Data allowance and overages AM I CRAZY?

For the past 3 months, I have gotten the warning that I am approaching my data allowance early in my cycle period. The first month I chalked it up to my son being out of school for the summer and thought, we probably WERE using more data between us.
The second month upon getting the warning again, I upped my plan from 6MB to 8MB to keep from getting charged the 'overage' charge. I also had a long talk scolding my son, sure he had been doing something 'extra' that he shouldn't have been that once again had increased our data usage.
But here we are again- that warning saying I'm approaching my limit even earlier in the month than last time after I had increase it last month for the extra data (and charge!). 
We(my son and myself) have been extra careful to turn data off at night to keep from anything running that would make this possible.
We've rarely used the phone except everyday calls and text(which are unlimited) and have even went days without turning data on at all on either phone to try and avoid this- so why am I still approaching this limit every month and so early? I've increased my data plan and am still hitting that mark earlier than I did at 6MB, it just doesn't make sense.
I can't prove anything concrete that this is something that verizon is doing to up my monthly bill, but do feel something just isn't right. 
I've talked to CS and you know the drill- nothing is out of the ordinary on their end or ever their fault.
Of course I'm missing my unlimited data plan that I was forced to give up if I upgraded phones last year. It was either stick with the old phone and keep unlimited data plan, or switch to their 'new' data plans and get new phones. I had my previous phone for 4 yrs, it was time to upgrade. So I feel there really wasn't a choice. It was have a phone, or no phone.
And though I love my Galaxy SIII- What's the point of having it if I can't use it to its capacity without having to mortgage my home to do so???
Am I crazy for feeling this? Or are there others out there who feel their data usage has increased without explanation or contribution on your part toward it???

I have had the same issue and in the end of Oct and up until now the data usage has skyrocketed. I have not changed my usage in one year, I do not stream or download music and videos.  I called and they said they will send me a used jet pack, it is not my jet pack my iphone is not working right either. Well the issue is I have a new iphone and it can not connect to 4g even 3g at times, and has the lowest speed I have ever seen, sent text are not received, when I talk to people they tell me I am breaking up, internet pages will not load they time out.
This is not just a mifi jet pack issue it is network. The internet is running very very slow, keeps timing out, dropping internet on my jet pack and iphone. 
I have read so many posts about data issues for the last three months, and Verizon is brushing it off. I was told by 3 techs that the data is getting burned up because it keeps pulling while loading a page, stops and starts over and it is burning up all my data. No refund for the whole month is did not work right. I still have very little use of my mifi and iphone accessing the internet. I have Verizon towers all around me and in one the best spots for Verizon, there is no excuse for this.

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  • Data Usage and Overage Charges

    Greetings Verizon Community:
    I'm wondering how the rest of you feel about the quality of Verizon's billing charges policies as they relate to your data usage.
    At the moment, I have a monthly plan that allows me a certain number of GBs per month.
    If I don't use them all, I lose them -- even though I still have to pay for them (so, essentially, they are mine and Verizon is stealing service from me, for which I've already paid).
    If I have the audacity to use more than I guessed that I would need, Verizon charges me "overage" fees at an extremely inflated rate.
    Alternatively, I can avoid the overage fees by agreeing to change my plan -- increase my monthly allowance -- but I have to pay the difference for all of the months that have already gone by all the way back to the beginning of my contract.  In other words, I have to pay for additional GBs for months that are in the past and for which I have no possible way to actually use that data allowance.
    I must say, that as a business model for raking in un-earned revenue, it's pretty impressive.  As a customer, though, I'm not terribly impressed.
    Does anyone else feel that these practices are just a wee bit unfair, to put it mildly?
    I would think that the following would be fair business practices:
    (1) If I don't use some GB data allowance, for which I've already paid, then that allowance should roll into the next month OR;
    (2) I should get a refund for data allowance that I don't use.
    (3) Alternatively, since Verizon believes it is OK to charge extremely inflated overage fees, then I feel it's only fair that they refund to me, at that inflated rate, for GBs that I don't use in any given month.
    How do the rest of you feel?
    Sincerely frustrated,
    Anton

    AntonBecker wrote:
    Alternatively, I can avoid the overage fees by agreeing to change my plan -- increase my monthly allowance -- but I have to pay the difference for all of the months that have already gone by all the way back to the beginning of my contract.  In other words, I have to pay for additional GBs for months that are in the past and for which I have no possible way to actually use that data allowance. This is NOT TRUE. You can have the change backdated to the BEGINNING of your CURRENT billing cycle but it WILL NOT go further back than that.
    I must say, that as a business model for raking in un-earned revenue, it's pretty impressive.  As a customer, though, I'm not terribly impressed.
    Does anyone else feel that these practices are just a wee bit unfair, to put it mildly?
    I would think that the following would be fair business practices:
    (1) If I don't use some GB data allowance, for which I've already paid, then that allowance should roll into the next month OR; Verizon doesn't have roll over minutes and they most likely will not have roll over data.
    (2) I should get a refund for data allowance that I don't use. Should you ALSO get a refund for unused minutes while you are at it? I don't watch all of the channels for which my cable company charges me. I would prefer a refund for THOSE before I get a refund for minutes/data from Verizon. I would make a considerably larger refund with that.
    (3) Alternatively, since Verizon believes it is OK to charge extremely inflated overage fees, then I feel it's only fair that they refund to me, at that inflated rate, for GBs that I don't use in any given month.
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    Sincerely frustrated,
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  • Unexplained 02 Data Allowance Drain at Midnight

    Hi all. I don't think I've ever had reason to post on here before so I'm hoping that, perhaps, some of you knowledgable lot might be able to help me.
    I've had an iPhone on 02 (UK) since they first came out and with each year have upgraded to the latest model. I've had the iPhone 4 since July last year.
    I know that recently 02 reduced their "Unlimited" data allowance to 500MB. This never really caused me concern because I never really used data apart from when I was at home over Wi-Fi. Recently, however, I've received a text message saying that I was 80% through my 500MB allowance. I thought this a bit strange but paid an extra £5 for 500MB more to cover me for the rest of the month.
    Now, tonight, curious about what I had done differently to accrue such a large use of my data allowance, I checked my bill. It seems that every evening, normally around midnight, I have a large data usage. Now, previously, I'd guessed that the data usage accrued throughout the day was submitted to 02 in one large chunk. However, on the 26th April I used 340MB of my 500MB data allowance, and the next day used a further 180MB!
    I couldn't understand where this had come from; I do not live-stream TV or radio over 3G. I don't even do that over Wi-Fi! I don't download anything over 3G. Whilst I'm at work and whilst I'm at home I'm under a Wi-Fi connection. The only data allowance I might use is a quick check of Facebook for 5 minutes before I walk into work in a morning.
    Now, on the two days that I've accrued these massive data usages, I made several Facetime calls to my partner who was away training for a new job. This is the only thing that I've done differently. I thought that Facetime usage came out of your Wi-Fi and NOT your data allowance.
    Anyway, through 02's website, they offer a chat service with their online representatives. I used this service to talk to someone who, I had hoped, might have been able to help. Now through subsequent phone calls to 02 I have actually learnt that much of what this person told me is untrue but here is what i was told.
    Facetime calls are chargeable.The person later corrected herself on this.
    Facetime calls will start via Wi-Fi but if, for whatever reason, connection is lost, Facetime will be maintained via 3G; "If some time the Wi-Fi get discoonected you connected to 3G for the beter responce" 02's representative explained.I don't think that this is true but it might explain my massive data use; the call was about an hour long. Having said that, how do iPod Touches maintain their connection; I've got a 4G Touch and despite using it for the occasional Facetime call, have never had a problem.
    Facetime depletes your data allowanceI thought that the fact that Facetime is done over Wi-Fi means that it would be deducted from the unlimited Wi-Fi allowance and NOT the 3G/data allowance.
    The person then seemingly contradicted herself by saying that Facetime calls made over Wi-Fi are completely at Internet Service Provider's costing & discretion. The lady explained: "I'm sorry for this but the Facetime is work on Wi-Fi and the Wi-Fi service providers are different"
    The person told me to delete Facetime so as to better conserve my data allowance if I needed to make it last!I don't think this is even possible. I explained this and she then said "No, don't delete Facetime".
    After that I think I was even more concerned than when I started!!
    At this point the lady offered me a £2 credit against my account, which whilst appreciated, doesn't really solve the problem. She gave me 02's iPhone Technical Support line (2302) as it was a "technical issue".
    Now, having rung 02 and explained the situation, they explained that whilst Facetime wasn't strictly chargeable, it does still come off your data allowance. However, if you exceed your 500MB data allowance, you do not get charged any more, the level of service is simply a "bit slower". In essence, it was explained, the Facetime calls hadn't cost me anything.
    I explained that whilst the calls weren't costing me anything in themselves, I was still having to pay extra to maintain the same service-level that I had previously experienced. The lady agreed with what I was saying and said that she would consult with two different departments to see if she could trace what the large data-usages originated from.
    The lady returned and explained that, further to her discussions with other departments, Facetime couldn't possibly be the result of the data usage. She said that it had to be TV/Radio streaming. I know categorically that the only thing that I used my iPhone for that night was the Facetime calls. I don't stream any content at all! For viewing of any content I use a TV or, for iPlayer, my PS3 or iPad, but never my iPhone!
    I stressed this to the lady that it could only be the Facetime and she denied that it could be. She went back to her department and checked again. Upon her return she asked what time I had made the Facetime calls (which were around 8pm). Having explained this she said that the data usage occurred at 00:00:00  and that as such it could not have been the Facetime calls. I know that Facetime calls can't be done over 3G so I can see the point that she's making but what else could it be?? And at that time??
    I looked at the bill myself and pointed out that at 00:00:00 almost every night I had a data-usage, not just on the nights in question. I said that having already noticed this previously, I assumed that the iPhone simply submitted the total data-usage in one go and not just as-and-when. The lady said that data would be submitted as it was used and that, with neither party able to explain the usage, it must be down to a third-party using my data allowance remotely from the phone overnight.
    I don't think that data is shown on the bill as and when it was used because on occasions when I know I've used 3G, no mention is made on the bill.
    Now my partner has 02 and we had checked that bill to see whether he had a massive data usage which corresponded to mine, which he didn't. He has data usages at midnight most-nights but for the Facetime calls (some of which were made by him) he has no excessive data usage.
    I've searched via Google and found various other people on various other networks who have the same mysterious midnight data-usages.
    Still on the phone with the poor lady from 02 I pointed this out, which she couldn't really answer. She said that she was contacting a Security department who could directly check what the content related to and that she would get back to me within 5 days, which, with the current Bank Holidays in the UK, is likely to be a week on Tuesday. She remains adamant that my iPhone is being accessed remotely, or "is being updated by third-party apps" which, with the number of people having similar midnight data issues, I doubt.
    I know this has turned out to be a mammoth post, and for that I'm sorry, but has anyone else had similar experiences? How have they been resolved?
    Does Facetime get taken off your data allowance? One person from 02 says yes, another says no.
    Finally what could the two massive data-usages relate to, if not Facetime? I know that there's likely no way to prove that I wasn't streaming TV/radio content but I can say with absolute certainty that no such feature was used.
    We had used the GPS for hiking one day in the month but my usage for that particular day in question was only about 30MB so I've ruled that out.
    The icing on the cake was that at the end of the conversation, when it was explained that all that could be done was wait for the Security department to get back in touch, the lady asked me "What are iPhones like then? Mine's been delivered today and is waiting for me at home."
    Suffice to say I was shocked almost speechless. Almost anyway...
    I've got her line & extension number so in the event that she doesn't bother to call me back, I can call her.
    Hope you can offer some insight though!!
    J.

    I don't know if anyone reads these but having been in touch with 02, I honestly don't think that they've got a clue. I was told that it was iTunes auto-updating in the background which has caused the massive data-usages, despite the fact that the phone was at home under my Wi-Fi connection.
    I was told that I needed to turn off auto-updates. I said that I didn't think that this could be done on iPhones but the 02 representative explained:
    Go to iTunes>"Preferences">"General" and slide the toggle which reads"Check for New Updates Automatically"
    The representative said that this would solve my problem. However, somewhat dubious of 02's responses so far, I got my partner's iPhone and asked the rep to walk me through the steps. Lo and behold, none of the above options are given under iTunes - nor could I find them in Settings for that matter.
    Querying this with the rep, he put me on hold before reporting back that the iPhone 4 'does not support that feature' - only other iPhone models do. Now I don't have a 3GS or other model to hand but I can't ever remember seeing such options bearing in mind that I've owned each iPhone generation - Can anyone else corroborate this?
    I was passed onto someone who was presumably more senior but ultimately no less knowledgeable. This person said that my contract was still running (despite what his colleague had previously said) and could not be cancelled. I said that Three offered better tariffs and I would likely go there. He said Three don't offer you free Wi-Fi like 02 do. He praised the benefits of BT Openzone, which, by the way I've never ever been able to access. When I confronted him with this he admitted that he too could seldom get on BT Openzone!
    Honestly, it's laughable! Needless to say I shalln't be renewing with 02. And when it came down to what the mysterious data usage was, he said he didn't know, there was no way of knowing (despite the other lady saying that the security department could find out exactly what had been viewed) and it was just "one of those things." I would advise anyone on 02 to check their data bills very carefully from now on!
    The icing on the cake was that the senior rep denied that any of the information I'd been given was contradictory!
    Extremely disappointed and frustrated!

  • Does ichat or FaceTime usage get deducted from data allowance

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  • I have unlimited data, so why do I receive the text stating I've used 50% of my monthly data allowance?

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