uncontrollable data usage..............

[noontime]

5 users on my account. All have iphones ranging from a 4 to a 6.  Over the last 6 months+ data usage has been exceeding shared limits but this is the typical pattern - exceeded data limit by 0.5GB so purchase next increment (say additional 2GB) -  that additional 2GB is exceeded in the next 30 day cycle by say 1GB so purchase an additional 4GB - those 4GB are used up in the next 30 day cycle........ What is going on?  None of the other users on the account know whether I purchased additional data or not.  They are not using their phones any differently and all users are aware of how to limit data usage and they have employed these methods to no avail.  Is this an evil Verizon / Apple plot?  Anyone experiencing this same issue?  Thanks for any assistance.   

[Weth]

Before plots come into play, did you look on the phones to see what apps are using data. It is still entirely possible the user is using the data. You need to confirm that first. Even if you are telling them you are not increasing data, the natural reaction would be, "hey, no warnings, guess I can use it even more."

[declan09]

We have only 2 iPhone6's, and mine is fine with the data usage, but SOMETHING on my husband's phone that we can't figure out is eating up all of our shared data! We have 4GB, our cycle doesn't start over until the 22nd, and we're already at 6GBs used!! And many times when his usage is highest, he's at home and connected to our Wifi!! Any suggestions/ideas?

[vzw_customer_support]

I can see exactly why this would ring the alarm for you, declan09!
We have a handy Data Utilization Tool http://vz.to/1Nd5tw6 that gives a breakdown.
Does his device stay connected to WiFi? Does the Wifi go in/out?



TamaraH_VZW
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If my response answered your question please click the "Correct Answer" button under my response. This ensures others can benefit from our conversation. Thanks in advance for your help with this!!

[eyerishangel]

Same exact thing is happening with my daughter's Iphone. We started out with 2gb share plan. Her phone was gobbling up most of the data. We never exceeded the plan but it was close. We bumped it up to 3gb. Same thing. Same usage pattern but now it's gobbling up close to 3gb. We are currently up to 5gb on our plan and with the same usage pattern, being very diligent as to when we turn on cellular and primarily staying on wifi it's gobbling up close to 5gb. NOBODY in support can give me a straight answer. I home school her and between the hours of when we wake up in the a.m. to about 5pm I can guarantee that she is strictly on wifi yet support tells me she's using data. She swears that she is not. I get conflicting answers as to how sending picture mail should work because that's when she has to turn on cellular. Otherwise, she can't send picture mail. Then it's turned off promptly. They tell us that video is her primary offender yet she views video when she's on the wifi. So, how can cellular be off, wifi on and connected, watch video and our data usage gets whacked???? I am on my phone using the internet far more than she is yet she surpasses my data usage. None of it makes sense and I get a different explanation each time I call. This has been going on for months and months and months. It's to the point where I'm going to switch providers.

[vzw_customer_support]

eyerishangel, I surely know the importance of managing the data on your account. I want to be as helpful as possible in recommending the Data Utilization Tool http://spr.ly/65874vcV*  for this type of situation. There are many applications on the phones that will automatically connect to data to play videos, stream music, etc based on the settings of the app. The Data Utilization Tool will provide a breakdown of what function is using the most data over a period of up to 3 months! You can also view her phone under Settings, Cellular (Scroll Down) to see which apps are using the most data. Thanks for being part of the community.  I hope this information proves helpful.
TanishaS_VZW
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If my response answered your question please click the "Correct Answer" button under my response. This ensures others can benefit from our conversation. Thanks in advance for your help with this!!

[manders21]

Sadly, this approach has been tried over the past few years as well. 

As I said - Verizon has suggested, this, that and the other.  Tried troubleshooting.  Played the blame game.

Thanks for your suggestion... but none of the suggestions over the past few years have been working.

I think you guys need to look into things on your end. It doesn't sound like I'm the only one with the problem.

[Weth]

What app is using the Data?   What are you doing the 5% of time off wifi. Even 95% on wifi leaves an hour and 12 minutes on cellular, enough to use a few gigabytes.

[vzw_customer_support]

We are here to help you manders21! We don't want you to go over your data! Have you looked into the data http://vz.to/1zkDcdR utilization tool to see what is using your data? What is using up your data? Are you connected to Wi-Fi?
AmberF_VZW
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If my response answered your question please click the "Correct Answer" button under my response. This ensures others can benefit from our conversation. Thanks in advance for your help with this!!

[poop2]

i am having the same problems with my daughters iphone 5s. now a couple days ago my son got a new xperia z3v and he has out of control data and did not have on his razr m. this IS CRAZY. they set the phone for wifi connection when avail. i see most data usage on these phones is during the time when at home (wifi connection) i know our wifi goes on/off at periods of time, but the other phones (not having issues) will go back and forth and will let you know you are off wifi

i also experience the hotspot data usage go crazy lately as well. we used to connect our ipad on road trips and would be able to even upload netflix on it on 1gb plan. now we cant be on road and use the internet for more than 2 hrs and we have used all our data. this needs to be investigated by the FCC. verizon, having this problem that is prevalent in your forums for awhile now, you seem to not be able to give your customers any answers... wonder why? you are just frustrating your customers to the point of exhaustion. it is everyones dream to be able to spend all their spare time to deal with these problems going from chat (forget any help there) to google searches to being transferred into the verizon help twilight zone. dont you know that good rates get the customers, but keeping them is good service. loyalty is earned by the trust that you are serving your customers and not your profit due to theft from swindle.....l

[Weth]

Don't you find it interesting it is only the children's phones?  Children use phones in a way that uses lots and lots of data. This will be exacerbated if they are going from a 3G phone to a 4G LTE phone and can consume even more data. If you wifi goes on and off for periods of time and the child starts streaming when it is off, it may not switch back to wifi and continue

If you have all the settings on Netflix to default, which is highest HD resolution, you can easily go through 4GB per hour on LTE.

[manders21]

I am not a child and have had the issue for a few years now.

[Weth]

I was not replying to you, but sorry for the confusion.

There are certainly cases where the data use makes no sense and is suspect. But not everyone (most?) coming on here with complaints of data use fit into that category. You may and frankly I did not even read your posts prior to the response to @poop@. When I see a case where only the children's lines are using more data I get very suspect and need to look very closely at the kids use. This comes from personal experience and helping others. Most of the time, it is the kid actually using the data. People also vastly underestimate going from 3G to 4G LTE and the impact on data use.

[poop2]

it is only on the childrens only due to theirs are the only ones that have been most recently replsaced. still having issues, but now they are aware to watch when using. since this CHILD come from using an old phone that automatically switches when wi fi available to one that DOES NOT. this is WHY we found so much data usage in the first months of usage on the new phone and has been tedious to keep watching if we are on mobile data all the time. i come for help in finding out if we can program the new phone settings somehow so that this stays ON. is anyone out there has found a way to do this, please respond.

[Weth]

What phone? All the smartphones I know will automatically switch to wifi when a known wifi access point is available.

[bizzareone]

Find out who is using the most data on the account. Then ensure that person is closing out of all applications when they are done using that app. If it comes down to it then have someone (or everyone) turn off the cellular data when they are not activly using something on the phone that uses data (facebook, email, safari)

[manders21]

This seems to be a reoccurring problem that Verizon has "no clue" how to fix and likes to play the blame game.

They say the average person should have a hard time eating up 2GB.

I had an iPhone 5 when it first came out, ate up data like crazy.  I would get emails constantly that I would be going over my data limit.  Mind you I am connected to WiFi I would say 95% of the time.  I close out of apps immediately after using them.  (I hardly have any APPS, my 2nd page of my iPhone isn't even full of apps)  They had me delete multiple ones on my phone because they were thinking that was the issue. They tried troubleshooting, this that and the other.  Came down to the conclusion it HAD to be an Apple problem.  My phone was still under warranty so I took it in, Apple gave me a BRAND NEW IPHONE, still had problems.  I do not have apps running in the background.  I was having to go in and manually shut off my data. As I said before, they had me delete apps off of my phone (what is the point of having a smartphone if you can't even use it).

I bought an iPhone 6 plus.  Same issue and nobody seems to know anything.  Lets try troubleshooting, blah, blah, blah.  Once again, having to manually shut off my data.  It is really too bad that an average user eats up more than average data when they are connected to WiFi 95% of the time.

A few years ago I was forced by Verizon to get a different phone because they bought out the cell phone company that I originally belonged to.  This was when I purchased the iPhone 5. I was told by multiple people (at the store, customer service, etc) that my plan would NOT change.  That was a LIE.  Welcome to the data nightmare.

I called about a week ago regarding the data usage.  They said they could do a promotional thing with data so we could get to the bottom of this.  I received an email notification that our bill was ready, with a $10 overage fee for data. Hmmmmm..... so I called, there is no such thing as a promotional data.  I was LIED to again.  Well, we will send you to this person and then this person can help you trouble shoot.

Guess what - I'm sick of troubleshooting my phone.  Sounds like to me, VERIZON IS THE ISSUE.  FIX IT!!

@

[vzw_customer_support]

manders21,

I can assure you we truly want to get to the bottom of this data usage. I when you started turning off your data did your usage go down? When you visited the Data utilization tool, check the out the details here... http://vz.to/1O6zkGJ, what was showing the use the most data? Also, when you go into Settings>Cellular on your device, what apps are showing the most usage?

LindseyT_VZW
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If my response answered your question please click the "Correct Answer" button under my response. This ensures others can benefit from our conversation. Thanks in advance for your help with this!!