Orange phone bill!! Data Roaming HELP

Dirk_Gently_2

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

If it's an error it'll be refunded if you ask them.

Dirk_Gently_2

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

Thread started January 2011.....

Dirk_Gently_2

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

No, but the comment about a refund was obviously directed at the OP and not you as you had already had a refund.

Dirk_Gently_2

Must be a new meaning of the word "obviously" I've not come across before....

NFH

Dirk_Gently wrote: »

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.

Dirk_Gently_2

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

" I tend not to have 13 grand kicking about in my current account! "

I like that part of the Dirk Gently post