[UPC] Cap and Fair Usage Policy

dub45

vibe666 wrote: »

how can your AVERAGE speed be 30Mbps when the maximum speed is 30Mbps?

the best thing anyone can do if they get a letter is to email the AUP email address and ask them where the 250gb limit is shown on their website and/or T&C's (refer them to the comreg requirements for ISP's to clearly quantify the use of 'unlimited' on broadband packages) and ask them to provide you with a way to monitor your monthly usage.

then post here what their reply is.

They seem to be spreading their "conditions" all over the place! http://www.upc.ie/broadband/fifteen/ and http://www.upc.ie/broadband/thirty/

Conditions

The UPC Fibre Power Broadband service is only available to enabled homes. Installation is carried out by a third party installer. UPC will not be responsible for the installation. A €30 equipment activation fee applies for each Fibre Power Broadband service ordered. Orders placed online will get an online order credit of €20 for each Fibre Power Broadband service ordered. Select the self-install option online to receive a further €10 credit for each Fibre Power Broadband service ordered. A standalone charge of €7.75 applies when not purchasing our TV service. A wireless router is included with the Fibre Power Broadband 15Mb and 30Mb packs. Equipment remains property of UPC. If a customer downgrades their 15Mb or 30Mb service within the first 4 months of installation they will be charged the €49.99 installation fee for the wireless router. All services are billed monthly and are payable by Direct Debit. A €3 charge applies to all bills for non-direct debit customers. A €10 Downgrade Administration Fee will be applied anytime you downgrade your service. Subject to a minimum contract period of twelve months for all services. A cancellation fee will apply should you cancel your service during the first twelve months. Monthly data usage is capped at 120GB for Fibre Power Broadband 8Mb, there is no monthly usage cap for Fibre Power Broadband 15Mb or 30Mb. All broadband services are subject to our acceptable usage policy. Average expected broadband speeds at peak times are 8Mb, 15Mb and 30Mb. Broadband speeds are the maximum possible speeds only. Actual speeds will vary depending on internet traffic, the sites you visit and other factors. As our Fibre Power Broadband service is provided over the UPC fibre power cable you do not require an eircom landline to access this service. Prices include VAT. Residential use only. eircom rates taken from www.eircom.ie.

Fibre Power Broadband 8Mb savings are calculated as follows:
UPC Eircom
Fibre Power Broadband 8Mb €25.00 €50.35
Ongoing Yearly Saving €394.20

UPC price compares to Eircom NGB Basic 8Mb broadband & Eircom line rental.

Fibre Power Broadband 15Mb savings are calculated as follows:
UPC Eircom
Fibre Power Broadband 15Mb €32.00 €65.18
Ongoing Yearly Saving €398.16

UPC price compares to Eircom NGB Advanced 8Mb broadband & Eircom line rental.

Fibre Power Broadband 30Mb savings are calculated as follows:
UPC Eircom
Fibre Power Broadband 30Mb €42.00 €73.35
Ongoing Yearly Saving €376.20

UPC price compares to Eircom 24Mb broadband & Eircom line rental

Information correct at 09/10.

Surely all relevant terms and conditions (including any "policies") should be gathered together in one dated document? Surely "conditions" should not include comparisons with competitors? And surely such a document should not contain the nonsense about averages which is included above?
And surely anyone writing such a document should be familiar with the use of paragraphs?

dub45

Karmafaerie wrote: »

Or maybe it pays for the extra bandwidth they have to pay for to stop you effecting your neighbour.

You're probably right though, they're using the extra money to fund their secret weapons program.
It's all funding their weapons grade plutonium refinement plant they're building in Lexlip.:rolleyes:

And maybe if they were HONEST with people and complied with Comreg's policy on "unlimited" products it would solve a lot of problems very quickly and then they would not need apologists like yourself?

Br4tPr1nc3

i was on the phone to them tonight about this,
and the lad on the phone said, if you start getting charged the 80 euro a month, its the same speed with the same fair usage policy bandwidth limit.
and if you keep goin over 250gb they will eventually cut your broadband off.

which is bull****.

FreudianSlippers

Looks like they're sending a lot of letters out now. Got mine today.

Said I downloaded 387GB last month. I'm not so sure about that tbh. It's possible, but I doubt it.

Not really sure what to do about this other than ignore it and move on. I'm pretty unhappy with them about this though.

Capt'n Midnight

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBeT4ptY9sY

Ranicand

OisinT wrote: »

Looks like they're sending a lot of letters out now. Got mine today.

Said I downloaded 387GB last month. I'm not so sure about that tbh. It's possible, but I doubt it.

Not really sure what to do about this other than ignore it and move on. I'm pretty unhappy with them about this though.

All stuff the comes to your PC Mac or console is a download.
Just because you do not save something to your Hard Disc it does not save bandwidth.

Watching Youtube is downloading and so on.

belmulletman

OisinT wrote: »

Looks like they're sending a lot of letters out now. Got mine today.

Said I downloaded 387GB last month. I'm not so sure about that tbh. It's possible, but I doubt it.

Not really sure what to do about this other than ignore it and move on. I'm pretty unhappy with them about this though.

It's not just download, that's all data transferred. Up and down! We need to demand some way of monitoring our connections!

belmulletman

who was the signature on the letter you all received?
Paul Malone?

Trevor451

Get over it or switch back to eircom

vibe666

OisinT wrote: »

Not really sure what to do about this other than ignore it and move on. I'm pretty unhappy with them about this though.

what's the point in ignoring it? spend 5 minutes and email the AUP email address in the letter they sent you and let them know how you feel.

ask them where in their T&C's it states the 250gb limit (nobody on here has been able to find it) and if they can't show it to you in black and white anywhere except the letter they sent you then send them on to the comreg rules (that I'm sure Dub45 is about to whip out any minute ) that state that they need to clearly define any FUP/AUP 'limit' on an *unlimited* product if there is one.

also ask them to provide you with a way of measuring your bandwidth if they are going to hold you to some kind of limit on it (as every other ISP in the country does). if they can't do that then feel free to point out that they seem to be perfectly capable themselves of monitoring how much you use and sending out snotty letters and it seems pretty unfair of them to hold you to a usage limit that they give you know way of tracking for yourself.

maybe even mention joe duffy.

hightower1

I really hope after all this whining they actually do start putting the cap on advertising .... and slash the **** out of it for it. Ye had to whine when they didnt state the cap limit (but knew it was 250 and even then only if they HAD to enforce it) and if they have to state it i'd laugh my ass off if they stated it as 160 or something along those lines.

"Oh I'd leave" riiiiggght, and go where? Eircom. Yeah right. I am very much of the opinion of leave well enough alone, accept nothing is going to be prefect but KNOW when you have it good / better than the alternative and at a "hidden" cap of 250.. being the highest in Ireland on the best ISP in Ireland I consider that well enough.

If you start whinging... what if it forces them to lower the cap.... would you leave them...REALLY??? To go and pay another ISP more money for lower speeds and even lower caps?

niall0s

Also got the letter from Mr. Malone

They have changed the AUP on their site, (http://www.upc.ie/termsandconditions/acceptableusagepolicy/) it now clearly states the limits of their unlimited packages. Someone should get comreg on the case now, as far as I'm concerned an umlimited package with a 250GB limit is false advertising...

EDIT: just read vibe666 post above, seems they are compliant with comregs rules now

Section 3: Data Transfer Allowances, Excessive Use and Other Limitations
UPC broadband services are intended for normal recreational or educational use by individuals and families and our pricing and network architecture have been designed accordingly. The Services are strictly for residential use only - commercial use of any kind is prohibited. Customers who use the services more heavily than a normal home user will reduce the performance of the network for other customers.

Your monthly data transfer allowance depends upon which broadband package you have selected. The data transfer allowances for the various packages are 120GB for Fibre Power Broadband 8Mb users and 250GB for Fibre Power Broadband 15Mb and 30Mb users. All monthly data transfer allowances refer to the cumulative amount of data uploaded and downloaded per month, unless otherwise specified in your particular package. For purposes of illustration only, 1 gigabyte downstream of data transfer equates to approximately 200 music tracks, 650 short videos, 10,000 pictures or around 100 large software programmes downloaded.

“Excessive use” of the Service is defined as usage exceeding your monthly data transfer allowance.

If you exceed your monthly data transfer allowance as determined by UPC, in our sole judgment, UPC may take any of the following actions, or any combination thereof:

• Impose a charge of 3 cent per megabyte or part thereof for exceeding your data transfer limit; and/or
• Upgrade your package to a package with a higher data transfer limit with the corresponding higher monthly fee; and/or
• Downgrade your upload and download speed for a period of one month to dial-up speed, with your monthly fee remaining the same; and/or
• Suspend your access to the services for one month, with your monthly fee remaining the same; and/or
• Terminate your account as per the terms of the User Policy and UPC Terms and Conditions.

When/If they launch 100mb this 250GB cap makes the connection speed pointless, you could use 250GB in 6 hours going at full throttle, I guess I'll be switching over to their business premium package as it has no such limitations

http://business.upc.ie/products/small_to_medium_enterprises/products/

http://business.upc.ie/products/small_to_medium_enterprises/faqs/

Are there any usage restrictions?
There are no usage restrictions.

noxqs

3 cents per Megabyte over the cap. They must be mad.

100GB over the cap would be 3072 Euros. What is this, the 1980es where that might make sense on a dedicated line to ARPANET ?

Hilarious.

hightower1

noxqs wrote: »

3 cents per Megabyte over the cap. They must be mad.

100GB over the cap would be 3072 Euros. What is this, the 1980es where that might make sense on a dedicated line to ARPANET ?

Hilarious.

But yet if you signed up with them you signed to agree to this? People whine about how they dont state a cap but yet dont see that its better the devil you know. Accept that for the sake of if they actually wanted to they COULD charge you for breaching AUP and you wouldnt have a leg to stand on.

I think (morally , but then again this is business )they should state the cap but at the same time looking at it from their point of view they should reduce the cap if they have to state it. They have plenty of room to work with in that regards seeing as they are a multipal of times higher cap wise than the nearest competitor. Not only that but taking into account they are cheaper and have faster speeds than the majority they are holding all the cards so to speak.

My guess is if they reduced the cap to under 200gb it would allow a lot of people get of of their contract within 30 days of the change but in reality no one here would. UPC surely know that too so why try provoke a change to someone that can choose to be far harsher than they are and can be far harsher if they are forced without any loss to themselves. We at the moment have a great deal from them and yeah its not nice to keep any acceptable usage policy out of direct line sight of the consumer but do you really want them to force a change? Do you really think it would be a change for the better? (consumer wise) I doubt that very much.


Like Trev said above if you dont like them or their practices change to another provider but I def wont. I am willing to accept my ISP not advertising a fair usage policy for the sake of that policy being so much higher than anyone elses (+better speed and price on top)

Sasquatch76

Edit: Forget it.

JakHicks

For anyone whos not sure.. I have had a few emails with upc after I went over the 250gb limit. Basically the fiber extreme line for €80 is a 30mb line with a 550gb limit. But they only switch you to this if you keep going over the limit and will switch you back again to the normal bundle when you go back under 250gb.
That really doesn't sound too bad to me, no per meg charge or anything! Also you can email them and they'll send you your usage per week or per month, but you do have to email them! They also said they're working on a usage monitor to put up on their website that should be up next year. I did complain about how I've no way to monitor my usage!

ronkmonster

JakHicks wrote: »

For anyone whos not sure.. I have had a few emails with upc after I went over the 250gb limit. Basically the fiber extreme line for €80 is a 30mb line with a 550gb limit. But they only switch you to this if you keep going over the limit and will switch you back again to the normal bundle when you go back under 250gb.
That really doesn't sound too bad to me, no per meg charge or anything! Also you can email them and they'll send you your usage per week or per month, but you do have to email them! They also said they're working on a usage monitor to put up on their website that should be up next year. I did complain about how I've no way to monitor my usage!

Are you sure about that 550GB, I've been way over that in 2 of last 3 months. No letters or calls, although I never received anything when they bumped me up either.

JakHicks

well the letter I got a letter saying I'd gone over it and if I continued they'd force me to go to that package. On the other hand, the first month I had upc I'm certain I went over the 250gb, in fact I went over 300, but I didn't get any letter. I think who they send out the letter to depends not only on if your going over the limit, but also the area you're in. The same month a friend of mine also got a letter about going over the limit, who is in the same area as me, though we're both certain we've been going over the limit before that... I think when UPC get congestion in an area they start sending out letters to people in that area who are over the limit if that makes any sense..
Sorry that was a bit long winded

edit: sorry ronkmoster I mis-read your post. They also said on the letter that they'd change my package without notice, so maybe you went so far over the limit they just changed it without saying anything? I'd say ring and complain that they didn't inform you though, pretty sure it's illegal to do it without warning, though i haven't read the AUP too well so correct me if i'm wrong

Skatedude

K, this makes no sense, i also got a letter saying that i went over my limit in september, but i was away in singapore on work for all of september with the pc's and modems powered off. So how the hell did i download anything.

They said they couldnt produce any evidence of my usage either,:mad:

JakHicks

Skatedude wrote: »

K, this makes no sense, i also got a letter saying that i went over my limit in september, but i was away in singapore on work for all of september with the pc's and modems powered off. So how the hell did i download anything.

They said they couldnt produce any evidence of my usage either,:mad:

Well that's just unfair.. if you were bothered enough you could go to the small claims court, and show them your flight details and it would force UPC to provide evidence.. But they could just claim that the letter about the usage was from another month. Too much hassle i'd say.. slightly off topic, when I was getting the internet installed I asked could i changed the wireless key and they said no because people kept forgetting what they changed it to, though it's pretty straight forward to do anyway

ronkmonster

Ah It's been a year since they changed now. I just make sure to download a lot every month. New PC in July, redownloaded my entire steam collection of games. Over 500GB and then my regular downloads

I get 3.5Mb/s downloads from steam too so I could just download games over and over

vibe666

Skatedude wrote: »

K, this makes no sense, i also got a letter saying that i went over my limit in september, but i was away in singapore on work for all of september with the pc's and modems powered off. So how the hell did i download anything.

They said they couldnt produce any evidence of my usage either,:mad:

if they can't produce any evidence then how do they know it happened at all? i'd be a big fan of fighting something like that when they're trying to take the p1ss out of you, but that's just me.

tell them you were away on business and that everything was turned off and that they have obviously made a mistake.

fight the power!

Yggr of Asgard

I still can’t understand how they still can claim that this is unlimited if the FUP gives both an actual limit and the price for being over the limit.

Ranicand

dublin-texas wrote: »

I still can’t understand how they still can claim that this is unlimited if the FUP gives both an actual limit and the price for being over the limit.

Some like this I knew it was a con.:D

SexVicar

Just got a mildly panicked call from the parents while I am in London (Ah, Tech Support for life) saying that UPC wants to charge them €150 for going over the limit in October. Thing was, they were away in America for two weeks during that time, only my brother was there sparingly and he can attest to not using the internet that much either.

Reading the replies in the replies in the thread since the end of October is telling me that something really, really stinks. Either someone screwed up badly at UPC or we are getting DDOS'ed without realising it. Wasn't there a letter telling people about a scam where people ring up and tell you they can fix your slow internet? Because I certainly remember getting a call from them (And telling them to take a hike).

dub45

SexVicar wrote: »

Just got a mildly panicked call from the parents while I am in London (Ah, Tech Support for life) saying that UPC wants to charge them €150 for going over the limit in October. Thing was, they were away in America for two weeks during that time, only my brother was there sparingly and he can attest to not using the internet that much either.

Reading the replies in the replies in the thread since the end of October is telling me that something really, really stinks. Either someone screwed up badly at UPC or we are getting DDOS'ed without realising it. Wasn't there a letter telling people about a scam where people ring up and tell you they can fix your slow internet? Because I certainly remember getting a call from them (And telling them to take a hike).

Never!!!:)

Br4tPr1nc3

i rang them up a little while ago about the "extreme" package.
they guy said its basically the same as the 40 euro package,
same speed, and same fair use limit. and you just stay on it as long as your over the limit, and eventually cut off.

ronkmonster

Br4tPr1nc3 wrote: »

i rang them up a little while ago about the "extreme" package.
they guy said its basically the same as the 40 euro package,
same speed, and same fair use limit. and you just stay on it as long as your over the limit, and eventually cut off.

Never heard of anyone being cut off from Extreme package. I've been on it a year now.

vibe666

calling UPC support is like playing a game of Russian roulette. you never know what you're going to get or if it's anything resembling the truth or just whatever guff they think sounds like it might be the truth on that particular day.

ronkmonster

vibe666 wrote: »

calling UPC support is like playing a game of Russian roulette. you never know what you're going to get or if it's anything resembling the truth or just whatever guff they think sounds like it might be the truth on that particular day.

I've only had 1 issue with them where they had to organise a call out. I ran out of credit before they confirmed a time and day (was near christmas). Rang back next day and then had continued on and organised a call out. Would have been better if they had called me themselves to let me know (was christmas eve they came out and i probably wouldn't have been there otherwise). Overall wasn't as bad as I was expecting. But I work in IT so I can usually have the usual checks done before I call.