Vodafone going over Data Allowances grr

HeatherH

In October, I bought a htc wildfire (previous using a sony erricson w595) as my 24m contract had finished and I renewed my vodafone contract to make it a bit cheaper as sim only and ended up with 100mb data allowance. Great I thought, wont have to pay for my add on 500mb anymore. OMG was I so wrong.

Ok so I know android phones are likely to use more data, and because of this, I usually keep my phone off any mobile networks and only switch it on to check emails, facebook etc. When I found that this practice was still making me go over my 100mb, I put the 500mb add on back on my priceplan.... thought that would be the end of it.

Now my annoyance with Vodafone is that when I go over my initial 100mb, it sends me a message saying you're going over, fair enough. I have my other 500mb, but when I'm getting near the end of this allowance, vodafone send nothing (confirmed my a vodafone representative on the phone this morning) .

For the past two bills, I've been charged for going over my additional 500mb data, now I'd put my hands up to this if it was possible to actually track how much I had left. It doesn't show on the account website, or through the automated account phone service.

So basically, I'm annoyed that I'm being charged £5 ish on top of my priceplan for going over, when I have no way of knowing. Last month, I went only 112mb over and was charged the £5. The advice I'm after is whether I should complain and ask for it back, as I would've stopped using my data if I knew I was in risk of being charged, or should I take it as experience and get on with enjoying my christmas? I've been with vodafone for 12 years and after this contract is up, I'm seriously thinking of going elsewhere.

Thanks in advance for any advice, and Merry Christmas to everyone on the boards :beer:

Caroline73_2

Download the 3g watchdog app. It's free. You can set it to start any date of the month and it will keep a total of how much data you use. You can also set it to automatically disable when you hit a certain point.

For the sake of a fiver, I'd suck it up and use the app to ensure it doesn't happen again.

HeatherH

Thanks Caroline, i'll get the app

Notmyrealname

HeatherH wrote: »

So basically, I'm annoyed that I'm being charged £5 ish on top of my priceplan for going over, when I have no way of knowing.

Of course you do. At any point in the month you can go online and check your balance. I'm with 3 and they even have an app I can put on my phone to check. Vodafone may do the same.

What you actually mean is nobody tells you and you want them to because you're too bone idle to be bothered to check yourself. You should start thinking of that £5 as a bone idle tax.

The advice I'm after is whether I should complain and ask for it back, as I would've stopped using my data if I knew I was in risk of being charged

Not a chance in hell. They will quite rightly tell you that you can check your balance on line and that as a grown up it is your responsibility to check.

giraffe69

What you actually mean is nobody tells you and you want them to because you're too bone idle to be bothered to check yourself. You should start thinking of that £5 as a bone idle tax.

Good to know the Xmas spirit is alive and well!

JJ_Egan

A lot of apps either sync in the background or look for updates at frequent intervals . They not amount to much but if you have an allowance it could push it over .

Phone has a DATA OFF switch or an app /
LBE Privacy Guard app can stop apps connecting /
Setting phone and /apps to not sync all the time /
These can all save data .

Most common asked questions here are
How can i break my contract without paying
How can i get out of paying for the roaming data i used
How can i get out of paying for going over my data allowance

jje

HeatherH

Thankyou to most of you that replied to this message, and for the record vodafone don't have anything online that tells you how much data your have left after you used your priceplan allowance as I frequently check it. just because you're with 3 doesn't mean that every other company does the same. So stop being such a closed minded unhelpful !!!!.

Anyways, thankyou for the useful comments and I've installed the 3g watchdog, just wish I'd found it earlier.

spiro

HeatherH wrote: »

Thankyou to most of you that replied to this message, and for the record vodafone don't have anything online that tells you how much data your have left after you used your priceplan allowance as I frequently check it.

Unfortunately the VF 44555 service does not include data.

Vodafone

Hi HeatherH,

I am sorry to hear that you are having some problems tracking your data usage.

If you are already registered for My Account, you can see how much data you have already used for the month.

If you aren't registered, you can do so here. If you need any further help, you can contact me directly via the address shown here with WRT135 FAO Heidi in the subject. Please also include a link to your post if you email.

Many thanks,

Heidi
Web Relations Team
Vodafone UK

talkalot

If you dial 44555 and then select option 2. It should send you a text with how much data ect you have used. Failing that if you go to the Android Market and look for a app called my allowance. You can log in to this using your Vodafone my account details .This lets you know how much data texts ect you have left.

Im_just_careful

Try Netcounter before you buy another app.

http://www.jaqpot.net/netcounter/

I find it useful.