Complaint against Vodacom

[froot]

We have a 3G contract with Vodacom and received a shocking account of R20K this month.

Our contract gives us 2Gig per month and, whilst we normally exceed that limit and get charged out-of-bundle rates, the total bill is never more than approx R1 500.

We tried to find out from them how it is possible that we used so much data and they were uhmm-ing and ahh-ing and could not give a proper answer. The guy I spoke to, speculated that it could be due to e-mails looping (the IT people will know what that means, I don't!) or that there could be viruses on the PC.

Does that sound like a probable explanation to you guys?

We reported them to the Consumer Commission and will see what happens.

Chat to Ockie.
He helped me out in April when a friend had the same issue.

[OGroteKoning]

Is there a simple software app that will detect the programmes on my laptop/pc and tell me if they are accessing the web?

[Sinbad]

Its illegal for an ISP to monitor where you are going. So yeah, under the current law system it is too much to ask. What is not too much to ask is for you to install your own software and manage your stuff correctly. Use netlimiter or something).

The average user may not be technically savvy enough to understand all of this.

Hence, my opinion about a hard cap

[DJ...]

Is there a simple software app that will detect the programmes on my laptop/pc and tell me if they are accessing the web?

I use netlimiter...

[SinghDude]

Are you sure that that there are no software updates running in the background ?

[blunomore]

Are you sure that that there are no software updates running in the background ?

How on earth will I know that ? I am a lay person when it comes to IT ........... TYPICAL END USER !

[ambroseg1]

We have a 3G contract with Vodacom and received a shocking account of R20K this month.

Our contract gives us 2Gig per month and, whilst we normally exceed that limit and get charged out-of-bundle rates, the total bill is never more than approx R1 500.

We tried to find out from them how it is possible that we used so much data and they were uhmm-ing and ahh-ing and could not give a proper answer. The guy I spoke to, speculated that it could be due to e-mails looping (the IT people will know what that means, I don't!) or that there could be viruses on the PC.

Does that sound like a probable explanation to you guys?

We reported them to the Consumer Commission and will see what happens.

you are screwed I think. These big companies normally couldnt care less about customer satisfaction, especially when there is a R20k bill to be had

[Fudzy]

Since moving onto Vodacom I got an SMS warning me that my limit was close and I would be charged OOB rates. Is it a new service? Pretty lame not assigning it to existing customers.

[samr1wp]

Are you sure that that there are no software updates running in the background ?

thats alot of updates for that money

[Fudzy]

How on earth will I know that ? I am a lay person when it comes to IT ........... TYPICAL END USER !

Who manages your IT? Maybe pass the buck onto them.

[ghoti]

The average user may not be technically savvy enough to understand all of this.

Hence, my opinion about a hard cap

Yeah, Im fully with you there. Hard cap should be mandatory. The bundles are designed to shaft users who do manage their systems correctly... which is most people.

I honestly believe people should go for computer licences like they do car licences. So they can at least get enough training to understand how to manage their systems. Not doing so causes so much needless issues. End users are the primary reasons for botnets. If they are going to manage a device with so much power, they should be trained in the basics before being allowed onto the Internet.

[DJ...]

How on earth will I know that ? I am a lay person when it comes to IT ........... TYPICAL END USER !

As a non-geek, I use netlimiter. You can check per application and process how much data is being used at any given point, and look at it historically, which will pin-point exactly which application or process was responsible for how much data...

[SinghDude]

thats alot of updates for that money

at R2/Mb OOB its easy to run up a huge bill

[DJ...]

Since moving onto Vodacom I got an SMS warning me that my limit was close and I would be charged OOB rates. Is it a new service? Pretty lame not assigning it to existing customers.

Problem is if you plug it into a modem the SMSs are effectively useless...

[blunomore]

Who manages your IT? Maybe pass the buck onto them.

It's a home computer .... no-one "manages" it