o2 500mb limit

bubblepop_2

I renewed my contract with o2 in September, upgrading to a smart phone (htc desire) They offered me a deal which included unlimited data usage, which was being amended in October to 500mb which they assured me I'd never even get close to - despite me saying I use Facebook, Twitter, news sites a lot as I work in social media. The 500mb came into play for this months bill beginning on 17 October and today I get a text saying I've used 80% of my limit with still 3 weeks to go until my next billing period!
They're saying it's because I've watched youtube videos, but I've only watched a handful so looked into it all a bit further and have found stuff saying that using o2's own figures, 500mb which breaks down as 16gb a day means 2 you tube videos a day, 1.6 music tracks, 100kb basic webpage (facebook before you log in uses 86kb) and 300kb rich webpage (the person whose posted these figures says his twitter is 246kb so that equals to 50 page refreshes)
If I'd known that I would've gone with one of the other providers who were biting my arm off to go with them with unlimited usage (I wanted to stay with o2 out of loyalty - more fool me!)
Am I right in thinking I've been missold the product? I stressed that I use the internet a lot and that I work in social media and he said I had nothing to worry about - there was no way I'd reach the limit! I'm happy to cut back on watching videos and downloads but I should be able to use Facebook, Twitter etc the way that Smart phones are built for them to be used without reaching my limit within a 1-2 weeks! And I'm stuck with this contract for 2 years!!!!
Can anybody advise me on what to do?

cashbackproblems

This is exactly why im reconsidering taking out a business contract with o2 for the Iphone, it comes with a 750mb limit but i will also be streaming videos and dont think this is anywhere near enough, whts the point in a phone like this if you cant even watch videos?!

What happens if you go over?

One guy told me they charge you and the other said they dont but cut off your limit?

bubblepop_2

Just spoken to someone at who has been o2 who has been actually useful - they've given me 1gb for rest of month and upped my monthly usage to 750mb so at least that gives me a bit of leeway. Going to have to not watch vids/download though and use wifi when I use from home. It's just annoying they're bandying around this idea that 500mb on smart phone is a great deal! I wasn't clear on usage as I'd never had smart phone before but they really should advise people better - I'll be sure to tell everyone else I know who works in social media to be wary of 02 - not really the kind of people you want to alienate either really as they're a huge part of your target market!

@cashbackproblems I'm not sure on what happens when you go over limit though - two people told me two different things this morning - 1. that you are charged £3 per mb (eeeek!) and 2. that you're usage just stops. I did find these links which might help you decide how much you need though....
http://www.andyjarrett.co.uk/blog/index.cfm/2010/6/10/Dont-sell-me-500mbmonth-limit-and-tell-me-its-good#comments#

http://news.o2.co.uk/Press-Releases/O2-introduces-new-mobile-data-pricing-model-2a3.aspx

pimento

I had a problem similar to this..

http://forum.o2.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=54123

neilcr_2

Most people in real world use will find 500-750 mb more than enough as the battery will run out quicker than the data when you are away from base. I am still on a O2 unlimited data iphone 20 deal but have only used more than 500mb once.

elfen

As you've got the Desire, nip onto the Android Market and download 3G Watchdog (it's free) If you keep it on, it monitors your usage, and if you tell it how much your allowance is a month (mines 1GB on 3) and when your bill due date it, it works out how much you use

Wintermute

bubblepop wrote: »

Just spoken to someone at who has been o2 who has been actually useful - they've given me 1gb for rest of month and upped my monthly usage to 750mb so at least that gives me a bit of leeway. Going to have to not watch vids/download though and use wifi when I use from home. It's just annoying they're bandying around this idea that 500mb on smart phone is a great deal! I wasn't clear on usage as I'd never had smart phone before but they really should advise people better - I'll be sure to tell everyone else I know who works in social media to be wary of 02 - not really the kind of people you want to alienate either really as they're a huge part of your target market!

@cashbackproblems I'm not sure on what happens when you go over limit though - two people told me two different things this morning - 1. that you are charged £3 per mb (eeeek!) and 2. that you're usage just stops. I did find these links which might help you decide how much you need though....
http://www.andyjarrett.co.uk/blog/index.cfm/2010/6/10/Dont-sell-me-500mbmonth-limit-and-tell-me-its-good#comments#

http://news.o2.co.uk/Press-Releases/O2-introduces-new-mobile-data-pricing-model-2a3.aspx

When you go over your monthly allowance you wont get charged any extra, you'll get a text message letting you know what's happening and you're speed will be throttled down to 15kbit/sec. If this happens, phone up O2, they'll be able to add a temporary data bolt on which will up your allowance.

To be honest I consider myself quite a heavy user, I've been downloading Android ROMs, lots of apps etc. lately and I've just had a look through my past few bills and I was actually really surprised how little data I use, it seems to average out as less than 250mb although I do use the BTOpenzone wireless network that O2 gives me access to, mainly because it's quite a bit faster.

I really wasn't happy about the cap when I heard about it, but I don't think anybody's offering truly unlimited data any more unfortunately. A small minority of users who were abusing it ruined it for the rest of us

atlantis187

Wintermute wrote: »

When you go over your monthly allowance you wont get charged any extra, you'll get a text message letting you know what's happening and you're speed will be throttled down to 15kbit/sec. If this happens, phone up O2, they'll be able to add a temporary data bolt on which will up your allowance.

To be honest I consider myself quite a heavy user, I've been downloading Android ROMs, lots of apps etc. lately and I've just had a look through my past few bills and I was actually really surprised how little data I use, it seems to average out as less than 250mb although I do use the BTOpenzone wireless network that O2 gives me access to, mainly because it's quite a bit faster.

I really wasn't happy about the cap when I heard about it, but I don't think anybody's offering truly unlimited data any more unfortunately. A small minority of users who were abusing it ruined it for the rest of us

Sorry mate its not a case of "small minority os user ubusing it" its more to do with the network getting greedy and trying to scam us out of even more money then they already do

sporedude

atlantis187 wrote: »

Sorry mate its not a case of "small minority os user ubusing it" its more to do with the network getting greedy and trying to scam us out of even more money then they already do

Okay then.....so if it was still unlimited data, with smart phones getting more data hungry, hows the network going to cope with the demand of giving everyone fair speeds?

atlantis187

sporedude wrote: »

Okay then.....so if it was still unlimited data, with smart phones getting more data hungry, hows the network going to cope with the demand of giving everyone fair speeds?

Maybe its about time they started investing alot more money into upgrading their network such as putting more masts up etc.. instead of wasting money on stupid things like o2 priority tickets and stuff.

mrochester

atlantis187 wrote: »

Maybe its about time they started investing alot more money into upgrading their network such as putting more masts up etc.. instead of wasting money on stupid things like o2 priority tickets and stuff.

I'm sure they'd probably love to but there's planning constraints. You can't just put up a mast wherever you want, and when you do try to put a mast up, you get a bunch of nuts protesting against it.