Strange excessive data use on mobile broadband

[jeffdawson78]

Hi,

I've very recently - 9 days ago - signed up to Vodafone mobile broadband 50GB plan using there mifi mobile router for use at home on my boat with our laptops.

As I have not used this before I have been keen to see how the speeds compare to my old Plusnet broadband and keep an eye on data usage.

I was therefore very surprised to see my account saying I had used 13GB of data over 2 nights! I checked the usage breakdown and saw a number of very strange readings of the same amount at small intervals:

16 Jan 2107
18:34  990.03 MB

19:33 990.03 MB

21:07 967.97 MB

21:25 990.03 MB

21:41 967.97 MB

21:57 765.02 MB

22:10 967.97 MB

22:30 199.16 MB

17 Jan 2017

07:09 11.49 MB

20.21 990.03 MB

20:35 967.97 MB

20:49 990.03 MB

21:05 967.97 MB

21:21 495.01 MB

21;28 967.97 MB

21:47 990.03 MB

22:05 234.86 MB 

On the 16 I did download a couple of shows from iplayer (approx 1.5GB) but nothing to use anywhere near that much data. 

I called the supprot line this morning but whilst courteous weren't able to do anything other than suggest visiting a store.

Has anyone experienced similar issues and how did you resolve it?

Thanks for any advice!

[Josh]

@mangojck I'm sorry to hear we've lost your faith in us 😔 We'll be happy to look into the charges for you and go over your options for data capping to prevent future instances.

Please send us your details following the instructions I've sent to you on a private message and we'll get in touch.

[mekon01]

hi,  I'm on my 4th month with Vodafone.

Here we go again. Me, wasting my time complaining about Vodafone.  As if I don't have anything better to do !

Months 1 and 2  with Vodafone were a complete shambles. Phone calls to them where in double figures.

Believe it or not Month 3 was almost completely accurate, as measured by Glasswire and Windows 10 'data usage' .

However this month, only 6 days in, Vodafone says I have SIX DATA DOWNLOADS of EXACTLY 1000Mb in the last two days!

Surprise surprise! Glasswire and Windows 10 'data usage' have no record of this.

So it goes on.

For a moment there I almost reconsidered my decision ... i.e to leave Vodafone at the first opportunity.

I think the download of EXACTLY 1000Mb might be evidence of the fraud.

Has anyone else had downloads of this size or multiples?

[ToniCa]

If you look back through this thread, there are plenty of reports of data downloads in the region of 1GB. Of course they could be "manufactured" as part of some fraud, but it seems to me more likely that they are flags indicating "that's another 1GB gone" - of data which Vodafone is apparently detecting, but of which the customers have no evidence and from which they have derived no benefit.

As I said previously, by now Vodafone must know what is going wrong when these episodes occur. Pretending it isn't happening is very poor customer relations.

[MarkF]

@mekon01 I appreciate this is frustrating Mekon and we'd like to look into this fiurther for you.

I've sent you a private message with details on how to get in touch.

[carolmckendrick]

Hello, 

As we have invested in a motorhome and needed to improve wifi I decided to invested in the Vodaphone R218h with a smaller date package 5GB, we used iplayer for at the most 4 downloads.  The following day I noted that I had used all this data and more.  I called vodafone and spoke to a nice chap he gave me 2 extra GB then with my approval ristricted each of my devices to stop them exceeding their allowence. 

The only other items I downloaded were 2 aps one a monitor app to keep an eye on usage the other to scan the QR code, nor did I send many emails, so where on earth did this data go?

I will have to pay a visit to a Vodaphone shop to establish what is going on and if this cannot be resolved I will be leaving the R218h in the box !! Err

[AnnS]

Hi @carolmckendrick

As you can see from the iplayer support link here: i player help you can only download iplayer programmes over WiFi, i player will not download over a mobile data connection.  However, if you watch a programme of mobile data, you can expect to get through approximately 250mb of data on a small screen, if you are watching a full computer screen you can expect that to double, if it is in HD, it will be treble.

If you are intending to use the device for streaming your 5GB is not going to go very far and paying out of bundle charges is going to be very expensive.

You are able to see how much data has been used in a single session from your dashboard.  There is further information for you here:How can I see my balance and remaining data allowance on my tablet, Mobile Wi-Fi device or Data Dong...

[Wendylen]

I have a mifi that apparently used 20gb in 20 minutes at 4.00am whilst I was asleep. I own a tablet and a mobile. Again customer service, whilst agreeing this is impossible usage can do nothing.

It seems to me they need to set up an expert who can deal with these sort of occurrences. 

No one seems to realise how mad it is that I could have used 1gb per minute

[Archierb]

Hi,

I've just been reading through this thread as I have exactly the same issue. 

Bought a Mobile data SIm only contract in May 2018. Was told the data cap was active at 50GB. The sim card is in a TPLink 4G router rather than MiFi device it came with. 

July 2018 - charged £125 for extra data. Assumed this must be my mistake so went onto MyVodafone and made sure the cap was in place. I'm now not sure if there was even an option to cap domestic data as all I can see now (31st August 2018) is a data cap for roaming data. I was convinced that the domestic cap was available and that I checked it was set as active. 

Today I received an SMS from Vodafone threatening to cut my service due to some payment issue. I rang them and it turns out they think I've used £600 worth of data (79GB) in 19 days. I obviously queried this. They have deactived the number in question. 

Looking at other posts my billed data (from the July bill) looks suspiciously similar to the increments posted by others (see screenshot). I can;t see how to get currnet usage from MyVodafone (and the App doesn't work for business accounts). 

I've spoken to Customer Services and queried the data useage and billing ( I have multiple lines with Vodafone on a business account). Am currnetly waiting for a call back as my case has been escalated to a manager. 

In the meantime I'd be interested to know whteher others are still having this issue?

Thanks!

[Wendylen]

I have phoned 3 times, visited 2 shops ( I live 25 miles from nearest shop) and done live chat. All to no avail. I am being charged an extra £230.

Nobody can seem to grasp that I could not use 20gb in 20 minutes whilst askeep.

I have been told to take my dongle to a shop to be checked but I don't hold out much hope on this.

I think I will have to go to the Ombudsmen

[ToniCa]

Vodafone (and the other networks) must by now have figured out what is going wrong in these cases - why they choose to look fraudulent by pretending surprise is hard to imagine, even if the only solution is to apply sticking plaster to individual cases. 

If you hold on here, one of the Forum Team will catch up with you. They seem to be obliged to express surprise,, but the pattern seems to be that they check your account to confirm that whatever it is has happened, then apply the necessary sticking plaster.

In the meantime you'd be wise to apply the data cap to your account, to prevent such charges in future.