3g-g
3rd November 2006, 01:02 PM
Well I'm not sure if anyone deserves the sympathy to be honest, fair enough the guy wasn't computer literate, however he's more than able to check the cost of things before signing up. But from the article it looks as if Wave saw the guy coming and have made a wad of cash! I'd presume there's no way out of this for the chap, he's used the service and will need to pay! A sore one at that! I've highlighted the bits where I read and just slap my head and say "d'oh"! :p
Hyron Mosss phone bill went up from a monthly average of £120 to just over £630 after he signed up to the internet service last month and he wanted to warn others about falling into the same trap.
When the salesman realised I was not very computer-literate, he deliberately misled me about how much it would cost, claimed the 47-year-old cleaner. But Wave is confident he was given the best advice.
The company suspended his account after it had built up a bill of £630.41, claiming it was excessive use. He was angry that it had not stepped in sooner.
My average bill was £120, so surely it should have occurred to them that it was being used excessively way before letting it reach more than five times the usual cost, he said.
Mr Moss arrived in the island 18 months ago and has subscribed to a Wave pay-monthly mobile contract since.
Last month he bought a laptop and wanted to establish an internet connection. He went into Waves High Street shop and took the salesmans advice to buy a 3G data card to plug into his laptop to get online wirelessly via his mobile number. (Edit:does this mean he's sold him a SIM free data card? They're a fortune new!)
Wave managing director Tim Ringsdore said 3G data cards were designed for customers who were constantly on the go and needed a fast, convenient and mobile internet connection.
He said the service worked throughout the Bailiwick.
Prior to signing up to 3G, Mr Moss used his phone to make calls to mobiles and land lines locally and in South Africa, his former home.
I was told my new internet connection would cost me about £3 per hour. I thought this was very reasonable for the amount I was going to use it. I live off a modest wage and cannot afford to be extravagant.
Mr Ringsdore said Waves 3G data service costs 0.293p per KB of data downloaded.
To put it into perspective, it costs approximately 5p to download an average-sized email using our 3G service, he said.
When Mr Moss scrutinised the itemised bill, he discovered that only £55 was for phone calls the balance was for the internet connection.
Mr Ringsdore said: We are sorry that this customer feels it is expensive, but the charges raised were correct and Wave cannot be held responsible if someone uses a particular service more than they had originally anticipated.
Mr Moss claimed the salesman knew there were cheaper options for getting online but had failed to tell him.
I took my laptop in and he saw it was wireless-enabled and he could have told me that I could make use of Wifi connections when I needed the internet, he said. But instead I have been landed with a phone bill for one month which has cost more than my laptop.
Mr Ringsdore said his shop staff were committed to finding the right solution for each customer.
We always make sure that we clearly explain the features and charges of our services and would not sell a 3G data card solution to someone if we felt it was not suitable for their needs.
Original article is here. (http://www.thisisguernsey.com/code/shownewsarticle.pl?ArticleID=001344)
Hyron Mosss phone bill went up from a monthly average of £120 to just over £630 after he signed up to the internet service last month and he wanted to warn others about falling into the same trap.
When the salesman realised I was not very computer-literate, he deliberately misled me about how much it would cost, claimed the 47-year-old cleaner. But Wave is confident he was given the best advice.
The company suspended his account after it had built up a bill of £630.41, claiming it was excessive use. He was angry that it had not stepped in sooner.
My average bill was £120, so surely it should have occurred to them that it was being used excessively way before letting it reach more than five times the usual cost, he said.
Mr Moss arrived in the island 18 months ago and has subscribed to a Wave pay-monthly mobile contract since.
Last month he bought a laptop and wanted to establish an internet connection. He went into Waves High Street shop and took the salesmans advice to buy a 3G data card to plug into his laptop to get online wirelessly via his mobile number. (Edit:does this mean he's sold him a SIM free data card? They're a fortune new!)
Wave managing director Tim Ringsdore said 3G data cards were designed for customers who were constantly on the go and needed a fast, convenient and mobile internet connection.
He said the service worked throughout the Bailiwick.
Prior to signing up to 3G, Mr Moss used his phone to make calls to mobiles and land lines locally and in South Africa, his former home.
I was told my new internet connection would cost me about £3 per hour. I thought this was very reasonable for the amount I was going to use it. I live off a modest wage and cannot afford to be extravagant.
Mr Ringsdore said Waves 3G data service costs 0.293p per KB of data downloaded.
To put it into perspective, it costs approximately 5p to download an average-sized email using our 3G service, he said.
When Mr Moss scrutinised the itemised bill, he discovered that only £55 was for phone calls the balance was for the internet connection.
Mr Ringsdore said: We are sorry that this customer feels it is expensive, but the charges raised were correct and Wave cannot be held responsible if someone uses a particular service more than they had originally anticipated.
Mr Moss claimed the salesman knew there were cheaper options for getting online but had failed to tell him.
I took my laptop in and he saw it was wireless-enabled and he could have told me that I could make use of Wifi connections when I needed the internet, he said. But instead I have been landed with a phone bill for one month which has cost more than my laptop.
Mr Ringsdore said his shop staff were committed to finding the right solution for each customer.
We always make sure that we clearly explain the features and charges of our services and would not sell a 3G data card solution to someone if we felt it was not suitable for their needs.
Original article is here. (http://www.thisisguernsey.com/code/shownewsarticle.pl?ArticleID=001344)