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Another bill shock thread!

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  • 09-05-2015 10:18am
    #1
    NeptunesMoon
    Registered Users Posts: 418 ✭✭


    Posting on behalf of a friend. she has a meteor mobile bb stick and has a 20gb limit on it, her mam was visiting from abroad and was connecting to the stick using wifi from her laptop and managed to rack up an additional 20gb usage which my friend was never aware of. This came at a cost of about €400 when the usual bill is only about €25.

    rang cc and they said there's nothing they can do and the only thing is to go through credit control and organise a payment plan. they did send the 80%/100% notifications but my friend never saw them. they said it might be worth a call to the loyalty dpt but the rep wasnt aware of anyone who was given any lenience.

    asked what would happen if the bill wasnt paid and said the number would be disconnected and the debt passed on to colletion agency. i remember reading on boards that these agencies have no real powers and told my friend this so she might godown that road. she just doesnt have the money to pay it and €400 for 20gb is a little outrageous. plus that they seem so hesitant to do anything for a customer whos been with them 3 years

    cheers for any help!!


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    #2
    Slippin Jimmy
    Registered Users Posts: 6,031 ✭✭✭Slippin Jimmy


    NeptunesMoon wrote: »
    Posting on behalf of a friend. she has a meteor mobile bb stick and has a 20gb limit on it, her mam was visiting from abroad and was connecting to the stick using wifi from her laptop and managed to rack up an additional 20gb usage which my friend was never aware of. This came at a cost of about €400 when the usual bill is only about €25.

    rang cc and they said there's nothing they can do and the only thing is to go through credit control and organise a payment plan. they did send the 80%/100% notifications but my friend never saw them. they said it might be worth a call to the loyalty dpt but the rep wasnt aware of anyone who was given any lenience.

    asked what would happen if the bill wasnt paid and said the number would be disconnected and the debt passed on to colletion agency. i remember reading on boards that these agencies have no real powers and told my friend this so she might godown that road. she just doesnt have the money to pay it and €400 for 20gb is a little outrageous. plus that they seem so hesitant to do anything for a customer whos been with them 3 years

    cheers for any help!!

    I really don't get these threads. The service has been used and provided yet they don't want to pay their bill:confused:. As you said they received the notification telling them they were nearing the limit.

    My advice is to take responsibility and pay what is due.


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    #3
    NeptunesMoon
    Registered Users Posts: 418 ✭✭NeptunesMoon


    in fairness, she didn't know, the device wasn't connected to the laptop that was doing the usage (her mams) and she wasn't even at home when her mam was using it most. She was also under the impression that once she reached her 20gb, it would be cut off. Also, as much as it may be in the contract and agreed terms, €400 for 20gb on home soil is astronomical, it's not like she was knowingly exceeding the limit with the intention not to pay, it's come as a big surprise and the first she knew of it was when she got a message about 2 weeks after the offending usage saying her bill was exceptionally high, this was sent to her mobile, which is a different number under the same account. It does seem a little unreasonable and taking huge advantage of people unknowingly exceeding their usage.

    She kinda feels hard done by given she's been with them for both mobile and mobile broadband for the last 3 years and they are basically just saying tuff sh1t so she's thinking just to move her mobile number to another provider and cancel the mobile bb number altogether and not pay. Would there be any reprocusisions of this in temrs of bad credit rating etc?


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    #4
    raze_them_all_
    Registered Users Posts: 6,744 ✭✭✭raze_them_all_


    It's not taking advantage of though, the rates are clearly explained and they never say we cut you off after 20gig. You can hardly blame the company for her not seeing the notifications. Pay her bill. The service was used.


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    #5
    Slippin Jimmy
    Registered Users Posts: 6,031 ✭✭✭Slippin Jimmy


    NeptunesMoon wrote: »

    She kinda feels hard done by given she's been with them for both mobile and mobile broadband for the last 3 years and they are basically just saying tuff sh1t so she's thinking just to move her mobile number to another provider and cancel the mobile bb number altogether and not pay.

    Hard done by how? The service was used. She knows who used it. She knows her allowance. I agree it's a lot of money. But it's what she signed up to. Tell her to get her mam to pay for it.

    Typical Ireland, I'll use the service but won't bother paying it, help me get out of the situation.


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    #6
    Kovu
    Closed Accounts Posts: 14,241 ✭✭✭✭Kovu


    If she hasn't the money then get her to ask her mam for half of it.
    I don't see why she should think that there is no need to pay for a service used, it was on the agreed contract and the usage was exceeded. Maybe she could plead ignorance to the usage as she wasn't the one using it and a sum could be taken off but that's probably the best she could hope for.
    Numerous times I've gone over the limit here (bills up to €200!!) but I know it was my own fault for not keeping an eye on it and I stumped up.


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    #7
    Paulw
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 13,381 Mod ✭✭✭✭Paulw


    NeptunesMoon wrote: »
    She kinda feels hard done by given she's been with them for both mobile and mobile broadband for the last 3 years and they are basically just saying tuff sh1t so she's thinking just to move her mobile number to another provider and cancel the mobile bb number altogether and not pay. Would there be any reprocusisions of this in temrs of bad credit rating etc?

    Yep, poor her, for using a service and then being expected to pay. :eek: What is the world coming to?

    She and her mom used the service. It went over the limit and as per the terms and conditions, she was charged the rate for extra usage.

    She may not be permitted to port her number, if there is a large outstanding debt. Also, the debt can be sold to a debt collector, and it may end up in court, which, aside from a court order to pay the debt, may result in a bad credit rating.

    Just pay the bill.


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    #8
    Usjes
    Registered Users Posts: 326 ✭✭Usjes


    Paul's, Kovu and raze_them_all, would you quit the bs and get a grip. The customer is clearly being ripped off. You all say 'used the service and therefore should pay for it' as though the service provider had to do extra work to facilitate this once-off overuse. Did the provider have to put on extra staff to transport each of those extra bits one at a time? No they didn't. And having these extortionate fees hidden somewhere in the T&PCs doesn't make it any less of a ripoff, they know 99% of people will never read them. Or to put it another way do you believe ANYONE in their right mind would agree to pay €400 for an extra 20 Gig ? No, neither do I. Therefore these clauses exist solely to scam people who are unaware of them, case closed. The OP should do whatever she can to avoid paying


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    #9
    Kovu
    Closed Accounts Posts: 14,241 ✭✭✭✭Kovu


    So it's in every persons interest to MAKE themselves aware of what they're signing up for. If you sign up to a contract of 20GB per month is one of your first questions not going to be ''What happens if I go over the limit?''
    You're not going to waltz into the store and sign a contract in pure ignorance. I'm not agreeing with Meteor, I know it's a low way to make more money but the onus is on the customer to keep under the limit they're contracted onto. In this case there may be some leniency as her friend can plead ignorance as he mother wouldn't have know how much she was using but to completely ignore it is just burying your head in the sand.


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    #10
    raze_them_all_
    Registered Users Posts: 6,744 ✭✭✭raze_them_all_


    Usjes wrote: »
    Paul's, Kovu and raze_them_all, would you quit the bs and get a grip. The customer is clearly being ripped off. You all say 'used the service and therefore should pay for it' as though the service provider had to do extra work to facilitate this once-off overuse. Did the provider have to put on extra staff to transport each of those extra bits one at a time? No they didn't. And having these extortionate fees hidden somewhere in the T&PCs doesn't make it any less of a ripoff, they know 99% of people will never read them. Or to put it another way do you believe ANYONE in their right mind would agree to pay €400 for an extra 20 Gig ? No, neither do I. Therefore these clauses exist solely to scam people who are unaware of them, case closed. The OP should do whatever she can to avoid paying

    you are and adult signing a contract. if you just sign it and go grand then you deserve what you get and its not as if she is the only person this has hapoened to. This kind of stuff happens constantly. ignorance is not a defence


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    #11
    Senna
    Registered Users Posts: 8,800 ✭✭✭Senna


    High horse brigade rushing to defend the network, if it was your family member I doubt you'd be as intolerant.

    OP I was in a similar situation but with o2 and only €90 of a bill. Phone customer services, explain your side of the story, if you've been with them awhile then remind them of your loyalty, if you usually don't reach the 20gb limit remind them of all the unused allowances that you havent used in the past.
    I might have been lucky but they wiped my bill and I "promised " I wouldn't run over again :)


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    #12
    Atlantic Dawn
    Registered Users Posts: 81,115 ✭✭✭✭Atlantic Dawn
    M


    They make so much extortionate profit often within the same company on roaming that even if they refund half of customers extorted they still can't go wrong.


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    #13
    GreatDefector
    Registered Users Posts: 540 ✭✭✭GreatDefector


    Senna wrote: »
    High horse brigade rushing to defend the network, if it was your family member I doubt you'd be as intolerant.

    OP I was in a similar situation but with o2 and only €90 of a bill. Phone customer services, explain your side of the story, if you've been with them awhile then remind them of your loyalty, if you usually don't reach the 20gb limit remind them of all the unused allowances that you havent used in the past.
    I might have been lucky but they wiped my bill and I "promised " I wouldn't run over again :)

    Nobody us defending the network or agreeing that the price is fine. Personally I think it's mental they're allowed to charge €400 for 20gb. I also thing wonga loans and 10 million percent interest* (exaggeration :)) are also scandalous BUT, if people agree to these then there's a limit to sympathy.

    Ignorance of usage and ignorance of T&C's is not a valid defence. You can't just sign up to something and say I no longer agree because I've been hit with a whopper bill. Doesn't work that way. Similarly if meteor failed to honour their contract they'd be bashed. Works both ways, you can't pick and choose what you do and don't agree to in a contract. It's all there, maybe sneakily but there's cooling off periods etc if you change your mind

    People running blindly into things do themselves no favours in these situation


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    #14
    RossieMan
    Registered Users Posts: 6,766 ✭✭✭RossieMan


    The person went over their limits they pay the costs. Get an upcapped allowance if they're going to have a high usage, not that much extra a month.


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    #15
    Senna
    Registered Users Posts: 8,800 ✭✭✭Senna


    GreatDefector wrote: »
    Ignorance of usage and ignorance of T&C's is not a valid defence. You can't just sign up to something and say I no longer agree because I've been hit with a whopper bill. Doesn't work that way.

    I don't think there is any ignorance here, op knew there was a 20gb limit, they knew they would be charged if they went over it, they didn't intend to go over the limit and feck the consequences.

    Perfect instance of the network making a term to discourage excessive useage, but one instance of excessive usage has no detrimental effect on network. If it was beginning of a pattern or happened more than once, grand you deserve to be fined (although ridiculous fines), but the OP has just made a mistake that costs the company nothing and has no effect on anyone else. Plead your case OP, hopefully you will be extended some good will.


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    #16
    Chloris
    Closed Accounts Posts: 535 ✭✭✭Chloris


    I think the whole "user knew the clauses" argument is a bit unfair, as the user wasn't personally being made aware of the excessive data use; she wasn't present to receive the alerts. I also think that any reasonable service should make a phone call to the user if they are exceeding the limit to that extent in order to ensure they actually intend to use it in this way.

    This might not be the policy, but the customer service agents can often be very reasonable in this respect. I was charged excessively by Meteor for data because I didn't realise my plan had been changed and the rep I spoke to got rid of a lot of the charges when I explained the situation. He was really helpful.

    What I'd advise the OP, if they haven't already done it, is to speak very reasonably with customer service to explain that they didn't use that data, it was a friend who didn't realise the limits and that they didn't get the notifications. Like has already been said, mention the loyalty aspect and that all the other services have been great to use. Hopefully that will allow them to alleviate as much of the charge as possible, because it is a ridiculous bill.


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    #17
    Hans Bricks
    Registered Users Posts: 850 ✭✭✭Hans Bricks


    How is 20 GB valued at €25, suddenly worth an extra €375 for the same bandwidth used again ? :confused:

    And why are Meteor not setting this allowance under credit, instead of willingly letting non tech savvy customers rack up these ambiguous surcharges for a few extra Gigabits ?


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    #18
    GreatDefector
    Registered Users Posts: 540 ✭✭✭GreatDefector


    Senna wrote: »
    I don't think there is any ignorance here, op knew there was a 20gb limit, they knew they would be charged if they went over it

    Don't think OP's friend was aware
    NeptunesMoon wrote: »
    She was also under the impression that once she reached her 20gb, it would be cut off.
    Senna wrote: »
    one instance of excessive usage has no detrimental effect on network.... but the OP has just made a mistake... and has no effect on anyone else.

    20GB is not one instance, happened over quite a longer period. 20GB over a mobile network is at least a few days of exceeding. Also mobile networks are extremely contended and high usage DOES affect others
    Senna wrote: »
    Plead your case OP, hopefully you will be extended some good will.

    To be honest that's about as much as the OP can do or hope for


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    #19
    NeptunesMoon
    Registered Users Posts: 418 ✭✭NeptunesMoon


    well most of you will be happy to hear before she could do any protest, the full amount was taken from her account.

    ive no qualms about paying high bills myself when im aware of the usage implication but id be a lot more keyed in with charges and usage than most users.

    we all know these plans and offers are marketted in a way that never really explains the limits or indeed that there is the possibility of going beyond the cap and then being charged crazily for doing so.

    its understandable some (a lot i imagine) people would be thinking that once they use their allowance, that's that. it's marketted as a 20gb cap, so I must just have 20gb. the charges beyond this are extortionate. it would be like going into a sports hall and paying for an hour of use with a credit card, an announcement in another language being made that you've used 50 minutes already while the card holder is at the toilet, and nobody else paying heed to it, then nobody realising the time and they end up playing an extra half hour only to realise the sports hall have charged them 10 times what they paid for the first hour because they went over time.


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    #20
    Paulw
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 13,381 Mod ✭✭✭✭Paulw


    NeptunesMoon wrote: »
    it's marketted as a 20gb cap, so I must just have 20gb. the charges beyond this are extortionate. it would be like going into a sports hall and paying for an hour of use with a credit card, an announcement in another language .....

    Can you link to where the marketing says 20Gb cap?

    As for the rest of your comment, all terms and conditions are in English. :D I think there is also a link to them in Irish too, if you need. It doesn't take that long to actually read what you are agreeing to.


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    #21
    NeptunesMoon
    Registered Users Posts: 418 ✭✭NeptunesMoon


    sorry, it's probably not mentioned as a 20gb cap, but I meant that it could easily be assumed you only get 20gb, the way you only get 20eur if you top up by 20eur PAYG.

    the other language thing is in relation to her not seeing the message only :)


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    #22
    salamanca22
    Registered Users Posts: 1,179 ✭✭✭salamanca22


    NeptunesMoon wrote: »
    sorry, it's probably not mentioned as a 20gb cap, but I meant that it could easily be assumed you only get 20gb, the way you only get 20eur if you top up by 20eur PAYG.

    the other language thing is in relation to her not seeing the message only :)

    That would apply if it was a PAYG account. It was not though.

    Would you expect them to not allow you to make a phonecall if you go over your minutes on bill pay?


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