Data usage

[micromel]

Hi, my daughter has been on the same plan the whole time she has had her mobile. This month she has run out of data. She has a huge amount and never uses it all. We looked at her itemised use and "Internet use" is recorded pretty much 24/7. She hates having multiple tabs open and clears them regularly, so nothing is left running in the background and she doesn't watch films or TV on her phone. She watches tik toks, but no more than she has for the rest of her contract. When she told me on Friday that she was running low on data she had 2GB left and she said that disappeared in a matter of hours. She obviously used mobile data when she is out and about, but again her usage wouldn't have suddenly gone up this month as nothing has changed in her day to day routine.

Does anybody have any idea why this could be happening please? 

Thank you

[Akua_A]

Hi @micromel,

Welcome back to our community forums and sorry to hear about this issue of your daughter's data usage.

We want to do our best to understand and to help. Just to clarify, is this the only month where the bill is too high? Does your daughter access Tik Tok via her Data as this would contribute to usage? Other apps such as music can also use Data. You can find ur more here https://www.virginmedia.com/help/mobile/what-is-my-data-allowance

Also, let us know if you need any further help with this.

Thanks,

[micromel]

Thanks for the reply. 

Just to clarify, her use of tik tok and music apps hasn't  been different to any other month.

The bill isn't any higher, she's just run out of data and I placed a zero spending cap, so she can't buy any more.

We are just trying to figure out how the data usage has suddenly shot up, especially in the middle of the night when she has closed all apps and is sleeping! 

Thanks again

[Akua_A]

Thank you for letting me know @micromel

Have you checked your my VM account to see a breakdown of the data usage? You can also check this in her phone settings 

https://www.virginmedia.com/help/mobile/what-is-my-data-allowance

Thanks,

[micromel]

Hi, thanks for the reply.

I have looked at the bill, which just says Internet use. Can I tell what has been used in the phone settings?

[Akua_A]

Yes, you can see a break in the phone settings.

For IOS, it would be in settings >Mobile data > scroll to the bottom of the page for the breakdown across apps. 

For android, it would be Navigate to Settings > Wireless & Networks > Data Usage. 

Please try this and let me know if this gives you any clarity.

Thanks.

[Carooky]

Hi,

I am experiencing the same issue this month. My 2GB only lasted 10 days this month then I was charged £3 per day for the rest of the month as I did not have a spending cap set. £60 total extra for data alone this month. I never exceed my limit, only when I was abroad on holiday this year with very limited Wi-Fi.

I have looked through my bill and it appears I am being charged for data exactly every hour, even throughout the night when the phone is on charge and not in use, 24hrs a day. This is not sustainable and I cannot stay with Virgin if this level continues. How can I be getting charged so much for data which is not being used for anything ??? I understand smartphones use data regularly but this has never been an issue until now and with no apparent obvious reason or warning.

Last 3 months usage  are as follows...Oct- 1.5GB, Nov- 1.4GB, Dec- 5.0GB.     ***A WHOPPING 3.5 TIMES MORE ???

How can it jump so much ?

I spent a fortnight in Gran Canarias earlier this year and still didn't use as much as this latest bill.

I contacted online chat for some help with this bill, no explanation was available, "This is what was detected by our system as itemised on your bill".

"Turn off mobile data when you go to sleep at night". "5G phone uses more data".

Thanks for that piece of inspiration !  Does 5G use more data in December ?

ANY HELP on this matter would be greatly appreciated.

    

[Zach_R]

Hi @Carooky,

Thank you for your post and welcome back to our community forums. We're here to help.

I'm very sorry to hear that you've received some unexpected charges on your mobile bills lately in relation to exceeding your data usage. It's correct that for every GB you use each day after exceeding your usage you will be charged £3.00. That would include any amount you've used that's 1GB or less, even if that was just 1 single byte.
 

The reason that you're seeing values every hour is because it collates what you've used for that hour. We wouldn't list every byte of data you've used as and when you've used it as the size of your bill would be beyond extensive if we did that.

As for why it may seem you've used notably more data than usual, the only way this would happen is if you handset is making a mobile data connection and not using Wi-Fi or turned off entirely. Your phone will constantly make a mobile data connection for your apps that are running in the background, bringing in push notifications, etc. That's why you're also seeing usage whilst you're sleeping.
 

I hope that helps to explain your billing and charges a little further, but please let me know if you have any additional queries or concerns.

Thanks,
 

[Carooky]

Thanks @Zach_R,

That does explain the hourly data usage.

Just bamboozled as to why, suddenly this month, the data usage increased by over 3 and a half times, nothing new added and nothing different in the way the phone was used.

I have seen many many posts across the net, while trying to resolve this, bringing up the same issue. Not all with Virgin and not all with iPhones I may add. All recommending mostly the same resolution, turn off mobile data especially at night, but they still have no definitive reason as to why it suddenly happens or any positive resolutions resulting in "problem solved".

Gonna be a sore one getting an extra £60 added to a late January bill !   2023's off to a bad start already.

Spending cap is now set to ZERO !

Cheers

[Matthew_ML]

Hey Carooky, thank you for reaching out and I understand this can be very frustrating.

If you have changed the spend cap to zero this will help going forward with it.

Please do reach out if you ever need anything in the future. Thanks