Fair use policy - has this changed recently?

Forums › 2degrees (including Slingshot, Orcon, Flip, Stuff Fibre, MyRepublic, 2talk and Vocus) › Fair use policy - has this changed recently?

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#1576320 18-Jun-2016 20:10

I doubt they'd go with a strict median mark like that, far more likely is they have the median, and target the top 1% of users.

Even more likely is a metric with median +X% =fair useage, where the median might have shrunk as people have slowly migrated to data based communication (Viber/Skype/WhatsApp etc.) and those the above median+X% has decreased over time.

ArcticSilver

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#1576519 19-Jun-2016 11:11

This has always been a pet peeve of mine.

Unlimited should be simply that. If you have a "fair use" limit, then that should be the actual limit.

The only reason to not state an actual limit and hide it under fair use is to mislead.

Unlimited with a limit, is by definition not unlimited.

I'm on 2 Degrees unlimited and am I high user (though my usage is probably down a little this last 2 months). I haven't received any warning's like this as of yet. I wonder if you've triggered their automated systems threshold.

itxtme

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#1576522 19-Jun-2016 11:27

OP can you give us an indication of how much time a month in minutes you do use?

My personal feeling is if you are legitimately calling people then they should sod off. If you were however using two mobile phones as a baby monitor at nights they then have reasonable grounds to complain about your usage.

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#1577438 20-Jun-2016 23:03

itxtme:

OP can you give us an indication of how much time a month in minutes you do use?

My personal feeling is if you are legitimately calling people then they should sod off. If you were however using two mobile phones as a baby monitor at nights they then have reasonable grounds to complain about your usage.

Personally I think if your plan is unlimited you should be able to use it 24/7 *shrug*.. I'm sure that is an absolute edge use usage, but if you are going to sell _any_ form of unlimited you need to allow for that minority of users who are going to take that at face value and max that out.. Be that 24/7 phonecalls, 30tb/month on UFB, or storing 100tb on an "unlimited" cloud storage drive (I'm looking at you Microsoft!)

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jscriv

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#1578634 22-Jun-2016 20:18

Just got my bill - last month was a figure between 4000 and 4500 minutes.

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#1578639 22-Jun-2016 20:29

jscriv:

Just got my bill - last month was a figure between 4000 and 4500 minutes.

I haven't spent that much time on a phone in my entire life - and I have a Gold Card

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#1578653 22-Jun-2016 21:03

So on average 130~150min a day, or 2~2.5hr, or 9~10% of a day. Doesn't seem excessive for an "unlimited" plan, in fact you're underutilizing your plan by about 90% a day ;).

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#1578747 22-Jun-2016 23:56

I'm pretty surprised they are getting uppity over a measly few hours a day.

I'd definitely be telling them where to go, and if they insist on pushing it I'd file a TDR complaint. I don't think that utilising your phone for 1/10th of the possible time you could be using it on an "unlimited" calling plan is at all unreasonable.

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#1578748 23-Jun-2016 00:02

Less than three hours a day and they complaining you use too much?

Now that IS rediculous! Have you even tried to resolve this via upscaling their call center? Definitely worth a try before going too far along the TDR path I'd say...

mattwnz

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#1578749 23-Jun-2016 00:04

Lias:

I'm pretty surprised they are getting uppity over a measly few hours a day.

I'd definitely be telling them where to go, and if they insist on pushing it I'd file a TDR complaint. I don't think that utilising your phone for 1/10th of the possible time you could be using it on an "unlimited" calling plan is at all unreasonable.

IMO a TDR is a bit of a waste of time in this type of situation. From my experience, it is more for disputes, rather than a determination of whether an Unlimited plan means only 2-2.5 hours per day. The wording of it, the way it is advertised etc all needs to be looked at, as to how something Unlimited 'without limits', is restricted to 2.5 hours a day. The best place to do this would probably be the Commerce commission. Consumer may also be interested, but they only look at things if you are a member. IMO 2-2.5 hours is not an excessive amount of time. At least it didn't used to be, but maybe it is now. Does phone calling use much of the capacity of the cell tower, compared to data?

Lias

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#1578750 23-Jun-2016 00:13

mattwnz:

IMO a TDR is a bit of a waste of time in this type of situation. From my experience, it is more for disputes, rather than a determination of whether an Unlimited plan means only 2-2.5 hours per day. The wording of it, the way it is advertised etc all needs to be looked at, as to how something Unlimited 'without limits', is restricted to 2.5 hours a day. The best place to do this would probably be the Commerce commission. Consumer may also be interested, but they only look at things if you are a member. IMO 2-2.5 hours is not an excessive amount of time. At least it didn't used to be, but maybe it is now. Does phone calling use much of the capacity of the cell tower, compared to data?

It will be a dispute, because they have told him to reduce his usage and he's (presumably) not wanting to.

That and threatening to take any Telco to TDR is a good way to get what you want because it costs them a small fortune every time you do.

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mattwnz

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#1578756 23-Jun-2016 00:58

Lias:

mattwnz:

IMO a TDR is a bit of a waste of time in this type of situation. From my experience, it is more for disputes, rather than a determination of whether an Unlimited plan means only 2-2.5 hours per day. The wording of it, the way it is advertised etc all needs to be looked at, as to how something Unlimited 'without limits', is restricted to 2.5 hours a day. The best place to do this would probably be the Commerce commission. Consumer may also be interested, but they only look at things if you are a member. IMO 2-2.5 hours is not an excessive amount of time. At least it didn't used to be, but maybe it is now. Does phone calling use much of the capacity of the cell tower, compared to data?

It will be a dispute, because they have told him to reduce his usage and he's (presumably) not wanting to.

That and threatening to take any Telco to TDR is a good way to get what you want because it costs them a small fortune every time you do.

Didn't think it cost the Telco for each compliant logged, as don't they pay a fee to be part of it? The thing about going to the TDR is that it doesn't necessarily help anyone else who is in the same situation, and they too would have to go through it. I would like to see them actually display the limit in their terms. I don't have a problem with having a limit. My issue is them calling something unlimited when it isn't and putting in fine print, to give themselves an out. It doesn't really seem right to me, especially if it is only 2.5 hours a day. I know many landlines get used for more than 4500 hours a month. IMO there is no such thing as unlimited, there are always limits of some form.

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#1578774 23-Jun-2016 07:15

Remember, they want him to reduce his usage by half, therefore, they are saying an unlimited calling plan is only 1 - 1.25 hours a day!
I think this really needs to go to the commerce commission.

sbiddle

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#1578777 23-Jun-2016 07:20

jscriv:

Just got my bill - last month was a figure between 4000 and 4500 minutes.

Your usage is vastly in excess of average high use mobile usage across every mobile network. It's also worth noting that all 3 networks have terms and conditions about their "unlimited" usage. People in this thread picking on 2d should be aware of this, because you would find yourself in this situation no matter what network you were on.

I know that amount of usage would get flagged on Spark and you'd be told to cut it back or be disconnected. No idea about VF, but I would assume they would be similar. That sort of usage is well in excess of normal and would be flagged as probable CTU use which is prohibited.

dolsen

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#1578779 23-Jun-2016 07:28

sbiddle: That sort of usage is well in excess of normal and would be flagged as probable CTU use which is prohibited.

What's CTU use?

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