Unexpected big bill

hypnoticmonkey

I'm a student just going into his fourth year, starting October 5th.

I've just been to France and, while I remembered to turn data off on my blackberry, I did turn it on once or twice to receive important emails. It appears that I forgot to turn it off once, though.

My phone bill is usually £20-25, but this month it's £133 and that's £133 that I simply don't have at the moment. I will have it, though, in a month once my student loan has been paid in.

I've never been in this situation before, would it be acceptable to phone up O2 and ask them if I can pay the usual £25 (because my mother will probably pay that) and save the rest until next month?

Butlers1982

i wouldnt have thought so.

RussWWFC

You could ask, I am sure when I was with them it said something like "If you are having difficulty paying this bill, ring us" or something like that

You could always ring and have a whinge about the data charges, they may even reduce it. Use that as a starting point in fact

TighterThanTwoCoatsOfPain

"you must have forgot to turn it off"??

Surely to rack up £133 of charges you were bombarded with hundreds of sizable e-mails.

Sry OP, but i smell Bull. You couldnt rack up £133 in charges while not actually downloading anything. Arent Blackberry e-mails pushed rather than pulled?

Apologies if i have the wrong end of the stick!

hypnoticmonkey

Blackberry emails are automatically downloaded (don't know if that's push or pull), but it's the attachments that you have to choose to download.

I do get lots of emails but not that much. (£90 in data charges = 30mb)

But blackberries aren't just about emails. I use a number of other background apps that use the data channels. Google sync, synchronises my bberry calendar with my google mail calendar a few times a day, and this is usually a few hundreds KBs a time, BlackBerry apps, which checks itself for updates, an RSS reader and, the big killer, Facebook - which probably decided do do a full refresh of my contacts list while I was away (it does so about once a week usually) which includes downloading a completely new contacts list (ridiculously inefficient way of doing it) and also downloads all the profile pictures for the contacts on my address book who i have linked to facebook.

All in all, 30MB isn't a lot to expect.

Besides, what business is it of yours how I used this 30MB? Does it affect, in any way at all, my situation? I don't think so.

If I was making up excuses, do you not think I'd make them up to the people at O2 who actually make decisions rather than to some member of a forum who I was hoping might help me rather than accuse me of lying without a cause?

Viper_7

Then, why are you surprised at the bill if you're using the other services?

Once your data channel is open even without sending/receiving data the device is checking and sending handshakes.
Contractually you are obliged to pay, and if you speak to the provider with that attitude they will insist on it!

hypnoticmonkey

Viper_7 wrote: »

Then, why are you surprised at the bill if you're using the other services?

See my first post. I didn't realise the Data services were left on.

Viper_7 wrote: »

Once your data channel is open even without sending/receiving data the device is checking and sending handshakes.

I know.

Viper_7 wrote: »

Contractually you are obliged to pay

I know. I'm not trying to avoid paying, I'm not trying to shirk my contractual responsibilities and I'm not, as someone suggested, all that fussed about getting the data charges reduced. The problem is I don't have £133 at the moment, but I will do 2.5 weeks after payment is due (it's not due till the 17th). Their options: are to sell my debt to a 3rd party, which will cost them money; to take me to court for £133, which will cost them money, or; to wait 2.5 weeks and get their money in full. If you were them which would you go for?

Viper_7 wrote: »

and if you speak to the provider with that attitude they will insist on it!

What makes you think I'll speak to the provider with that attitude? I doubt the provider will make meaningless points about whether or not I'm lying about the fact base, they'll be more interested in getting the money, which as I've already pointed out I'm not trying to get out of paying.

hypnoticmonkey

And I would like to point out that I didn't have an 'attitude' for most of my post, and not at all for my first post, but I didn't take too kindly to someone accusing me of 'bull' when really, it was none of his/her business and it made no difference to the situation for which I was asking for help. In fact, TighterThan didn't even offer any help in amongst the insults, simply ended with a symbolic 'apology', so the post was largely pointless and brought no benefit to anyone involved.

Viper_7

Talk to the Provider about the current bill, they will see it's a one off and will probably agree to lower it, but not obliged too and again they may well agree to delay payment. At the end of the day if you don't have it, they won't get it, so talking openly usually opens doors.

I'd also request capping the data service charges so you won't find yourself in the same situation.
rgrds Vipes

TighterThanTwoCoatsOfPain

I have a blackberry myself, including business e-mails + 2 personal accounts and couldnt possibly use 30Mb without knowing including the Apps I run (although admittedly not facebook)

My point about the e-mails is you couldnt have not known you hadnt turned it off as you would have noticed the e-mails coming - surely!?? (question?)

Perhaps you want to re-read the last line of my first reply.

Guess its the sort of thing you only do once eh!

LeeSouthEast

O2 may permit deferring the data charges. Or if you ask really nicely, wipe them off. Only way to know for sure is to ring with a smile and your tail between your legs.