Verizon iPhone 5 Customers Will Not Be Charged for Inadvertent Cellular Data Usage Issue

[Doc750]

The issue is not with AT&T or Verizon ,.... Problem is this sub standard phone

 

[amyangel]

hoping for a carrier update from AT&T soon as well. I have unlimited but when I went to check my data usage, its been collectively charging me for usage while I was on WIFI at home.

 

[kingsrule5]

There is definitely an issue with AT&T as well. I've had my phone for three days and have already used 1.4GB out of my 2GB limit. With the IP4 I rarely went above 300MB a month because I'm always on wifi. Besides doing a speedtest and browsing some websites I haven't done anything else on LTE to warrant that type of data usage.

Can you go online and check and see if there were any large single transfers in the record. Look for anything over 200Mb (200,000+ kB would be listed). Also see if this was time stamped between midnight and 10am (iCloud backups run around midnight and it takes 4-8 hours for At&t to report it back).

That is what I found was going on with mine. Turned iCloud backup off and haven't had it happen since.

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The issue is not with AT&T or Verizon ,.... Problem is this sub standard phone

Happened on my 4s as well once i upgraded to ios 6. This is a code issue not a hardware issue and I would bet money it's related to the "Wifi+cellular" feature that was in the Beta's but removed from the final release. It's a combo of that and the wifi turning off when phone sleeps. Backups start on wifi, wifi sleeps and it switches to cellular data.

 

[sculpher]

When did AT&T say they were going to charge customers that had this problem?

When they charged me already - despite the issue being public and me explaining it to them.

 

[macduke]

After being a Cingular/AT&T customer since 2004, I switched to Verizon for the iPhone 5. Let me tell you, it was a much bigger difference than I even imagined it would be. Like night and day. The call quality is excellent, the data speeds are ridiculously fast everywhere, even in the country, and the customer service reps are freakishly friendly. But not in a fake way. I felt like the guy genuinely cared about helping me out (I was setting up my employee discount and asking questions about data packages) and he credited my bill and even talked with me about how CDMA-based networks work with their ability to do "soft handoffs" and connect to multiple towers at a time, unlike GSM. He was nice, helpful, and knowledgeable about a variety of topics. Again, like night and day!

I recently moved to Columbia, MO to work at Mizzou and AT&T is terrible in this town. I was getting 0.01Mbps to 0.05Mbps on the Speedtest.net app. Yes, dial-up speed! On Verizon I get 20-30Mbps. I even get 10-15Mbps out in the country at our research facilities. NIGHT AND DAY. Sure, my bill went up a little bit, but it's totally worth it.

 

[amyangel]

I just emailed AT&T customer service because I accumulated 500mb of data usage in the last week while I was at home on my WIFI. we'll see their responses

 

[iapplelove]

Good move Verizon. Check mate AT&T.

Lol I don't think u realize how much money AT&T has

 

[amyangel]

I just got a message from AT&T, but I haven't been playing games and when I am downloading (games, apps, etc) I am on WIFI and I have a strong WIFI connection, I didn't have this problem when I was on my IP4

I will be happy to review your Wi- Fi and data concerns for your new iPhone 5. I apologize for any inconveniences and/ or frustrations that have been caused.

Data usage is recorded once a data session is ended on the device (phone is powered off; you manually end the data session, or lost network connection). Many Smartphones are “always on” data devices. They establish a data connection with our network and keep it open even if there is no data being transmitted. AT&T routinely updates systems to reflect recent data activity used on a device. This update helps ensure that customers are billed in a timely manner for the data they have used, and can happen in the early morning hours after long periods of in-activity or at other pre-programmed intervals. This allows us to use bandwidth that is more available in the early morning hours and helps to reduce congestion when most people are logged on to the internet. In most cases, you are simply seeing that your recent data activity has processed or cleared.


Keep in mind that some games and applications will use data when they are used and sometimes even when they are not open (particularly GPS or location based programs that share location information with friends or family and email or social applications that push updates to your phones automatically).


The iPhone will suspend Wi-Fi connection when going into sleep mode to save battery life. It will attempt to reconnect to Wi-Fi upon waking up; if no Wi-Fi connection can be established, the device will revert to the cellular network and data will be charged. There may be a brief delay for the device to reflect that the Wi-Fi network is being used. Visual Voicemail and push notifications from Apples’ Push Notification Service always travel over cellular even if the device has a Wi-Fi connection.

Push capabilities are common with many social networking (Facebook), news, weather and email applications. Push capabilities provide real-time data transfer as it is made available, for example, weather or news alerts occur in real-time as they happen and are “pushed” to the device which consumes data. If the phone has push notifications active this may result in an open data session. Push notifications are very small in size but can be turned off. To change Push Notification status:


• Go to Settings, Notifications.

• Either turn everything OFF or go to each application listed to edit the Badges, Alerts, Sounds options for each app

 

[kingsrule5]

I just got a message from AT&T, but I haven't been playing games and when I am downloading (games, apps, etc) I am on WIFI and I have a strong WIFI connection, I didn't have this problem when I was on my IP4

I will be happy to review your Wi- Fi and data concerns for your new iPhone 5. I apologize for any inconveniences and/ or frustrations that have been caused.

Data usage is recorded once a data session is ended on the device (phone is powered off; you manually end the data session, or lost network connection). Many Smartphones are “always on” data devices. They establish a data connection with our network and keep it open even if there is no data being transmitted. AT&T routinely updates systems to reflect recent data activity used on a device. This update helps ensure that customers are billed in a timely manner for the data they have used, and can happen in the early morning hours after long periods of in-activity or at other pre-programmed intervals. This allows us to use bandwidth that is more available in the early morning hours and helps to reduce congestion when most people are logged on to the internet. In most cases, you are simply seeing that your recent data activity has processed or cleared.


Keep in mind that some games and applications will use data when they are used and sometimes even when they are not open (particularly GPS or location based programs that share location information with friends or family and email or social applications that push updates to your phones automatically).


The iPhone will suspend Wi-Fi connection when going into sleep mode to save battery life. It will attempt to reconnect to Wi-Fi upon waking up; if no Wi-Fi connection can be established, the device will revert to the cellular network and data will be charged. There may be a brief delay for the device to reflect that the Wi-Fi network is being used. Visual Voicemail and push notifications from Apples’ Push Notification Service always travel over cellular even if the device has a Wi-Fi connection.

Push capabilities are common with many social networking (Facebook), news, weather and email applications. Push capabilities provide real-time data transfer as it is made available, for example, weather or news alerts occur in real-time as they happen and are “pushed” to the device which consumes data. If the phone has push notifications active this may result in an open data session. Push notifications are very small in size but can be turned off. To change Push Notification status:


• Go to Settings, Notifications.

• Either turn everything OFF or go to each application listed to edit the Badges, Alerts, Sounds options for each app

It would take thousands of push notifications per day for this to account for 100's of extra megabytes of use per day. Push notifications are measures in KB not MB. AT&T just doing what they always day and blaming the customer.

I went through this with them on the phone about 3 weeks ago when my 4s running iOS 6 started doing this. They told me all kinds of BS that just wasn't possible or logical. Like the fact they take data records more than once a day and the phone doesn't need to power off. I go weeks sometimes without powering off yet they seem to be able to track my data.

 

[mikesay98]

So glad to hear this! I was starting to freak out at my usage. I was up to 800MB downloaded in the first 10 days and I'm at home most of the time! I was almost sure I'd go over my 2GB allowance!

 

[amyangel]

It would take thousands of push notifications per day for this to account for 100's of extra megabytes of use per day. Push notifications are measures in KB not MB. AT&T just doing what they always day and blaming the customer.

I went through this with them on the phone about 3 weeks ago when my 4s running iOS 6 started doing this. They told me all kinds of BS that just wasn't possible or logical. Like the fact they take data records more than once a day and the phone doesn't need to power off. I go weeks sometimes without powering off yet they seem to be able to track my data.

Ya I tried arguing with them that I didn't have this problem on my iphone 4 prior to upgrading and I have no issues at all with my WIFI signals in my home. They said there's nothing they can do about it, and on my own part, I'll just have to monitor to see how high it gets

 

[jaysen]

Well thats good to know.

AT&T's statement would have read something like this:



Dear Customer,

We realize that you may not have been responsible for the data usage, however, it it not our fault either. Due to us having extended work loads to process the extra data usage, your will be billed double the normal amount for whatever data was inadvertently used.

P.S. We are still busy trying to find a way to screw you out of more money with the FaceTime over 3G thing, so if you neglect to download the update, we will charge you triple next time.

Haha

 

[kingsrule5]

Ya I tried arguing with them that I didn't have this problem on my iphone 4 prior to upgrading and I have no issues at all with my WIFI signals in my home. They said there's nothing they can do about it, and on my own part, I'll just have to monitor to see how high it gets

Part of the problem is this isn't a problem with their network, it is an iOS 6 software issue so it's Apple's problem to fix but they need to communicate that to AT&T so they know or AT&T will continue to deny a problem.

 

[amyangel]

Part of the problem is this isn't a problem with their network, it is an iOS 6 software issue so it's Apple's problem to fix but they need to communicate that to AT&T so they know or AT&T will continue to deny a problem.

well they better get that iOS update out sooner than later, but with the Verizon acknowledgement I would imagine Apple's response be quicker with a known issue.

 

[chazcron]

If you have this problem on AT&T, you NEED to report it to Apple. I did yesterday and the upper level CSR I reached said he hasn't heard anything about there being a lot of reported issues with this. They need to be carpetbombed in order to do something about it. They think only a handful of forum dwellers are complaining about it. Problem is, it is primarily forum dwellers who are checking their usage and putting two and two together. When a regular user gets the overage warning, they probably call AT&T if they call anyone at all. Apple needs to be more aware of it.

 

[pooprscooper]

Well thats good to know.

AT&T's statement would have read something like this:



Dear Customer,

We realize that you may not have been responsible for the data usage, however, it it not our fault either. Due to us having extended work loads to process the extra data usage, your will be billed double the normal amount for whatever data was inadvertently used.

P.S. We are still busy trying to find a way to screw you out of more money with the FaceTime over 3G thing, so if you neglect to download the update, we will charge you triple next time.

So F-in true. I'm never going on contract with AT&T again.

 

[wkadamsjr]

Lol @ everyone applauding Verizon and knocking AT&T at the same time. AT&T is cheaper and data is much faster.

Funny how AT&T gets reamed for requiring the share plans for FaceTime over cellular, but Verizon eliminates everything but the share plans (way over-priced) and makes you pay full price for an iPhone 5 to keep unlimited data.

Am I missing something here?

 

[mscbuck]

My theory: Apple assumed that Wifi would be faster than 4G or LTE, simple as that. Therefore, when building in the "Cellular + Wifi" option, it simply is checking to see which is faster and to use that.

That's at least my best theory about why this could be happening, along with the "WiFi Off" feature when locked. I know plenty of people's WiFi connections at home are way slower than LTE, so I wouldn't be surprised if somehow iOS6 is just defaulting to that.

 

[armoredsaint]

just go the update notice 5 minutes ago - and restarted the phone per their suggestion.

 

[kingsrule5]

My theory: Apple assumed that Wifi would be faster than 4G or LTE, simple as that. Therefore, when building in the "Cellular + Wifi" option, it simply is checking to see which is faster and to use that.

That's at least my best theory about why this could be happening, along with the "WiFi Off" feature when locked. I know plenty of people's WiFi connections at home are way slower than LTE, so I wouldn't be surprised if somehow iOS6 is just defaulting to that.

I doubt it since they plugged LTE as faster than Wi-Fi in the iPhone 5 announcement.

This is just a code mistake plain and simple. It happens, Apple has been lucky to avoid these in the past.

 

[macs4nw]

.....Probably just give a free pass for overages for the month.

How could they tell the difference between legitimate 3G usage and non-intended 3G usage, when WiFi was available. Blanket Carte Blanche would mean a lot of lost revenue for them; not that too many people will feel sorry for them.

 

[kingsrule5]

How could they tell the difference between legitimate 3G usage and non-intended 3G usage, when WiFi was available. Blanket Carte Blanche would mean a lot of lost revenue for them; not that too many people will feel sorry for them.

they may still charge for the plans just not overages for the month. Or credit all data from ios 6 launch till the patch. It's not lost revenue if it wouldn't have happened minus the bug. Sometimes when stuff like this comes up companies have to take a loss. in the grand scheme it won't be much of a hit for them.

 

[macs4nw]

they may still charge for the plans just not overages for the month. Or credit all data from ios 6 launch till the patch. It's not lost revenue if it wouldn't have happened minus the bug. Sometimes when stuff like this comes up companies have to take a loss. in the grand scheme it won't be much of a hit for them.

Yeah, from the launch of iOs 6 till the patch, that would make sense.

 

[Tech198]

How nice of them.

 

[gimletmaker]

So by your logic we need to treat AT&T like one of Mike Vick's dogs because they have been acting up for years and no amount of saying bad dog is changing things

No, Mike Vick's problem wasn't his dog. It was him. He should be hung up naked covered with raw hamburger in a cage of hungry pitbulls. Worthless piece of human debris!