02 internet bill 800 euro for 2 months

seafield

I got the 10 Euro a month student package from o2 with a 3gb usage limit. I did watch a few films through streaming and youtube, etc, but 800 euro for 2 months. that is completely ridiculous!!

after reading through all the t&c's I know now that I will probably never see my money again as they have certainly covered their corporate asses! but I think it should be brought to people's attention that o2's practice is completely misleading and they are ripping off their customers left right and centre. all this from 'a company you can trust'

after searching about this on the internet I have found scores of people that the same thing has happened to so you cannot really say it is the fault of the people. I haven't heard of any other internet provider ripping off their customers like this. this type of billing can really do damage to people in an already struggling economy. I talked to one girl who had got billed over 1000 euro for a month and was really struggling to pay it off. she shouldn't have to!

In fact I discussed this with a friend of mine who has ntl internet and she said that her house went over their usage limit of 40gb last month, they actually doubled their usage to 95gb. so did ntl send them an extortionatly priced bill??? no! they fairly and justly moved them up to the next package so they only get billed an extra 10 a month.

I think i'll be moving to ntl or another internet provider that you can trust. and I would advise anyone not to enter into an internet agreement with o2. we can't let them get away with this.

by the way, i posted this on the o2 forum and 5 minutes later it was removed. so i posted it again and 5 mins later i was banned!! it said reason unspecified, when ban will be removed-never.
are we living in a communist state? seems like o2 thinks so anyway

whippet

so you signed up for a 3gb data limit for a month and used much more than that, then O2 invoiced you for the excess data at the rates agreed in the contract?

Where is this communist pressure coming from?

Mr. Presentable

In what respect is it misleading? Their charges are outlined, their terms are there in black and white, and you read and agreed to them.

I agree the charges are extortionate, but you agreed to pay them.

whiskeyman

Did you go over the limit?

If so, expect to pay.

End of.

omahaid

Hi seafield,

In what way did the treatment you suffered deviate from the terms and conditions? If the t&c's specified that you could use any amount of bandwidth without repercussions then it would look like you were treated badly.

fc2060

You must have watched a lot of videos to be charged €800 and you agreed to pay but the rates are exorbitant and a rip off. The previous posters to this thread must be paid or employed by O2 to respond as they did.
I went to Portugal last year and paid 140 euro for 5 days internet and email. The rate was about 13 per mb. I subsequently signed for 50 mb a month for €50
The telecoms regulator should insist that the telecoms operators send a text message if usage is over a certain amount.
I hate O2 but they are all the bloody same so no point in changing.

jimoc

You had a 3 GB usage limit included in your package.
You agreed to O2s terms and conditions which specified that you would be charged for each Mb over that limit.

You exceeded this limit and O2 billed you for the excess.

Where's the issue?
You used the service, they provided the service, now pay for it.

And yes I agree with the previous poster, the rates are extortionate, but thats what you signed up for, and I assume you were able to read and understand the contract you signed, so really no one to blame here but yourself.

seafield

fc2060 wrote: »

You must have watched a lot of videos to be charged €800 and you agreed to pay but the rates are exorbitant and a rip off. The previous posters to this thread must be paid or employed by O2 to respond as they did.
I went to Portugal last year and paid 140 euro for 5 days internet and email. The rate was about 13 per mb. I subsequently signed for 50 mb a month for €50
The telecoms regulator should insist that the telecoms operators send a text message if usage is over a certain amount.
I hate O2 but they are all the bloody same so no point in changing.

Thank you fc2060 for your balanced and fair response.
Yes the rates are extortionate. I probably watched one hours streaming or less most nights, but some nights none at all.
02 also deliberately mislead people. and being banned from their forum for complaining about my bill, that's what i mean by communist, dictatorship, censorship, call it what you will.
it was only when i compared it with my friend who has ntl internet that I really realised how much o2 are ripping people off. and I am not the only one, believe me. I have already talked to 8 other people who this has happened to and that is only in the last week!
ntl could if they wanted have charged extortionate prices for their internet but they didnt. they did what was fair and moved my friend up to the next package.

godtabh

fc2060 wrote: »

You must have watched a lot of videos to be charged €800 and you agreed to pay but the rates are exorbitant and a rip off. The previous posters to this thread must be paid or employed by O2 to respond as they did.
I went to Portugal last year and paid 140 euro for 5 days internet and email. The rate was about 13 per mb. I subsequently signed for 50 mb a month for €50
The telecoms regulator should insist that the telecoms operators send a text message if usage is over a certain amount.
I hate O2 but they are all the bloody same so no point in changing.

Why can’t people take responsibilities for their own actions. It should be up to o2 or who ever to tell you that you are using your phone a lot or whatever.

whippet

seafield wrote: »

Thank you fc2060 for your balanced and fair response.
Yes the rates are extortionate. I probably watched one hours streaming or less most nights, but some nights none at all.
02 also deliberately mislead people. and being banned from their forum for complaining about my bill, that's what i mean by communist, dictatorship, censorship, call it what you will.
it was only when i compared it with my friend who has ntl internet that I really realised how much o2 are ripping people off. and I am not the only one, believe me. I have already talked to 8 other people who this has happened to and that is only in the last week!
ntl could if they wanted have charged extortionate prices for their internet but they didnt. they did what was fair and moved my friend up to the next package.

NTL and O2 Broadband are two totally different products, fixed line versus mobile, you can't compare pricing or limits.

How are o2 deliberately misleading people, you obviously were aware of the 3GB limit, the fact that you thought you could use this for streaming movies most evenings shows that you really hadn't a clue what you were signing when you signed up. If you were unsure you should have asked.

While I agree the excess charges are extortionate, you had a duty of care to yourself to know that you were going to face these charges.

omahaid

fc2060 wrote: »

The telecoms regulator should insist that the telecoms operators send a text message if usage is over a certain amount.

LOL, I don't work for O2. I think thats a good idea, is there no warning system currently for mobile broadband if you go over your limit?

shinzon

Im still amazed people feel they are ripped off when they recieve a bill for something that they have signed up for in black and white when you signed the terms and conditions

A contract is not something you throw to one side and hope youll never get charged for going over the limit its a legally binding document between you and your ISP

Coming on here bitching about it will do no good, you went over the limit, way over judging by the bill you recieved, so lesson learned dont do it again and keep within your limit and no problem

TRI

Mr. Presentable

seafield wrote: »

Thank you fc2060 for your balanced and fair response.
Yes the rates are extortionate. I probably watched one hours streaming or less most nights, but some nights none at all.
02 also deliberately mislead people. and being banned from their forum for complaining about my bill, that's what i mean by communist, dictatorship, censorship, call it what you will.
it was only when i compared it with my friend who has ntl internet that I really realised how much o2 are ripping people off. and I am not the only one, believe me. I have already talked to 8 other people who this has happened to and that is only in the last week!
ntl could if they wanted have charged extortionate prices for their internet but they didnt. they did what was fair and moved my friend up to the next package.

I wasn't aware of an NTL mobile BB package. Do tell............

Do you know how long it takes to stream 3Gb?

shinzon

omahaid wrote: »

LOL, I don't work for O2. I think thats a good idea, is there no warning system currently for mobile broadband if you go over your limit?

In answer to that they dont have to as with all contracts its in the terms and conditions

Data usage in excess of the relevant usage limits is charged at the applicable published rate on O2.ie.

There is no need for text messages or warnings if you just read what your signing up for

Tri

Lenny

omahaid wrote: »

LOL, I don't work for O2. I think thats a good idea, is there no warning system currently for mobile broadband if you go over your limit?

I am noticing a lot of people complaining about the o2 and over usage.
and believe it or not o2 do have a warning system in place for the mobile broadband, I read them say it over on the site..
They send a warning when a user goes over €1,000 in there month :eek:

jimoc

Where are they deliberatily misleading people?
They have a calculator on their website that you can use to figure out how much bandwidth you think you are going to use BEFORE you buy the package for gods sake!!

seafield

Lenny wrote: »

I am noticing a lot of people complaining about the o2 and over usage.
and believe it or not o2 do have a warning system in place for the mobile broadband, I read them say it over on the site..
They send a warning when a user goes over €1,000 in there month :eek:

haha well fair play to them lenny, but if you only spend a measly 800 there's no warning. they really are 'a company you can trust'
all i'm trying to do is advise people not to sign up to o2, for no reason other than i dont want what happened to me, and many others, to happen to more people.

jimmyendless

It might not be illegal but its sneaky on O2's part. I got done for 130e one month for going over my 10GB limit. A notification would be nice but they are making so much money off people going over the limit that they will keep it quiet when we slip beyond our limit.

People always go on about the T&C's but people rarely read them.

I suppose another aspect of the O2 contract is that once you go over the limit, the price per Mb goes up 10 fold.

Within download limit:
20e per 10Gb

Over download limit:
200e per 10GB

I think I have my maths right from the T&Cs from this page

http://www.o2online.ie/wps/wcm/myconnect/O2/More%20info/O2%20Clear%20Broadband?pagedesign=O2_PRES_moreInfoPopup

based on the 18month contract.

And the fact that they show the charge in this format

2c per MB applies for all usage in excess of the data usage limit on your plan.

misleads the customer slightly. If they said the cost of broadband goes up 10 times once you go over the limit people might take more notice and that is probably why they display it in cents cause 2c per MB sounds okay.

Theta

seafield wrote: »

In fact I discussed this with a friend of mine who has ntl internet and she said that her house went over their usage limit of 40gb last month, they actually doubled their usage to 95gb. so did ntl send them an extortionatly priced bill??? no! they fairly and justly moved them up to the next package so they only get billed an extra 10 a month.

This is a silly statement to make. O2 BB is priced similarly to data charges on your mobile and thats what you are paying a premium for. It is a cellular network not a fixed one and as such is more expensive. You went over your cap and have to pay the charges outlined in your contract! Simple as!

jimmyendless

Theta wrote: »

This is a silly statement to make. O2 BB is priced similarly to data charges on your mobile and thats what you are paying a premium for. It is a cellular network not a fixed one and as such is more expensive. You went over your cap and have to pay the charges outlined in your contract! Simple as!

I agree with this comment but I think people are being harsh with the OP. The little man here did wrong going over the limit but the suits are screwing him/her for doing it. Sure its in the T&C but its still not a very fair practice.

Theta

But what do you want them to do? The reason for bandwidth caps is to make sure everyone doesnt take more then there fair share of the pie.

jimmyendless

I think a notification that you are over your limit would be fair enough.

jimmyendless

Mr.S wrote: »

One of the reasons for offering cheap mobile broadband, is to put a higher price on bandwith if people go over the allocation.

Anyway, it costs the providers more money if everyone is going over the limits, so I don't see how they're not being "fair"?

Does it cost them 10times more?

Theta

jimmyendless wrote: »

I think a notification that you are over your limit would be fair enough.

Does it cost them 10times more?

Fair enough and im sure it would be handy enough to impliment but most people can police themselves. You can always install third party software on your side to calculate bandwidth usage. It wont be exact but it will give you a fair idea!

Network expansion and increased OPEX can be very expensive! But no it most likly doesnt cost ten times more but it is there to be used as a penalty

Mr. Presentable

jimmyendless wrote: »

I think a notification that you are over your limit would be fair enough.

I agree with this. A notification would make absolute sense.

But the actual facts of the matter remain. O2 have done nothing improper - the OP (with whom I sympathise) has to start taking some responsibility for his usage and desist from bad mouthing his/her chosen ISP with which terms he/she agreed - up front and before taking the service.

Mr. Presentable

jimmyendless wrote: »

Does it cost them 10times more?

No. The idea from the ISP is that you will take a more expensive package to avoid overusage penalties.

jimmyendless

Theta wrote: »

Fair enough and im sure it would be handy enough to impliment but most people can police themselves. You can always install third party software on your side to calculate bandwidth usage. It wont be exact but it will give you a fair idea!

Network expansion and increased OPEX can be very expensive! But no it most likey doesnt cost ten times more but it is there to be used as a penalty

True, I'd didn't really think about it as a penalty. Its fair enough that a person would have to pay more for using over their limit but its just the silence from O2 while you are doing it that annoys me.

doncarlos

Mr.S wrote: »

3GB is quite a lot.

Not really I'd easily download that in the space of a couple of days.

OP, have to agree with the other posters. It's there in black and white so unfortunately it's your fault.

You say you stream an hour a day. so that is prob not far off 1GB+ a day. You should pay for internet with unlimited cap. Costs extra but you can download as much as you like

fc2060

It is unreasonable to allow a student or anyone to run up a huge bill when it would be so easy to warn the person, particularly when the rate is so high

tipperaryboy

If you go over the limit there are consequences such as having to pay for it.
but o2 should warn people as they approach the limit,i suppose they wont do that as they are making more money as it is.
If you are a frequent every day internet user who wants to use mobile broadband i would advise signing up to bill pay..prepay is way better they can never spend a large amount unless you top up.

Viper_JB

Mr.S wrote: »

One of the reasons for offering cheap mobile broadband, is to put a higher price on bandwith if people go over the allocation.

Anyway, it costs the providers more money if everyone is going over the limits, so I don't see how they're not being "fair"?

I can understand your argument here but you can't justify O2's charges in these cases they are essentially punishment fines for using their products, it's a fundimental problem that you can spend like 30 quid on a product and expect to pay 20euro per month after and end up with a bill for 800euro after, if they wanted to stop people going over the quota then they could kill the connection when you reach your cap, they don't and they're pretty much just profiteering off of the backs of the ignorant. Which is ethically wrong in my opinion, I fail to see how anyone could reasonably back up a company like that in these cases, no wonder everything is so expensive over here we just bend over and take it doesn't matter how much it is as long as you're told that's how much it is.

Theta

Viper_JB wrote: »

Which is ethically wrong in my opinion,

No one ever said any business was ethical, they are there to generate profit for there shareholders and that is what they are doing. A dont say if you were in charge of the company you would do any different.

smellslikeshoes

Second time this has come up here in the last 2 months or so and just like the last time when people respond that it's in the contract that the user has signed up to and O2 have done nothing wrong, they get accused of being O2 representatives.

You signed the contract, you used the service and went over the limit, pretty black and white really. If you didn't read the contract that's not O2's fault.

jimmyendless

Theta wrote: »

No one ever said any business was ethical, they are there to generate profit for there shareholders and that is what they are doing. A dont say if you were in charge of the company you would do any different.

Businesses can be ethical and still make a profit. Being unethical will make more profit though. Fight the power OP.

seafield

if what o2 are doing is so just and so fair and completely within their rights, then why did i get banned off the o2 forum after 20 minutes for posting the exact post i put in the opening post on this forum?
if they are in the right and are not misleading customers then why can't their administrators on their forum defend them publicly?
the company is completely unethical and i don't see how anyone can disagree with that.

NinjaTruncs

spend alerts ftw
http://help.o2online.ie/al/12/4/article.aspx?aid=3828&tab=browse&bt=4&r=0.15488

smellslikeshoes

seafield wrote: »

if what o2 are doing is so just and so fair and completely within their rights, then why did i get banned off the o2 forum after 20 minutes for posting the exact post i put in the opening post on this forum?
if they are in the right and are not misleading customers then why can't their administrators on their forum defend them publicly?
the company is completely unethical and i don't see how anyone can disagree with that.

If you posted something on Boards.ie that was deleted and then posted the same thing again 5 minutes later you would probably be banned too. I'm not saying that they didn't delete your post to shut you up but when you start throwing out lynch mob style accusations referring to a company on their forum for something which is YOUR fault I can see why.

wyrn

Happened me a couple of months back. I went over my limit and my bill trebled. I was shocked to say the least. I've no idea how I managed it as I'd used the net less that month (hence my lack of vigilance on my usage). All of my other bills for the last year have been identical except for that random one.

I rang them up to see if I could get a breakdown (I know it's available online - I didn't realise this at the time) and I explained that I'd automatic updates turned off etc... I wasn't accusing O2 of anything, I was just generally confused seeing as I'd used the net less that month and I didn't change my habits. I was told that Limewire et al are the cause for huge downloads - I don't download music/movies and I don't use torrents or anything like Limewire. It definitely wasn't a virus.
In fact I had just reformatted my laptop (all updates done on an Eircom line) and I'd only the basic programs on it. I tried explaining this and that I'd Steam turned off but they didn't seem to believe me.
Anywho I checked the breakdown and there was a lot of connects/disconnects and I think the cable was faulty. I changed it and touch wood it seems ok so far.

It'd be nice if O2 had your current usage displayed beside the connect/disconnect button! Also a text when you approach your limit. I can't see this happening as I'm sure it's profitable for O2 for accounts to go over their limit.

I can understand going over the limit. It happened to me and I'm not 100% sure how that happened. I think I was 3GB over my limit and I was told that was huge! To get a bill of €800 for two months is unreal esp if you are a student. I would have thought that student plans would have a warning - how many students (or any of us) can afford that. I know T&C's, responsibility and all that jazz but if I had a company and I had a student plan I would not let any students run up a bill (they'd be a credit risk).

Just had to check my monthly usage, Phew I'm ok!

Guy:Incognito

doncarlos wrote: »

Not really I'd easily download that in the space of a couple of days.

On your phone?


All I can do is echo what others have said here. Not O'2 fault the OP did'nt read the contract. Your supposed to be an adult here, if your signing legal documents willy nilly wiht reading what your agreeing too, maybe you should'nt be signign legal documents.

O2_Daryll

seafield wrote: »

by the way, i posted this on the o2 forum and 5 minutes later it was removed. so i posted it again and 5 mins later i was banned!! it said reason unspecified, when ban will be removed-never.
are we living in a communist state? seems like o2 thinks so anyway

Your post was removed because you could not prove you are an O2 customer. I am still willing to look into it either here or on our forum if you can send me on the correct number.

Bosshogg

It's like signing a contract with the Devil, minions and all.

Cabaal

seafield wrote: »

I got the 10 Euro a month student package from o2 with a 3gb usage limit.

O2 is not Broadband, its Midband or so called Mobile Broadband
The network doesn't exist to manage massive amounts of data transfers like the likes of cable or ADSL

after reading through all the t&c's I know now that I will probably never see my money again as they have certainly covered their corporate asses!

Most people have enough sense to read the T&C's BEFORE they sign up to a service, if they didn't bother then they are idiots.

In fact I discussed this with a friend of mine who has ntl internet and she said that her house went over their usage limit of 40gb last month, they actually doubled their usage to 95gb. so did ntl send them an extortionatly priced bill??? no! they fairly and justly moved them up to the next package so they only get billed an extra 10 a month.

NTL is an actual Broadband provider and has a network suitable for bigger data transfers, also thats their policy.

An example of a different policy is eircom can charge for going over the cap but they currently don't

Just because one company does one thing doesn't mean O2 have to do the same

are we living in a communist state? seems like o2 thinks so anyway

right :rolleyes:

Cabaal

fc2060 wrote: »

It is unreasonable to allow a student or anyone to run up a huge bill when it would be so easy to warn the person, particularly when the rate is so high

While he's still a student I'd imagine he's over 18 (he has to be to signup to O2's packagwe) and if he's over 18 he's still an adult.

If he's an adult he needs to take responsibility for what he does in life, this issue included

Theta

seafield wrote: »

if what o2 are doing is so just and so fair and completely within their rights, then why did i get banned off the o2 forum after 20 minutes for posting the exact post i put in the opening post on this forum?
if they are in the right and are not misleading customers then why can't their administrators on their forum defend them publicly?
the company is completely unethical and i don't see how anyone can disagree with that.

They are in no way misleading there customers. You are telling me that when you saw it had a download cap that if you went over it there would be no penalty? If you did you are naive.

LFCFan

Cabaal, in fairness to the OP and others who are getting screwed, not everyone is as internet savy and up to date on all the terminology and when O2 and other providers advertise their services as 'broadband', the majority of people wil accept that. Of course they should know what could happen if they go over their limit but in fairness, O2 should be making these charges a lot more transparent, and not small print about charging whatever for every kb over your limit. Most people wouldn't know a kb from a hole in the ground. O2 should also be ringing/mailing/notifying customers that they have exceeded their limit and tell them what the consequences are. To just sit back and allow people to run up rediculous bill for data smacks of bad customer care and is very bad practice. I don't care if all providers are at it, they are all at fault and it's about time these companies started looking after their customers and quit screwing them into the ground for being naive.

Why can't they implement a system where you can automatically cut off your service once you reach your limit? Why not set up a system where you are warned when coming close to your limit? These are very simple to implement but O2 choose not to because they are making so much money off people going over.

wyrn

I agree. I like to think I'm pretty paranoid about these sort of things, I've read T&C's thoroughly. I did find some of O2's T&C's a bit hard to interpret so I had to call them just to clarify a few things such as charges for going over the limit.

As I said before I keep an eye on my limit but back in November I didn't and I went over my limit and paid for it. It's easily done. Not sure how that happened but it doesn't matter now. I assumed I'd be ok seeing as I'd used it less and I'd just reformatted my laptop & updated (on Eircom) it and I certainly don't download movies or music. My point is, we're only human it can happen. Now I only went over my limit but a few GB's and my bill trebled. I'm not sure how much over you'd have to go to get a bill for €800!

Going back to the ESB & Bord Gais thread perhaps when signing up to these companies we should give a deposit as we are working on a line of credit.

Theta

How much more transparent do you need?

jor el

LFCFan wrote: »

Cabaal, in fairness to the OP and others who are getting screwed, not everyone is as internet savy and up to date on all the terminology and when O2 and other providers advertise their services as 'broadband', the majority of people wil accept that. Of course they should know what could happen if they go over their limit but in fairness, O2 should be making these charges a lot more transparent, and not small print about charging whatever for every kb over your limit. Most people wouldn't know a kb from a hole in the ground.

While it's true that a lot of people won't know what 3GB means in terms of actual Internet usage, they should find out before they go downloading anything they want. It's not good enough for people to just blindly use something when they have no idea what any of the terminology means. Everyone knows at least one person that would know the answer, so it's as simple as asking.

In this case, the OP bought a product where he knew the limit was 3GB (whether he knew what this really amounted to or not, I'm not sure), and didn't check what he was downloading, or what the consequences of that would be. O2 even have a data usage calculator on their product information page. It would be near impossible to buy the product without seeing this.

Some of the blame can be put on O2 (or other providers) but people need to stand up and take accountability for their own actions too. It's simply not good enough to claim ignorance when it takes only a minute amount of effort to find out. You don't even have to wade through unwieldy T&Cs, because their FAQ is quite simple, and easy to understand.

LFCFan wrote: »

Why can't they implement a system where you can automatically cut off your service once you reach your limit? Why not set up a system where you are warned when coming close to your limit?

A simple text warning when you reach 90% of your limit would be very useful. The Vodafone connection software that I use can be configured to warn you when you reach a certain quote, though it only works on calendar months and not the billing period, but it's still useful to keep things level. I'm not sure if the O2 software can do this or not.

Absolutely no effort was made by the OP, and yet he wants O2 to shoulder all the blame. There's at least 50/50 blame here, and I would say it's more like 75% (OP) 25% (O2).

Mimikyu

This post has been deleted.

Popple3

While a I agree it's a rip off, if you were streaming movies on a 3GB limit, you had it coming.

O2 once tried to charge us nearly €400 despite not being even able to properly use it (it was going slower than dial up, with sites timing out too much, and becoming impossible to use).

Even though it was literally impossible to hit the 10GB limit, the only way we got out of it was that the fair usage policy when we signed up said we'd be warned when we go over the limit.

wyrn

Theta wrote: »

How much more transparent do you need?

That is indeed transparent.

If that was aimed at me, I signed up to a different package well over a year ago. That page wasn't there.

In fact I had problems getting connected - took me a week. I had to delete a registry file before I could connect. Only for a post in boards helped me because someone else had ran into that problem. That's why I rang. Also my package wasn't being advertised because they were changing it (made it cheaper!). The lady in the shop had to check with her manager to see if it was still available.

Also sometimes it's nice to ask some these things. I find T&C's stick in my head when someone has told me but that's just me. In fact I wrote them down on the front of my contract and highlighted it.

Just to clarify I don't think the OP is completely blameless - I mean €800 in two months! I thought mine was bad enough at €76! Still kicking myself over being so stupid.

I would say the OP is 95% to blame and O2 5% stupid for allowing a student (or anyone) to run up a €800 bill.