some Apps, Like facebook etc, have built within them a 15 minute 'update'. What this means, is that even if you are not using it, the FB App will check for new messages etc, every 15 mins.

If this phone is an android one, download Juice Defender Ultimate, whilst its primary role is as a battery use reducer, it has some seriously good features, like turning off 3G (you can still receive phone calls etc) when the phone is idle, setting up 'night mode' so that between say midnight and 6.00 am (you set the times) the phone will not access 3G at all, unless you force it to.

It takes a bit of tweaking to get the App to where you want it, but it is seriously good.

[LJG]

Oh dear - I sincerely hope you get it sorted out asap! It makes the $300 charge for over download my son rang up for me pale in comparison!

[rellik666]

Blimey! I use my phone loads for browsing, I do have wifi at home and work, but use it out and about quite a lot and haven't used 1gb of data! And those charges seem really excessive!

Interesting app there Rick, shame it is for android. Anyone know of a similar one for iphone?

Good luck getting it sorted, I know that phone companies are notorious for customer service or lack of it. :(

[agb]

So sorry to hear that. There seem to be so many instances of excess bill that I am glad that I am an old fogie and have a phone which is a phone and nothing else.
I hope that you can find out what has been happening and perhaps have some reduction in the amount charged. On the face of it it seems unreasonable that a phone can be downloading stuff and costing you money when you are not actively setting it to do so.

[Michaela]

Blimey! I use my phone loads for browsing, I do have wifi at home and work, but use it out and about quite a lot and haven't used 1gb of data! And those charges seem really excessive!
Same here - in the two years I've had my iPhone I've never gone close to reaching my quota. I have wifi at home, but the phone's on 3G all day when I'm at work and on weekends when I'm out. It sounds as though something's not right. I hope you get it sorted OK. :(

[Ezookiel]

My boss's boss was telling me the other day that she was on holiday on some obscure Island, and her grandson asked if he could play a game on her phone. Without thinking about Roaming Data, she agreed to it, and even let him download a new game, and came home to a $480 dollar bill when she's never gone over her $29 cap ever. But yours makes hers look really minor. 1gb overnight is an extraordinary amount for a phone not in use to be pulling down. It would just about have to have been pulling something down the whole time to clock that up. Might be worth checking also that your phone isn't being accessed remotely by someone/something.
I left my iPhone set to Internet Tethering once by accident (it basically makes the phone into a means for your laptop to connect to the internet without having to get a dongle or other device) when I'd used it to give my laptop internet access while I was out and about, and when I got home, spent the night doing all my usual stuff on here, and other forums, and facebooking, etc, and only found out when I got out my phone to send an SMS, that the whole night all the stuff I'd done on my laptop had been done via my mobile phone data plan instead of via my home wireless data plan. It was a tight month the rest of the month to get through without going over my data limit on the phone.

[Ezookiel]

Oh, and get yourself onto a useful sized data plan now you have a smart phone. It's easy to use data without even trying once your phone is able to do so.
They don't have to be expensive, but if you're not on one, they're stupidly priced. My Telstra one gives me 1gig as part of the standard phone plan I'm on, and that's more than enough for most months.
Good luck with it. I hope someone at your phone provider has some common sense and gets it sorted out for you.

[Milbs1]

Thanks for the comments everyone.
It is certainly a big lesson learnt whatever the outcome.... for that I am still waiting. I think they make you wait so long so that you get really stressed and then agree to any discount off the ridiculous bill that they offer. Well I'm really stressed anyway :(

[Tommo1965]

dont pay the bill, do not even attempt to pay it..a friends daughter did the same thing...they didn't pay the bill and it was wiped ...you will be ok on this..so try not to worry too much..also turn off all push notification

[ameerat42]

...If I dont receive a positive outcome from Virgin (I'm not confident) I will raise a complaint with the TIO.

Has anyone had a similar experience?...

I don't see that anyone has the right to charge you like that. Wouldn't they have been alerted? Big deal about the SMS after the fact - that's just poor!

Check out your contract for any leeway, and about the TIO, state what happened and what you expect to get as an outcome. Have a clear outcome in mind and stick to it. I think you'll get a fair way with the TIO. I had to once, but for much less money, and it was exactly what I was after, a full refund.

Best wishes.

[I @ M]

$2253.00 buys an excellent lens ( or 2 or 3 ).

I reckon in the 12 odd years that I have had a mobile my total spend on phones and calls over that time would probably only be a little more than your single bill. :Doh:

Yeah, I know I am backward. :D

[Milbs1]

Well Virgin "Customer Services" still have not rung, their representative abroad tells me they dont work the weekend and so it will be Monday...... I think that is really poor form, leaving this hanging over the weekend. A crap weekend it will be for me, and then IF they call on Monday I will have to deal with it at work..... I am not a happy girl, my joy at being a finalist in Photo5 has been well and truly overshadowed :(

[Paul G]

How'd you go with this?

I've just switched from an ordinary old Nokia to and Android Samsung Galaxy SII last week and your tale has just spooked me a little.

[Milbs1]

Well the outcome was that I negotiated a significantly lower charge of $200. Still not happy, but decided that stress of fighting the charge all together was not worth it. I now have 3G switched off on the phone, and only switch it on to do something specific and then switch it straight off. On top of this I have installed a traffic monitor app and I'm much more cautious about what I am doing. I still use the WIFI when available.

I am angry that they are allowed to get away with this, given that they can have up-to-date charging for prepaid customers but are up to 48h delayed for postpaid, it stinks of a scam to trap customers.

Hey-ho, we live and learn!!!!!!

[Paul G]

Is your phone iPhone or Android? How do you turn off 3G?

[98kellrs]

Did you manage to find out what apps were causing the issue? Facebook etc won't churn anywhere near a gig overnight, nomally the only large files are updates for applications 9I've seen a few xxx mb updates come through for some of my apps. If you got hit with a load of them overnight they could cause it. Failing that it could be that you left the browser running in the background. On mot android phones when you exit back to the main screen the application itself doesn't actually close, if you left it on youtube or similar that could cause it? I have downloaded a task killer which makes sure that all programs are fully shut down, I also turn off the data network overnight usually.

Glad to hear they relented a little on your bill at least! :)

[bdparker]

Some is defentally not right there. I never turn off my 3G, and never turn off my Phone (LG Andriod) I run multiple email accounts, facebook (1hr updates) and about 70 other apps. I have a 1Gb data limit on a $29 plan, which I realy exceed (only when I watch a lot of youtube).

I would demand a fully detailed data usage report to find out excatly when and if possable what took you over.

It is possable (I have head similar from friends that had telstra accounts) that there is backgroud new/weather and other useless information that is pre install (that you did not necessarlly agree to) apps running that have the tendance to syphon of your data usage, regardless how carfull the unsupecting customer is.

You can alway take up the issue with the consumer watchdogs.

Good luck in getting a fair responce from virgin.

[William]

If you own your own Phone , Check these guys out , We just set up our 14yr on the $40 plan : http://www.amaysim.com.au/?cid=gsems

[Milbs1]

Virgin were apparently unable to tell me what application used the data, only when it was used which was essentially overnight in 4hrly blocks.
I have an android (HTC Incredible S) and it is very difficult to know what is running in the background.....I now have a task manager application which helps with this.

To turn off 3G I go to "settings' "wireless and networks" and "mobile network".......

I have no idea what caused the usage, nor am I likely to know. At a guess I would say it must have been something with video but my internet history didnt show you-tube or anything, I had been using AP, Flickr and facebook. Also, possibly Canon Photo5 (which does have a video). :confused013

Thanks for the support, be aware that it is not just "idiots" that get caught out!!!!!

[98kellrs]

It's certainly a hard way to learn such a lesson! :( A task manager should greatly help with managing your usage though.

As other's have suggested programs like Juice Defender are good, the basic version is free and it basically shuts off your data connection when you aren't using the phone and can completely block some apps from downloading data without your permission.

[JM Tran]

My boss's boss was telling me the other day that she was on holiday on some obscure Island, and her grandson asked if he could play a game on her phone. Without thinking about Roaming Data, she agreed to it, and even let him download a new game, and came home to a $480 dollar bill when she's never gone over her $29 cap ever. But yours makes hers look really minor. 1gb overnight is an extraordinary amount for a phone not in use to be pulling down. It would just about have to have been pulling something down the whole time to clock that up. Might be worth checking also that your phone isn't being accessed remotely by someone/something.
I left my iPhone set to Internet Tethering once by accident (it basically makes the phone into a means for your laptop to connect to the internet without having to get a dongle or other device) when I'd used it to give my laptop internet access while I was out and about, and when I got home, spent the night doing all my usual stuff on here, and other forums, and facebooking, etc, and only found out when I got out my phone to send an SMS, that the whole night all the stuff I'd done on my laptop had been done via my mobile phone data plan instead of via my home wireless data plan. It was a tight month the rest of the month to get through without going over my data limit on the phone.

haha $480 is nothing for overseas roaming. Because of the nature of my work I sometimes have to keep my phone on roaming when I am overseas, so bills over $1000 I have now come to accept, sigh:D


but re. the OP, do raise a complaint or something as there has been people in the past who have won and had their bill decreased etc, mostly from their children accessing things without their consent and knowledge though.

[Milbs1]

but re. the OP, do raise a complaint or something as there has been people in the past who have won and had their bill decreased etc, mostly from their children accessing things without their consent and knowledge though.

I did raise a complain with the TIO, and Virgin did reduce the bill significantly from $2000 to $200 (independently of the complaint). I just decided trying to take it any further (ie trying to get the charges droped altogether) wasnt worth the extra hassle and stress. :)

[ameerat42]

That sounds like a reasonable outcome, Milbs. You'll certainly keep tabs on the usage now, and they would have been given a wake up too, if only that they took so long to tell you.

[Lance B]

I have heard of someone getting a bill for internet roaming whilst they were overseas for upwards of $22,000!! Luckily it was waived!! One of my workers here had a bill for over $6,000, but that was alsl waived! :eek: It really pays to be vigilant.

[William]

:o Stupid question from an old fart who has a normal mobile that does'nt do anything except make phone calls , Prepaid, Who or what is TIO ? I do have a 14yr son :eek:

PS : He has a new Android thingy , We hope our plan for him is safe http://www.amaysim.com.au/?cid=gsems

[dbax]

Who or what is TIO ?

I'm guessing Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman

[ameerat42]

You are right, David.

[Bax]

From my understanding, Virgin would have no clue what the data would be used for? Being in 4 hour blocks might be a sign to go into:

Settings
Accounts and Sync

And then go through checking to see what was on a 4 hour sync cycle. My facebook syncs every 4 hours for example.

Having said that - 1gb is a ridiculous amount of data - the second point I'd also make is that 3G watchdog is not always spot on. I went over a while back by 20mb or so. 3G watchdog was still stating I was on 80% - but I got an SMS from Telstra stating that I was over my limit by xx mb's. I've since learnt not to put all my trust into 3G watchdog, and if I'm getting around 80% - I'll generally turn 3G data off entirely.

On the Desire, you can simply hold the power button down briefly. Then Hit 'Mobile Network'

Chris

[old dog]

good grief......I`m glad I don`t have a mobile......yes, I`m a dinosaur, I know it.


A year or so back I get a phone call about a new phone plan which supplies me with a free mobile......

me....I don`t want a mobile...I`ve never had one...
them.....what, you don`t want a mobile....
me...that`s right...
them....everyone has a mobile these days....
me....I don`t....
them....I bet all your friends have a mobile....
me....yes, I think they do....
them....how do you communicate with them then....
me....I use this phone I`m on now....
silence......hang up tone...

[ameerat42]

1 - old dog
0 - phone hawker

(Look, I have one, but then... [insert what goes without saying]... )

[fess67]

I recently had a $3000 bill for the same thing. Data roaming is the issue here not 3G. I was in Bali and although I was not trying to download anything the phone was trying to synch with the carriers in Aus and Bali. Kinda 'are you there...yep I am......are you there...yep I am' repeated the the tune of $12 per second!!!

Telstra reversed most if the charge however it is noted on their website on the dangers of data roaming so it was good of them to play fair.

Lesson learned :)

[ameerat42]

This time when OS, I bought a local SIM card. (So much cheeper than global ruminating I could buy 1000 chickens with the change!) And further, with GR I could talk and SMS in some places, while in others I could not SMS. My mobile carrier, though happy to charge for GR usage, could not tell me why. So again, next time I will also get a local SIM card, End of my OFF-THEME anecdote.

[Mark L]

good grief......I`m glad I don`t have a mobile......yes, I`m a dinosaur, I know it.


+1 :confused013

[colormeter]

my coworker got sting with $200 bill for data charges. He checked his itemised bill and found period of charges. The two weeks bill mentioned he used data were the weeks he was at home taking care of his wife and new born baby. He had packet data off, always on wifi. He said he didn't get time to surf anything on wifi. He contacted them via phone first but it didn't went anywhere so he started posting on their twitter accounts. After not getting any positive response he lodged complaint with TIO. 2 days later he got call from company and they waved $180 dollars.