Lot of Data used within half hour

[Caesar0753]

My average data use is 6GB per month 

I pay for 20GB per month

Yesterday , I received a text to say I had used it all which I thought was odd . But I bought a bolt on for 2GB to get me through till when it is renewed in 4 days.

mysteriously this was used within half hour!!!

I thought this was a fault so I rang number for O2 to be told at beginning of call would cost £6 if proceeded  so I hung up . I have been charged this for a 12 second phone call .. just listening to this message!

I then got through to another number and spoke to a customer service representative who really didn’t understand what I was trying to tell her and couldn’t help me!

so I ordered another bolt on for 4GB thinking it may have been an error … 

this ran out in an hour where I had my mobile data knocked off half the time !! 
so within two hours I’ve spent over £36 and still no further forward about fault on data and I have no data left!!! 
please help.. ive been an O2 customer for over 25 years and I’m ready to leave !! 

[Cleoriff · Accepted solution]

@Caesar0753 

You shouldn't be charged for any call to customer services unless you are abroad. All numbers are in this guide.

No-one here will know why your data is being used so quickly as we have no access to your account.

Guide: Coronavirus Community Help and Support 

[AimeeA]

Did you get a solution to this?

Same thing happened to me. Data was renewed, got a message an hour later saying it was all used up! I get 15 gb a month & use about 9 in the whole month.

Nothing added to my phone or settings changed. It was highly unusual & o2 customer service was a joke. Telling me it’s my phone. Fine if something had changed, but nothing had! After 13 years, I’m considering changing. Always stayed with O2 because of their great customer service, but it’s now just as bad as the rest of them. No help, telling me it’s my pro. It’s highly unusual, and it looks like it’s happened to more than one customer….

[pgn]

Guide: Help make your data allowance last  has a few tips - and it can take a couple of movies and one or two updates with WiFi assist feature enbled to make your phone use the stronger cellphone signal rather than your home WiFi signal.

Take a look in your network settings, there should be a chart or meter in there that tells you what you have used in the last month.

Good luck, @AimeeA.

[AimeeA]

Thanks for your reply. I’m very tech savvy and know how to control and use my data. I’m frustrated as I keep receiving replies like this one that aren’t reading/listening to my concern: namely this is highly suspicious activity.

I control my mobile data app updates, the last app update I did was three months ago over mobile data, otherwise it’s always wifi.

I haven’t changed any settings on my phone and haven’t added any new apps.

I don’t need wifi assist. I need to know why my 15gb disappeared in one hour after 20 minutes of scrolling instagram and nothing else the morning it was renewed. So now I have to wait to see if this happens again next month, and if it does, I dread having to report it to o2 and I’m out of pocket again with no service provided for my money and no acknowledgment of the concern from the provider about the reported suspicious activity.

Reiterate. I am not a novice with phones and know how to troubleshoot. I do this in my job. Hence knowing this isn’t right trying to raise this issue to no avail.

[pgn]

Setting aside your frustration at the level of responses you receive from another user (nobody from O2 watches or responds here on the Forum, usually):

1. What does the phone's data usage chart report by app tell you, @AimeeA?
2. If the data consumed by your apps is way below the 15GB that has gone, then I would suspect reporting, cross-check data availble in your MyO2, is amiss.
3. What does your MyO2 say about your data usage historically?  PAYG vs Pay Monthly will show different things here in either MyO2 App or MyO2 via Web.
4. What does the alert you received say? Is it a spook or scam alert, to get you to take drastic action via a rogue URL?
5. You seem quite a tech-savvy individual, so stay calm and think about the modes of failure that could be at play here - then, check and act accordingly. Complaing about a 13-year relationship with O2 and throwing a strop about the level of Customer Service since VirginMedia and O2 merged, well - it is an opinion, and you are entitled to that. But not much of a bargaining chip to get your missing 15GB identified.
6. And others on here seeing similar symptoms to you, did one of them come back and say "Oh, yes, it was ABC that was at fault"? Nope. 

These might help, if they still work:

If you're on payg you can text BALANCE to 20202.

Or if you are on contract text BALANCE to 21202.

Good luck!