Outrageous Usage

[dave21]

Has anyone looked at their usage for this month and seen that they have used an outrageous amount of data? I have a 5G plan and after almost a year of rarely going over by more than 500 MB, this months usage claims I have used 26 G. That is physically impossible on this computer.

[s2marks]

Dave,

Sounds like you may have contracted a Virus or something.  I suggest you contact Verizon wireless, I think your Bill may look horrible.

Please let us know if you are able to work it out with them.  If not I am going to pull the plug on my service.  I don't want or need a 2nd mortgage. 

s2marks

[Deamore]

I just recently registered a complaint with (www.ftc.gov)  federal trade commission consumer protection branch. Here is my complaint.

My complaint is about the horrendous cost of Mobile Broadband Access with so little in return. AT&T, Sprint, Verizon have 5GB of bandwidth caps for around 60 dollars a month. The primary subscriber base of mobile broad band access use is rural people like myself. We don't have access to cable, fiber broadband like city people do. We make up a huge part of the population. We finally can access the internet at high speed thanks to mobile wireless broad band.

The problem is that 5GB of data is nothing in today's modern web experience. Why are we being penalized because of abusive users who make up only a very small percent of internet users. I actually don't have a problem with broadband caps per say as long as they are realistic.

Mobile broadband users are not allowed to experience all the web has to offer. We have to watch our useage like a hawk or go over our cap and be charged ungodly overage fee's. Verizon for example charges 50 dollars per gigabyte of data over the 5GB cap. (.05 cents per megabyte over)

Their business mentality is that mobile internet is for casual mobile use. Who is going to pay 60 bucks a month just to be able to check email? Who is gonna surf the web on a 3 inch phone screen. Most Wifi is free at hotels and hotspots so you can see my point. People can drive up the road and use McDonalds wifi hotspot anytime they want for free. Bottom line is us rural users are being gouged unfairly compared to hard line internet users.

You can't even get an up to date usage report from Verizon, so you really don't know accurately where you stand when it comes to usage ever. It's not like our house where we can actually go out and check the meter if we so desire. How do we know they are not rounding up usage or reporting it to us accurately. We are at their mercy when it comes down to it.

I would like to see unlimited mobile internet access from Verizon for 60 bucks a month but i don't expect it. I do expect a reasonable amount of data maybe 25GB per month for that price. The cell phone companies are really gouging the consumer base in so many ways it's unimaginable.

Hopefully this will get the ball rolling not just with Verizon but with all mobile broadband providers. For me its just me and my wife that use it. I can't imagine if we had a family of 3 as well.. Good luck

[Greg4Wireless]

Writing to the FTC is a waste of time.  They will send you a form letter back stating "its not in their jurisdiction".

Been there, done it (With HughesNet).  They're still screwing their customers over just like Verizon.

Bottom Line.  Keep the service, use it, watch your usage limits.....Cancel if you dont like the terms . . .

[Deamore]

Actually filing complaints with the FTC does invite inquiries so to say it does nothing is not really accurate. It's people that simply accept and do nothing that get nowhere. Congress already put the hammer on the cost that telcoms were charging per text messages. I'm not exactly sure where the bill on that stands presently. Doing any part is better then sitting around doing nothing. Just have to catch the right ear is all.

Regardless wireless is cheaper then hard wired simply do to reduced maintenance and upkeep, less employee's to maintain etc, etc. I'm totally satisfied with the service i do recieve with Verizon but i can't take advantage of it like i would like. I had centennial wireless unlimited data for under 50 bucks a month but i wanted 3G and all they offered was 250kbps with no sign of upgrading to EVDO.

The whole idea with higher speed internet to include mobile broadband  is to be able to do MORE not less. People don't need 1.5mbps to check email or surf. 256kbps is perfectly fine for that. People desire high speed so they can watch streaming this and that, upload movies, photo's for their familes. Verizon is achieving a position that is going to put in where AT&T was a few years ago. Remember when the U.S. government stepped in and tore that house down?

There is a huge problem when in general the second highest bill above our mortgage is high speed internet. I remember the coming and going of limited dial up when the internet first game out. That didn't last very long when unlimited hit the market.  So if they say that 90-95 percent of mobile broadband users use less then 5GB per month that 5% that uses more isn't going to drag down the network that much now is it? The first company to offer unlimited mobile broadband to others will capture the market. If one jumps the others will follow. I'll dump my current company and gladly pay the ETF when this comes to par if V doesnt follow suit. 

[dave1812]

How would you like it if you owned a business and the goverment told you what you could charge for your services or your goods??  Government is getting way out of hand now--look at TARP, bailouts of GM and Chrysler, and now they want to ram another spending bill on us--the healthcare (really not about 'care') reform.  Enough is enough.

[Tech_Addiction]

$50.00 for 1gb is nothing for overage.  I gave my son my old XV6800 and I did not want a data plan for him.  If you know what an XV6800 looks like there is a button at the top that is mapped to the internet.  I had Google as the homthe phone was in his pocket it kept e page and when pressing the button and bringing up Google.  After the month was done he had only racked up 6mb.. thats right 6 megabytes.  They charge me $85.00 in data charges for 6 friggen megabytes.  They wiped the charges only if I agreed to put a $30.00 data plan on his phone to cover that period of time.  I was only waiting for his renew every two which was only a few days away.  They moved his renew date up for me and I cancelled the data plan putting him on a non PDA phone.  Yeah $50.00 is nothing for 1gb.

[Deamore]

@ Dave1812-  I'm not a fan of government controlling everything but i am in favor of a government that protects its population from price gouging and stealing from the American public. Corporate greed is what put not just America but the entire world as a whole where it is right now financially because of the lack of government controls. The health care industry is out of control because of our free market and little to no regulation on that industry. Again lack of government controls. When the government broke up AT&T competition exploded and the prices for services dropped substantially.  Guess what AT&T is in the top 3 still, Microsoft is still raking in the dollars as well.

@ Tech_ Addition- The people that are using mobile broadband primarily aren't phone users, they are rural Americans who use it as there only broadband access point...You simply got taken advantage of is all. I find it quite funny that Sprint, AT&T as well as VZW have set 5GB bandwidth caps...

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/03/the-cost-to-offer-the-worlds-fastest-broadband-20-per-home/

After you read that you will see how we are as a whole nation being ripped off by the monopoly telecom's have created once again. I wonder how long 5GB of bandwidth would last with 100Mbps download that those accross the pond enjoy for half the price?

[Tech_Addiction]

Oh I agree with you, I was just saying that the penalties for data usage are not the same across the board with VZW.  I think that it's appauling that they feel a need to abuse rual customers for the greediness of a hand few.  There are plenty of ways to monitor the rule breakers.  Just downloading a copy of Win7 Beta for a rual customer would almost kill there allotment for the month.  That's sad.

Sorry about the horrible sentence structure in the above post.  I had to reload my touch pad driver so I could turn it off.  My thumb kept hitting it redirecting the cursor.

Message Edited by Tech_Addiction on 08-22-2009 07:00 AM

[dave1812]

Care to explain exactly HOW this is price gouging?  If you order an expensive cut of meat at your local steakhouse,  do you complain when the bill comes, despite the fact the price was listed on the menu????