Help! Data Gouging Going On

[jessicacarner]

I have been a Verizon customer for more than 10 years, and have always been pleased with their service and support. When I switched to the galaxy s6 a little over a month ago, I have had consistent problems with my data usage. Attempts to work with customer service have been futile, and they insist that I need to increase my data plan. In the 10 years that I've been a Verizon customer I have never exceeded my data allowance. However, since acquiring the galaxy s6 I have reached the limit of my data plan before the month is even half over. This is while sitting at home with a strong reliable AT&T uverse wifi connection. I am also on wifi all day while at work. The only time I am NOT connected to wifi, is when I am in my car or on the rare occasion that I might use my phone while out to dinner. I've been extra cognizant of it because of the issues I had last billing cycle. What this boils down to is fraud. Verizon is gouging me for data usage that I am NOT actually accruing.

Just tonight, I was watching a video on my phone. I received a text that I was at 75 percent of my data allowance and there are still 10 days left in my billing cycle. I continued to watch the video and within 3 minutes I received another text that I had reached the maximum data allowance for my plan. This is all the while connected to my wifi which is always on and has excellent signal strength. I am sitting right next to the router.

Has anyone else had this issue? Weather with the Galaxy S6 or other phones? It's really frustrating to all of a sudden receive notifications that I am over my data allowance while I'm sitting at home connected to wifi. It's ridiculous and upsetting. the response I received from customer service was that I needed to increase my data plan. Even though I have been on a 2GB plan for as long as I can remember. When I protested, they told me it would be a lot cheaper than paying all the overages that I had accrues. Gee, thanks. Again, I have never gone over my data allowance, EVER.

[MiiHere]

What all did Verizon have you try to resolve the issue?

One main thing you can try is to turn off your cellular service while connected to Wi-Fi that way should you be having drop outs with Wi-Fi and just not notice them your cellular service won't pick it up in order to stream seamlessly. It could be an issue with your phone communicating with Wi-Fi and doing that is a good way to at least eliminate that as the problem.

Your data usage doesn't get reported immediately, so the text you received alerting you to your usage one after another wasn't for what you were doing right that second, it was for earlier in the day. There are apps out there to help you monitor your usage more instantly than waiting on Verizon.

I'd also make sure you're closing all apps running in the background.

Out of curiosity you find your phone is constantly searching for service or location?

[jessicacarner]

Thanks for your reply. They wouldn't do anything to help me resolve the issue...they just basically said, "Well, sorry. You'll need to buy more data or pay the fees."

I was at work yesterday for 12 hours and didn't even touch my phone, so I have no idea what apps might have caused me to get those messages later in the evening about reaching my data max allowance.

The day I got the phone, I plugged it in and ran the updates/install it mandated. The very same evening I got a text that I had reached my data allowance. All I had done was to program the phone the way Verizon instructed me to.

I have also closed all background apps, set apps to only function via Wi-Fi when able, etc.

Very frustrating that it is on the customer to try to figure out how they can "stay on top of" their usage when they have never had to worry about it before. Not good customer service and is counter intuitive. The whole point of having a smart phone is freedom and ease of use/access. Now I feel like it's another job I have to take care of constantly.

To answer your question about searching, no. My phone has a strong signal at all times and I am connected to Wi-Fi 95% of the every day (with a strong signal strength).

[MiiHere]

May I ask how much data you are signed up for? It's good you close all background apps, but do you turn off cellular service? I realize that you've never had a problem connecting to your Wi-Fi in the past, but if your phone is new and perhaps your router set-up old they might be having trouble that's going unnoticed; I had trouble with my Windows 8.1 connecting to my Comcast modem and once it was replaced I haven't had any issues.

[jessicacarner]

I am currently signed up for 2GB. Upgraded to 4GB last month to cover overages. I check my Wi-Fi connection constantly and am always connected. At least, I would assume so if my phone is telling me I am connected to XYZ network.

[MiiHere · Accepted solution]

I'm guessing you haven't tried turning off your cellular network or data, or perhaps don't understand what I mean because you haven't answered. Try doing that and using just Wi-Fi and see what happens; does your streaming get spotty, is it slow etc.

[jessicacarner]

No, I'm sorry. I wasn't intentionally ignoring that part of your question. I just overlooked it. I have now set my phone to not use any data when I reach my limit, and only function on Wi-Fi.

I will try your suggestion of switching off the 4G LTE totally and see what happens. Thanks, again for the response.

[MiiHere]

I believe cellular and data will require turning off 2 things, though just turning off data should be enough; you'll still be able to send and receive text messages with Message+ but won't be able to browse (unless connected to Wi-Fi)

If you think to, please do report back on your findings. Data issues are a prominent thing around here and all the extra info can help the next person or really boil down what the problem is; Verizon, Phone etc.

[MiiHere]

Also, is it safe to assume then this is only your second month with the new phone? The first month might have been so high if you were setting up your phone; downloading apps and them updating on their own before turning off the feature etc.

[jessicacarner]

Yes, this is only my second month with the new phone. I am only expressing frustration because I have never had this issue before. While I understand that a new phone brings new issues, I would think it would be the opposite...with improved technology, I would be having fewer problems. But, yes, you are correct that it is my second month only.

[Weth]

What phone did you have before? Is this your first phone with LTE? Your phone should be able to tell you which app(s) are using the data so you can narrow your troubleshooting.

There are a few cases where the data use is unexplained, but I would say the vast majority of times people report high data use, it is explainable once proper investigation is done. It does not help one's position with Verizon if you do not have information on what is or is not using data.

[vzw_customer_support]

jessicacarner,

Data overage is never a fun surprise, so I completely understand your concern. I appreciate all the steps you've already taken to help manage your usage and avoid data overage going forward. Visit http://www.verizonwireless.com/support/knowledge-base-152114/ for great tips on optimizing your data usage.

Connecting to WiFi is definitely a great way to help manage your data usage. A good thing to do to ensure you are not usage data while connected to WiFi is to make sure you disable Auto Switch between WiFi & Cellular data http://www.verizonwireless.com/support/knowledge-base-150576/. If this option is enabled your phone will switch to cellular if the WiFi connection is lost or weak.

Keep us posted if you need further assistance or have any additional concerns.

JohnB_VZW

Follow us on Twitter @VZWSupport

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!!

[imc3]

Since you say the trouble started when you got your new phone, then I would suggest checking to make sure the new phone is connecting to your Wi-Fi. Then I would do some other troubleshooting, for example, how much data per month (on average) were you using before? (LTE uses A LITTLE more data, but you indicated that about 25% of 2GB was used in 3 minutes!!, which indicates a possible problem with your phone?).  It's POSSIBLE that a setting change may fix your problem, but I doubt that any intentional data gouging is going on, so more detective work is needed

[jessicacarner]

Thanks for your reply. The reason I suspect fishy business practices is because of this thread, which I found last night while researching online: I'm accruing data usage when I'm connected to wifi

[csnj80]

The S6 also has Download booster which can use both WiFi & mobile data together for faster downloads. Go to Settings--> More, and ensure download booster is turned off.