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View Full Version : Just got an $1100 bill from cingular

mezorn26
11-08-2005, 06:56 PM
WTF??

I have the BB ulimited data plan, 450 nationwide rollover and I did not go over my minutes? I do not use my BB as a modem, only thing I use is RAMBLE IM.

What gives?
Dawg
11-08-2005, 07:02 PM
Id be on the phone with someone make sure your plan is unlimitedWTF??

I have the BB ulimited data plan, 450 nationwide rollover and I did not go over my minutes? I do not use my BB as a modem, only thing I use is RAMBLE IM.

What gives?
finch
11-08-2005, 07:03 PM
Ramble uses WAP to communicate IM's back and forth which can be rather data heavy as your finding out. I'm sure all the message with !!!!!!! :) ??!! are adding up now? Give Cingular a call, maybe it you plead your cause or ignorance to the situation maybe they'll let you off if this is a fist time thing?
mezorn26
11-08-2005, 07:05 PM
Ramble uses WAP to communicate IM's back and forth which can be rather data heavy as your finding out. I'm sure all the message with !!!!!!! :) ??!! are adding up now? Give Cingular a call, maybe it you plead your cause or ignorance to the situation maybe they'll let you off if this is a fist time thing?
so ramble is not free if you have bb unlimited?????????????
jibi
11-08-2005, 07:06 PM
former ATTWS charges for use of their APN gateway if you're on a BlackBerry plan. Not sure if you're with them or true Cingular.
mezorn26
11-08-2005, 07:11 PM
former ATTWS charges for use of their APN gateway if you're on a BlackBerry plan. Not sure if you're with them or true Cingular.

I am on true cingular...Not attws...My text messaging this month was very small, they say I have been getting charge data by the byte, yet I do have the BB unlimited, they say something is wrong too
Dawg
11-08-2005, 07:13 PM
talking about taking a byte out of the wallet :-) sorry couldnt resist
mezorn26
11-08-2005, 07:16 PM
talking about taking a byte out of the wallet :-) sorry couldnt resist


don't worry...I'm laughing my ass of over here too....Even the guy I spoke with a cingular thought it was hysterical..

None the less, he said it looks like I was overbilled about 900 bucks, they will investigate and place my bill on hold until they get to the bottom of it...
finch
11-08-2005, 08:16 PM
Ramble IM is free as an app the data is on your end. If you have a unlimited plan as you've mentioned the error is on Cingulars end.
Mark Rejhon
11-08-2005, 08:23 PM
T-Mobile: Any gateway (blackberry.net / wap.voicestream.com) is covered under their plan.

Cingular: Some confusion exists, see this thread. You're not charged for unlimited usage through the blackberry.net gateway, but they will have a tendancy to charge for stuff that goes through certain gateways. (There's a whole bunch of APN's that Cingular uses "proxy" "wap.cingular" "isp.cingular") Other times I've seen Cingular not charge for anything.

Nextel: All covered on their existing Unlimited plan.

Rogers: You're billed excess data usage if you go over 25 megabytes cap on their "Unlimited" plan. (This was formerly a safety cap for excess usage when BlackBerry used to be an email-only device -- but now BlackBerry can surf the web and run other software -- will be a big problem with upcoming EDGE technology)

It's all somewhat crapshoot. Know Thy Carrier...
jbairdjr
11-08-2005, 08:27 PM
When I had Cingular, I would get bills for extra data.
Turned out that a program we use to run license plates and other things used data that was not covered under the "unlimitted data" plan.
Just waiting to see if Alltel is the same way.
b00st3d
11-08-2005, 09:05 PM
how can data not be covered under an unlimited plan?!
jibi
11-08-2005, 09:28 PM
b/c a lot companies that offer unlimited data plans that pertain to BlackBerry either 1) limit it at a certain cap (5MB, 25MB, etc); or 2) state that BlackBerry data is separate than regular data, thus attempt to charge you for using non-BlackBerry-specific data.

greed and loopholes. its the way the world profits one rotation at a time.
b00st3d
11-08-2005, 10:03 PM
can they really see what data is blackberry data and what data is not???
TheWastedYears
11-08-2005, 10:06 PM
can they really see what data is blackberry data and what data is not???
Yes.
jibi
11-08-2005, 10:28 PM
it all connects to certain known blackberry.net gateways, so why shouldn't they be able to differentiate the traffic?
JDWallace
11-09-2005, 08:48 AM
When I had Cingular, I would get bills for extra data.
Turned out that a program we use to run license plates and other things used data that was not covered under the "unlimitted data" plan.
Just waiting to see if Alltel is the same way.

Is this a program that anyone can use on a BB or something made specific for your job? This would be a good program I could use on my BB.
tregrad
11-09-2005, 09:57 AM
not even a courtesey wrap around or anything? OH!! the humanity!
Dawg
11-09-2005, 10:17 AM
I am sure its not available to general public I am sure its for law enforcement onlyIs this a program that anyone can use on a BB or something made specific for your job? This would be a good program I could use on my BB.
jbairdjr
11-09-2005, 01:31 PM
It is a law enforcement specific application. Only agencies that have full access to NCIC databases can run the software.
avery.bunker
11-10-2005, 10:51 AM
As of right now I have not heard of Alltel having a CAP on there data for there Unlimited Plans. That does not make much sense why you would get extra charges from Cingular but if you have any questions certainly Call the Alltel Data Support Department.
ShaneToronto
11-11-2005, 03:59 AM
Is there any speculation (educated speculation) on the 25mb cap on Rogers 'unlimited' plan being raised to match Bell's 100mb cap?

25 mb seems low.
tomas
11-11-2005, 07:47 AM
What is the cap for Tmobile unlimited.
goaliemn
11-11-2005, 09:06 AM
What is the cap for Tmobile unlimited.

Its called unlimited, so I'm assuming none.. I've never hit any cap with it, and I've never seen a cap mentioned in any paperwork.. Rogers, from what I've seen on here, does make mention of a cap in the small print. I haven't verified this myself
Dawg
11-11-2005, 09:58 AM
rogers unlimited is capped at 25
kunal
11-11-2005, 10:05 AM
well, i just got slammed with a 1300$ bill from tmobile.. same data plan issue... im on there unlimited bb thing and a business user...

the manager is gonna call me back to discuss it... oh well...

kunal
Dawg
11-11-2005, 10:21 AM
wow that really sucks
defi
11-11-2005, 10:37 AM
Ok, so how do you prevent this from happening? I'm currently looking to purchase a BB, and threads like this make me unsure of what carrier to go with. I was thinking of Cingular, but now, I'm not sure. One would think that "unlimited data" means what it says, but I guess it dosen't.
murpheous
11-11-2005, 11:01 AM
nextel is the way to go
kunal
11-11-2005, 11:30 AM
well, it seems to be a billing error.. i am not too worried about it... i personally have 4 tmobile numbers.. plus another 5 business numbers...

they will fix it.. or i move all the numbers to sprint/nextel..

i think cingular is waay to expensive for my pocket.
Dawg
11-11-2005, 01:37 PM
Nextel unlimited is unlimited no cap and no hidden charges
ItsAllVerbatim
11-11-2005, 01:47 PM
OK...this Cingular overcharged me stuff is ridiculous...

This actually happens? I hope this doesn't happen to everyone.
My question is, if I purchase the BB Unlimited Plan, PLUS Unlimited Data on Cingular, will this kind of nonsensical billing be prevented?

(How much it will cost for 2 data plans is irrelevant compared to how much it would cost for the overbill).

Thanks, guys. Please help me out here. Can't make the jump to BB unless I can check Bloglines and certain other WAP portals 2-3 times a day.
corporate
11-11-2005, 02:08 PM
Nextel unlimited is unlimited no cap and no hidden charges

Same with Bell :)
KonTiki
11-11-2005, 03:02 PM
Same with Verizon
ShaneToronto
11-11-2005, 03:02 PM
corporate- Bell has a 100mb cap.
BlackBurner
11-11-2005, 05:31 PM
"TELUS Mobility considers usage in excess of 50 MB of data per month to be abusive.....and reserves the right to charge $10/MB for any such excess usage."

....is Roger's that much better...????...considering that Telus now does offer a public MDS for non-BES users...finally....it's probably just a matter of time before Bell follows suit and puts a cap on 'dat ass ;-).....
jscully
11-11-2005, 05:32 PM
100mb is a ridiculous amount of traffic! Anyone hit that much?
I just had a record 32mb last month.
BES, Yak-On, NewsClip, HelloWorld, Blackberry Messenger all used and abused.
Plus i took all my filters off of my BIS.
Glad Bell has a 100mb cap.
jscully
11-11-2005, 05:57 PM
Oops...I forgot about Mark's thread on another forum. One dude boasts 190mb/month.

over 25meg club (http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=4706639&perpage=27#4706625)
KonTiki
11-11-2005, 08:36 PM
I just did 10.656 MB this past month and it was a slow month I am ussually nearer 25 MGs.
PS!
11-14-2005, 03:43 PM
..and here I am angry over a $250 bill I just got this month.

I recently made the jump from Sprint -> Cingular simply because I wanted a blackberry and a GSM/GPRS enabled phone. So far it seems like I made a huge mistake. I've only been with Cingular for a few months now... and I have had nothing but problems.

I get "congested", "network failed" or "network congested" occasionally when making calls. Some calls have a weird latency echo or have a synthesized/garbled sound to voice. (Almost like VOIP issues, if you've ever worked with VOIP.) On a rare occasion, I've actually lost calls and got a weird busy signal right after it dropped while the other end was sounding loud and clear.

__________________________
Now to the $250 bill.

When I had sprint I usually got their best multimedia phone. I never got their PDAs because at the time the market hadn't matured and I didn't really care for Treos or Pocket PC type phones. Hence the switch to RIM/Cingular.

Well, I picked up my phone online and ordered online. I had a brief conversation with a sales rep and they told me that the Blackberry unlimited data was the only service I needed.

Come to find out this month that ... Using your BB as a tethered device (Modem) you are billed separately for "Internet XPRESS". Also, if you do IM forwarding any messages you respond to are counted as "Text Messaging".

When I think of text messaging; I think of SMS and email. Little did I know those responses I was sending through the IM forwarding quickly surpassed my option of 50 at a rate of $0.10 per message. Way to nickel & dime a customer, Cingular.

Dial up to *99# with your laptop? Sure. Only $0.01 per kilobyte. Luckily I only logged on once or twice, just to check some forums. Not too bad.

In summary, this month I somehow had 8mb of data usage. 1mb Blackberry, 7mb which are a mystery to me. I think I used maybe 800k via tethered modem. I have no idea where the other data went. Cingular went ahead and adjusted my bill to reflect the data, but they won't do anything regarding the text messaging.

So I'm stuck here with a $49.99/mo bill for something, ironically, I don't even use. Sprint had their Vision packages which included unlimited multimedia, wireless web access, email, messaging, etc for like $40.

Cingular's response to that package is MEdia bundles.. Which gives you data access and a few hundred to a few thousand text messages, depending on the size of your bundle. So I could have my voice plan, my bb plan, and either a MEdia bundle or a larger text messaging plan. $160-$170/month for my phone bill? I don't think so.

This line-item B.S. has me furious. Seriously considering going back to sprint.

Regards,

-l/PS