Neotel Accounts

Other Pineapple Smurf

Other Pineapple Smurf

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So I got my first Neotel account today via email and give them a +10 over Telkom which arrived yesterday in my inbox. At least Neotel include PDFs of my account where Telkom only lets me know I can check online jumping through hoops, slaying dragons and then head-shot'ing some baddies.

A bit of FYI on how Neotel bills:

The email explains how to pay your account and the correct ref number to use. Has 3 attachements: Recieved payments; Detailed Invoicel Detailed Call List

My first account is actually 2 months rental. I pay pro-ratio for the month I get connected (nice) and then pay upfront for the next month. Nothing strange as all telecoms companies do this.

Neotel at least indicate the cost of the device @ R70.41 ex VAT.

They indicate my Bandwidth usuage - 900Mb

And then the phone calls. Detail Call List is great as it confirms that Neotel does charge per second.
Code: 
Date Destination number Time (start) Duration Rate/min Amount
....
National calls <- Cell Numbers
24-09-2008     078090xxxx 10:44:04   22:22        R 1.54    R 34.45
[B]30-09-2008     074111xxxx 14:29:43    0:12        R 1.54     R 0.31[/B]
                                                Sub total: R 34.76

Payment methods are explained, and their corp account is already loaded onto Standard bank.

You get till the 28th of the month to pay which is great.

All in all my bill was R 527 - this was for phone calls, 1 month upfront and my pro-ratio month and the device. I paid it tonight with a big :D
 
Nice. I'm quite jealous. It's nice to know how Neotel's billing/invoice system works! Wish we could see the PDFs, but I suppose that's an obvious no-no :D

Thanks cbrunsdonza :)
 
Thanks for this cbrunsdonza! I'm getting more and more reasons to switch to NeoTel. My only concern is still the device. I would really really really prefer an ethernet device!
 
All good and well. But Neotel provides no means of tracking what they think your bandwidth usage is. I logged my own usage as I don't have an unlimited account. I also got my first full month's account yesterday. I was shocked to see that Neotel logged my usage as 30% more that my logs show. I've been using the same logging method for over six years now with four different ISPs and it has always been spot-on.
So, where is this 30% overhead Neotel logs? And can they legally expect me to pay for it? I'm busy following up with their accounts department, but their help-desk was unable to find the account I was sent: they're busy trying to find it...
I'll keep you posted.
 
Monad said:
All good and well. But Neotel provides no means of tracking what they think your bandwidth usage is. I logged my own usage as I don't have an unlimited account. I also got my first full month's account yesterday. I was shocked to see that Neotel logged my usage as 30% more that my logs show. I've been using the same logging method for over six years now with four different ISPs and it has always been spot-on.
So, where is this 30% overhead Neotel logs? And can they legally expect me to pay for it? I'm busy following up with their accounts department, but their help-desk was unable to find the account I was sent: they're busy trying to find it...
I'll keep you posted.
Click to expand...

I have the same problem, got my account today. I'm on a 10 gig Prime account and monitored my account with NetLimiter. I stopped at 10 gig, may have gone over by a meg or 2 but Neotel says my bill is 17gigs thus 7 gigs out of Budle. I dont know how they calculated it and phoned them and they are going to get back to me. If this were the case, I would rather go uncapped for less than what I will be paying now. I'm quite p''ed off!
 
Very disappointed, today. Got the shock of my life when I decided to open my e-mail and bang their is Neotel Invoice waiting for me I see on their invoice it reflects that I went over 10 gigs or so.First thing is first, where does Neotel get these logs as we do not ever get e-mailed logs of bandwidth usage. And to cough up R900 for 10 gigs is madness.

What I would like to know from Neotel/NeoConnect, when do they rest the bandwidth usage ? (I am thinking when generating Accounts)

I am also using various tools like Netlimiter, DAP, and no where near there have I downloaded that much
 
Last edited:
Balstrome said:
Why not ask the Neotel rep to gen some up for us to see?
Click to expand...

I'll see what I can do for you.

Please feel free to make any comments or raise any issues on accounts. We want to fix any problems early so that they don't get repeated.
 
I phoned them and they told me that the bundle renews at midnight on the last day of the month. I've requested a day by day report of my usage so that I can compare it to Netlimiters Report. And yes I do count uploading as my total. Mine was 7 gigs over.
 
I've been calling them daily since Wednesday and each time they know nothing about my previous query. I've sent logs, graphs and spreadsheet analyses to both billing and consumers (at) neotel.co.za and am still waiting for a responce. And yes, I've included both download and upload logs.
Besides having to pay R900 for 10GB, the account suddenly includes a R70 "Device charge" of which there was no previous mention in the contract or my previous bill.
Then there's the issue of the link going into periodic spasm and start disconnecting "LCP terminated by peer" every 2/5/10 minutes like clockwork,depending on the mood, for hours or sometimes days on end.
I do enjoy that I don't have to stay on hold for an hour and a half to get through to someone, but some recognition and action would be nice too...
 
Monad said:
Then there's the issue of the link going into periodic spasm and start disconnecting "LCP terminated by peer" every 2/5/10 minutes like clockwork,depending on the mood, for hours or sometimes days on end.
Click to expand...

lcp-echo-interval, perhaps they are not set the same on all base stations? Or perhaps your client doesn't respond quickly enough?
Code: 
lcp-echo-failure n
              If this option is given, pppd will presume the peer to  be  dead
              if  n  LCP  echo-requests are sent without receiving a valid LCP
              echo-reply.  If this happens, pppd will  terminate  the  connec-
              tion.   Use  of  this  option  requires a non-zero value for the
              lcp-echo-interval parameter.  This option can be used to  enable
              pppd  to terminate after the physical connection has been broken
              (e.g., the modem has hung up) in situations  where  no  hardware
              modem control lines are available.

I think you will have to chat(PM) to the Neotel Representative.
 
I've turned off lcp-echo-failure after trying some different echo intervals. I finally figured out that the problem does not lie with my pppd, but that the LCP termination request (0x4) is generated from the remote side. I've logged a call with regard to this issue, but have yet to get any feedback. It hasn't bothered me for a week or so now, although the logs show it still happens occationally.
 
So it seems they charge for calls even if no answer..

Got my bill... 3 weeks I have used over 2,5gigs and have to pay R6.00 over... Now I have been online for years with ADSL 1gig account (pity about the downtime of like 50% otherwise whould still be with them) VC on prepaid 1gig for like 1 year never went over never got discounted. Now I tell you this is on a wireless network with 3 computers on 24 hours and 2 cell phones.. So come Neotel (NEO STEAL) one computer because of the rubbish device they supply 3 weeks and 2.5gigs NEVER!!! plus 500 megs from VC for the cell phones... I guess i am calling them tomorrow and they must cut me off after 2,5gigs and give me a proper bill..... Now the best.. My cell phone sometimes gets a bit lost and so I call it to find it... Supprise I just got billed 13 seconds for that... NICE... Just like my last post on NEOTEL... It SUCKS....
 
efons said:
My cell phone sometimes gets a bit lost and so I call it to find it... Surprise I just got billed 13 seconds for that...
Click to expand...

Which cell phone network? Obviously, this should not happen if a call is not answered. If you can provide details, we'll follow up. The cell network may be sending an incorrect answer signal - which would trigger billing.
 
Thanks for the feedback Neotel customers. Opened my eyes a lawt, gonna give them a hefty ignore until Neotel comes to the party with decent bandwidth logging and monitoring facilities.
 
Virgin Mobile

Neotel said:
Which cell phone network? Obviously, this should not happen if a call is not answered. If you can provide details, we'll follow up. The cell network may be sending an incorrect answer signal - which would trigger billing.
Click to expand...

Yes I agree. Virgin Mobile... 074 111 not ported.

Also do you have a system in place to cut off once the bandwidth is finished? You need to understand that I don't want to pay any more than the set amount. We will then switch to VC for the rest of the month (Pre Paid).

Thanks
 
So I called again today to try and get some sort of Billing Report by day to see my usage as I monitored it myself and did not exceed 10 gigs. Neotel Claim 17 gigs. But I ask you how can they bill me for this if they cannot prove it?

I will await their billing report and compare it to mine.

Neotel should ad least have a daily usage report email that can be sent out until they have the online monitoring system in place.
 
I have asked for a full report

PeteGT said:
So I called again today to try and get some sort of Billing Report by day to see my usage as I monitored it myself and did not exceed 10 gigs. Neotel Claim 17 gigs. But I ask you how can they bill me for this if they cannot prove it?

I will await their billing report and compare it to mine.

Neotel should ad least have a daily usage report email that can be sent out until they have the online monitoring system in place.
Click to expand...

Agreed!! I have asked for a full report or they must cancel the account.
 
Ive received my Itemised billing report now on my Data Usage after 4 working days. Funny how when I phoned to say where is it by the 4th day, it came within 10 minutes...

I'm going to compare the usage claimed by Neotel vs what NetLimiter calculates and see what discrepencies there are.
 
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