48p per 3 secs internet on Virgin mobile

[jaffacake2]

Just thought I would share this shocking bill I got from new Virgin mobile account which should have been £20 per month.
Started this last month for DD2 to take to uni.Before she went she downloaded FREE game on phone which we later found out was 48p per 3secs! So bill shot up quick to £148.
Virgin have taken £50 off but still £100 to pay.
Customer services said we should have known costs per Gb- no didnt if someone had said ammount per second then we would never have touched the bloody phone.
Just wanted to warn you all. Free doesnt always mean Free!

To be fair, a free game never includes the cost of the Internet time to download it.

What did she do to run up the rest of the bill?

About 15mins on a game made up the bill sadly.
It was the first time we've had an internet phone and just didnt understand how expensive it can be.

That is about what I would expect for a download actually. The game was free but the bandwith wasn't?

How many gb was it?

Expensive lessons do suck though.

Sorry bit of technophobe so have no idea on Gbs which is why I've got the big bill.
It is my fault really although I still feel cross with Virgin.
Do other people really know the costs on internet phones or am I the only mug?

i found my virgin mobile bill shocking as well. right old con.

You want giffgaff - truly unlimited data (none of this subject to fair usage policy nonsense) and you can choose options to have unlimited texts as well.

If you want to give it a try I can do a recommendation which gives you £5 credit when you top up first time.

alemci was yours because of the internet on the phone? Did you manage to get any costs refunded?

I have no idea about internet usage... My iPhone tariff has unlimited internet included and vie never come close to any "fair usage" limit despite using it willy nilly.

frankly, i wouldn't pay it, and let them try it in court! on Pay as you go they charge £2 a day for unlimited internet access.
you can get a contract for £20 a month that includes unlimited access.

i would say that £150 bears no resemblance to the actual costs, and could be considered a 'penalty' and therefore not legal.

also, there is the unfair terms in consumer contracts regulations, and
any potentially onerous terms should be specifically pointed out to the customer, and should not be hidden in the small print.

It is pretty unfair that they tell you price per gb, most people would have no idea - whereas price per time is miles easier to understand.

Presumably that's why they do it though...

Unlimited though it is,don't be fooled.It will be capped.Like i found out with orange

You need to read the contracts carefully, including all that tiny print that most people don't bother with.

I'm with virgin and internet usage costs 30p a day. It says unlimited but there is actually a limit to the GB you can download.

Your DD should have read the T&C. After all, she's gonna be a graduate, right...?

I had this on a T-mobile contract. I downloaded a small app from the T-mobile online store and the bill was about £50. This was because I was on the extortionate 'normal' download rate, rather than the monthly flat fee rate.

I called T-mobile and said I wanted the charge removed as it was a one off mistake.

If they refuse to do it, ask to speak to their churn team and tell them you will be moving to another provider if they dont remove the complete charge.

If they still wont remove it, then move. Vote with your feet.

It cost them a fraction of a penny to provide the download bandwidth to you - all that money is profit for them and its disgraceful that they are still taking it from a customer who didnt realise the charges that would be involved. No-one can justify £150+ for a few MB of internet download when every operator has unlimited flat fee offerings for about £5 per month nowadays.