Astronomical costs for 3G dongle (R70k +) PLEASE HELP!!!

[T-Rex66]

I am in complete shock. My company gave me a 3G dongle in December last year. I received an email yesterday from my boss stating my bills per month have been in the range of R12000 - R16 000! Please can someone explain to me how this can be possible??? I really need some help. I went to vodacom but they cant help me because I am not the authorised signiture for my company. Im guessing what ever they send us wont make sense anyway. I really need help because my job is on the line and of course the R70k plus!!! Please advise

 

[Orihalcon]

You used the dongle to download updates, watch videos etc at out of bundle rates. Pretty easy to explain.

Need more information to make better assessment.

For now request that your company asks for usage logs on the dongle.

 

[TJ99]

The OOB shark claims another victim.

 

[T-Rex66]

Is this normla? My laptop is a company laptop and I can not download any updates without prior request. I have watched some videos but not many. How can a bundle be used up in one day? Is this possible? I have requested usage logs. Will this tell exactly what time and when one logged on? Will it give me the exact websites?

 

[Bona Botse]

What package was the dongle on? PM jannievanzyl and see if he can investigate for you, he has helped out a few members in the past with bill shock. Good luck, R70k is heavy so your stress levels are probably through the roof.

 

[T-Rex66]

Not to mention Im having a difficult pregnancy and this extra stress is not the best thing for me or the baby right now!!! I will do so, thnak you very much. I was on a 1GIG

 

[Electric]

You were on a 1gb package and you watched 'some' videos?
You know that Youtube will default to what ever speed your line is capable of?
1080p can amount to loads of data for a very short session of streaming.

I am certain that your laptop has also updated.
It may not have installed the updates but it has been downloading them for you.

 

[ISP cash cow]

The usage logs will tell you what time you logged on and when you logged off and how much data in that period was used. it will not show you the websites you were on.

If you were on a 1 gig account and it went OOB after that it is highly possible to smack that amount of money within a month. That is the unfortunate thing about the OOB. But just check up with Jannie first as maybe it is a billing error.

 

[FNfal]

Very easy to rack up that sort of account , and vodacom love ignorance , IMO that is how they make a shyt load of money.
What data plan are you on ??
At R1 a meg out of bundle rate very easy to cost what you have described and much more .
You need to install a data managment / tracker on your PC .

 

[Batista]

Thats a tough one, hope your company doesnt expect you to cough it up.

 

[Electric]

Thats a tough one, hope your company doesnt expect you to cough it up.

The company are fully entitled to expect payment.
It's the responsibility of the laptop user to not abuse the system.
If you're unaware of what abusive behavior is then you should have asked your IT dept.
If you have not abused it and it is all update related then there should be no problem here and it is up to your company to deal with Vodacom.
They should have installed a decent data management system for you.

 

[T-Rex66]

My company does expect me to cough it up. Im assuming that there is an extremely high credit limit on the dongle as its company owned. Im sure if it was my personal dongle, the credit limit would be much lower? So now I sit with a bill of R70k plus maybe getting fired over this and I had NO CLUE what was going on. I tried to inbox Jannie but it said that either he has opted to not receive inbox messages or he is not allowed to receive them. Is there anyone who can alert him to my thread?

 

[Batista]

The company are fully entitled to expect payment.
It's the responsibility of the laptop user to not abuse the system.
If you're unaware of what abusive behavior is then you should have asked your IT dept.
If you have not abused it and it is all update related then there should be no problem here and it is up to your company to deal with Vodacom.
They should have installed a decent data management system for you.

I realise that they can ask her to pay up, but im kinda hoping they dont,Where does one just come up with 70k nowadays and she is also pregnant.Sorry OP.

 

[Drifter]

Sounds like they will be expecting that. Use of company equipment for personal use is a big no no, well in my company anyways.

 

[Electric]

Sounds like they will be expecting that. Use of company equipment for personal use is a big no no, well in my company anyways.

^this.

You should know the risks of using company equipment for personal use.
I know it is a really terrible situation and I honestly feel for you but you must realize that in business there is very little time for emotions especially when dealing with such a large amount.

Adding to that we actually don't know the full story here.
I am not trying to discredit your story but you would have used the dongle numerous times, how could 1gb have been enough?
Are you trying to claim that you did not know 1gb would be used up this fast?

 

[skimread]

You are a bit late to join the forum after the out-of-bundle shark has bitten you.

If you have just been given the dongle without any method to check the usage like on Vodacom's website then it is unfair from your boss' side to only inform you now after 6 months. Has you boss given you a usage limit on it?

Vodacom has in the past reduced bills by half but that is still a large amount but it's not in your name so isn't your problem.
If you job is on the line, you just have to after being informed of the usage, just not abuse it. No facebook, twitter, videos. Only use it for work. Don't admit you have abused it.
For the back pay wait for your company to try deduct it from your salary or claim it from you and then you approach the CCMA to mediate. Don't make any rash decisions.

 

[T-Rex66]

I had no idea how much 1 GIG is. I was told it was "a lot" by my company. I have used the dongle daily for browsing and downloading emails. Im not compauter savvy and I expected that there would have a notification when I reached my limit or a cut off. I thought because I had never been cut off by vodacom and my company had not spoken to me about costs for the last 6 months that all was well. Clearly not!

 

[Batista]

The other thing to note is why they only notified you yesterday when you have been clocking monthly amounts of R12-13k?

 

[Shi]

OP, I'm confused that they gave you the dongle in Dec, yet only now give you a bill. Do they not check the bills every month? Do they not pass on the bill to you every month?

PS: did you not use the dongle for working from home? if so, what type of work is it - I know SQL DB queries can chow data.

 

[Electric]

I had no idea how much 1 GIG is. I was told it was "a lot" by my company. I have used the dongle daily for browsing and downloading emails. Im not compauter savvy and I expected that there would have a notification when I reached my limit or a cut off. I thought because I had never been cut off by vodacom and my company had not spoken to me about costs for the last 6 months that all was well. Clearly not!

Your company should have made it clear that OOB exists, they should not have told you 1gb is enough.
And they should most definitely have notified you sooner.

The other thing to note is why they only notified you yesterday when you have been clocking monthly amounts of R12-13k?

+1

It's totally irresponsible of the company to allow such activity to continue.
Are you in a management position or similar?
Why would your company allow such large expenditure on a 3G dongle?
It's very irresponsible on their part.

It makes me think the company wasn't aware of OOB due to lack of technical knowledge and now they are trying to hold you responsible for their incompetence.