Bills - ever been floored by one?

jphanna · 07-01-2011, 12:52 PM

i got a hellova surprise yesterday. i had wireless internet since late 2008. i have never gone over my 2G limit ever. even when my kids thash it with all their facebook, youtube stuff, its never gone over the limit.

this is a typical example of my bills

16.70 sep
16.70 oct
16.70 nov
16.70 dec etc since 2008.

so yesterday i get a bill for my internet......$240.77!!!!

so i rang up the company and after 20 mins of negotiation, .....they waived the fee and set up a new account where if i use up my allocation, it just shuts down the internet or slows it right down.

i certainly dont mind paying for stuff, if i definately used it...but there is clearly a problem on this occasion. i will be having a word to my kids about any changes to their habits on the net just in case one of them did something to shoot the useage off the dial.

MexicanBatman · 07-01-2011, 01:07 PM

You need more than 2gb man, even my calculator has a bigger data allowance than that, 2g is fine, but not if you have kids and look at online videos

**Professor Farnsworth** · 07-01-2011, 01:10 PM

i once had a land line bill of $1150 or so for a 3 month period, that was certainly not pleasant

pcman · 07-01-2011, 01:10 PM

im guessing someone just found your unsecured wireless network

Ringo · 07-01-2011, 01:11 PM

Dealer wanted $1100 for a minor service and replacing an idler pulley on Mrs Ringo's Toyota......WTF?

15 mintes later we had the bill down to $800 odd and I understood how the costs had come about.

I hope they enjoyed the profit they made out of it because it is the last time the car is going back there again. The money is one thing but the lack of communication and then lies about my wife authorising things when she dropped the car off is the bit that angers me the most. Mrs Ringo never said yes to any extra repairs on the car and wouldn't ever do that without consulting me.

Focus on short term profits can often lead to short term customers - that is how I try not to conduct my business dealings. You have to care about the customers money like they do, then they hand it over happily and will do so again in the future.

**Professor Farnsworth** · 07-01-2011, 01:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pcman

im guessing someone just found your unsecured wireless network

that would only make sense if he had a wireless dongle router and they've only just been made mainstream here, as i'm pretty sure he's talking about 3G internet.

**ebxr8240** · 07-01-2011, 01:16 PM

Fury Ford for $1200 new alternator on my new EB at the time..
Found the issue was a dead cell in battery...
No discount for new alternator which wasn't needed..
I didn't even get my old alternator back...
They went out of business some time latter...

Scott · 07-01-2011, 01:16 PM

I know I've had many, but here's a couple:
Christmas dinner for 5 - $970.00

(you know when you offer to get the bill and it costs as much as you think an Oil Pump should?)
GT Oil Pump - $12,000.00

(you know when you get the bill and you think it should cost about the same as a Christmas Dinner?)

snappy · 07-01-2011, 01:16 PM

Is your wireless protected . If not its possible some one is else has logged on and is using your bandwidth

sleek7 · 07-01-2011, 01:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by snappy

Is your wireless protected . If not its possible some one is else has logged on and is using your bandwidth

That or kids have gone nuts and downloaded something pretty big. Once you go over the limit, doesnt take much to make the bill sky rocket.

u2canb12 · 07-01-2011, 01:25 PM

Before I went to an unlimited plan our eldest son ran up $2300 in one month and then $1600 the next which nearly gave me a coronary on both occasions.

Luckily he was working for us at the time and he was without wages for some time.

Iggypoppin' · 07-01-2011, 01:26 PM

I got a phone bill for around 9,000 once...turned out to be an error and it was actually closer to $95. I think that's the closest I've ever come to having a heart attack...

Fev · 07-01-2011, 01:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scott

I know I've had many, but here's a couple:
Christmas dinner for 5 - $970.00

(you know when you offer to get the bill and it costs as much as you think an Oil Pump should?)
GT Oil Pump - $12,000.00

(you know when you get the bill and you think it should cost about the same as a Christmas Dinner?)

$12,000 for an oil pump? I hope it's make from iridium!

jphanna · 07-01-2011, 01:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sleek7

That or kids have gone nuts and downloaded something pretty big. Once you go over the limit, doesnt take much to make the bill sky rocket.

they have let me off the hook this time, and greatful for it....but i am going to give the kids a warning that they will lose it if they do things they know will send it off the limit.

in the meantime the new system, which they have arranged for me, of turning itself off, once the limit is reached will confirm if someone has tapped into it.

XR6_661 · 07-01-2011, 01:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sleek7

That or kids have gone nuts and downloaded something pretty big. Once you go over the limit, doesnt take much to make the bill sky rocket.

Either that, or the kids are old enough to have discovered porn and 'in private browsing'

**Professor Farnsworth** · 07-01-2011, 01:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jphanna

they have let me of fthe hook this time, and greatful for it....but i am going to give the kids a warning that they will lose it if they do things they know will send it off the limit.

in the meantime the new system, which they have arranged for me, of turning itself off, once the limit is reached will confirm if someone has tapped into it.

you haven't clarified though, is this 3G internet or normal ADSL/Cable? i got the impression it was 3G from what you said in the first post, and the price

Scott · 07-01-2011, 01:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fev

$12,000 for an oil pump? I hope it's make from iridium!

Butterfly effect :(

jphanna · 07-01-2011, 01:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Professor Farnsworth

you haven't clarified though, is this 3G internet or normal ADSL/Cable? i got the impression it was 3G from what you said in the first post, and the price

i can take laptop anywhere in australia and use internet. it has a USB modem. as u can tell, i am not a techno buff

xisled · 07-01-2011, 01:47 PM

I would say the kids have gone a bit crazy on the net. If its a usb stick then it would be secured.

Also if they are downloading music or using youtube a lot. It would be using alot of data.

**Professor Farnsworth** · 07-01-2011, 01:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jphanna

i can take laptop anywhere in australia and use internet. it has a USB modem. as u can tell, i am not a techno buff

yep so it's 3G, and unless you have a usb modem that allows the net to be shared with other items (phone, another latop etc) then the comments about the wireless being hijacked aren't valid..

Maybe one of your kids started streaming a radio station or something and left it going

InfernoSR · 07-01-2011, 01:50 PM

One month mobile phone bill of $1500, $800 the following month...

$1800 for front end repairs after being qouted $800 at one point...

$2900 from a lawyer, pay within 7 days, less than a week before Xmas...

jphanna · 07-01-2011, 01:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scott

I know I've had many, but here's a couple:
Christmas dinner for 5 - $970.00

(you know when you offer to get the bill and it costs as much as you think an Oil Pump should?)
GT Oil Pump - $12,000.00

(you know when you get the bill and you think it should cost about the same as a Christmas Dinner?)

how the hell does an oil pump cost $12,000 have i misread this?

a GT40 perhaps...not our local GT??

charles_wif_xf · 07-01-2011, 01:59 PM

I think I may have a caketaker...

Centrelink once sent me a bill for $98,000. Yep, two gorillas short of $100k. They were claiming that I was on the dole for seven years AND working on the side. As such, they had then decided that I should pay back seven years worth of dole payments. That would have been all good and well, but the last (and only) time I was on the dole was in 1999 for about four months. Needless to say, I gave them a bit of a spray and the issue was resolved in short order.

Road Games · 07-01-2011, 03:07 PM

Being in the trade i was chasing diff gears for my falcon. I had an approx cost so booked it in somewhere that was recommended ... The total bill came in at DOUBLE what i expected.....

After i explained where i worked and what i had been qouted elsewhere.. the price came down , but not as much as i wanted so i asked to have them removed and explained if my car was damaged in any way there would be repurcussions from my end as well as flaming them pretty badly to other customers where i worked...

He ended up invoicing me for 10% less than i was qouted elsewhere..

On the flipside they failed less than 6 months later..... maybe you do get what you pay for, but it definately helps to do your homework on a workshops reputation first as well ....

Velociraptor82 · 07-01-2011, 03:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jphanna

i got a hellova surprise yesterday. i had wireless internet since late 2008. i have never gone over my 2G limit ever. even when my kids thash it with all their facebook, youtube stuff, its never gone over the limit.

this is a typical example of my bills

16.70 sep
16.70 oct
16.70 nov
16.70 dec etc since 2008.

so yesterday i get a bill for my internet......$240.77!!!!

so i rang up the company and after 20 mins of negotiation, .....they waived the fee and set up a new account where if i use up my allocation, it just shuts down the internet or slows it right down.

i certainly dont mind paying for stuff, if i definately used it...but there is clearly a problem on this occasion. i will be having a word to my kids about any changes to their habits on the net just in case one of them did something to shoot the useage off the dial.

Most ISP have been offering you a choice regarding your usage for a long time. Either you pay per m/b when you reach your limit or they slow your download speed (shaping). Telstra and Optus were that last to start offering shaped accounts.

General browsing and text e-mailing won't do it, but streaming videos from youtube will, downloading (esp from limewire and other such sharing utilities), and playing games online are all common high usage activities on the net. Keeping an eye on the usage tracking on your ISP's website is highly recommened and enable sms/e-mail alerts if they are available.

Things to look for when looking at your usage is not just the total downloaded / uploaded but also look at the general graph. If you see excessive usage everyday then it is most likely caused by a virus or someone else has connected to you wifi and they now have free internet at your expense. If someone has connected to your wifi (either unsecured or have hacked your password), you can check for all connected devices on your modem and look for an unfamiliar ip address. Do take note that even when not in use, the modem is sending data to the internet just to check that the internet is still connected. This also counts as usage so make sue that the modem is off when not is use. This will also limit a users ability to connect to your wifi and use it.

I used to work in the Bigpond billing department and these are things I told people everyday. The worst I have seen was a bill for $97,000 which accumilated on the 200mb plan.

Scott · 07-01-2011, 03:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jphanna

how the hell does an oil pump cost $12,000 have i misread this?

a GT40 perhaps...not our local GT??

Ahh, the memories!
http://fordforums.com.au/showthread.php?t=11207421

**Professor Farnsworth** · 07-01-2011, 03:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Velociraptor82

Most ISP have been offering you a choice regarding your usage for a long time. Either you pay per m/b when you reach your limit or they slow your download speed (shaping). Telstra and Optus were that last to start offering shaped accounts.

General browsing and text e-mailing won't do it, but streaming videos from youtube will, downloading (esp from limewire and other such sharing utilities), and playing games online are all common high usage activities on the net. Keeping an eye on the usage tracking on your ISP's website is highly recommened and enable sms/e-mail alerts if they are available.

Things to look for when looking at your usage is not just the total downloaded / uploaded but also look at the general graph. If you see excessive usage everyday then it is most likely caused by a virus or someone else has connected to you wifi and they now have free internet at your expense. If someone has connected to your wifi (either unsecured or have hacked your password), you can check for all connected devices on your modem and look for an unfamiliar ip address. Do take note that even when not in use, the modem is sending data to the internet just to check that the internet is still connected. This also counts as usage so make sue that the modem is off when not is use. This will also limit a users ability to connect to your wifi and use it.

I used to work in the Bigpond billing department and these are things I told people everyday. The worst I have seen was a bill for $97,000 which accumilated on the 200mb plan.

mate as has been discussed in several posts already, it's not wifi, he is using a 3G internet connection

Velociraptor82 · 07-01-2011, 03:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Professor Farnsworth

mate as has been discussed in several posts already, it's not wifi, he is using a 3G internet connection

sorry, I must have missed those posts. oh well, just ignore a majority of the 3rd paragraph.

nstg8a · 07-01-2011, 03:50 PM

check the kids itunes history,

im on a 20 gb plan, first 18 months i never went over 10-11gb in a single month, then i started using itunes to get my movies, dosnt take long to soak up 20 gb when one movie can be nearly 2gb...

trippytaka · 07-01-2011, 04:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jphanna

i got a hellova surprise yesterday. i had wireless internet since late 2008. i have never gone over my 2G limit ever. even when my kids thash it with all their facebook, youtube stuff, its never gone over the limit.

this is a typical example of my bills

16.70 sep
16.70 oct
16.70 nov
16.70 dec etc since 2008.

so yesterday i get a bill for my internet......$240.77!!!!

so i rang up the company and after 20 mins of negotiation, .....they waived the fee and set up a new account where if i use up my allocation, it just shuts down the internet or slows it right down.

i certainly dont mind paying for stuff, if i definately used it...but there is clearly a problem on this occasion. i will be having a word to my kids about any changes to their habits on the net just in case one of them did something to shoot the useage off the dial.

Ever since porn moved into HD! Bam! There's another 4gb a week of downloads.