I’ve been on prepaid since I got a mobile phone ten years ago. The only time I was convince to get into a postpaid plan was when I got an iPhone 3G subscription plan from Globe. And for the last 12 months, I thought it was well worth it.
Not until this month when I got my last bill. I’m subscribed on the basic iPhone Plan 1599 and ever since I had it, I never once exceeded my monthly allocation. I don’t text a lot or make calls (and I have 2 other active prepaid numbers) and despite being a heavy mobile internet user, I still am not able to consume all the 40 hours a month allocation (mainly because I got wifi at home and have both SmartBro and Globe Tattoo accounts).
So it was a huge surprise to learn that last month, my bill went beyond Php6,000 (there’s another Php3,700 spill-over internet charges for this month). During that time, I actually monitor my account getting charged about Php400 every day. So I reported it, made screenshots, documented and asked some clarifications. I got a lot of possible answers:
- Push Email was set to ON and the iPhone could be connecting to 3G all the time. In the last 12 months of having GMail and Yahoo on my iPhone, I never set it to ON and it’s OFF until now. Fetch is also set to OFF/Manual.
- iPhone Apps that connect to the net in the background. Been regularly downloading new apps (including Yahoo Messenger, TruPhone and Skype). I thought no iPhone Apps can run in the background? Apple specifically disabled this feature as it hogs resources, battery life and slows down performance. I don’t think there’s an app that runs on the background. To be sure, I restarted/rebooted the iPhone several times during the day.
- iPhone OS 3.0 reset some settings/configurations. However, I did the upgrade in June so I should have experienced this problem much earlier.
The timing is also suspicious as at least 2 other friends on an iPhone plan have racked up Php17,000 and Php20,000 on their bills this same month. I’ve already filed a dispute/report and so have my other friends.
This isn’t the first time this type of incident has happened. I’ve actually helped a couple of people (both on iPhone and Nokia phones) resolve their sky-high 3G internet charges before.
The quick-fix — disable the APN. That way, the iPhone won’t be able to connect even if it tried to.
It’s irritating though that I need to edit my APN every time I want to connect online. It ruins the experience. Now, I’m always afraid to use my iPhone to connect online. If that’s the case, the iPhone looks crippled — might as well ditch it. Apple needs to look into this.
My only gripe si that I only have a Php2,500 credit limit. I assume that when I reach that amount/charge before end of the month, my account gets suspended, which it should be. So, I wonder why my fees go way beyond Php2,500.
My solution?
- Switch to Globe Prepaid. But that doesn’t solve the problem that my credits/load could get drained overnight.
- Jailbreak the iPhone and use my other existing Smart Prepaid SIM.
- Sell the iPhone 3G and get an openline HTC Magic or Nokia E72 for my Globe subscription.
But before that, I need to settle my unpaid and long-overdue bills first. 
Wow. So many similar complaints. Looks like getting an iPhone’s a bad idea. I better consider something else.
DITCH GLOBE!!! They suck at everything.
Fairly good options you have there. Jailbreak it and use a sim from a different network. It really is not iPHONE that sucks and I know you are aware of that. It’s just GLOBE getting greedier than ever. After all, your iPHONE is only as good as the local network you are using it with.
Sun postpaid works pretty well with a jailbroken iphone. No skyrocketing bill. If you love iphone features so much I say ditch GLOBE, not the phone.
Apple won’t be too happy to hear that Globe has discouraged alot of people from owning their wonder phone.
The great things I learned from yuga:
1. Go prepaid if you are a very light user. Will cut my globe postpaid and switch to prepaid.
2. subscribe to Superduo if most of your contacts are Globe/TM
3. Get prepaid lines for back up incase signal falters – I have a Sun and Smart aside from my main Globe.
4. Don’t even think of getting the iphone if you like surfing the net on your mobile!
hi guys,
same here happen to me… i’m a globe postpaid subscriber because of the iphone 3g..
my last bill was shocking since my internet usage was 11,025 minutes that cost.. 3,200+
a long story.. but i manage to request an extract of my internet usage per connection… It turned out that the system of globe seems not to turn off.. its weird that with the file they gave to me.. it says that i’m connected to their system at 2AM without connecting for 20 hours…
i also discovered overlapping connections which is a GOOD POINT at my side since how that thing happen..
one connection is still counting while there is another IP address that will connect into background and they will let you pay for it..
i got a P2000 rebate for my next bill…
actually, i want to make a formal complaint to NEC in regards to this matter but i dont know how..
hi guys,
same here happen to me… i’m a globe postpaid subscriber because of the iphone 3g..
my last bill was shocking since my internet usage was 11,025 minutes that cost.. 3,200+
a long story.. but i manage to request an extract of my internet usage per connection… It turned out that the system of globe seems not to turn off.. its weird that with the file they gave to me.. it says that i’m connected to their system at 2AM without disconnecting for 20 hours…
i also discovered overlapping connections which is a GOOD POINT at my side since how that thing happen..
one connection is still counting while there is another IP address that will connect into background and they will let you pay for it..
i got a P2000 rebate for my next bill…
actually, i want to make a formal complaint to NEC in regards to this matter but i dont know how..
you may request globe customer service to temporarily deactivate your GPRS…
btw, i’m on time browsing rate since day 1 of my iphone…
Yup, got that same problem only with Smart. I spoke to top management personally and they will be coming up with a solution in two weeks time
Don’t ditch it just yet!
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same here.. my bill went to 13.5k.. and i dont want to pay it since they dont cooperate.. will they sue me if i wont pay the bill and let the account cancelled? hehehe
Sir yuga, i have a quesstion…
How did you transfer all your contacts from your iphone to a new phone?
Kasi yung mga contacts ko with custom fields hindi nasasama sa lipat…
So ang lumalabas sa phone ko is name lang walang number…
How did you transfer your contacts?
Thanks!
2 words: Super Surf.
Same with me. I went to GLOBE shangri-la branch last February. I needed the so-called IPhone expert from Globe to deactivate what ever the freaking settings that make the iphone connect to the internet in the background without me knowing. The person made the necessary adjustment on the APN, he said that I can either delete the entry there or add some character to invalidate the entry. But to my surprise, I got my GLOBE bill today ( May 17, 2010 ), I was charged 749.28 for 2520 minutes of internet access !!!!! I called up globe, and asked them why I was still charged internet access. And they asked me if I had deactivated all ( take note, ALL ) the settings there is to be deactivated !!!! I went “HUH ?!!”, I told the lady that one of their ” IPHONE EXPERT ” over at shangri-la did the necessary setting, and it was only the APN that he deactivated. So I ask her what are the freaking settings that I need to deactivate. She said, the APN, location, and notification !!!. And she told me that I have another choice, and that it was what most of GLOBE’s iphone users did !!! have your internet and GPRS disconnected by them.. So that your iphone will not be able to connect to the internet anymore !!! What the hell was that !!!, what is the freaking reason for me to have the iphone if I can surf the net when I needed to ?!
Anyway, I’m looking forward to either jailbreak my iphone and have to control over the phone… or buy an android phone where I have the control
One other problem is my contacts !!! how can I transfer them to a new phone ? Am not that techie.
got the very same problem. I have a Globe Plan, and used it in my iphone 3G. Connected into a wifi from somewhere, then i stopped using the wifi.. turns out when you’re in 3G it automatically turns on the internet through your sim card.
My dad called Globe Telecom and swear that he’ll never pay the bill. =) Then he cancelled the account and said it is not our fault why iphone automatically sets on the internet. Globe should be clear about that one fact before they let users use their iphone.
you know what, it sounds like you don’t know how to set your fone. there is nothing wrong with that phone and globe, buddy, you should start to learn
I have a globe plan G-Flex 2500 to be exact and I don’t exceed the credit limit you know why?
Because I jailbreak my iPhone I pawned my phone.
On A jailbreak iPhone you can shutdown you edge connection this is by default on and the only thing you can get rid of this is to delete your APN but where’s the fun in that.
So if your planning to buy an iPhone globe better to jailbreak it at after the first billing. So you can control your bills.
@jhaymes…
good for you…. you still don’t experience globes overcharging internet connection.
i also jailbreak my iphone since its day 1. With my first year in globe.. nothing seems wrong. My internect connection is only P40 since i’m only checking emails and looking thru maps if i’m lost.
Until one time i’m checking my outstanding charges and i’m surprise that its already 3000 with 2800 all in internet charges. After that, i removed my APN to avoid internet connection via 3g. Everyday i checked my usage and internet charges is still going up.
Luckily, i have a friend who can extract my globe internet connections with IP address, date, time usage…
From the extract, i noticed that there are instances that connections overlaps.
Ex.
IP 207.7.8.4 connects 10:00 AM disconnect 10:30AM
IP 207.8.4.1 connects 10:15 AM disconnect 11:00 AM
see… hows that possible.. how come your phone connects to two different IPs and they charge you with that.
I complain this with globe customer service and i get a 2000 rebate because i have evidence =)
@roland
can i also do that? or should you have a friend inside?
cause when i swear i would never pay the internet chargers and pay only the other charges (calls, texts, etc.) globe blocked my number
now i’m using sun!
@roland
That cool you can do that maybe I will try that process too. Well I experienced the overcharging of Globe. But I’m smarter than them haha I jailbreak my phone then turn off the 3g and edge. Because they also charge you even if your not using a 3g connection.
@sonofa – actually, before contacting my friend i tried to call their customer service to request for the extract. I even go to their center just to follow-up. To no avail, i can’t get any feedback. After almost 2 months, ask help to my friend. After 1 day, he forwarded the file to me =)
But from what the lady told me at their center, soon… this will be reflected to our bill. internet connection details. I wonder how long it will take…
@Jhaymes – are u referring to SBSsetting in cydia? actually when i discovered that app, i already disconnected my data plan =(. Good to know that globe offers unlimited data plan now. iphone is not an iphone without an internet connection on the go. But iphone 4 now has the option to turn off cellular data =)
@abe, What are the settings that need to be turned off if lets say youre going to put in a prepaid simcard?