Vodafone gprs - not charging

On 17 Sep 2006 04:09:23 -0700, "mafustokes"
<[email protected]> wrote:

Mafu, well done, useful reply. Let's look at the detail:
>
>Ok here goes , I'll explain best I can. This is looking at my last 3/4
>months bills. The last bill I used 60 texts and nearly 3mb of data.
Consumption:
60 texts = 60 x 12p = 720p
3MB of data = 3 x 235p = 705p

>When I look at my bill online it states that I have indeed used 60
>texts and it itemises them - I counted them up and it's correct. It
>also lists my data usage aswell, which comes to nearly 3mb. Now when I
>got the bill a couple of weeks back I rang Vodafone just to confirm
>how many texts I had left to use from my monthly allowance. They said
>it was 190 (250-60).

Expected billing as per published tariff:
60 texts: allowance of 250, 60 is < 250, so inclusive; 0p charged
3MB data: allowance 0MB (as published tariff); 3 x 235p chargeable, so
705p expected on bill
Unused texts allowance: 250 - 60 = 190 texts

BUT, actual bill (please correct me if wrong)
60 texts: allowance of 250, 60 is < 250, so inclusive; 0p charged
3MB data: allowance 190 * 12p = 2,280p worth
(as unpublished tariff where any unused text can allow 12p to be put
towards your data charges); 3 x 235p = 705p used, 705 is < 2,280 so 0p
charged for 3MB
Unused texts allowance: 250 - 60 = 190 texts


>So is it just a fault on their part do you think?

Not quite. This is what I think. I suspect that if you had made
another 190 texts, they would have come out of your inclusive
allowance - the tariff clearly says that you have 250 texts, so they
take 'priority' over anything else any unused texts can be put
against. However, if or when you did/do consume those 190 texts, you
data usage will be charged as per the tariff.

I think what is happening is that any 'unused' inclusive texts can be
used to provide an equivalent cost of data to also be allowed, the
costs calculated at the nominal, retail, price of the text, presently
12p.

>My other bills show similar results. I just think its a farce that if
>their arrangement over this is have you have stated then where do
>Vodafone say this ? - It certainly wasn't something I was aware of when
>I signed up and I can't see anything about it on their terms+cs. And
>the point about 250 texts being worth =A330 is new to me. Not that I'm
>complaining, just seems unbelievable that a company like Vodafone can
>be so vague about this.
>
Oh, for sure. I, too, am surprised this tariff variation hasn't been
published, especially since it would seem to make their tariffs
slightly more attractive, and might stem some, at least, of the loss
of customers to other networks.

______________
best wishes,
Ron

---

› See More: Vodafone gprs - not charging

Thanks for replys/time and effort. Like you said I can't see why
Vodafone wouldn't advertise this. It'd certainly make the tariffs more
appealing to me.
Anyway, I think the best thing I can do is to just carry on using data
and keep an eye on how much I'm using.

Ronnie wrote:
> Not quite. This is what I think. I suspect that if you had made
> another 190 texts, they would have come out of your inclusive
> allowance - the tariff clearly says that you have 250 texts, so they
> take 'priority' over anything else any unused texts can be put
> against. However, if or when you did/do consume those 190 texts, you
> data usage will be charged as per the tariff.

On my last bill I had sent about 60 SMS messages but used a lot of data.
One of my text messages was labelled as partly in bundle and I got
charged about 4p for it, so the credit is knocked off as it is used, by
SMS or data.

Mark.

On Sun, 17 Sep 2006 14:20:58 +0100, Mark Coley
<[email protected]> wrote:

>Ronnie wrote:
>> - the tariff clearly says that you have 250 texts, so they
>> take 'priority' over anything else any unused texts can be put
>> against.
>
>On my last bill I had sent about 60 SMS messages but used a lot of data.
>One of my text messages was labelled as partly in bundle and I got
>charged about 4p for it, so the credit is knocked off as it is used, by
>SMS or data.
>
Interesting, Mark, nevertheless, Voda should abide by its promise to
you for the texts it said you would not have to pay for. Which is
back to Mafu's first post - there is nothing in the T&Cs about this,
and there ought to be. It's 'new approach' is actually quite an
improvement, in my view, and simply needs to be formalised.

How long ago did you first notice this new billing approach?

______________
best wishes,
Ron

Ronnie wrote:
> On Sun, 17 Sep 2006 14:20:58 +0100, Mark Coley
> <[email protected]> wrote:

>> On my last bill I had sent about 60 SMS messages but used a lot of data.
>> One of my text messages was labelled as partly in bundle and I got
>> charged about 4p for it, so the credit is knocked off as it is used, by
>> SMS or data.
>>
> Interesting, Mark, nevertheless, Voda should abide by its promise to
> you for the texts it said you would not have to pay for. Which is
> back to Mafu's first post - there is nothing in the T&Cs about this,
> and there ought to be. It's 'new approach' is actually quite an
> improvement, in my view, and simply needs to be formalised.
>

But it doesn't ever make you worse off - only better!

I first read about it back in 2003 iirc, so I don't think it's a new
approach. It used to be on the Vodafone website though.

Ronnie wrote:

> How long ago did you first notice this new billing approach?

It's been like this since at least last October when I switched from
Leisure 500 to Anytime 200+STC+£30 Data/SMS...

> If you have a package with some text messages included I think there is a
> crazy calculation that allows text messages to be swapped for surfing mbs.
> No idea how it works, but it seems to. Can't get anyone from vodafone to
> explain it either.........
>
>
>

It's not that difficult, the old extra packs which aren't available with
the new price plans give you X amount of usage, for £3 you get £6 of
use, this can be for 50 sms or about 2.5mb of data usage...

£6 gives you £12, 100 sms or 5.1mb
£14 gives you £30 or 250 sms or 12.7mb
£25 gives you £60 or 300 sms or 25.5mb
£40 gives you £120 or 1000 sms 51mb

Hope this helps.

Just to add a twist. This same thing happened to me about 5 months ago.
I have a payg sim bought on ebay, and AFAIK, it does not have any text
package. I installed opera mini on my phone about 5 months ago, so I
wanted to make sure it works, so I tested it with my voda sim. That's
when I noticed I was not charged for the usage. I only had about 16
pounds credit. I used it like that for about 2 - 3 months or so.
Checking my credit every time I use it without any changes. Then I
checked on one of those days and my credit showed 12 pounds. So, I
figured thay have started or figured out how to charge for it. BTW,
this only happens if I use GPRS via the opera mini browser. If I access
it directly using the phones built-in broswe, I got charged as usual.
So, it's definitely something to do with opera mini. BTW, I am based in
the US and all the usage was here. It roams on both Cingular and
Tmobile.




--
mrcamp

On 17 Sep 2006 05:33:15 -0700, "mafustokes"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>Thanks for replys/time and effort. Like you said I can't see why
>Vodafone wouldn't advertise this. It'd certainly make the tariffs more
>appealing to me.
>Anyway, I think the best thing I can do is to just carry on using data
>and keep an eye on how much I'm using.

Have you tried phoning 191 and using the automated option to get an
SMS with your current billing info? The SMS I get shows the GPRS data
used along with SMS & call usage (which is actually easier to
understand than the website - I sometimes wonder whether anyone from
Vodaphone has ever tried using their website and looked at the
unbilled call info... I've never been able to comprehend how the
website calculates the "Minutes used from your bundle" value...

Rod

Rod wrote:

> Have you tried phoning 191 and using the automated option to get an
> SMS with your current billing info? The SMS I get shows the GPRS data
> used along with SMS & call usage (which is actually easier to
> understand than the website - I sometimes wonder whether anyone from
> Vodaphone has ever tried using their website and looked at the
> unbilled call info... I've never been able to comprehend how the
> website calculates the "Minutes used from your bundle" value...
>
> Rod

Remember stop the clock slows minute use... And if you want to see if
you had rolled over minutes you need to go to the old bill and scroll
down and look at the box at the bottom right. I've just discovered this...

Mark.

On Tue, 19 Sep 2006 21:46:06 +0100, Mark Coley
<[email protected]> wrote:

>Rod wrote:
>
>> Have you tried phoning 191 and using the automated option to get an
>> SMS with your current billing info? The SMS I get shows the GPRS data
>> used along with SMS & call usage (which is actually easier to
>> understand than the website - I sometimes wonder whether anyone from
>> Vodaphone has ever tried using their website and looked at the
>> unbilled call info... I've never been able to comprehend how the
>> website calculates the "Minutes used from your bundle" value...
>>
>> Rod
>
>Remember stop the clock slows minute use... And if you want to see if
>you had rolled over minutes you need to go to the old bill and scroll
>down and look at the box at the bottom right. I've just discovered this...
>
>Mark.

I knew about the rollover minutes (and I usually have some on my
tariff). Had forgotten about the effect of stop the clock though -
which might explain the apparent discrepancy in the website figures.

I still think Vodafone could at least _try_ to make their website
billing info less impenetrable - in my slightly cynical moments I
think they actually designed it to be less than helpful - but when I'm
really cynical I remember how disfunctional IT can be in larger
organisations, especially when it has to interact with marketing and
sales...

Rod