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

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 ?
Nothing indicate that postpaid is billed differently.
 
Nothing indicate that postpaid is billed differently.
It's been mentioned here many times that they work completely differently.

On pre-paid, chunks of data are taken from your bundle balance / airtime, when you disconnect, the unused portion it put back.

On post-paid, your data sessions are tallied up separately from your live balance. These sessions are only charged against your account several hours later. This is why checking your bundle balance on contract is not live.
 
Either way, ditch VC and move on. GSM data is available from all others. Billing, plus 'service' is more than enough reason to vote with your feet...

Argue your point, win or lose (let us know outcome), then leave. Klaar.
 
On post-paid, your data sessions are tallied up separately from your live balance. These sessions are only charged against your account several hours later.
OK, I need to learn about post paid. There are two billing factors: minimal charge per session and minimum billing chunks. In which one post paid has an advantage to the customes?
 
Silence says all. I think there is no advantage, only summary billing comes out after delay, so is more difficult to find out how it works.
 
I have two GSM trackers running at the moment.
The one transfers 117 bytes per minute up to the tracking software listener application.
The other I have intentionally disabled the listener for it, so that it cannot make a connection.

The SIM's are embedded in the tracker units, so I cannot take them out to do balance enquiries.
I can watch the sent and received bytes on the computer running the tracker software.

Both are using data bundles, explaining why the R balance remains the same.

I do use the Vodacom website to check the "Mini statement", under My Reports

Here is the billing statement for the unit with the listener disabled:
All this tracker would be doing, is trying to establish a connection at 1 min intervals and failing.
Interesting to see the 1024 minimum, even over different intervals.
Not sure what the duration column is trying to show. GPRS session length?

attachment.php




Here is the billing statement for the unit operating normally and transferring 117 bytes per minute:
attachment.php


The figures don't exactly add up for the billing periods in question.

Example:
2012-02-03 16:56:18 to
2012-02-03 17:16:28
(20Mins)

This should be 117 bytes x 20 reporting events = 2340 bytes
But the counted billing bytes for this period shows as 7168 bytes

If you look at other intervals, there is no consistency in the period and bytes being counted.

Pretty difficult to make sense of using these mini statements.

I am not sure how a GPRS session is monitored or how long it remains active until possibly timing out.
I have no idea how their accounting system divides up billing and counting periods either.

I can't say that I have seen any sudden "spike" in usage and costs for these units over the last few months though.
 
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You don't disconnect after transfering data, you connection times are different. OP doesn't specify whether if connects/disconnects every 9 minutes, it is from GPRS/3G network or from the server.
 
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