I have had my current plan and phone since February 2012. In Feb 2012 I established a new account after branching off of my parents' account. Collectively we have been with Verizon for over 10 years.
I have personally had a data phone for a least the last 6-7 years.
When I branched off of my parents account, I was forced to give up my grandfathered unlimited data plan (not happy) and choose a Share Everything plan. At the time, for 2 iPhones I chose a 6G data plan because I wasn't sure where our data would land since we had always been on unlimited. My Data Usage for the next Several Months panned out as follows:
3/29/13-4/28/13 Bill Cycle Data Usage Total-1.906 G My Phone-1.330 G | 4/29/13-5/28/13 Bill Cycle Data Usage Total-1.773 G My Phone-.860 G | 5/29/13-6/28/13 Bill Cycle Data Usage Total-4.373 G My Phone-3.306 G |
6/29/13-7/28/13 Bill Cycle Data Usage Total-3.345 G My Phone-2.056 G | 7/29/13-8/28/13 Bill Cycle Data Usage Total-4.405 G My Phone-3.343 G | 8/29/13-9/28/13 Bill Cycle Data Usage Total-2.520 G My Phone-1.889 G |
9/29/13-10/28/13 Bill Cycle Data Usage Total-1.322 G My Phone-1.061 G | My Average Usage=1.977 G | |
I did not have overage or any oddities with my data plan until November 2013. In October 2013 I changed one of the iPhones to a flip phone so now required a lower data plan. I started with 2 G which wasn’t quite enough so I moved to 4G. It was in November that I felt my usage was higher than normal but I elected to just keep an eye on it. I had no changes to my lifestyle that would require more data usage. I am at work 8 hours a day Monday-Friday where I have a solid Wi-Fi Connection and then generally am home after that where I also have Wi-Fi. There were times that my data plan showed cellular usage when I know I was at home or work and connected to Wi-Fi.
After my usage spiked to 6.282 G for the December-January Bill Cycle I decided to call Verizon Tech Support to open a case for investigation.
I made my first call to Verizon tech Support on January 22,, 2014 and spoke with a very nice lady named Lynn when I opened ticket (removed). I explained the issue EXACTLY as it is documented above and was promised a call back after the investigation was complete no later than the following Tuesday (2/4/14). I never received a call back so I called Tech Support again on January 30, 2014.
When I called back I spoke with a representative named Ronnie who informed me that my ticket had been closed because there was no billing error to investigate. I am unsure how I could have been any clearer than the information I provided above. I then opened another case (removed) and explained the same exact story AGAIN. I was promised a call back by February 4, 2014. I never heard back so I called to follow up on the case.
I was told that the case had been closed and that the majority of my usage occurred between January 24th, 2014 and January 26th 2014 when I used my phone as a hot spot. The most infuriating part of that call was that I was not even asked if I had ever used my phone as a Hot Spot which I did not. The case was closed based on an assumption and my issue has still not been addressed.
As a side note, on January 25, 2014 I took my phone to the Apple Store after reading multiple forum posts on Apple.com and Verizon.com about frustrated customers experiencing the same issue with no answers or assistance from Verizon. The representative at the Apple store told me that the issue was common and that the customers have been backing up their iPhones, erasing the phone and then restoring from the backup. He said that this has solved the data overage as far as he knew.
The next day I did exactly what the Apple store rep said and low and behold…….NO MORE DATA OVERAGE!
I have now reached out to Verizon 4 times regarding this issue and am beyond frustrated and am not sure what other recourse I have to get my data overage charges refunded. The charges are fairly minimal in the scheme of things but it’s the principal that my circumstances were assumed when I did ABSOLUTELY nothing out of the ordinary.
Verizon, I encourage you to step up ASAP to get this issue resolved and stop blaming the customers for an issue that is not theirs.
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Message was edited by: Admin Moderator
Is this issue going to be addressed by Verizon?
Longoria49 - I am having the same issue with my mom's phone, which was recently upgraded from an iPhone 4 to a 5c. Average data used in a month went from about 0.5 GB to 2 GB (and this is after turning off LTE and my mom being VERY conservative of what she does while not on wifi). So what's the point of a smart phone???? The vzw rep I spoke to is entirely clueless. Nice people, but NO HELP. So frustrating. It's ridiculous that there is nothing official on this from Verizon or Apple (that I can find). As you probably know, any info out there is on blogs by consumers. I'm going to try what you mentioned in your post above tonight. I hope it works for us! Thanks!
Rachelg1988,
We are here to help solve this mystery and find out where the data usage is coming from! I personally have an iPhone, and love it. One thing I've found very helpful is to open your Settings>Cellular and scroll down to view how much data your apps are using. This will provide a huge clue as to what is causing the usage, and as an added benefit you'll be able to turn off the ability for each individual app to use data! Let us know if this helps!
SarahO_VZW
Follow us on Twitter @VZWSupport
This is partly an Apple problem, okay, I love my Apple gadgets, but they didn't prepare customers very well for IOS 7. I don't think IOS 7 was ready for release. There were many changes that caused battery, storage and data problems (just for starters)
Continue to check data use, consider adding the alert to your phone, it's free. Review how your phone is working regularly to avoid unpleasant surprises. Smart phones are mini computers, and they need a bit of service.
SarahO_VZW,
Unfortunately this is an unacceptable answer. As I stated in my original post, nothing about my schedule or life changed. My data usage just started going through the roof. Now that I focus on the timeline, my data started increasing after I did the upgrade to iOS 7. Additionally, disabling apps from using cellular data defeats the purpose of having a smart phone. Not using cellular data for apps just makes my phone a very expensive iPod.
Please note that since resetting my phone by restoring it, I no longer have this problem. This option needs to be the "go to" for tech support since the tickets get closed for no reason anyway. I am halfway thorough the billing cycle and have used 1.093G of data. This is indicative of my normal usage prior to iOS7.
I would still like a refund for the data that I was charged for erroneously.
Thank you.
My problem started in November 2013 and is rapidly escalating! I've got news for you, it's more than an iPhone or "app" problem. I have had my Verizon wireless jet pack for 2.5 years. I have an original iPad, updated tp iOS 5, and an HP, PC laptop. I never used more than 4 gb a month. Last July I got 2 iPhones, a 4, which is updated to iOS 7, and a 4s, not updated. I increased my plan to 6 gb, share everything. First 4 months, I didn't use my allotted "6". In November I started getting data usage warnings and called for help. All I got was "sorry ma'am I'll make a note in your file". I was billed for 14 gb m/l. December, I went to the local outlet, and the same girl that so eagerly sold me the two iPhones said she couldn't help me and sent me back to the call center. I was told to increase my data plan to keep the expense of the bogus data to a minimum. I did that, and I was so worried, I barely used my equipment all month, and still consumed about 12 gb. In January, I went to an outlet store across town and talked to a young man that gave me the spill about "app" usage. He showed me how to turn off the apps. My January bill was for 14 gb. I was starting to notice that the overage was from my Hewlett Packard laptop, which doesn't support apps. I also took it to a Staples store where a certified tech checked it out. He said I should upgrade my Norton anti virus, which I did. (that cost me 4 gb) and didn't solve the problem. At the end of the month I was approaching an artist deadline which required uploading 4 pictures of my art, and I had no choice but to use the pc. It cost me 3.5 gb. Feb 8th, I had to restore my iPad using iCloud and of course, the pc. It took 27 minutes and cost me 3.5 gb. I am now 3 weeks into my billing cycle and have used 20 gb. I'm an older woman that doesn't do much but check my email, and enter the occasional art contest. I dont stream movies or music. BTW, my 2 iPhones combined don't go over 1 gb. and I have a land line. I've decided my only recourse is to pay the bogus bills so I don't get my credit ruined, end my wireless with Verizon and get cable Internet, and last but not least, I'm filing two complaints, one with the FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION, and one with FEDERAL TRADES COMMISSION. They both have websites for these things, and my understanding is that they are consumer advocates and our best recourse for these type of nightmarish problems.
Hello,
I filed a complaint with the BBB and was contacted a few days later by someone from Verizon corporate. I still do not know what the outcome will be as the contact and I have been playing phone tag but I will post as soon as I do.
I encourage you to do the same.......the squeaky wheel gets the grease and this issue NEEDS to be addressed.
Good luck!!
The FCC is useless I have complained to them before all they will do is forward your complaint to Verizon.
Just got off Apple tech support, because system services (go to settings - cellular - then scroll to the bottom) were using cellular data even when I completely turned cellular data off or was connected to Wi-Fi. I do not have any confidence with the tech but basically he\she typed (using chat) that is what the phone does, IE it needs to work.
I have turned off cellular data and reset the phone and that seems to have killed these data stealing services (I did not let it sit long enough to make a full determination) but once you turn data back on the issue resumes. The funny thing as I told the tech my wife's 4s does not seem to have this problem
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