Meteor: €400 charge for 20 seconds!

MOH

craichoe wrote: »

Not an urban legend but somewhat true, you buy a girl a glass of champagne but it turns out the glass of champagne is 300 euros including some sort of sexual stuff thrown in. Not an issue for me anyway as i'd never buy a stranger a drink :P

Heard of that, but not derry's claims of being charged 1000 euro for a beer or bouncers beat you up :rolleyes:

johnnymexico

Solair wrote: »

These kinds of data charges are absolutely insane. I don't know how they're able to justify them.

Frankly, I think there should be a "If you wish to continue, this service will cost you €10/click" or whatever the nutty charge they impose if you don't have a data bundle is.

It's daylight robbery, simple as that.

Finally someone speaking sense....

As for other posts... the attitude of some of the posters on this thread is appallingly patronising. Yes, Meteor they can charge what they like and once they post their rates, it is legal. But that doesn't make it fair. It's a fupping rip off. If you are in the know then of course, it makes sense to stay away from the service. But that is not what the OP is saying. People who understand the nature of mobile internet charges (most of the posters here it seems) are never going to get stung by this. Instead Meteor are preying on people who have just joined their network without any experience of the fees involved and are probably accessing the internet via a mobile for the first time (maybe they got a new phone). Meteor KNOWS that when someone joins their network and starts to use the internet feature for the first time that they are guaranteed a hundred euros. I'd be interested in knowing how often this happens, I'll guess a lot. Even if these types of customers read the charges they are not going to know the drain of accessing a not wap website.

Tone done the smart ass analysis. Just because you are too clever to be caught by this, doesn't excuse what Meteor are doing.

MOH

johnnymexico wrote: »

Finally someone speaking sense....

As for other posts... the attitude of some of the posters on this thread is appallingly patronising. Yes, Meteor they can charge what they like and once they post their rates, it is legal. But that doesn't make it fair. It's a fupping rip off. If you are in the know then of course, it makes sense to stay away from the service. But that is not what the OP is saying. People who understand the nature of mobile internet charges (most of the posters here it seems) are never going to get stung by this. Instead Meteor are preying on people who have just joined their network without any experience of the fees involved and are probably accessing the internet via a mobile for the first time (maybe they got a new phone). Meteor KNOWS that when someone joins their network and starts to use the internet feature for the first time that they are guaranteed a hundred euros. I'd be interested in knowing how often this happens, I'll guess a lot. Even if these types of customers read the charges they are not going to know the drain of accessing a not wap website.

Tone done the smart ass analysis. Just because you are too clever to be caught by this, doesn't excuse what Meteor are doing.

That's like saying if I walk into a bar and order a bottle of madly expensive champagne, I shouldn't have to pay for it, if I actually know nothing about champagne and think it's the same price as beer.

Or if I call an electrician out to rewire my house, it's OK for me to expect it to cost the same as changing a lightbulb, since I know nothing about electrical matters.

It's not just Meteor, or even phone charges. If you're going to use any service, with checking out the charges beforehand, you're quite possibly going to end up shelling out a lot more than you expected.

There's no point turning around afterwards and claiming it's a rip-off, if the charges were there for you to check beforehand and you just didn't bother.

foggy_lad

premium rate texts now must have a limit set so you can not be charged for more than €20 worth without being warned about further costs and agreeing to this, why cant the mobile phone companies have something similar? oh they could very easily but like with premium rate texts they make too much money from people's mistakes to change things in the interest of the customers

Motley Crue

Sorry OP, looks you were the victim of bad luck, because even though this seems completely unfair I am afraid this charge is perfectly legal

I had a situation once in which I was charged 20Euro for several seconds Internet time and phoned up to complain but according to Meteor I had been on the Internet for the time I had been on and they were not going to accept anything otherwise. There was no negotiation, no talk of a refund, and no talk of anyone helping me out by sending me an email explaining the rules.

higgins123

I have had a problem with meteor WAP, GPRS also. The difference is that i bought a Nokia E51 as it has a wireless modem which i thought would be good. I used it to access my wireless router at home and at work to save turning on a PC just to check my e mail. This would cost me nothing i thought until my first bill came in with charges for WAP on it. I thought maybe i had connected through wap by mistake so i deleted the wap connection to prevent this from happening again. Each time you connect through the wireless modem the screen reads " connecting via Netgear" as with my home router.
I was then very surprised to see GPRS charges on my next bill for 170euro. After calling meteor to question this charge i was told that if my free wireless connection was somehow disrupted my phone would connect to WAP or GPRS without asking at all. I was told i could set my phone connection settings to "Always Ask", As far as i can see this is not an option on the E51, the only options i can see are "when needed" or "when available" meaning it cant be disabled.
The settings on the phone are downloaded from meteor when you first turn on the phone so they set the trap. It seems strange both bills were for 170.
Anyway i canceled my DD and paid my normal bill each month since.
Wrote to the national consumer agency and was told they don't deal with individual cases, some use. Not sure of my next step. Might just keep calling meteor and giving them crap

Sam Vimes

higgins123 wrote: »

I have had a problem with meteor WAP, GPRS also. The difference is that i bought a Nokia E51 as it has a wireless modem which i thought would be good. I used it to access my wireless router at home and at work to save turning on a PC just to check my e mail. This would cost me nothing i thought until my first bill came in with charges for WAP on it.

then i'm afraid you did it wrong

higgins123 wrote: »

I thought maybe i had connected through wap by mistake so i deleted the wap connection to prevent this from happening again. Each time you connect through the wireless modem the screen reads " connecting via Netgear" as with my home router.

are you sure it's every time with every program that accesses the internet? do you have email set up for example?

higgins123 wrote: »

I was then very surprised to see GPRS charges on my next bill for 170euro. After calling meteor to question this charge i was told that if my free wireless connection was somehow disrupted my phone would connect to WAP or GPRS without asking at all.

that's incorrect

higgins123 wrote: »

I was told i could set my phone connection settings to "Always Ask", As far as i can see this is not an option on the E51, the only options i can see are "when needed" or "when available" meaning it cant be disabled.

menu->web->options->settings->general->access point->always ask

you will most likely find that the access point is set to meteor wap btw

higgins123 wrote: »

The settings on the phone are downloaded from meteor when you first turn on the phone so they set the trap.

that's hardly a trap ffs. would you rather they disabled calling and texting when you first get the phone too until you prove to them that you've looked up how much it costs?


edit:if you had correctly deleted the meteor wap settings it would not be possible for you to get a bill. the way to delete it is:
menu->tools->settings->connection->access points (might be slightly different on your model)

and delete everything in there except your home wifi connection, or even better edit them to junk data so they fail to connect. the important variable that you need to change is the Access Point Name, eg change "wap.mymeteor.ie" to "donkey"

the groutch

The OP is a bit stupid to be using a phone for the internet imo

If you want to make a phone call, you use a phone
If you want to access the internet, you use a computer

Capt'n Midnight

derry wrote:

The going price on the internet back bone service what the TelecoNs pay for one giga byte is E0.50cent(Euro)

https://www.inex.ie/about/memberlist
IIRC members don't charge each other for local traffic.

Also a lot of the external traffic is cached , you won't have been the first person to visit the BBC's web site today

So isn't €0.50 the charge for unique data entering the country rather than you downloading 1GB.


OT 3 have a €10 package per month or similar , is it possible to use this with a third party modem or using a 3G phone as a bluetooth modem, and is it possible to have it stop the service stop when you reach your monthly cap ?

Capt'n Midnight

MOH wrote: »

What are you ranting about? I've never heard, even as an urban legend, of anyone in Holland being charged 1000 euro for a beer in a bar.

Is it true that there are some pubs there where if you ring a bell you've to buy everyone in the bar a drink ?

Sam Vimes

the groutch wrote: »

The OP is a bit stupid to be using a phone for the internet imo

If you want to make a phone call, you use a phone
If you want to access the internet, you use a computer

you're absolutely right. personally when i leave the house i carry:

• a phone
• a camera
• a calculator
• a video camera
• a personal organiser
• a gps
• a laptop
• a tv
• a psp
• etc

because god forbid i use the features that the phone provides for me

Paulw

higgins123 wrote: »

I have had a problem with meteor WAP, GPRS also. The difference is that i bought a Nokia E51 as it has a wireless modem which i thought would be good. I used it to access my wireless router at home and at work to save turning on a PC just to check my e mail. This would cost me nothing i thought until my first bill came in with charges for WAP on it.

I have the E51 too, and it's a brilliant phone. I use my wireless router at home, and it has never switched between my router and WAP/3G. If it can't connect to my wireless router it gives an error saying it can't connect and then gives me the option to use 3G if I want. It does NOT automatically switch.

Maybe you've messed up your own settings, and caused the problem??

higgins123

Just to add that i have used WAP and GPRS in the past and am fully aware of the cost. I would use it every once in a while. My problem is with the way you access it through a free service. Its like calling a free phone number and without notice being connected to a premium number. The Nokia E51 is sold as " Best for WIFI" and at all times i used it sitting beside a wireless router. Now i have to turn my phone to offline to make sure i dont give the sneaky bastards any more money.

cruizer22b

Sam Vimes wrote: »

you're absolutely right. personally when i leave the house i carry:

• a phone
• a camera
• a calculator
• a video camera
• a personal organiser
• a gps
• a laptop
• a tv
• a psp
• etc

because god forbid i use the features that the phone provides for me

LOL PMSL.

Sam Vimes

higgins123 wrote: »

Just to add that i have used WAP and GPRS in the past and am fully aware of the cost. I would use it every once in a while. My problem is with the way you access it through a free service. Its like calling a free phone number and without notice being connected to a premium number. The Nokia E51 is sold as " Best for WIFI" and at all times i used it sitting beside a wireless router. Now i have to turn my phone to offline to make sure i dont give the sneaky bastards any more money.

how exactly are they sneaky? did they hide the phone's manual that would have explained exactly how to connect it to wifi and refuse to let you see it?

did you find the always ask option as i instructed?

higgins123

you must be carrying a very large handbag. Where do you fit your lipstick.

Sam Vimes

higgins123 wrote: »

you must be carrying a very large handbag. Where do you fit your lipstick.

translation: i've been shown to be wrong so now i'm going to take the piss out the person who showed i was wrong in the hopes that no one will notice i was wrong

Capt'n Midnight

Sam Vimes wrote: »

you're absolutely right. personally when i leave the house i carry:

• a phone
• a camera
• a calculator
• a video camera
• a personal organiser
• a gps
• a laptop
• a tv
• a psp
• etc

because god forbid i use the features that the phone provides for me

Won't you need a separate TV license since you are no longer at the address on the license

Seriously though

Sam Vimes

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

Won't you need a separate TV license since you are no longer at the address on the license

that's covered under etc. i carry that strapped to my forehead.

MOH

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

Is it true that there are some pubs there where if you ring a bell you've to buy everyone in the bar a drink ?

Why, did you fall for that one?