BT mobile £3,309.4 data bill for august

chanz4

all there calls are recorded so should be easy to sort, the service is actually ee

dmliverpool

mobilejunkie wrote: »

Yes.

1) Use a data counter so you can check immediately at any point how much data you've used.

2) Check that regularly if you've used the phone.

3) Stop using it if you've exceeded your allowance.

4) Don't give your phone to children to play with.

5) Put locks on the phone and sim so no-one can use it if it falls into their hands.

6) Don't let it fall into their hands.

7) Don't cancel your direct debit or your credit history will be wrecked for the next 6 years (apart from being chased by debt collectors).

8) Don't PAC out. The cost is probably correct and you're likely to end up with another contract with someone else where you come and here and complain about exceeding your allowances and actually being charged for it.

9) Find out exactly what the charge is for. IF it's wrong you can do something about it.

Also do some research on how data and mobiles work. I am in the habit of flicking from one to the other.

You should have default position to have no data switched on at all. If you want go use it it's a quick toggle.

[Deleted User]

A lot of the advice given doesn't really apply.., the OP gave the phone to her son while camping. It wasn't 'accidental' but obviously didn't realise the cap had been lifted or how much it would cost.

I'm afraid this will be an expensive mistake as BT may offer a discount, but it'll still be a large bill.

It happened to me (much smaller amount but still difficult to pay), so ever since I make sure data is turned off and only on for the short time I need it. Wi Fi only lol. I don't trust caps. Heard too many stories of customers still getting large bills and a mess to sort out. I'd rather monitor it myself.

NFH

Keep_pedalling wrote: »

The charge for going over your limit is 10p per Mb so 5.4Gb should work out at around £540

What is the objective justification for the price per megabyte increasing as consumption increases within a particular month? Most industries give volume discounts. What is the rationale for a volume surcharge?

There is no objective justification for why BT shouldn't recalculate the bill at the same pro-rata per-megabyte rate as the monthly allowance, or ideally at an even lower rate.

ryan121

NFH wrote: »

What is the objective justification for the price per megabyte increasing as consumption increases within a particular month? Most industries give volume discounts. What is the rationale for a volume surcharge?

There is no objective justification for why BT shouldn't recalculate the bill at the same pro-rata per-megabyte rate as the monthly allowance, or ideally at an even lower rate.

I don't think it's that simple because BT mobile isn't actually a network and is using EE.

To the op I'd say you need to look at more appropriate plans for children who aren't likely to show any restraint when it comes to usage. Three and giffaff offer unlimited data plans. Giffgaff would be far more suitable if you're worried about this kind of thing happening.

grumbler

ryan121 wrote: »

I don't think it's that simple because BT mobile isn't actually a network and is using EE.

And? Do you mean that the price they pay EE increases with the volume?
How can Delight Mobile using the same EE offer 1p/Mb on PAYG?

ryan121

grumbler wrote: »

And? Do you mean that the price they pay EE increases with the volume?
How can Delight Mobile using the same EE offer 1p/Mb on PAYG?

I don't know how it works with mvno networks but I do know what bt charge is extremely cheap for sim only so this is probably just a way for them to make extra money.

It's hardly a surprising or uncommon thing.. The same is done with car mileage on a lease agreement. If you do anything outside the agreed limits it will cost considerably more.

I'm not saying it's right how much they charge but that's up to them.

grumbler

ryan121 wrote: »

I don't know how it works with mvno networks but I do know what bt charge is extremely cheap for sim only so this is probably just a way for them to make extra money.

NFH's point was that not all ways of making money can be justified.
Why not £1/Mb or £10/Mb then?

ryan121

I've never seen a case where what NFH has said has actually applied. It is up to the customer to pick the plan that is correct for them and change it if necessary.

In this case it is the customers fault, not the company. The op let their child use their phone which they knew would be for streaming video. I don't want to sound like I'm defending a mobile company but people need to be so careful especially with data usage.

NFH

grumbler wrote: »

NFH's point was that not all ways of making money can be justified.
Why not £1/Mb or £10/Mb then?

Exactly. Compare the mobile phone sector to the energy sector. Imagine if we had to buy electricity and gas in this way – either guess how much you will consume in a month which wastes any units that you don't use by the end of the month, or otherwise be stung with a unit price that is many times the usual price. For example, let's assume that electricity costs around 10p to 25p per kWh, depending on supplier. Instead of charging you 12p/kWh, your supplier lets you buy a monthly bundle of 500kWh for £60 or otherwise you pay an inflated price of £1/kWh for incremental usage. If you don't use up the full 500kWh, you lose the unused units and if you use more than 500kWh, then you pay £1/kWh. Neither Ofgem nor consumers would tolerate this with energy, so why do Ofcom and consumers tolerate it with mobile phone services?

The only purpose of monthly allowances and bundles is to charge the consumer in full for usage that isn't fully consumed and to charge prohibitively high rates for any usage over the monthly allowance or bundle. This practice favours the mobile networks without giving any advantages to consumers. I'm not suggesting that consumers shouldn't be able to bulk-buy their future consumption, but it is unreasonable to impose a monthly expiry on that purchased consumption. The consumer has paid for the consumption in full and should be able to use it in full or otherwise receive a refund of any unused consumption. It would be much simpler and fairer to charge for mobile phone service in the same incremental way as energy – just simple incremental usage prices at competitive prices, similar to Three's 3-2-1 prices. Of course, mobile networks could offer volume discounts as well as period-based usage (e.g. a fixed fee for unlimited usage in a particular period), but it is an unfair commercial practice to charge consumers for usage that isn't actually used. It is worth mentioning that the mobile networks offer simple usage-based postpaid tariffs to large corporate customers. That's because large corporate customers don't tolerate the ridiculous system of having to guess in advance how much each user will consume. Why can't all consumers benefit from simple and fair incremental postpaid tariffs?