Large O2 'data call' charge

24

Comments

  • Inner_Zone
    Inner_Zone Posts: 2,853 Forumite
    edited 10 March 2018 at 1:32PM
    pmduk wrote: »
    You're confusing WAP with GPRS

    Actually CSD or later with HSCSD on Orange or Ericom Ireland.
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 5,186
    Combo Breaker First Post
    Forumite
    Nothing unusual or unfair in that. Pro-rata is done at the start and end of every single contract with every single network. It's pretty basic and easily avoided.

    How the hell do you work out that them changing his allowances just because they're leaving is fair? He was on a certain contract and should expect the same terms & conditions until the final day.
  • mobilejunkie
    mobilejunkie Posts: 8,460 Forumite
    And the final day was... much shorter than the usual 30 days or so. Can't believe you don't understand that; it's exactly the same as when a new contract starts. It virtually NEVER starts on the bundle date nor ends on it.
  • esuhl
    esuhl Posts: 9,409
    Name Dropper First Post First Anniversary
    Forumite
    pmduk wrote: »
    You're confusing WAP with GPRS

    No -- WAP's just a protocol. I might be confusing it with GSM. :-/
  • RallyJ
    RallyJ Posts: 12 Forumite
    The thing is, I had already paid for the full month line rental. I didn't expect O2 to refund any of that - as far as I was aware I could make use of my usual full allowance. Had I known they would refund it, I could have ported my number over to Vodafone about 9/10 days earlier and got a larger refund for the line rental. But because I had already paid for the month up front, I thought I would make the most out of it and at least make use of my data allowance. As soon as I received the text message telling me I had used 80% of my monthly allowance, my number was ported to Vodafone the following day.

    Then I get a bill for over £100 for apparently going massively over the data allowance as they subsequently opted to refund the line rental and apply a pro-rata rate to the data allowance!

    Don't get me wrong - I've never had any issues with O2 in the 10 or so years that I had a contract with them. But I find this extremely unfair.
  • mobilejunkie
    mobilejunkie Posts: 8,460 Forumite
    They only unfair thing is moaning about the provider. You still have no idea how a mobile phone contract works and the onus on anyone entering any contract is on THEM to know exactly what they're signing up to. You also wouldn't have "saved" anything with the PAC; you still would have paid for 30 days from obtaining it and the pro-rata NORMAL calculation would still have been done - without "saving" a penny.

    The only way of avoiding a pro-rata allocation of your bundle would be to give notice exactly 30 days before your bundle date. It's not rocket science, but it may as well have been for you.
  • RallyJ
    RallyJ Posts: 12 Forumite
    Let me know where you got your high horse from. Wouldn't mind getting one myself :T
  • mobilejunkie
    mobilejunkie Posts: 8,460 Forumite
    Got mine from making sure I knew what I was doing beforehand. Afterwards I will attack the provide if they've done anything wrong. That keeps the horse happy as well as preventing me wasting my time raising my blood pressure instead of blaming myself should I mess up - as you have.

    Had you read through either the t&c or the information on this forum first you wouldn't be crying over spilt milk now.
  • RallyJ
    RallyJ Posts: 12 Forumite
    I didn't think I was attacking the provider. That's certainly not the intention. As I said, I've never had any issues with them in 10 or so years. I'm unhappy with the fact I had paid for a month's line rental and then subsequently received a partial refund on that only to be told that because I only paid for part of the month (because of the refund!) that I would then have to pay over £100 extra because of the data that was used! Data which otherwise wouldn't have incurred any charge under normal circumstances.

    Who is going to start reading T&C years after signing up to a contract or sift through a forum because they want to switch to a new provider? The more appropriate thing to do would be to inform a customer that they would receive a refund on any unused line rental and that a pro rata rate would be applied to their allowance at the time that they request a PAC code. That could have avoided everything.
  • mobilejunkie
    mobilejunkie Posts: 8,460 Forumite
    edited 12 March 2018 at 10:33AM
    RallyJ wrote: »

    Who is going to start reading T&C years after signing up to a contract or sift through a forum because they want to switch to a new provider? The more appropriate thing to do would be to inform a customer that they would receive a refund on any unused line rental and that a pro rata rate would be applied to their allowance at the time that they request a PAC code. That could have avoided everything.

    I would at least ask beforehand. Why do you think you have to give 30 days' notice? If the end of the 30 days falls mid-bundle date (which it will at least 29 out of 30 times) you can't expect to get a full months' allowance. Apart from anything else, it's common sense. It's also the same with all monthly mobile contracts and is a pretty obvious calculation. It's also the same when you start a contract, between the start date and the first bundle date.

    You accuse the network of being "extremely unfair". Whilst I often attack the networks for poor customer service they haven't done anything "unfair" or wrong in any way in this scenario. It is standard practice to charge a full month in advance and then refund any surplus; they don't know how much you will use of your bundle until after the event. It isn't their responsibility to go through every detail of a contract with you nor to explain how mobile contracts work. Had they explained it to you at any point it would have been a bonus and should they offer you any refund of the additional charges you should grab it with both hands and say you were fortunate and the network has actually been generous and more than fair.

    If you've exceeded your pro-rata allowance in the shortened period up to you first bundle date on your new contract you can expect a large first bill on that one too. Even if you haven't it will be higher than a normal month, which you would expect if you understood how contracts work (and you shouldn't expect your new provider to explain that to you either).
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