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Orange phone bill!! Data Roaming HELP

2

Comments

  • I've just had an interesting - but far more dramatic - experience on Orange.

    I have a number of phones on my contract, and my stepson's has inclusive data of 500Mb/month.

    My monthly direct debit from Orange this morning was declined, as it was asking for £13,184 - and investigation this was apparently because my stepson downloaded 4.26GB in a period of about 10 days last month! I know for a fact this is impossible - all his settings are spot on and he uses wi-fi when at home, which he was or this period. I also installed Netcounter on the phone so I know he's only used a total of 3.2 GB since January.

    Despite mixed stories from Orange, it appears they issued a credit for £13,028 the day after the bill was issued, so although the account only owed £156 the larger amount was taken by DD - or that's what they tried, I tend not to have 13 grand kicking about in my current account!

    So somehow Orange's billing system has got hold of this completely spurious data amount. It's all very well being refunded the difference, but if it was a little sum there's no way whatsoever of knowing if Orange's figures are correct or not. There's also teh little matter of bank charges for the returned DD I'm going to have to fight them over....

    Grrrr!
  • simax
    simax Posts: 1,977 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    If it's an error it'll be refunded if you ask them.
    I spent 25 years in the mobile industry, from 1994 to 2019. Worked for indies as well as the big networks, in their stores also in contact centres. I also hold a degree in telecoms engineering so I like to think I know what I’m talking about 😂
  • Already asked them and they have (although too late for the DD!)

    My point is that it's only come to light because it's such a great big error that it's obvious it's an error. But there's no way of knowing if there are smaller errors every single month that people unknowingly pay for.
  • Sagz_2
    Sagz_2 Posts: 6,251 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Thread started January 2011.....
    Some days you're the dog..... most days you're the tree! :D
  • Sagz wrote: »
    Thread started January 2011.....

    And....? Is there some unwritten rule saying not to recycle threads but to start new ones every time?
  • Sagz_2
    Sagz_2 Posts: 6,251 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    No, but the comment about a refund was obviously directed at the OP and not you as you had already had a refund.
    Some days you're the dog..... most days you're the tree! :D
  • Must be a new meaning of the word "obviously" I've not come across before....
  • NFH
    NFH Posts: 4,413 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    My monthly direct debit from Orange this morning was declined, as it was asking for £13,184 - and investigation this was apparently because my stepson downloaded 4.26GB in a period of about 10 days last month! I know for a fact this is impossible - all his settings are spot on and he uses wi-fi when at home, which he was or this period. I also installed Netcounter on the phone so I know he's only used a total of 3.2 GB since January.
    My data usage is usually around 200MB to 400MB per month, but one month my Orange bill showed that I had used 916MB when my iPhone had recorded that I had used only 404.5MB (370MB downloaded and 34.5MB uploaded). Orange's customer service system showed that I had downloaded large quantities of data during short daytime periods on two days in the billing month, which if true would have severely drained my battery, but it hadn't done so because I didn't use the data. Also there's no way that my iPhone could have physically downloaded the alleged high quantity of data in the short periods stated. The difference between your case and my case is that I was just within the 1GB fair usage allowance so there was no cost or other implication. Nevertheless I asked Orange to investigate several times and made sure that copious notes were made on my account in case the same thing should happen in future more excessively or when I'm roaming, but they failed to investigate. I'm sure Orange know all about these data billing errors but won't admit it.
  • NFH wrote: »
    I'm sure Orange know all about these data billing errors but won't admit it.

    Yes, that's what I'm convinced of, too. At the end of the day we have to take on trust what their billing systems say, with no effective way we can prove them wrong.
  • woody2234
    woody2234 Posts: 414 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts
    " I tend not to have 13 grand kicking about in my current account! "

    I like that part of the Dirk Gently post
    Let them eat cake (Marie Antoinette 1765)
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