O2 Broadband over limit craziness

LoudMouth

Ok, So this month hasn't been a good month for me so far from a broadband point of view, see my posts about Ripplecom and their terrible service. Because of that I have to use an O2 dongle as a backup. And I just got my bill. It looks like I went 0.3GB over on my 15GB package and I think they are trying to charge me more six times my normal monthly fee for going over by this tiny amount.
My normal Direct Debit is for €20, but this month it's €130!! Can that be right?
I've double checked and it's €89 + VAT for 300MB of data, is this the most expensive broadband in the world? But I've only gone 2% over my allowance, that can't be right?
If this really is the case then shame on you O2 and shame on the Communications Regulator for doing such a terrible job.
Somebody please tell me I'm dreaming, or that I am mistaken, maybe they are billing me for six months instead of one?

Cold Sweats just starting now, along with uncontrollable shaking......

ED E

All O2 Broadband Plans have a data usage limit and a charge of 1.6c per MB (ex VAT) applies for all usage in excess of the data usage limit on your plan.

At that rate it should be ~5.56GB to run up an €89 bill if my maths is right?

You sure you're reading the combined usage. You limit applies to your Downstream PLUS your Upstream usage.

LoudMouth

Hi Ed,

It looks simple on the bill, €20 per month for my normal bill, but €89 a month for "data and Entertainment", plus VAT. It states my total usage as 15.3GB. I'm going to ring them at 9am to find out what's going on.

ED E

Sounds like you went 15gb over or there's been a billing error.

LoudMouth

I was charged €89 + VAT for going 5.5GB over my limit. I spoke to Megan in O2, I believe their call centre is in Limerick. I asked her could she do anything about reducing my €130 bill and she said no, I asked her four times and she said no, that it was my fault that I had gone over my limit. I explained that I was only over by a small amount and that I had been a customer of O2 for years, but she said I had used the data so I had to pay for it.

I am no longer a customer of O2.

ED E

Be careful, even other providers will do the same. Its midband, not broadband. Get the three package with 60GB limit to help things.

LoudMouth

Thanks Ed. It's only a backup dongle in case I'm stuck. I went with the 20GB Meteor 3G/4G SIM-only deal for €10 a month with no contract. My phones are already with eMobile and the speeds here are pretty good, so I was comfortable that Meteor would be OK.

The Meteor package is half the price of the O2 package, I get 25% extra allowance and it has 4G. There is no 4G on O2 at all, so it's a no-brainer!

guil

Bear in mind that because of the better speeds on 4g, you could use more data doing the same browsing.

LoudMouth

I normally keep a very close eye on my usage, it's normally below 5Gigs on my dongle, it's only a backup. I used my Xbox One with it for gaming for a few nights and I forgot that it had auto updates enabled, it downloaded 12Gigs over night after I switched it off, updating Titanfall and Destiny and a few others. That's why I went over. Ouch.

BTW, the Xbox one can sometimes use over 50GB a month updating all my games. I mostly leave it connected to my amazing 0.8Mb Eircom connection. It's very slow, but has no cap and it is ultra-reliable. It kills me that I have to pay the same price as my friends who get 50Mb eFibre.

I live in a rural area and work from home, so I need to be able to access the net at all times. That's why I need so many options, really I just need one good connection, but that hasn't happened yet.