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Socked with data charges from T-Mobile without having a data plan

W

willryan42

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 26, 2009
138
23
This is probably going to be a long post but please bear with me.

My mom, sister, and I all have unlocked iPhones with unlimited texting. My mom has the $9.99 data plan on her phone, and has had it for a while. Me and my sister do not. However, about two years ago or so I discovered that if I enter "internet2.voicestream.com" as my data APN, edge works. After looking online and seeing that this worked for others too, I concluded it must have something to do with the texting plan.

My sister and I did this for a while with no extra charges on our bill. A year or so ago my sister's data stopped working out of the blue, and she would just get the "web2go" screen or whatever it is when trying to access the internet. Mine continued (and does continue) to work.

Here comes the problem: on our last bill (maybe last two bills, actually) me and my sister got charged $50 EACH for the new pay-per-use plan T-mobile has implemented. I've seen that this is a pretty widespread issue, even for people that don't use/have a data plan (even people that don't even have an APN entered), so I feel like it's not just because of the free internet we've been getting (especially since my sister's internet doesn't even work).

My question is:
• How should we go about fixing this issue? Just call and complain that we don't have a data plan and don't want one?
• I assume they know the exact amount of data I've used, and they might bring up that it's a higher amount than normal for someone who doesn't use data (I think I use about 90MB a month). What should I say about that? Maybe that I use MMS a lot and that must be the culprit?
• Any chance of me still being able to use free edge after (if) this gets cleared up?


TL;DR Got socked with data charges after the new Pay-per-use plan went into effect, what should I do?
 
You got caught, pay the bill. You got internet for "free"...ahem....stolen really and now T-Mobile sent you a bill.

Pay up.
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

HitchHykr said:
You got caught, pay the bill. You got internet for "free"...ahem....stolen really and now T-Mobile sent you a bill.

Pay up.
Click to expand...

I agree, pay up and just be glad they didn't send you a bill for the 2 years you stole their data, for 2 phones that could add up to close to $1,000.
 
Be a man and pay your bill, no wait, have your mommy pay your bill. Another slacker that wants stuff for free.

:apple:
 
Pay the bill first, then call them up and ask them to cancel/remove the data service on your sim. You can still using internet when you have access to wifi. There is no way to get around using internet for free through your sim.
 
Just pay your bill and get a data plan if you want/need to use it like all of us do . Sometimes I just don't get you people :confused: .
 
"my sister and I got charged $50 EACH"

boohoo, we've been paying $25 to $50 a month each for data a month for all those months you were stealing it. Pay the bill and get a real data plan.
 
Don't pay.

UMTS carriers (like T-mobile and AT&T) are perfectly capable of filtering or blocking NRT traffic (data, sms messages, etc) from specific phones.

The reason that they don't is precisely because of what is happening to you right now:
They allow users without plans/authorization to access the service and then charge them out the wazoo for it.

It is not an accident, and it is not a coincidence that your $50 bill is more expensive than their standard $20 or $30 monthly data packages.

They are trying to get your money.

Call them up. Complain about the charges and tell them that you do not want ANY data services or charges on your phone at all. T-mobile won't drop you as a customer, but they WILL block data to your phone once they figure out that you're not going to pay for it.
 
WTF dude, he's been stealing internet for 2 years, and now has to pay $50?????? Only $50 for 2 years of internet??? Sounds cheap to me.

Tarzanman said:
Don't pay.

UMTS carriers (like T-mobile and AT&T) are perfectly capable of filtering or blocking NRT traffic (data, sms messages, etc) from specific phones.

The reason that they don't is precisely because of what is happening to you right now:
They allow users without plans/authorization to access the service and then charge them out the wazoo for it.

It is not an accident, and it is not a coincidence that your $50 bill is more expensive than their standard $20 or $30 monthly data packages.

They are trying to get your money.

Call them up. Complain about the charges and tell them that you do not want ANY data services or charges on your phone at all. T-mobile won't drop you as a customer, but they WILL block data to your phone once they figure out that you're not going to pay for it.
Click to expand...
 
It's not a bajillion dollar bill, just pay it. I was expecting some post about a $50k bill, no, it's just a $50 charge.
 
Good god I wasn't looking for a lecture on morals guys. Not that this will change your mind, but I don't see how I was stealing internet. I randomly discovered that I could get edge by entering a valid apn. No hacks, just dumb luck.

But I'll have you all know that I just called T-mobile about it and they ended up adding more minutes and 2gb data plans to all our phones for the same price I'm already paying. Thanks for all your help though! :rolleyes:

EDIT: If you guys noticed that you were going over on your minutes every month but weren't getting charged for it, would you call up T-mobile and tell them about it? Get off your high horse.
 
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You randomly discovered how to steal data? How google search "steal Tmobile data plan"?


willryan42 said:
Good god I wasn't looking for a lecture on morals guys. Not that this will change your mind, but I don't see how I was stealing internet. I randomly discovered that I could get edge by entering a valid apn. No hacks, just dumb luck.

But I'll have you all know that I just called T-mobile about it and they ended up adding more minutes and 2gb data plans to all our phones for the same price I'm already paying. Thanks for all your help though! :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
 
ericrwalker said:
You randomly discovered how to steal data? How google search "steal Tmobile data plan"?
Click to expand...

He obviously Googled "I'm a good person and don't feel I should have to pay for T-Mobile Data like EVERYONE ELSE, how can I be an exception"

Google is a very powerful search engine, watch out.
 
OK, your original post you basically asked all of us if you should lie to them about why your usage was so high. It seems pretty obvious that you knew you were doing something you weren't supposed to...and you wanted to know if we thought you'd be able to continue doing it after you talked to them about it. You're surprised that people said that you're freeloading? Really? Did you expect a pat on the back?

I'm actually bummed that T-Mobile let you off the hook so easy, considering that you've been stealing internet service for 2 years. And I find it hard to believe that you just randomly discovered how to do it.
 
Tarzanman said:
Don't pay.

UMTS carriers (like T-mobile and AT&T) are perfectly capable of filtering or blocking NRT traffic (data, sms messages, etc) from specific phones.

The reason that they don't is precisely because of what is happening to you right now:
They allow users without plans/authorization to access the service and then charge them out the wazoo for it.

It is not an accident, and it is not a coincidence that your $50 bill is more expensive than their standard $20 or $30 monthly data packages.

They are trying to get your money.

Call them up. Complain about the charges and tell them that you do not want ANY data services or charges on your phone at all. T-mobile won't drop you as a customer, but they WILL block data to your phone once they figure out that you're not going to pay for it.
Click to expand...

You're damn right they're trying to get his money -- and rightfully so.
I'll personally write T-mobile and tell them they should be asking for MORE than $50.

Sounds like you really need a reality check.
 
willryan42 said:
Good god I wasn't looking for a lecture on morals guys. Not that this will change your mind, but I don't see how I was stealing internet. I randomly discovered that I could get edge by entering a valid apn. No hacks, just dumb luck.

But I'll have you all know that I just called T-mobile about it and they ended up adding more minutes and 2gb data plans to all our phones for the same price I'm already paying. Thanks for all your help though! :rolleyes:

EDIT: If you guys noticed that you were going over on your minutes every month but weren't getting charged for it, would you call up T-mobile and tell them about it? Get off your high horse.
Click to expand...

Lol :D
You were getting internet for free without paying for it and you knew it.
So that's not stealing it? Just because you randomly discovered it then you dont have to pay?
What Im socked about is that you're suprised that they finally caught you and want to charge you for your usage. They only charged you $50 so you got lucky they didnt charge you for all the previous time you were using it without paying.
Sounds like your and Tarzanman dont live in the real world. How rude of Tmobile for wanting to charge you for a service that you been using and not paying for:D
 
Tarzanman said:
It is not an accident, and it is not a coincidence that your $50 bill is more expensive than their standard $20 or $30 monthly data packages.

They are trying to get your money.
Click to expand...

So you're saying T-Mobile's scheme was to give him $480 worth of internet for free and then charge him $50 for it?

Yeah, what a rip off. :rolleyes:
 
willryan42 said:
Good god I wasn't looking for a lecture on morals guys. Not that this will change your mind, but I don't see how I was stealing internet. I randomly discovered that I could get edge by entering a valid apn. No hacks, just dumb luck.

But I'll have you all know that I just called T-mobile about it and they ended up adding more minutes and 2gb data plans to all our phones for the same price I'm already paying. Thanks for all your help though! :rolleyes:

EDIT: If you guys noticed that you were going over on your minutes every month but weren't getting charged for it, would you call up T-mobile and tell them about it? Get off your high horse.
Click to expand...

Ah, yes. "Get off your high horse" - the hew and cry of the individual who seeks support for unethical behavior, and is told that the behavior is unethical.

If, by "dumb luck", I discover that I can access someone's credit card number, then by your logic I could use that number for my purchases. I didn't hack it, or go looking for it - it fell in my lap. Therefore it is mine to use.

The twisted and tortured logic used to rationalize unethical behavior is remarkable.
 
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