Vodacom found to be tampering with user data, please read!

rustyw

rustyw

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I have 300 weather stations nationwide, of this I use around 50 prepaid Vodacom SIM cards and the rest on MTN. My weather stations upload 189 bytes of URL every 9 minutes and the server returns 167 bytes. This has been going on for 6 years and I use around R29 of recharge voucher for 2 months. Suddenly all the Vodacom cards are using up R29 in 6 days after each recharge. No data bandwidth changes, no changes to stations, nothing.

In the mean time MTN cards are still using the same bandwidth and same charges as they have for the last few years.

So I get onto support and after 4 times re-explaining to different levels of support they give me a reference number S3OSP2XXTK6W and say they will phone in 24 hours.

Next day (today) this guy from accounts Aleister, rude and obnoxious phones me blaming me and saying I am to blame and must use a data bundle. I am shocked, disappointed and angered. I hope they recorded the conversation, management would be shocked!

How can Vodacom treat a good prepaid customer with 50 accounts like this???!!!!
 
They have obviously changed the way they charge for OOB data, that is why he is saying that you must use a data bundle.

So they are screwing clients even more for OOB ? Certainly looks like it !
 
@OP - Will it make a difference whether you'll use GPRS or not?

If it won't then switch over to 8ta, CellC or MTN.
 
Are the sims still in your stations?

Anyone have access to them?
Im sure Vodacom can tell you how the airtime was used?
 
rustyw said:
Next day (today) this guy from accounts Aleister, rude and obnoxious phones me blaming me and saying I am to blame and must use a data bundle. I am shocked, disappointed and angered. I hope they recorded the conversation, management would be shocked!

How can Vodacom treat a good prepaid customer with 50 accounts like this???!!!!
Click to expand...

If it was me I'd phone Aleister back and demand to speak to his boss about his manner.
 
I am using GPRS on all the modems, and Vodacom (Aleister) said I am now using 53Kb now instead of 189 bytes every 9 minutes. The stations are incapable of doing anything else but go to my specific site at a dedicated server hosted at I.S. and then disconnect. Very frustrating. Ihave triple checked returned data using the same GPRS modem and its exactly 167 bytes. I have posted this complaint on Hello Peter, maybe, must maybe get some results.
 
Jola said:
They have obviously changed the way they charge for OOB data, that is why he is saying that you must use a data bundle.

So they are screwing clients even more for OOB ? Certainly looks like it !
Click to expand...

We haven't changed the way in which our prepaid or post paid billing operates.
 
rustyw said:
I have 300 weather stations nationwide, of this I use around 50 prepaid Vodacom SIM cards and the rest on MTN. My weather stations upload 189 bytes of URL every 9 minutes and the server returns 167 bytes. This has been going on for 6 years and I use around R29 of recharge voucher for 2 months. Suddenly all the Vodacom cards are using up R29 in 6 days after each recharge. No data bandwidth changes, no changes to stations, nothing.

In the mean time MTN cards are still using the same bandwidth and same charges as they have for the last few years.

So I get onto support and after 4 times re-explaining to different levels of support they give me a reference number S3OSP2XXTK6W and say they will phone in 24 hours.

Next day (today) this guy from accounts Aleister, rude and obnoxious phones me blaming me and saying I am to blame and must use a data bundle. I am shocked, disappointed and angered. I hope they recorded the conversation, management would be shocked!

How can Vodacom treat a good prepaid customer with 50 accounts like this???!!!!
Click to expand...

I can have a look at one or two of the numbers just to get some idea of how the device is using data , and take it from there.Kindly send me a number or two , the ref number you provided is in the incorrect format.
 
Some numbers: X, Y and Z. Let me know if you need more.
 
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Best you remove the above numbers before a Nigerian syndicate robs a bank with your numbers.

The Subject is a bit misleading, i thought it was breaking news . If you accusing them of theft you have the right to open up a case against them and subpoena them.

i doubt that will happen as we have seen bills here gone in to the 10`s of thousands and the billing was proved to be correct even roaming data charges.
 
VodacomData said:
We haven't changed the way in which our prepaid or post paid billing operates.
Click to expand...

There must be some explanation, and his weather stations on MTN are still operating OK.

Maybe Vodacom have added a small connect charge ? But no change to the rates !
 
Jola said:
Maybe Vodacom have added a small connect charge ? But no change to the rates !
Click to expand...
Yip, they could increase minimum chargeable unit without notifying customers (as they usually do). In normal browsing it is a matter of megabytes, nobody notice. Here there is less than 400 bytes per session, it will hurt...

Lets assume they charge R2/MB. It is 1c per 5KB. If they changed minimum unit from 5KB (1c) to 50KB (10c), billing would increase 10 times.
 
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Maybe there is a minimum charge (or data block size) for opening a GPRS session?

Something like 1024 bytes recorded as used, even if less bytes are sent and received for each session?

...or your numbers are the victim of some unscrupulous WASP billing you for "services"?
 
I have two GSM based GPS vehicle trackers also reporting position information on Vodacom GPRS every minute.

The data packet size is about 100 bytes.

I will take a look and see if anything has changed regarding data usage....
 
am confused

how can you assume the billing is changing on its own why rob someone on pre-paid (of bytes and cents) when post - paid would be more profitable to steal from ?
 
Base122 said:
I have two GSM based GPS vehicle trackers also reporting position information on Vodacom GPRS every minute.

The data packet size is about 100 bytes.

I will take a look and see if anything has changed regarding data usage....
Click to expand...
It doesn't need such installation to verify these things.
Three steps:
1. check balance
2. connect and send some ping, disconnect.
3. check balance

You will be billed on minimal usage or minimal data chunk (whichever greater). Compare billing to the data usage. Increase ping packet size, test again.
 
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