$785.90 excess use charge!! WTF?!?!

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corksta

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#20597 31-Mar-2008 18:46

I'm on the 3GB Broadband Pro plan with Vodafone, with the $10 bundle insurance allowing it to kick over for another 3GB.

I monitor my usage through My Vodafone EVERY SINGLE DAY to make sure everything's in check. I've just used up all my data allowance, and the new allowance starts on 2nd April. Right now I'm sitting on about $8 excess use charges which is fine.

I just got a phone call from Vodafone, and its corresponding email, saying over the last two weeks I've racked up $785.90 in excess use charges!!!!!!!!!!!

They have agreed to credit me that amount, but I apparently have to pay a $59 "good will" amount for them doing that for me.

When I asked them why there is such a massive discrepancy between what they're telling me and what I'm seeing through My Vodafone they couldn't give me an answer.

I just know there's no way that I've used that much in excess usage, and had it been shown in My Vodafone I would have stopped using it.

I haven't downloaded any movies, I don't run a server, I've downloaded four songs the whole month, so what is going on here?

If My Vodafone says one thing and Vodafone itself says another, am I liable to pay this $59 amount?

corksta

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#120006 31-Mar-2008 19:08

Just called them back again and the guy I spoke to had the same information on his screen that I was seeing through My Vodafone, which was $7.32 in excess use, and couldn't tell me where the $785.90 would have come from so guess I'll just wait for the bill to arrive and go from there.

jpollock

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#120113 1-Apr-2008 09:10

Since an obvious fault of Vodafone's billing software prevented you from properly managing your usage, I would say they should swallow the entire discrepency.

None of this "good will" BS. The web page says, $7.32, that's what you should pay.

It's like gas stations. Where they say,

"When there is a discrepency between the pump and the register, the pump is correct."

In other words, "when there is a discrepency between what we tell you with the tool you use to control your usage, and our billing system, the tool is correct"

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sillybilly

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#120124 1-Apr-2008 10:11

It's like gas stations. Where they say,

"When there is a discrepency between the pump and the register, the pump is correct."

In other words, "when there is a discrepency between what we tell you with the tool you use to control your usage, and our billing system, the tool is correct"

Just a question about the above comment, but how do YOU know that the tool is correct??

If the tool displayed an amount of $7 and the billing system displayed $780 is the tool still correct? Would customers still pay $780 instead of $7 because the TOOL is correct?

I dont think so.

I understand you are frustrated with the charges, but at least Vodafone hasn't just dumped the full $780 charge on you.
Who knows the tool that you were using to monitor your usage may have been working properly.

I hope your issue is resolved soon Corksta, and hopefully it doesn't happen again!!

Cheers

David Webb

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jpollock

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#120132 1-Apr-2008 10:31

It doesn't matter whether or not the tool is correct. Customers should not be expected to pay for software faults on Vodafone's network. Since the tool is provided by Vodafone to allow customers to track their usage, it is official, and must therefore reflect the bill. Regardless of disclaimers on the web page. A click through license or warning is NOT an excuse for bad software, and it is NEVER acceptable to expect your end customers to swallow huge costs because of a preventable software failure.

In the gas station situation, the pumps are certified by the government to pump specific amounts of fuel. That's why you use the value on the pump instead of the register. Before you ask, yes, I have seen differences.

In this situation, Vodafone is using the equivalent of light scales and waiting until you've eaten the food to say, "Hey, you bought 1 tonne instead of 1kg!"

That isn't reasonable. In fact, I would suggest that it is done on purpose to extract huge overage charges from their corporate customers who don't pay as much attention to their bills.

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sillybilly

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#120141 1-Apr-2008 11:18

jpollock:In this situation, Vodafone is using the equivalent of light scales and waiting until you've eaten the food to say, "Hey, you bought 1 tonne instead of 1kg!"

You make it sound as though they are purposefully ripping everyone off

jpollock:That isn't reasonable. In fact, I would suggest that it is done on purpose to extract huge overage charges from their corporate customers who don't pay as much attention to their bills.

Yup, its all a big conspiracy!! I didn't know Vodafone were responsible for the attention that people pay to their bills...

Well, the best of luck to you Corksta, I hope it all gets resolved soon.

Cheers

David Webb

"If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure." - George W. Bush

corksta

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#120265 1-Apr-2008 17:26

Thanks sillybilly, I'll just have to wait for the bill to arrive next week probably and see what's going on.

I've just checked it again and it is just over $8. The usage meter has been consistent over the last month, there haven't been any spikes or sudden changes in available MBs so I would tend to suggest that it has been working correctly.

My laptop doesn't sit there idle all day and night with the connection open, and I've got a pretty good handle on what's being downloaded and uploaded and at what times, so for Vodafone to suggest I've used about 393MB over the 6GB allowance over the last couple weeks certainly doesn't 'feel' right knowing what, and when, I've used the internet for over the last month.

I'm certainly glad they're not trying to sting me with this so called excess use charge, but I certainly don't want to pay a gratuitous $59 for something that on first glance appears to be a mistake from their end.

I'm not a dummie - had I known I was going over my allowance two weeks ago I would have ended it there - who the heck wants to continue using the internet at 50c/MB when there'd still be two weeks left in your billing month?!

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sleemanj

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#120871 3-Apr-2008 20:53

who the heck wants to continue using the internet at 50c/MB when there'd still be two weeks left in your billing month?!

Vodafone seem to think that people are happy to pay $10,000 per gig for casual data usage, they must think people are thoroughly orgasmic at the thought of a paltry 50c a meg ;-)

But to be on topic, I would say if the usage meter system tells you "you've spent $a" and you rightly take that to mean "great, I have $b left to spend this month", then Vodafone hasn't got a hope in hades of asking you to pay some huge overage out of the blue. If you get a bill (and I'm willing to bet you won't) I just wouldn't pay it.

Take a screengrab of the usage meter.

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basicallythis

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#121048 4-Apr-2008 13:11

sillybilly:
jpollock:In this situation, Vodafone is using the equivalent of light scales and waiting until you've eaten the food to say, "Hey, you bought 1 tonne instead of 1kg!"

You make it sound as though they are purposefully ripping everyone off

jpollock:That isn't reasonable. In fact, I would suggest that it is done on purpose to extract huge overage charges from their corporate customers who don't pay as much attention to their bills.

Yup, its all a big conspiracy!! I didn't know Vodafone were responsible for the attention that people pay to their bills...

Well, the best of luck to you Corksta, I hope it all gets resolved soon.

Cheers

David Webb

If I provide you with a tool to manage your expenses, is it wrong for me to expect that this tool will be accurate? I mean, there needs to be a system where you can manage your consuming of resources. This reminds me of the Credit Limit debacle where there were credit limits that didn't work for A) Data, B) TXT or C) Nearly nothing at all. I know there's a catchall in the Vodafone T&C saying your responsible for all your consumption and rightly so, but you have to tell people correctly what it is.

Technical excuses are not good enough.

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corksta

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#121055 4-Apr-2008 13:32

Well according to My Vodafone my bill for this month is $154.03, which to me makes sense as it includes my You Choose plan, my Broadband Pro plan and about $20 worth of excess use charges.

The paper bill will probably come early next week, and while I have seen before discrepancies between what My Vodafone says and what the actual bill says, I'd say indications are that I haven't been charged the $59 fee but I'll know soon enough.

corksta

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#123089 12-Apr-2008 18:57

The bill arrived the other day and there was no mention of the $785.90 charge, credit, or $59 fee, so what was shown on My Vodafone was mirrored in the bill.

Who knows where that excess use charge came from then!

kfella2000

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#123102 12-Apr-2008 19:53

corksta: The bill arrived the other day and there was no mention of the $785.90 charge, credit, or $59 fee, so what was shown on My Vodafone was mirrored in the bill.

Who knows where that excess use charge came from then!

My guess is that the first person you spoke to looked into your account and found a mistake and corrected it so that when the second person you spoke to looked all he saw was what you saw on my vodafone. All the same, if this was the case, it wouldnt have hurt the first person ringing you back and saying they found a mistake on their end and appologise for any inconvenience it may have caused you.

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sillybilly

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#123133 12-Apr-2008 22:52

kfella2000:My guess is that the first person you spoke to looked into your account and found a mistake and corrected it so that when the second person you spoke to looked all he saw was what you saw on my vodafone. All the same, if this was the case, it wouldnt have hurt the first person ringing you back and saying they found a mistake on their end and appologise for any inconvenience it may have caused you.

I reckon that was right on the money, good to hear that it is all resolved

DW

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raytaylor

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#123318 14-Apr-2008 00:05

Just a note on this provided tool measurment stuff, the mobile connect software in all versions I have seen, it does state that the graph is only an estimate and the physical bill is what should be used. I think it may have something to do with their proxy / compression system as being cause for some inaccuracy but $700 worth is way out there.

They have been also known for regularly billing people for stupid stuff that they didnt order / use. Does anyone know if the rollover date is the 1st of the month or is it like many isp's where the rollover is the date you joined. If the rollover isnt the 1st of the month this has to be programmed into your vmc software. I just set them up for people and the boss supplies me with a vodem for work so I dont know the billing side of things.

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exportgoldman

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#123366 14-Apr-2008 10:15

jpollock: It doesn't matter whether or not the tool is correct. Customers should not be expected to pay for software faults on Vodafone's network. Since the tool is provided by Vodafone to allow customers to track their usage, it is official, and must therefore reflect the bill. Regardless of disclaimers on the web page. A click through license or warning is NOT an excuse for bad software, and it is NEVER acceptable to expect your end customers to swallow huge costs because of a preventable software failure.

Oh how I wish this was true. Before they had the online billing system, we had a client with a few vodafone mobile connect cards, and there was no broadband 'insurance' so when you went over it cost you $10,240+GST/GB.

We instructed the client to use the Vodafone Mobile Connect software and setup the limits in the software, and the client monitored this. They went over by a few hundred MB/s according to Vodafone. But their software was showing they were still under, we even provided screen shots.

Vodafone absolutely stated that THEIR OWN SOFTWARE would not be a accurate guide to the amount of traffic to be billed.
The admitted that they couldn't tell us when a user had gone over the limit, and their own software was useless for the purpose.

So - As much as it would be great to believe that Vodafone's system would be accurate or stand by their bills, we already know they are inaccurate, and it's really just a money grab - how much money can they grab out of you.

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