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. :D
Ang problema ay nasa Globe. Kahit naman anong plan ka, you will exceed their limits kasi dadayain ka ng Globe. I have an iPhone (here in Canada) and I monitor my usage closely as well and so far, hindi pa naman ako lumalampas at hindi naman ako nagkakaroon ng outrageous bill. Totoo na laging naka-on ang internet ng iPhone at yun talaga ang feature ng phone and I think Apple doesn’t need to fix this feature kasi yun ang selling point ng iPhone, not it being just another touch phone.
I suggest you file a suit against Globe for the bill that you shouldn’t be receiving kung within the limits ka naman.
It’s sad how people are blaming Apple for something that they do not control – cellular billing. They made the phone, not the plan. The cellular companies dictate how they bill their customers, not Apple. These cellular companies know exactly what the phone does and it is their responsibility to inform their customers of how the phone works and what charges may incur with using the phone.
@brianb – one of my friend who had the same problem is a lawyer and he told me he’s preparing a lawsuit or something.
@ardz – I have a friend who has a Nokia E51 that bumped into the same problem before.
yikes. plan ko pa naman to avail one sa globe dahil postpaid user ako. ayoko na ng iphone. ipod touch na lang siguro. sana ma-ugrade na like the nano na me camera na ngaun. i’d prefer a faster processor though kahit wala ng cam.
tapos puro samsung na lang ang celfones ko. maingat naman ako sa gamit kaya kahit cheap di madaling masira.
OMG i tought i was the only one having this issue. My bill got 9k! and im only on a plan 500! but now i turned off my APN and delete all settings. and my push notifications was turned off from the start.
That’s a lot of bill. No pun intended, and am sorry that you’ve been through this. So this is called a Smartphone? “Shrewdphone” would be more like it. We’ve heard of this thing exploding in people’s faces, but it could also send them to the poorhouse?
Now that’s one thing to really loathe this device.
30,000 a month for our iPhone subscription plan.
This problem is unique to the iPhone only. This never happens to other phone brands I know.
i’m also planning to sell my iphone 3G my unpaid bills went to whooping Php 20,000
lol….
i got a 200K+ (Yes with a K!) bill a few months ago – it took a while to get this settled due to their pesky internet system. what i hate about this is it was found out before i was actually billed and it took them a month or so to get the dispute fix
I had the same experience before with my jailbroken 1st gen while browsing on Smart. The phone froze and after several reset attempts I got the phone running again but by then I missed to manually remove the APN. The apps were happy to download all they can and sent my bill to the roof. Stayed with WiFi after that.
yuga cover mo nmn mga bagong ipod..karerelease lng knina..hehe..
It’s corporate greed I tell you. Greed!
Try jailbreaking and install PrivaCy in Cydia, which can block apps from connecting unnecessarily. More instructions here:
http://pinoytopics.com/iphone/privacy-battery-savings-for-jailbroken-iphones/
Ouch. And I thought the erroneous billing on the iPhone was unique to AT&T in the US.
Grabe nga kaya maski singko nirereklamo ko talaga ang postpaid. Grabe talaga ito.
Someone has to file a class action. You said you know friends with the same problem. It may be well worth it Abe, especially since you’re tech savvy and have a name in the tech world. Gather some people, get a sympathetic attorney who won’t charge you a house to get him on retainer–there may be a couple–and sue them. You said you have documentary (screenshot) proofs, too.
iphone is more an internet browser, i suggest that u subscribe to unlimited internet plan from sun, remove the sim from the modem and stick it to your iphone- there you have it, unlimited internet anytime anywhere minus the worry. For 799 php a month its a very good deal, u can set push email to On and you wouldnt have to worry about charges ever again plus you’ll be literally online 24/7.
Downside- you cant use your phone to make phonecalls and text messaging.
same here! 17,000 for a month!
i have an officemate who has the same issue with his postpaid bill. and he’s also using an iPhone. so basically it’s a problem with the iphone or with subscriber? haha
That’s sad. On prepaid one has to simply not load the phone anymore in case your credits ran out mysteriously. You may only lose some 300 pesos or so, than be unaware that your phone has been racking up those charges even while you’re asleep.
I hope your provider could settle this issue.