Vodafone Data Charges for Automatic Updates!

graemie

My wife has been having a very frustrating problem with her Vodafone contract.

She needs to use data on her phone very infrequently and so she took out a contract that did not include a data allowance (around £20 p/month).

Her contract was running fine at or around the £20 a month mark for some months, with a few extra charges for an occasional picture message download etc. Then, without warning, her bills jumped up to around £30 - £40 per month without any additional usage from her.

On contacting Vodafone they explained the phone was being sent updates by Vodafone which uses data and would result in data charges. After my wife queried why this should happen and explained that she had not chosen to receive updates she was effectively told it was tough, they would disable future updates, but any charges received thus far were valid.

This may be correct but she did ask Vodafone why this would start happening after months without it happening and why she had not been pre-warned, she was told that it would be and I quote "annoying for Vodafone to have to tell people who don't have a data allowance that they would be getting sent updates which would result in charges"

This does not seem right - and following written complaints my wife has been on the receiving end of some shambolic customer service. with her name incorrectly spelt and Vodafone's responses completely missing the point.

It may or may not be right that updates can be sent to phones, and it may well be in the user manuals of said phones that they will connect to the internet to download updates, but I would however suggest it is perfectly reasonable when taking out a contract to have all the charges, including potential charges, made absolutely clear so that situations like this do not arise. It would not have hurt Vodafone to have said that if a data allowance is not included in your contract you may incur charges from your phone automatically connecting to the internet.

We will keep plodding away with Vodafone Customer Services to see if they will eventually understand the nature of our complaint and respond suitably.

Sagz_2

I've set my phone to update only when it's on wi-fi to avoid any costly update charges.

graemie

Thank, but unfortunately my wife's phone is fairly basic and does not have Wi-Fi, good tip for those that do though!

Techhead_2

Its more likely that the phone is set to request updates.

See if she has turned on a service like Vodafone 360, firmware updates, weather etc

graemie

Thanks, I should have mentioned that Vodafone have openly admitted that the phone was being sent updates on an almost daily basis. They have stopped the updates from happening and advised my wife to turn off her phones internet connection setting - this isn't ideal as she does from time to time want to use the internet and wants the peace of mind that it is there and working when she does need it. On these rare occasions she is happy to pay for the data she uses.

It is more the principal that Vodafone feel it is okay to do things like this without warning and afterwards when you notice your bill and complain they really don't care and act like it doesn't matter and you are just an annoyance to them.

To my mind these are effectively hidden or stealth charges that Vodafone have forced on to my wife. It may well be in the small print but just because they might be allowed to do it, does not make it right. As I said, surely a clear prior warning would not hurt them, but I suppose additional customer service hours would affect their bottom line and be less money available for them to advertise to get new willing suckers tied into their stealth contracts. The service frankly can't really get much worse than what we have experienced trying to get a fair response from them.

grumbler

graemie wrote: »

Thanks, I should have mentioned that Vodafone have openly admitted that the phone was being sent updates on an almost daily basis.

This may have been just a misunderstanding or some incompetent agent that is common for Vodafone. AFAIK, like for a PC, normally it is a phone that checks for the updates and 'pulls' them, not the network that 'pushes' them.

They have stopped the updates from happening and advised my wife to turn off her phones internet connection setting - this isn't ideal as she does from time to time want to use the internet and wants the peace of mind that it is there and working when she does need it. On these rare occasions she is happy to pay for the data she uses.

Well, it's her phone and it's her responsibility to control it. AFAIK Vodafone can only permanently enable or disable mobile internet at their side for her account.

To my mind these are effectively hidden or stealth charges that Vodafone have forced on to my wife.

Nothing hidden. Normal out-of-allowance charges for mobile internet.

graemie

grumbler wrote: »

Well, it's her phone and it's her responsibility to control it. AFAIK Vodafone can only permanently enable or disable mobile internet at their side for her account.

Agreed, but unless you are a techie you are unlikely to know about the possibility of your phone connecting to the internet to 'search' for updates. Surely, as a default, internet can be enabled with automatic updates turned off from Vodafone's end. If this is not possible it should be made obvious in the sales and contractual literature. Having looked through all the paperwork and the phone's manual this is not made obvious anywhere.

grumbler wrote: »

Nothing hidden. Normal out-of-allowance charges for mobile internet.

As above really, unless you are a techie or have had your fingers burned before, you are unlikely to know that your phone can automatically connect to the internet to receive 'push' updates with charges as a result. You are especially unlikely to know what is happening when your contract has been running fine for more than half a year without it happening and then one day it just starts. Again, given that that no warnings are provided and in the literature it is not made obvious, these are absolutely hidden charges.

grumbler

graemie wrote: »

...Surely, as a default, internet can be enabled with automatic updates turned off from Vodafone's end...

I am not a techie, but I think the only Vodafone can do from their end is enabling and disabling the mobile internet.

graemie

grumbler wrote: »

Nothing hidden. Normal out-of-allowance charges for mobile internet.

Would just like to add - I have absolutely no problem with 'out-of-allowance' charges. If you have used it, you have used it, and should be charged accordingly. I do have a problem with 'out-of-allowance' charges for usage that is not of your choosing.

Yes, it may well be within your choosing to disable internet connectivity and possibly toggle updates on or off, but the argument is that the default should be set to off and the consumer has the option to turn either option on with the knowledge that charges would apply, exactly the same as a consumer choosing to make a phone call to an 'out-of-allowance' number or send 'out-of-allowance' texts.

This way at least, there is an upfront knowledge of what you are doing and the possibility of potential data charges accumulating. As it is set currently (with automatic updates seemingly set to on as a standard default) Vodafone are extracting data usage by default resulting in charges to the consumer that they are not made aware of when taking out a contract.

balmk

Can you tell us the make and model of the phone - we may be able to advise you further on how to leave internet enabled, but disable the automatic updates.

It is highly unusual for a network provider to send software updates to a handset; it is usually the software on the handset that is pinging out for updates.

graemie

grumbler wrote: »

I am not a techie, but I think the only Vodafone can do from their end is enabling and disabling the mobile internet.

They did say they had disabled the updates from their end and that my wife could disable mobile internet on her phone if she wishes.

If this is correct then it does mean the updates were coming from them. As you said though incompetence does seem to be rife!

She wants to have mobile internet so that she can use a map or download an occasional photo etc. and is happy to pay for data when she does. It is the updates from Vodafone that are the problem, but hopefully now stopped!

Would really just like reimbursed for the data charges that happened over the 3-month period it took to get to the bottom of what was happening.