Weird data charges

[ridgerunner57]

I got my verizon bill the other day and was suprised by a bunch of little data charges such as .025 mb or .625 mb. The weird thing is, they occured at completely random times, such as about the time I turn my phone on in the morning or while I am driving to work. I have used the phone from time to time on the web, but only through my wifi which is reliable.  I got the timestamp info from my account on the My Verizon site. I called them but they couldn't tell me just what the phone was doing, but they did delete the charges which added up to 10 mb in all or 20 bucks (I don't have a data plan). I have since gone into the "hidden menu" and turned off data.

Really wish I knew what the phone was doing.

Thanks,

James

[fisharefriends]

I can't say what is going on with the random charges; however, i will not stress the importance of blocking data if you plan on connecting to the internet AT ALL. And apparently, even if you don't browse, you still have the chance of getting random charges; Block data. It sounds like you have done this, so you should be good to go. However, it may be a better idea to block data on Verizon's side, that way you are 100% safe from data charges (assuming you blocked it right). If somehow data happens to get charged to you when you have data blocked on your phone's side, there will be nothing you can do to actually 'prove' it, but if data is blocked on Verizon's side, it is altogether blocked from your number; no charges possible, and if somehow it happens to 'get through' the block, you will be able to argue that you didn't use any data, because you had data blocked through Verizon, and there is a higher likelyhood they would have to uphold it.

Note, those are 2 extreme cases; in any event, i highly doubt any data will be getting through with either of the data blocks.

[ridgerunner57 · Accepted solution]

Thanks for your reply. I think it was my Gmail that was doing some of it. Even though I had it set for manual sync, it had somehow reverted to 30 minute intervals. I think it was also doing it when I turned the phone on. Blocking the phone via the hidden menu definately kills the browser and the email over 3g, but the wifi still works fine. Not sure if it kills simple txt messages though. I think blocking on Verizon's side is a good idea also for the reasons you stated.

Thanks again

James