high usage warning letter

[the-cable-guy]

a week or so ago i received a letter from VM warning me of recent high usage that im meant to of used. on the date that they stated the high usage occurred i wasnt even downloading owt & tbh as of late iv only downloaded the odd thing id say 500MB-1GB a week if that which i wouldnt call high usage & even more so seeings as iv got 50MB internet, so i really cant understand why they have sent me this letter ? which i have just ignored as i know what they have said isint true, anyone else had one of these letters ?

[martyh]

a week or so ago i received a letter from VM warning me of recent high usage that im meant to of used. on the date that they stated the high usage occurred i wasnt even downloading owt & tbh as of late iv only downloaded the odd thing id say 500MB-1GB a week if that which i wouldnt call high usage & even more so seeings as iv got 50MB internet, so i really cant understand why they have sent me this letter ? which i have just ignored as i know what they have said isint true


Tell em to bugger off ,you pay for a service as do i ,if their network can't handle the traffic then they need to upgrade so they can provide what they sell and before anybody tells me that the fair usage policy applies to 50meg just as much as the other bands ...i know...still doesn't make it right .Consumers need to stand up to VM and other providers because all they do is keep introducing changes in the T&C's to restrict what is supposed to be a uncapped service

[the-cable-guy]

i agree mate. oh & the letter also said that if i didnt stop they'd give me another warning & if it still happened they may cut me off & all this for downloading nothing on the day that they claim that i did lol seems crazy to me & all of what they said in the letter about my usage is lies anyways

[martyh]

i agree mate. oh & the letter also said that if i didnt stop they'd give me another warning & if it still happened they may cut me off & all this for downloading nothing on the day that they claim that i did lol seems crazy to me & all of what they said in the letter about my usage is lies anyways

Ask for the data that prooves you downloaded too much on those days

[the-cable-guy]

i might do but tbh knowing VM i highly doubt they will actually send me anything, iv asked them countless times before to send me things & other then hardware they never turn up & other people on the CS helpline know nothing about what i have asked for

[martyh]

i might do but tbh knowing VM i highly doubt they will actually send me anything, iv asked them countless times before to send me things & other then hardware they never turn up & other people on the CS helpline know nothing about what i have asked for


I see it this way ,if they are going to accuse you of something that may ultimately result in the termination of your service (i'm not sure if you will still be liable for the agreed contract costs)then they should be able to provide evidence of said infringement and reliability of the data otherwise it's their word against yours

[the-cable-guy]

totally mate but VM have accused me of other things in the past & never been able to prove what they have claimed & from what i have seen in the past they are unwilling to do anything to prove their claims its like you'v done whatever but we're just saying it & you should just accept it, but im unwilling to do that so tough luck for them lol

[martyh]

totally mate but VM have accused me of other things in the past & never been able to prove what they have claimed & from what i have seen in the past they are unwilling to do anything to prove their claims its like you'v done whatever but we're just saying it & you should just accept it, but im unwilling to do that so tough luck for them lol

Don't forget they have you over a barrel because they have ownership of the on/off button for your service ,just keep plugging away and if enough customers do the same then maybe the providers will get their act together and start treating customers fairly and not like a bunch of idiots

[the-cable-guy]

they know im not an idiot & dont like me as i dont just lay down & take their rubbish, but like you said they should treat us better then they do. anyways im going to wait & see if they send another letter & if they do i'l be making a phone call to them

[martyh]

they know im not an idiot & dont like me as i dont just lay down & take their rubbish, but like you said they should treat us better then they do. anyways im going to wait & see if they send another letter & if they do i'l be making a phone call to them

good luc k:tu:

[the-cable-guy]

thanks mate im sure it'l be fun if it does happen lol

[zekeisaszekedoes]

It's a shame you don't have a router with accurate WAN access monitoring, like DD-WRT. Then you could do a screengrab of your usage, like this:

https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/local/2011/03/53.jpg

"So I broke the usage limits on the 4th, huh? Funny. The whole household didn't even download 500MB that day!"

[pip08456]

So why don't those reeiving letters do the obvious and apply under the DPA for the information? That's what I'd do if I received one.

This right, commonly referred to as subject access, is created by section 7 of the Data Protection Act. It is most often used by individuals who want to see a copy of the information an organisation holds about them. However, the right of access goes further than this, and an individual who makes a written request and pays a fee is entitled to be:

* told whether any personal data is being processed;
* given a description of the personal data, the reasons it is being processed, and whether it will be given to any other organisations or people;
* given a copy of the information comprising the data; and
* given details of the source of the data (where this is available).

An individual can also request information about the reasoning behind any automated decisions

http://www.ico.gov.uk/for_organisations/data_protection/the_guide/principle_6/access_to_personal_data.aspx

[zekeisaszekedoes]

Know your rights! I like it Pip.

[pip08456]

As Seph would say - Simples!

[the-cable-guy]

So why don't those reeiving letters do the obvious and apply under the DPA for the information? That's what I'd do if I received one.

This right, commonly referred to as subject access, is created by section 7 of the Data Protection Act. It is most often used by individuals who want to see a copy of the information an organisation holds about them. However, the right of access goes further than this, and an individual who makes a written request and pays a fee is entitled to be:

* told whether any personal data is being processed;
* given a description of the personal data, the reasons it is being processed, and whether it will be given to any other organisations or people;
* given a copy of the information comprising the data; and
* given details of the source of the data (where this is available).

An individual can also request information about the reasoning behind any automated decisions

http://www.ico.gov.uk/for_organisations/data_protection/the_guide/principle_6/access_to_personal_data.aspx

thanks i may look into that

[qasdfdsaq]

I'd phone them up first.

While DPA SA requests are an entitlement under law, they're also entitled to charge you £10 for the privilige. A phone call to customer services is free. £10 + postage is not.

[Milambar]

I do wonder if VM would acually roll over and play ball in this kind of circumstance, or just send you the data about your account with the bandwidth used being redacted, on the grounds that its not really "personal data".

Its my understanding of the DPA that they are only legally obliged to disclose "personal data", not all the data. However, I have not read the DPA in a huge amount of detail.

[Nopanic]

Yeah, I'm not sure this kind of information is covered by data protection as its a recorded usage not personal data.

I'm sure in the T&C's it says VM are able to record data usage ..

[m8internet]

I've never received such a letter, but was interested to know what my "consumption" was

I received a written reply about 6 weeks later, advising they do not keep records and that I should install third party software on to each computer (if I used two or more and total the information from each)

I have kept this letter just in case I did receive such a warning
Surely if they know you have "abused" their service, then they would have records...

My advice would be to ensure the wireless router (if you are using one) has a password in place (and is not easy to guess)
It is amazing how many people still don't have a password on their WAN

[diablo]

last week I received my 2nd warning letter from Virgin about my detrimental use of my 50mb broadband connection.....the 1st one I recieved Nov 2010...thought it might of been a one off.....

I rang the number on the letter quoting the ref:****** and the guy said on the other end....ive been downloading too much between the hours of 9am - 9pm...and that I must start to do it outside those hours....

I said there was 3 laptops 2 xbox 360s on LIVE, 1 PC and various other devices that use the interent in the house therefore I could be excused for the occasional large amount....NO CHANCE he said...either stop downloading through the day or we will cut u off, WITHOUT WARNING....

I even asked about upgrading to 100meg line...and he said no point...we would STILL send you warning letters.....

I`m in 2 minds what to do next...

[Arty-Media]

I've never received such a letter, but was interested to know what my "consumption" was

I received a written reply about 6 weeks later, advising they do not keep records and that I should install third party software on to each computer (if I used two or more and total the information from each)

I have kept this letter just in case I did receive such a warning
Surely if they know you have "abused" their service, then they would have records...

My advice would be to ensure the wireless router (if you are using one) has a password in place (and is not easy to guess)
It is amazing how many people still don't have a password on their WAN

Hi!
I was just wandering how you got the letter, did you have to write to them or call them up?
I'd really like advice how you brought this up with them as it'd be useful to have that letter just in case I'm ever sent a high warning letter! (if you don't wanna reveal it publicly feel free to PM me) :-)

[the-cable-guy]

I've never received such a letter, but was interested to know what my "consumption" was

I received a written reply about 6 weeks later, advising they do not keep records and that I should install third party software on to each computer (if I used two or more and total the information from each)

I have kept this letter just in case I did receive such a warning
Surely if they know you have "abused" their service, then they would have records...

My advice would be to ensure the wireless router (if you are using one) has a password in place (and is not easy to guess)
It is amazing how many people still don't have a password on their WAN

of course my router is password protected

---------- Post added at 19:07 ---------- Previous post was at 19:04 ----------

last week I received my 2nd warning letter from Virgin about my detrimental use of my 50mb broadband connection.....the 1st one I recieved Nov 2010...thought it might of been a one off.....

I rang the number on the letter quoting the ref:****** and the guy said on the other end....ive been downloading too much between the hours of 9am - 9pm...and that I must start to do it outside those hours....

I said there was 3 laptops 2 xbox 360s on LIVE, 1 PC and various other devices that use the interent in the house therefore I could be excused for the occasional large amount....NO CHANCE he said...either stop downloading through the day or we will cut u off, WITHOUT WARNING....

I even asked about upgrading to 100meg line...and he said no point...we would STILL send you warning letters.....

I`m in 2 minds what to do next...

with VM saying that, what is the point in giving people a fast connect if your not allowed to use it ?

[martyh]

with VM saying that, what is the point in giving people a fast connect if your not allowed to use it ?


What they are saying is that you can use the supa dupa fast connection you are paying good money for and download stuff supa dupa fast ...only when they say so because their supa dupa network can only handle one supa dupa speed connection in a street at a time ....so there :rolleyes:

[the-cable-guy]

miss selling comes to mind