RAINEYTXX
Texxxas
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Joined: 01/04/2009
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Need your help here-have Verizon smart phone with hot spot and 12g plan. Been a customer since December. 4g is great-coverage is great. Now the problem-we subscribed for 12 gig data/month. Last month was close-got an email warning 2 hours before the close of the 30th day of the bill cycle that I had reached by 12 gig of data useage-so off goes the hot spot as there were only two hours left in the bill cycle. Go online and verify through "my verizon" on the phone that there is 12 gig of data used.
Got the bill and found out that Verizon is charging me for 31 gig of data! What! Call Verizon and query the bill-promise to set up an inquiry and was told they would do that-this is on Friday. Call Monday and they tell me inquiry takes 5-10 days. Tell me I will get a call this past Friday. No call. I call this morning and follow up-and they said no one filed the inquiry. Asked for supervisor-she said she would file inquiry as to how I used 19 gig in 2 hours where I took me 30 days to use 12 gig. SHe said the inquiry would take up to two weeks! She called me back two hours later and said inquiry was completed and the charges were mine and I was responsible for the charges but could not explain how this happened except to tell me the email Verizon sent was only to tell me I had "used" the allotment of data. She talked me into taking on the 22 gig plan to avoid this overage again and offerred me a $20.00 rebate over the next two months but that was all she could do!
Not sitting right with me since I used the tools Verizon gives its customers to monitor data useage, I called again tonight. The rep agreed that using 19 gig of data in 2 hours seemed inconsistent with my prior useage, opened another inquiry and promised to get back me tomorrow with an answer.
A few questions for our readers who have made it this far:
- does Verizon "my Verizon" provide real time useage data. It has in the past for me.
- how can I dispute this bill other than phone calls. There does not seem a way to file an actual formal complaint with Verizon. I'd like a paper trail if possible.
- What other provider has good relaiable data through a "hot spot" phone that is reasonable.
Very dissatisfied right now and feeling ripped off. The tools Verizon provides do not seem to provide ample warning to avoid excess fees, substantiated or not!
Please help! It is frustrating to talk to them as they appear to read from a script, do not follow through with their promises to call back and hard to get back to the individial with whom you made the initial call. Almost seems like it is set up that way by design. I always pay my bills that I have taken on but I feel this is one I did not or could not have even created if I wanted to. Heck-even downloading a movie (which we do) doesn't use 19 gig of data in two hours!
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2oldman
Winchester WA
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I really don't know what to say.. unless somebody hacked your account. That's a lot of data usage.. do you stream (download movies) on a regular basis?
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RAINEYTXX
Texxxas
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2oldman wrote:I really don't know what to say.. unless somebody hacked your account. That's a lot of data usage.. do you stream (download movies) on a regular basis?
Yes, movie downloads are included each month BUT I MONITOR DATA USEAGE. That is what Verizon asked but if I monitor my useage using THEIR tools, what is the matter? 19 gig in 2 hours? That's what, a lot of simulataneous movies..... If I log in their website, should I not expect the useage date to reflect my CURRENT useage? Verizon tells me it should.....
It is a mystery, for sure. I can't explain it and Verizon cannot either except to ask me what I use the hot spot for.
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Bigrick
Central PA
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Verizon customer service is an oxymoron.
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Corkey05
Washington State
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When I monitor my data usage there always seems to be a 24 hr lag in record posting.
Example - I check data used before I stream, then monitor when the data used is posted, ... It shows up 24 hrs later.
I have now idea how accurate or current the data base is. That has been my experience.
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2oldman
Winchester WA
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I've found their tracking of my usage to be quite accurate... and I get regular warnings if I'm approaching any limits.
Surely (well, hopefully) they can determine exactly what the 19G was used for.
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rk911
Wheaton IL
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the Verizon my data is *not* real time. there is a lag of at least 24-hours. if you have an iPhone you need to install the DataMan app on your smart phone. there are two versions...free and Pro. the Pro version states that it will push a notification to you when you exceed a data threshold. android probably has a similar, if not the same, app.
DataMan Pro for iPhone
Android apps that may do the same thing
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rich, n9dko
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MrWizard
Traveling
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there is always some delay in the data update on my verizon
you didn't use 19gb in 2 hrs, you had already used the data on that day or the previous day
the ONLY way to have real time data tracking is to use a data counter on each device that uses the internet and track all totals daily
i think there are "data apps" you can install on the smart phone that will track all data real time for the phone and everything connected to it
i suggest you get one of those
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RAINEYTXX
Texxxas
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Some interesting answers here: Verizon tells me that data tracking is "real time" when using the "my verizon" site from the phone. As I said, Verizon said they will call me today or tomorrow and hopefully provide me the *official* answer. What good is the alert if it lags behind actual useage?
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Popsie
Livingston, TX, USA
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Joined: 04/04/2003
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I'm not up on this stuff (my cell phone only does phone calls 
However, doesn't the hot spot feature mean that someone else might have been using your phone (hacked into it) as an access point for the internet unknown to you -- and maybe downloaded a number of movies or something?
I'm guessing that Verizon has so much traffic that they don't really keep any records of specific internet accesses -- which means that they probably don't really know what internet activity went on with your phone/hot spot.
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