One would think that if one purchased an expensive item like an iPhone, one would actually read the manual for it. But no. Someone with an iPhone has got back from holiday to a nice, chunky bill from Telecom due to data roaming. Here is his tale of woe(ful ignorance):
““Our advice is don’t turn it on because Telecom’s data roaming charges will break you … it’s another case of the Kiwi consumer being screwed.”
“He got a “huge shock” when the bill arrived, especially because it was not clear what the charges were for.
““It’s definitely a warning for the Kiwi consumer because at that cost it’s just prohibitive.”
“Mr Donald, a film producer, said he had sent only one text message and made one phone call.
“He believes there needs to be more awareness of the data roaming charges.
““Most people who just turn on their phone won’t know it would have an effect on their bill …”
Let me help you Mr. Donald. You have an iPhone. iPhones coming with Data Roaming switched off. This is because the iPhone uses location services to determine where it is at any particular point in time. This is very handy for locating your place on a map, getting local weather, keeping the local time up to date etc. Unfortunately it uses a small amount of data all the time and this adds up while you are away for a few weeks. Normally, this would come off your total download allowance, but when you are roaming globally you pay by the megabyte. You pay a lot per megabyte. This is not Telecom’s fault, these are the charges for the country you are in. Blame Australians. Everybody else does.
This is why iPhones come with data roaming switched off. It is also why a large notice comes onto your screen the first time you turn it on saying “Turn data roaming off when abroad to avoid substantial data roaming charges when using email, MMS, web browsing and other data services”. This message is also permanently displayed under the data roaming switch. So the statement “Most people who just turn on their phone won’t know it would have an effect on their bill …” is not actually true, is it?
The sad fact is that this is not “another case of the Kiwi consumer being screwed”, this is clearly another case of the Kiwi customer being stupid.
Next time, Mr. Donald, I suggest strongly that you RTFM.
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Jan 16 10 11:38 pm
McDoctor
It also warns you of this every time you try and use and service that wants data. e.g. Map, weather etc. So as you say, no excuse.
I had a colleague fly over from Australia a few months ago, and he used his cell phone as his 3G service when living in a serviced apartment for a few months. It was 2 months into his visit when he got a call from the accounts department asking him why his mobile phone bill was A$3000+ last month. By the time the final bill came in he had run up a bill of over A$7000. As you can imagine he was not flavour of the month, especially when he could get wifi for NZ$70 a week through the apartment.
Jan 17 10 1:26 am
Agreed!
I bought my Iphone in Australia and put my NZ Vodafone SIMM card in it(been with them since they were bell south). I run it on the pay if you use data plan in NZ ($1 for 10mb per day that you actually use it otherwise no charge) and it costs me about $5 to $10 in data per month. I have WIFI at home and at work so it suits me fine as I pre load map plates using WIFI if i need them and only have my @me.com email address set to push. This way I can give out my me.com address if I really need an email right then and there.
In Australia, I used to get some internet at the hotel and do the same…..quite expensive (interesting article by Click on Line about hotel internet charges….The same companies that still insist on a 50mb cap for $30 in NZ seem to operate in AUS as well….living in the 90′s!!…that’s two or three good sized email attachments these days). I ended up buying a pre paid broadband stick that I can use with my laptop and data on average costs me $19AUS to recharge about once a month. (I’m in AUS every week)
That this guy claims to be a film producer AND not be aware of roaming charges is just plain stupid! I’ve on the odd occasion had to use data for maps whilst in Australia when stuck in the middle of nowhere in a car full of Australians that have no idea where we are. The data charges only came in at NZ$15 or so for enough map plates to get us a few hundred km’s so this guy must really have been going for it!
Pre Loading is quite a good habit to get into (many of the GPS apps allow you to cache enough map plates to get you across Australia if you are to cheap to get the tomtom app like I am) It will save you a packet when you don’t have to turn the data roaming on…then just pick up mails when you are on a WIFI and be patient about the fact that half your other apps rely on the internet in some form, so are unusable unless you’re on WiFi
As for his text and phone claims, I don’t know what it’s like price wise with Telecom, but vodafone rates are pretty much the same as here for calls and texts in most places (some are even cheaper!) with the caveat that all incoming calls are charged as well as outgoing…
The other interesting thing to note is that in order to roam with Vodafone (data, calls and MMS) you have to actually contact them to activate the service, first time you want to use it. When you contact them, they tell you about all the potential charges…does Telecom do the same?