Lesson for the family while using tethering on iphone

Eoin247

Hi guys i'm going to tell you a short story that happened to us the other week.

My brother was in the hospital being quarantined, and so my mother gave him her iphone 3gs to use on his last day of quarantine so he wouldn't be bored.

However, he tethered the iphone via usb to his laptop for a few hours that night. Little did he know, how pricey those few hours of internet would cost.

Long story short, for a few hours of tethering o2 charged 614 euro! After talking to o2 for a while they agreed to halve the cost to 307 euros since my mothers been with them for so long.

An expensive lesson for my family, have to say i nearly had a heart attack when i saw her monthly bill!

guil

vodafone and o2 charge a fortune for tethering but i don't think 3 emobile or meteor do

Lumi

Eoin247 wrote: »

Long story short, for a few hours of tethering o2 charged 614 euro! After talking to o2 for a while they agreed to halve the cost to 307 euros since my mothers been with them for so long.

An expensive lesson for my family, have to say i nearly had a heart attack when i saw her monthly bill!

Same thing happened to my friend just before Christmas - she started using her new IPhone 4s as a personal hotspot but was on the old unlimited data contract where tethering is prohibited

She ran up a bill of €750 before they contacted her - after a long argument with her pointing out that she was unaware she wasn't allowed to do it and that the O2 rep in the op had shown her how to use the personal hotspot option they finally cut the bill to €30 - after she demanded to speak to a supervisor btw


Maybe you could try to get them to cut the bill further if you call back

bkehoe

guil wrote: »

vodafone and o2 charge a fortune for tethering but i don't think 3 emobile or meteor do

Vodafone now allow you to tether from your existing data bundle if you're on bill pay as well.

It's also worth noting that before you switch on tethering/personal hotspot that there is a warning that additional charges may apply.

TheZohanS

If they don't drop the bill even further change over to Three. 30 day rolling contract with all you can eat data.

frozenfrozen

I have unlimited tethering with 3 for 20 per month. I can't see why anyone isn't with 3 for an iphone!

demanufactured

Rediculous
Weather tethering or not....data is data.....they shouldnt be charging you extra.

Lumi

TheZohan wrote: »

If they don't drop the bill even further change over to Three. 30 day rolling contract with all you can eat data.

That doesn't apply to new customers who signed up to plans including all-you-can-eat data since the beginning of Jan.
Three changed their terms and conditions but pre-existing customers can continue to tether on the all-you-can eat data plans

There's a lot of confusion out there re which plans allow it

whiterebel

frozenfrozen wrote: »

I have unlimited tethering with 3 for 20 per month. I can't see why anyone isn't with 3 for an iphone!

You don't according to their T&Cs which they seem to be enforcing these days.

Kensington

frozenfrozen wrote: »

I have unlimited tethering with 3 for 20 per month. I can't see why anyone isn't with 3 for an iphone!

Because they're terrible. The phone will spend more tome roaming on Vodafone 2G than it will on Three's own 3G network.

Also, are you prepay? Expect to see your tethering curtailed pretty sharpish as the T&Cs prohibit tethering on prepay.

Eoin247

Lumi wrote: »

Same thing happened to my friend just before Christmas - she started using her new IPhone 4s as a personal hotspot but was on the old unlimited data contract where tethering is prohibited

She ran up a bill of €750 before they contacted her - after a long argument with her pointing out that she was unaware she wasn't allowed to do it and that the O2 rep in the op had shown her how to use the personal hotspot option they finally cut the bill to €30 - after she demanded to speak to a supervisor btw


Maybe you could try to get them to cut the bill further if you call back

I'm not too sure about being able to do that now. It's been a few days since she went to the store and talked to them, and only after a while did they agree to halving the cost.

Mellor

Mr.S wrote: »

But when your tethering to say, a laptop or a PC you will be using more data then you would be on just your phone = more costs for the operator.

That said I agree networks shouldn't charge extra for tethering, its a bit cheeky.

Its not always clear but the networks do say if they charge and how much for tethering. So no real reason for someone to complain if they got a huge bill.

If you use more data, or go over your limit far enough. But if one person uses 2GB data on the phone, and another uses 2gb via tethering. They should be treated the same. Directly from the data bundle then charged for excess.

Deep Thought

Mellor wrote: »

If you use more data, or go over your limit far enough. But if one person uses 2GB data on the phone, and another uses 2gb via tethering. They should be treated the same. Directly from the data bundle then charged for excess.

Agree with ya

You should be able to use your data that you have paid for by any means you want.

If you go over your limit then charge for the extra

naasrd

Kensington wrote: »

Because they're terrible. The phone will spend more tome roaming on Vodafone 2G than it will on Three's own 3G network.

Nonsense. Utter nonsense.

Lumi

Eoin247 wrote: »

I'm not too sure about being able to do that now. It's been a few days since she went to the store and talked to them, and only after a while did they agree to halving the cost.

I still think its worth ringing O2 and speaking to a supervisor or contact then through Talk to O2 on boards

They have written off or significantly reduced similar bills for others and you are still being landed with a hefty bill

Lumi

Kensington wrote: »

Because they're terrible. The phone will spend more tome roaming on Vodafone 2G than it will on Three's own 3G network.

Can't agree with you. I checked them out thoroughly before porting from O2
My bill has halved and I no longer pay exorbitant roaming charges when I work in the UK

Coverage is excellent In Dublin city centre and Galway city where I tend to be based most of the time and the Three like Home service is brilliant.

Eoin247

Lumi wrote: »

I still think its worth ringing O2 and speaking to a supervisor or contact then through Talk to O2 on boards

They have written off or significantly reduced similar bills for others and you are still being landed with a hefty bill

Thanks! I made a thread in that forum ( http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=76818969#post76818969 ). And if that doesn't work i'll ring them.

Hopefully this will all work out!

Lumi

Eoin247 wrote: »

Thanks! I made a thread in that forum ( http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=76818969#post76818969 ). And if that doesn't work i'll ring them.

Hopefully this will all work out!

Good luck & to be fair I've always found O2 to be pretty good as regards customer service. Be firm but polite!

It might be no harm to ask for the terms and conditions that apply to her particular plan while you're speaking to them - just to prevent any other nasty surprises

Eoin247

Lumi wrote: »

Good luck & to be fair I've always found O2 to be pretty good as regards customer service. Be firm but polite!

It might be no harm to ask for the terms and conditions that apply to her particular plan while you're speaking to them - just to prevent any other nasty surprises

Great news! They contacted me there to tell me that all extra data charges got removed! I got you to thank for encouraging me to post a thread on the o2 part of the forum. Thanks times a million

Lumi

Eoin247 wrote: »

Great news! They contacted me there to tell me that all extra data charges got removed! I got you to thank for encouraging me to post a thread on the o2 part of the forum. Thanks times a million

Hey!! I'm delighted for you & your Mum

And it has to be said, fair play to O2 & Sheena for taking up your case!

Hope your brother is on the mend

Run_to_da_hills

demanufactured wrote: »

Rediculous
Weather tethering or not....data is data.....they shouldnt be charging you extra.

Because it takes away their lucrative mobile broadband USB dongle business.

Kensington

naasrd wrote: »

Nonsense. Utter nonsense.

It certainly isn't, 3G continuously dropping out, 3G coverage wildly fluctuating from great to non-existent and the infamous "stuck on 2G" are all fairly well documented on the Talk to Three forum by many people, so it's not just me alone in the experience.

If you're lucky enough that you move around in areas with good 3G coverage then great, go for it but overall, from experience out of all the networks, they have a lot of work to do with their network yet.

jakdublin

I had my own tethering horror story last year. I was using a jailbroken iPhone to tether to my iPad, which I only do now and again and as I have an unlimited data plan I wasn't worried about going over my limit.

I updated the software when IOS 5 came out and did a bit of tethering using the in-built hotspot. Then I got a bill that included €70 for a few lousy MBs of data. When I called they said I wouldn't be charged for tethering if I was jailbroken, but I would if I wasn't

I argued that how could the average user possibly know this and they conceded the point and cut the bill down to €35. I continued to argue that if they were conceding i was right they were still ripping me off for the sake of a few mbs of data that I could have for free if I used them a different way. In the end they dropped the charge.

I'm not that bothered about tethering as I'd only use it the odd time, so I'm still with O2 but I'd say it's a deal-breaker for a lot of customers.