£380 charge for going over BT broadband monthly usage?

Equaliser123

pimento wrote: »

I think I would say to BT when I called them that I would have to be mad to have run up a huge bill knowingly. I'd confess to being a bit of a luddite and be honest and say that I didn't realise when my digibox broke down and I started using my broadband connection to watch the TV quite what the implications were considering that had I known, I could have called and upgraded to unlimited for a fraction of the cost. That I now understand how it all works and would like to take advantage of their unlimited service. I might even allow myself to be talked into BT Vision if the pressed me. Still probably cheaper than paying the £380 if they will let you off if you sign up.

Good idea. Have to say though that even switching to an "unlimited" plan would probably have contravened the fair use policy in this case.

pinkshoes

380Gb is a HUGE amount!!! What on earth has her son been watching/downloading??????

Ignorance is no excuse here though, and before signing up to something like broadband, perhaps it would have been wise to understand what the T&Cs were.

Given the excessive usage, then I think the £380 is fair. This would even count as excessive on an unlimited account!

Perhaps she should consider cancelling her contract and see if she can pay the money off at £30/month?

pimento

Pinkshoes: The OP has already said upthread that the family had been watching catch-up TV ever since their digibox broke down.

Lokolo

pimento wrote: »

Pinkshoes: The OP has already said upthread that the family had been watching catch-up TV ever since their digibox broke down.

TVCatchup uses 335mb per hour. Thats 1134 hours of TV a month (380GB). Which is 36 hours a day.

I suspect they did more than just watch TVCatchup.

(http://forums.tvcatchup.com/archive/index.php/t-2397.html)

DCodd

If I may suggest the following possibilities, the 380GB was for 2 months excessive usage ,BT look the other way if you go over for 1 month but charge for the lot if it continues for a second?

The £380.00 bill was automatically produced and sent and BT would be open to a compromise (I believe in most IP's T&A's one course of action for regular over usage is a forced moved to a higher priced product)

When BT called me to try and get me to switch to them their sales person said that ALL BT packages allowed for unlimited iPlayer useage, so if the 190GB a month was down to iPlayer it may be an idea to check with BT and argue the toss.

200GB a month is still a large amount and it might be a good idea for the op's friend to check that her son has not be on peer to peer and copying films etc.

pimento

Lokolo wrote: »

TVCatchup uses 335mb per hour. Thats 1134 hours of TV a month (380GB). Which is 36 hours a day.

I suspect they did more than just watch TVCatchup.

(http://forums.tvcatchup.com/archive/index.php/t-2397.html)

Perhaps. Speaking as somebody who has never downloaded a movie, or an iTune and only ever watched iPlayer once, I couldn't say that you're wrong, but the fact is that the deed is done and it's now a damage limitation exercise.

Perhaps mum and dad were catching up their TV downstairs while teenaged son watched Lost upstairs.

Lokolo

pimento wrote: »

Perhaps. Speaking as somebody who has never downloaded a movie, or an iTune and only ever watched iPlayer once, I couldn't say that you're wrong, but the fact is that the deed is done and it's now a damage limitation exercise.

Quite so, which is why I think there is more than what we have been told.

I get the feeling a lot of downloading has been going on, which could easily continue.

pimento

Lokolo wrote: »

Quite so, which is why I think there is more than what we have been told.

I get the feeling a lot of downloading has been going on, which could easily continue.

I don't get the feeling it's a conspiracy on the part of the OP. Maybe she genuinely didn't understand the implications. I don't think it would have occurred to me.

I was listening to The Money Programme on Radio 4 a couple of weeks ago and they had a businessman on who had been stranded abroad by volcanic ash. he had been listening to Radio 4 on his PC while he was away and came back to a bill of something like several tens of thousands of pounds (can't remember the exact amount but it was staggering).

He genuinely hadn't realised and was trying to get Vodafone to negotiate.

I'm sure it's easily done.

mjm3346

BT vision would have been cheaper
Quote from BT T&C's
BT services such as BT Vision via the Vision+ box, BT Digital Vault and BT Broadband Talk are not affected by our Fair Usage Policy and don't count towards your usage allowance. So you can watch as much on-demand entertainment on your TV and make as many online calls as you wish, without having to worry about going over your allowance

DCodd

mjm3346 wrote: »

BT vision would have been cheaper
Quote from BT T&C's
BT services such as BT Vision via the Vision+ box, BT Digital Vault and BT Broadband Talk are not affected by our Fair Usage Policy and don't count towards your usage allowance. So you can watch as much on-demand entertainment on your TV and make as many online calls as you wish, without having to worry about going over your allowance

Ahhhh maybe that is what the BT lady was talking about when they called me.