Geekzone: technology news, blogs, forums
Guest
Welcome Guest.
You haven't logged in yet. If you don't have an account you can register now.


andrewNZ

2487 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user


#181052 30-Sep-2015 17:23
Send private message

This is just amazing.

1.5GB of mostly background data in Sri Lanka and a $23,000 bill as a result.
I guess people will never learn.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11521505

View this topic in a long page with up to 500 replies per page Create new topic
 1 | 2
tripp
3848 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted
Lifetime subscriber

  #1397455 30-Sep-2015 17:33
Send private message

I love reading cases like this.

Funny how the paper says "The Mighty River Power employee, whose name is suppressed"


but you can find the case in the DOL determinations database

http://dol.govt.nz/workplace/determinations/SearchResults.aspx?Type=RecentCases



tripp
3848 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted
Lifetime subscriber

  #1397457 30-Sep-2015 17:35
Send private message

mattwnz: What amazed me is he got fired for it, at least that is what the headline implies?


Looks like a bit more to the "issue" but have not had a time to read it, the pdf is big (23 pages) which is a lot for "just a phone bill".





NZFINEST
202 posts

Master Geek

Trusted

  #1397471 30-Sep-2015 17:58
Send private message

I wonder if Spark waved any of the bill. I deal with these issues constantly customers saying they can't of spent that much while roaming. They say prove it, then when you spend a hour getting everything needed to prove it they then say, oh I didn't know I would be charged that much I'm not paying that. even tho they get SMS advising cost.
UAE gets a lot people now when getting interconecting flights  and JR favourite maritime roaming "I only looked at e-mails did a little  face book and watched a few utube clips" how can that total 6k




Anything I suggest or say is my own thoughts and not provided by anyone else unless stated



vexxxboy
4243 posts

Uber Geek


  #1397472 30-Sep-2015 17:59
Send private message

what is even more amazing is that Mighty Power got stuck with the bill and had to pay the person $6,000 for being mean to him.




Common sense is not as common as you think.


nakedmolerat
4629 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted
Lifetime subscriber

  #1397473 30-Sep-2015 18:02
Send private message

I would have thought the company should not let him go on holiday with a work phone!

johnr
19282 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user


  #1397477 30-Sep-2015 18:07
Send private message

nakedmolerat: I would have thought the company should not let him go on holiday with a work phone!


I can :)

tripp
3848 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted
Lifetime subscriber

  #1397479 30-Sep-2015 18:10
Send private message

So after reading the doc it looks like MRP wanted to find a way to get him out, there are comments in the doc about him getting 10k to move but then going back requesting another 5k, issues on "some" of his work before going away.
The phone and missing work was the straw that broke the camel's back.  MRP did go out of their way to help with issue however offering the guy a motel to stay when he was feeling sleepy and had to drive for 2 hour back home after his first day back at work.  



 
 
 

Cloud spending continues to surge globally, but most organisations haven’t made the changes necessary to maximise the value and cost-efficiency benefits of their cloud investments. Download the whitepaper From Overspend to Advantage now.
wellygary
8312 posts

Uber Geek


  #1397485 30-Sep-2015 18:21
Send private message

Sparks's website says it charges $5/MB for data in Sri. Lanka, so he went through around 5GB in about 3 weeks, so not what you would call excessive, but it just shows how much of a rip off international data roaming is.....

jeffnz
2870 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted
Lifetime subscriber

  #1397487 30-Sep-2015 18:24
Send private message

mrtoken: So after reading the doc it looks like MRP wanted to find a way to get him out, there are comments in the doc about him getting 10k to move but then going back requesting another 5k, issues on "some" of his work before going away.
The phone and missing work was the straw that broke the camel's back.  MRP did go out of their way to help with issue however offering the guy a motel to stay when he was feeling sleepy and had to drive for 2 hour back home after his first day back at work.  



regardless of what we may read between the lines it wasn't brought up at the meeting and he was dismissed based on what was tabled and the Authority went through the process and whether it was fair and reasonable. Some may think it is unfair but after reading the pdf file I think the authority handled it well.




Galaxy S10

 

Garmin  Fenix 5




Hammerer
2476 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

  #1397491 30-Sep-2015 18:27
Send private message

vexxxboy: what is even more amazing is that Mighty Power got stuck with the bill and had to pay the person $6,000 for being mean to him.


It wasn't that amazing. The determination seemed very reasonable to me.

I do think it was a bit soft on the employee. He had no work need to use his work phone on holiday and he understood about high roaming data charges. But it is not clear that he understood background data use and the associated risks. Nobody seems to have checked if he actually received an initial warning txt from Spark.

Re the bill. The authority concluded that the bill was not incurred knowingly or deliberately. Other forms of negligence would be paid for by MRP as is usually the case with other losses due to poor performance. MRP was not powerless to prevent it happening. MRP could have had better processes and could have implemented "an automatic roaming data cap" to prevent excessive charges.

MRP would have had to pay the employee $10,000 except that the employee had contributed to the situation hence the discount of 40%.

MRP would be thankful that they only just avoided having him reinstated. It was only the fact that he knowingly (at least a month in advance) took unapproved leave which was sufficient to establish that he would probably have lost his job anyway. The other four issues (two declared, two undeclared to the employee) would not have been enough.

chiefie
I iz your trusted friend
5877 posts

Uber Geek

Retired Mod
Trusted
Lifetime subscriber

  #1397514 30-Sep-2015 18:58
Send private message

mrtoken:
mattwnz: What amazed me is he got fired for it, at least that is what the headline implies?


Looks like a bit more to the "issue" but have not had a time to read it, the pdf is big (23 pages) which is a lot for "just a phone bill".


It's an interesting read.




Internet is my backyard...

 

«Geekzone blog: Tech 'n Chips Takeaway» «Personal blog: And then...»

 

Please read the Geekzone's FUG

 


mattwnz
20141 posts

Uber Geek


  #1397519 30-Sep-2015 19:06
Send private message

Why didn't the business put some for form of cap on it's use. Companies are leaving themselves pretty open to huge fees if their staff use phones overseas. Many people would have used this accidentally without knowing the costs IMO. Txts nor email, aren't 100% reliable as a warning either.

Satch
1985 posts

Uber Geek


  #1397537 30-Sep-2015 19:38
Send private message

In this day and age, with stories like this in the news ever other month (although never quite this excessive), how can anyone claim not to be wary of roaming data charges?? This is beyond me...

loceff13
1065 posts

Uber Geek


  #1397543 30-Sep-2015 19:51
Send private message

Must be insane margins in peering(or whatever term you would use) for the telecom companies

lNomNoml
1807 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

  #1397565 30-Sep-2015 20:07
Send private message

Satch: In this day and age, with stories like this in the news ever other month (although never quite this excessive), how can anyone claim not to be wary of roaming data charges?? This is beyond me...


In this day and age you shouldn't have to pay $5 per MB just because you are in another country.

 1 | 2
View this topic in a long page with up to 500 replies per page Create new topic





News and reviews »

Air New Zealand Starts AI adoption with OpenAI
Posted 24-Jul-2025 16:00


eero Pro 7 Review
Posted 23-Jul-2025 12:07


BeeStation Plus Review
Posted 21-Jul-2025 14:21


eero Unveils New Wi-Fi 7 Products in New Zealand
Posted 21-Jul-2025 00:01


WiZ Introduces HDMI Sync Box and other Light Devices
Posted 20-Jul-2025 17:32


RedShield Enhances DDoS and Bot Attack Protection
Posted 20-Jul-2025 17:26


Seagate Ships 30TB Drives
Posted 17-Jul-2025 11:24


Oclean AirPump A10 Water Flosser Review
Posted 13-Jul-2025 11:05


Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7: Raising the Bar for Smartphones
Posted 10-Jul-2025 02:01


Samsung Galaxy Z Flip7 Brings New Edge-To-Edge FlexWindow
Posted 10-Jul-2025 02:01


Epson Launches New AM-C550Z WorkForce Enterprise printer
Posted 9-Jul-2025 18:22


Samsung Releases Smart Monitor M9
Posted 9-Jul-2025 17:46


Nearly Half of Older Kiwis Still Write their Passwords on Paper
Posted 9-Jul-2025 08:42


D-Link 4G+ Cat6 Wi-Fi 6 DWR-933M Mobile Hotspot Review
Posted 1-Jul-2025 11:34


Oppo A5 Series Launches With New Levels of Durability
Posted 30-Jun-2025 10:15









Geekzone Live »

Try automatic live updates from Geekzone directly in your browser, without refreshing the page, with Geekzone Live now.



Are you subscribed to our RSS feed? You can download the latest headlines and summaries from our stories directly to your computer or smartphone by using a feed reader.