R16 000 data bill!

[biometrics]

Ygpm

 

[PhireSide]

No, that VC in Cape Town, Vodaworld in Midrand has no pillars that I can recall...

Whoops. I thought the building looked a bit different compared to the last time I checked

 

[saor]

Why would anyone assume that?

As an example: Because I don't assume most restaurants will charge me a ridiculous amount for tap water they've filtered themselves. Yet we could imagine a restaurant that charges R50 per glass of water without informing you of the cost. You get the bill and freak out.

Not once has she been manhandled by a sales person.

We're not talking about salespeople in this instance.
I'm sure Vodacom is well aware of the assumptions most people make when using their service and explicitly exploit that assumption.

 

[Bryn]

As an example: Because I don't assume most restaurants will charge me a ridiculous amount for tap water they've filtered themselves. Yet we could imagine a restaurant that charges R50 per glass of water without informing you of the cost. You get the bill and freak out.

We're not talking about salespeople in this instance.

But they could legally charge R50 for some water. You should check what the cost is before ordering something, unless you're willing to pay exorbitant fees if they strike.

We are talking about sales people. Either someone in a store convinced the guy to get the contract he did, or he was convinced by Vodacom marketing material and ordered over the phone. My granny is bombarded with such stuff as much as anyone is, and makes sure to do her research (via family) before making any such decisions. We have warned her off many dodgy deals for as long as I've been around, and also put her onto great deals.

 

[Jola]

Using Vodacom as failover in a DSL router must be the worst idea in history.

You shouldn't be on a network if you haven't researched their pros and cons online. Vodacom's inability to limit usage is extremely well documented.

They stop it pretty smartly if you are on a Topup contract or Prepaid.

 

[saor]

You should check what the cost is before ordering something, unless you're willing to pay exorbitant fees if they strike.

Nice idea in theory, but really - who in practice asks how much a glass of water costs before they order at a restaurant?

We are talking about sales people. Either someone in a store convinced the guy to get the contract he did, or he was convinced by Vodacom marketing material and ordered over the phone. My granny is bombarded with such stuff as much as anyone is, and makes sure to do her research (via family) before making any such decisions. We have warned her off many dodgy deals for as long as I've been around, and also put her onto great deals.

I totally agree, but a dodgy deal sold by a dodgy salesman is surely a different thing to the abuse of reasonable assumptions? If my gran walks into Vodacom she hasn't got the technical wit about her to run through every instance of events that might result in her getting royally screwed with a R16k bill. Vodacom know this and explicitly exploit it. I'm not buying your position that everyone has the wit or recourse to wit that would allow them to detour the intentional snares laid out by companies like this. The fact that they work and OP is in this position is testament to most people just not expecting this outcome to occur.

 

[C4Cat]

But they could legally charge R50 for some water. You should check what the cost is before ordering something, unless you're willing to pay exorbitant fees if they strike.

We are talking about sales people. Either someone in a store convinced the guy to get the contract he did, or he was convinced by Vodacom marketing material and ordered over the phone. My granny is bombarded with such stuff as much as anyone is, and makes sure to do her research (via family) before making any such decisions. We have warned her off many dodgy deals for as long as I've been around, and also put her onto great deals.

Did they, or did they not, agree to put a limit on how much the user spends on data?
That's the only real question here.
Ignorance might not be an excuse but misinformation and lies from Vodacom certainly is.

If you take a group of people out to a restaurant and you tell them you're paying the first R500 of drinks and the restaurant agrees in writing to stop charging your account at the R500 mark (when people have to pay for their own drinks) are you going to be happy paying the R5000 bill that arrives at the end of the night? When the restaurant says yes, we put the limit in place but we actually ignored it, so pay up, are you going to say aw shucks, I should have checked every 10 minutes even though the restaurant had an agreement with me?

 

[Ockie]

Call 082155 and log a data dispute. Ask them to charge you for the same data amount data bundle that is available for customers to purchase and rework the invoice. In a sucesfull request, they will send you a once off goodwill letter that you must sign agreeing that this is a once off initiative on your account and steps you can take to prevent this from happening again.

 

[Geoff.D]

Get an integrated data SIM from Telkom.

And pray tell us how you got Telkom to get your integrated data sim to actually work! I have been at it now for almost a full year and it still does not work when I really need it.

 

[Geoff.D]

I recently upgraded my contract ( after 4 years of nagging) with Vodacom. They twice asked me if I want a hard cap to kick in when I reach the limit. Must I now not trust them at all?

No matter, I have installed a third party App that blocks connections as soon as the limit I et has been reached anyway, but it would be great to know I can rely on the hard cap setting as well.

Right now I am informed all the time that I have less then x MB left by SMS as soon as I go over the 70% point.

 

[Pavan]

Call 082155 and log a data dispute. Ask them to charge you for the same data amount data bundle that is available for customers to purchase and rework the invoice. In a sucesfull request, they will send you a once off goodwill letter that you must sign agreeing that this is a once off initiative on your account and steps you can take to prevent this from happening again.

Sounds like the best route for you to take OP.

 

[PearlJam]

Thanks. I have logged a dispute earlier today. I phoned now again and the person mentioned they will only look at it next month as they wait for the invoice to generate.

 

[Dan C]

And pray tell us how you got Telkom to get your integrated data sim to actually work! I have been at it now for almost a full year and it still does not work when I really need it.

OK my story:

* Got SMS to apply for the integrated SIM - I filled out my address where to send it to.
* Received the SIM about a week later.
* Tried to activate it using their instructions (i.e. using the online tool)
* Weeks later it still did not work.
* Went to Telkom store and they said none of the ones sent by mail worked.
* They issued me a new SIM after I gave them my landline number and proof of residence.
* They RICA'd the SIM and activated in-store.

Happy camper

 

[Bryn]

Did they, or did they not, agree to put a limit on how much the user spends on data?
That's the only real question here.
Ignorance might not be an excuse but misinformation and lies from Vodacom certainly is.

If you take a group of people out to a restaurant and you tell them you're paying the first R500 of drinks and the restaurant agrees in writing to stop charging your account at the R500 mark (when people have to pay for their own drinks) are you going to be happy paying the R5000 bill that arrives at the end of the night? When the restaurant says yes, we put the limit in place but we actually ignored it, so pay up, are you going to say aw shucks, I should have checked every 10 minutes even though the restaurant had an agreement with me?

Technically, Vodacom did not. They are very well covered by their terms and conditions.

The restaurant is a good metaphor. The restaurant does not have to stop bringing drinks out after R500. The waiter you spoke to might have ended his shift and not told anyone, or straight up been too busy to do anything. If your table consumes drinks then someone has to pay for them, with or without some verbal exchange having taken place about limiting drinks. The onus is on you to monitor your usage.

 

[Dan C]

Technically, Vodacom did not. They are very well covered by their terms and conditions.

The restaurant is a good metaphor. The restaurant does not have to stop bringing drinks out after R500. The waiter you spoke to might have ended his shift and not told anyone, or straight up been too busy to do anything. If your table consumes drinks then someone has to pay for them, with or without some verbal exchange having taken place about limiting drinks. The onus is on you to monitor your usage.

OOB drink prices

 

[Vis1/0N]

Call 082155 and log a data dispute. Ask them to charge you for the same data amount data bundle that is available for customers to purchase and rework the invoice.

At R1/MB oob rates R16K is 16GB.

R999 will be you 20GB on a 24 month contract, R1099 on a once off.
R799pm Telkom LTE uncapped and R1599 for 50GB/month or R1799 once off.
R699pm for 50GB with CellC, R999 will give you 100GB once off.
I am paying R150/month for 50GB with MTN, but this deal was insane anyway.

R16K for 16GB...when R1099 will give you 20GB with the same Vodacom service.

 

[C4Cat]

Technically, Vodacom did not. They are very well covered by their terms and conditions.

The restaurant is a good metaphor. The restaurant does not have to stop bringing drinks out after R500. The waiter you spoke to might have ended his shift and not told anyone, or straight up been too busy to do anything. If your table consumes drinks then someone has to pay for them, with or without some verbal exchange having taken place about limiting drinks. The onus is on you to monitor your usage.

So what is the point of telling you they've put a limit in place when they actually haven't? It duplicitous and dishonest. Why would I want to deal with that? No, vodacom caught me three times with oob rates before I ported to telkom. So they may have made a bit more off me in the short term but they've lost out on my money in the long term. Whatever. IMO the OP would be an idiot not to change networks once he's sorted this out. It's the second time he's been caught out by their deceit, why would anyone continue to support them after that is beyond me (unless he has no choice, obviously)

 

[Thor]

Vodacom is scum for how they treat OOB data. The other networks are proof that there is no technical limitation preventing a network from cutting off a user's data when they reach a limit. I haven't defended Vodacom's behaviour.

That said, this crap with people getting hit with massive bills is old hat at this point. Anyone who puts themself on Vodacom's network should know to watch their data like a hawk. You have no recourse if something goes wrong, and can only hope for goodwill from Vodacom, which is usually restricted to a repayment plan. No one has yet taken Vodacom to task in court.

Ignorance is no excuse in my opinion. This is the information age.

Okey now I understand. Sorry about that. I misunderstood you.

 

[grok]

So what is the point of telling you they've put a limit in place when they actually haven't? It duplicitous and dishonest. Why would I want to deal with that? No, vodacom caught me three times with oob rates before I ported to telkom. So they may have made a bit more off me in the short term but they've lost out on my money in the long term. Whatever. IMO the OP would be an idiot not to change networks once he's sorted this out. It's the second time he's been caught out by their deceit, why would anyone continue to support them after that is beyond me (unless he has no choice, obviously)

There is no point, Vodacom usually just does whatever the **** they want.

I lent a 1Gb/month sim to a friend who promised to limit his usage. Month 1 he went over by about R1k.

Me, thinking its the smart thing to do, goes to Vodacom & require a R50 limit. Month 2 he went over by R3k. VC said they can see I activated a limit but the system immediately cancelled it. Who & why? God only knows because VC sure don't.

People in the office eventually started looking at me funny when screaming at them over the phone so I just gave up & paid, but goodbye VC contracts (all 3) & goodbye friend.

 

[yebocan]

I recently upgraded my contract ( after 4 years of nagging) with Vodacom. They twice asked me if I want a hard cap to kick in when I reach the limit. Must I now not trust them at all?

No matter, I have installed a third party App that blocks connections as soon as the limit I et has been reached anyway, but it would be great to know I can rely on the hard cap setting as well.

Right now I am informed all the time that I have less then x MB left by SMS as soon as I go over the 70% point.

Thing with MTN and Vodacom they have legacy billing systems. Call/Data events are not billed in real time. Billable call/data event occurs on one side of the system. That call data only gets uploaded to the billing system every few hours...so in the space of that update, you could be running up a hefty bill. Usually you sign a disclaimer, when activating you call limit...that you are liable for all cost above and beyond the limit you have set. Best solution I have found....TopUp with MTN with Afrihost APN.