The Volcanic O2 / iPhone Data Roaming Rip-off
The Volcanic O2 / iPhone Data Roaming Rip-off |
| Monday, 19 April 2010 15:43 | ||
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Actually, this isn't accurate. We have iPhones and I have monitored the usage on our on private email account. Yes the iPhone does a lot of data, but it is not because it downloads all of the email and doesn't present it to the user.
O2 is not 'caching' our email, or interfering with it as it is passed to the phone. In fact, O2 doesn't even generate the billing records for contract subscribers who are roaming. The roaming partners charge for roaming usage as it passes their SGSN, which is not even in the user's TCP/IP stream (TCP/IP is tunneled past SGSNs). (They billing records are provided to O2 by the roaming networks in TAP files). What you will probably find is 1) The Mail application scans the INBOX for changes and this causes quite a lot of data transfer. If you are using POP3 there is no easy to get just the new messages so you'll probably end up scanning the whole inbox (which will be a LOT of data if you have a lot of messages) 2) When you send a mail you may find it gets transferred twice (once for the SMTP submission & once to copy it to your IMAP sent folder) You can stop this by storing sent messages on your phone 3) It is checking in the background and therefore consuming extra information 4) For things like Exchange integration it may use keepalives to provide 'push notification' this is traffic and will cost you 5) Billing records are rounded and this will probably penalise you if you do small amounts of data on a regular period 6) The preview requires the TOP command which will return some of the message (if the mail server supports it). Other things that can do data ...) The iphone checks apple.com to see if it's actually connected - not sure if it does this on the mobile network ...) Visual VoiceMail? ...) The GPS is actually A-GPS and passes data whenever it is online Personally I wouldn't trust my iPhone roaming bill, not because of O2 but because the device isn't designed to do small amounts of data! It's a hungry device and will consume data accordingly. 
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19, Apr, 2010
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A very much appreciated response from someone who obviously knows far more about the technical issues than I do. Whichever way I look at it, my contract is with O2. They provide the phone, they provide the service more importantly which clearly does not work. My 'Heath Robinson' approach is the only way I could speculate what on earth is going wrong. I added some figures together and thought I had come up with a plausible answer, which your answer now identifies is inaccurate. BUT would you honestly think that checking my emails twice, opening literally none of them would use data that could constitute a roaming charge of £22?!
O2 are not providing an accurate data usage bill to the end user and seem to readily refund accounts once complaints are made, with no resistance at all, which must mean they must be fully aware the system doesn't work accurately. My gas / electric company would kick up a stink and fight to the death to get their money if I disputed my bill, yet O2 just seem to hold their hands in the air and refund immediately. Whatever the technicalities of the issue, the problem with incorrect data roaming billing exists, with either O2, their contracted companies or otherwise. I really appreciate your in-depth answer
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20, Apr, 2010
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Looks like they charged someone for using WIFI in another country eh :-(. http://forums.macrumors.com/sh...p?t=458534
Anyway to get money, when you look at the larger scale of how many people wont realise this until they get a text msg to say you have been charged £xx.
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20, Apr, 2010
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Of another forum,
"One thing I've read (but not confirmed) is that if you change provider whilst travelling the iPhone resets the data/wifi switches back to on, so if you get to France an piggyback off an O2 partner there, you'll have to turn it off again, pop across the border to Belgium and pick up another partner, again it resets."
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20, Apr, 2010
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I have just returned back from Mallorca having been stuck there for 7 days due to the "volcanic ash" and like others I received a text stating that I had been charged £85 for data roaming charges. I updated my Iphone 3GS two weeks ago via Itunes and switched off the data roaming as soon as I arrived in Spain, the hotel I was staying in had WIFI which was showing a good signal but it seems that there was no telephone connection, I only found this out after other laptop users were having problems connecting, I however was able to access the internet, no 3G sign was showing and the phone was still able to connect to the net via Movistar without me being aware. I reset the data counters and tried it a few times, it was even able to connect whilst in Airplane mode with WIFI switched off! I have today complained to O2 as clearly there is a problem!
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25, Apr, 2010
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Really sorry to hear that, I will be on to them tomorrow for my Canada trip too. Just point a gun at them; they seem to put there hands in the air and hand over the money without question.
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25, Apr, 2010
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As the recent recipient of a 2000 pound horror bill from O2, this problem is clear to me. I regard myself as technically skilled, but not geeky enough to calculate my data use as I passively receive emails.
I purchased the Roaming Data bolt on for my trip to USA, but the problem was that when the data I had purchased had run out, nobody told me. No text message, no phone call, nothing. O2 is currently charging 6 pounds per Megabyte for roaming data in USA. They however sell their 50MByte roaming Data bolt-on for 50 pounds. So when it comes to the cost of data roaming, they are clearly able to sell it for 1 pound per megabyte, yet charge 6 pounds per megabyte if your purchased data runs out. Compare this with the other companies, like Vodafone... O2 50 pounds for 50Mbytes then 6 pounds per MByte Vodafone 30 pounds for 50Mbytes then 60 pence per MByte O2 is 10 times (10 Times!!!) the price of Vodafone As the leading supplier of iPhones in the UK at this point in time, I suspect that there are going to be many horror stories of hundreds of pounds in charges from all those iPhones going on holiday. People are careless and do not understand the risks. Nobody expects a few emails and a few web pages to be 100s of pounds. My suggestion for all the iPhone owners is to move provider before they go on holiday this year. My sympathy to those O2 customers that have been stuck abroad due to the volcano that will be returning to massive data fees.
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29, Apr, 2010
O2 data roaming
I turned off 3G and data roaming, I kept airplane mode on, checked usage all the time, and only reactivated everything when accessing maps in Rome. I "used" 15Mb within 4hours of landing, yet the next 48hrs only used a further 5.8Mb or 2.9MB per DAY. I went to Apple who found something about this on O2's forums and have told them they will refund me any charges and also for the 10Mb bolt on (£20!!!!) that I didn't get to use. This is O2, not an Apple problem.
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05, May, 2010
Roaming off... still charged for data
I have just returned from a holiday in Florida. I went for 3 weeks and got stranded for another 10 days on top. Within 2 days of arriving in Miami I received a text from O2 stating that I had used £126 worth of data. I couldn't see how this was possible as I had Roaming turned off.
I had also made sure roaming was turned off on my wife and my daughters iphones before arriving in the US as I am a frequent traveller and know how costly roaming charges can be. I called O2 and explained that this must be a mistake as the only time I had used my iphone for checking emails etc was via the free wireless connection I had access to within my apartment I was renting. They agreed to deduct the charges from the bill. I have now returned to my next bill stating that I used a further £209 of data whilst in Marco Island (last leg of my trip). Again I had access to a private wireless internet connection at the house I was renting and had roaming turned off throughout. I called O2 to explain that I cant have used data if my roaming is turned off, they asked if I was sure that I didn't turn it back on, I said that I had already had a £126 bill that was incorrect and did they think I was completely stupid to have turned it on? They have said that they can only deduct the charges once on an account and that I will have to pay the charges. I have suggested that they get someone to call me back as I will cancel my direct debit, cancel my 3 contracts I have with O2 and wait for a letter from their solicitors as I will not be paying for something I have not used. Lets see what happens! One thing I noticed happening alot whilst away was that my iphone kept saying that the provider was no longer available (AT&T) but then it would be fine, whether this has something to do with it i'm unsure???
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08, May, 2010
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Russell (in particular), Julia and Kevin, I am absolutely astonished at the cost, but yet again I am not surprised that this has happened to you. To think that this company is ripping people off left right and centre. It's just not good enough.
My own personal experience has been also tenuous this week. I got in contact with O2 over my last two phone bills, one for £88 in March and now £60 in April, both these totals including foreign data roaming, whilst in Canada, Berlin and Lisbon. The data roaming charges mount to £41 from the March bill and £22 from the April bill, negligable in comparison to your sum, but the service was incorrectly billed. I arranged with an O2 customer service operator for my bills to be 'recalculated' in 72 hours. Of course no one got in contact so four days later I rang, only to be connected to some stroppy girl who did nothing to help. I explained that 'receiving a text verdict' about this contentious issue was not good enough and that I needed access to a department and to speak to someone. She kept repeating that 'the bill hadn't been recalculated, why do you need to speak to someone?' but no matter how much I explained that this was despicable customer service and after going around the point, she just hung up! I immediately rang back, spoke to a very calm customer services advisor who apologised for her tone and he told me that - 1. O2 provide me with the telecommunications service, if I have a problem with the iPhone I should take this up with Apple! As if they are going to get involved, come on! So even though O2 provided me with the phone and the service that the phone provides, they wash their hands of it. It like moving into a brand new house and the building firm saying, 'the leaking roof is nothing to do with me, mate'. 2. How many times do they repeat again and again that 'I should turn off data roaming' (it is always switched off unless looking at email headers) 3. After the conversation started to repeat, it became more than aware that he was somewhat unskilled. He refunded me the a £40 payment to my account to show good will against his colleague and the situation, telling me that the billing dept would be in contact with me in 48hours. Well thats three days ago now. Is this payment a one off? More than likely, from reading the above comments. If you do feel like contesting the recalculation, there is no direct access to any department. They send a text, or in my case they dont send a text message. How crap is that? This whole situation is desperate and I am so glad I managed to identify a serious billing problem before I let it escalate. Russel, your situation will be interesting to follow, if you can keep this thread informed of your progress I am sure many people would be very grateful to hear what happens as it may help them plan their own defence strategy. David
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08, May, 2010
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Hi,
I just received the bill of £607 from O2, i dont know what to do, i didn't use internet or brows anything, now i checked my phone, the data roaming was off( i mean, not 100% sure if that WAS really off) but i didn't change any settings. but all i know is i did not use internet to check anything or download/brows anything Can you please give me some advises? Thank you Meg
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25, Jun, 2010
Blimey...
Ring them and fight your corner. If you havent received the 'one off' (how nice of them) data roaming refund then you sure need to claim it now. Phone 202 and get this sorted asap.
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25, Jun, 2010
Same here!
Hi guys!
I've recently joined O2 with a BlackBerry, and I signed to a 24 month contract, for £30 a month. Now this includes: Unlimited internet Unlimited text messages 600 minutes Free O2 to O2 calls etc And I got a bill through for my data contract: £678 I was furious!! I got onto the phone of customer services and I couldn't hold back my anger, I explained my contract and asked why I have a near £700 bill on my lap. Apparently, I didn't 'register' my Blackberry through the company's website - which, I wasn't TOLD to do. What I was TOLD, was that I simply set my phone up and away I go, simple as that - no instruction from either O2 or the set up wizard that my phone needed to go through some process to avoid these charges. The fella on the end was playing the 'understanding' and 'fair enough' role - he put me on hold for a while came back and said he spoke to her supervisor and that the credit department will contact me within the next 5-10 working days. I refuse to pay it - I'll cancel my direct debit if I have to, I even said on the phone that once that £678 bill reaches me, it'll cripple me financially - I've just graduated from university and I can barely survive on my wages as it is! I don't know how I managed to work up a £678 bill. I really don't. So this fella on the O2 helpline passed on all of my details, and story and now I've gotta wait. Wonderful. I mean, I was told O2 were the bee's knees - what makes me so lucky with this mess?
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06, Aug, 2010
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