AT&T data charge

Hi! Im new here, so if there is a better forum for my topic, please let me know. I need advice about AT&T data charges. Been with them for 4 years, when they changed from Cingular, i had billing problems for about 3 billing cycles. Cleared up for about 2 months. I had to get a new phone, mine was going down for good. Had to renew contract to do this, and thought all was well. Our bill is normally $176.00 for 3 lines. The bill after the new phone was 500.00, data useage charge. The second bill is $1055.00! Data useage again. The CSR was shocked, and im sure he wasnt supposed to have this reaction, when he asked what type of phone i had. He ask if i had a PDA? No, i do not. "you would have to have a PDA to get this many Kb on your phone". And of course, he submitted the bill for a credit, they said no. Im afraid of my phone now. Ive never in 4 years used the internet. I have not accidentally got on the net by cell, i havent bought any ringtones, pictures, sent any messages other than my normal text. And that is under unlimited charge of $20.00. I did not do this. It occured after the purchase of my phone, Sony ericsson I805 (slide phone) model number may be incorrect. I ran across a person on the net who was charged $3000.00. At the last minute, they did correct the problem, i did email him, he told me what he could, which is basically what im doing. I have made sure there is no accidental email going somewhere, ive checked everything. I have no clue and need help. i am not paying this. I didnt do it, and have rarely used my phone until this dispute is over. i did pay all but useage charges on my last bill. Can someone please offer me help, a link, anything! Im not forking out this large amount just to keep them happy, and even if i did, the problem obviously will keep going. Im not stuck on internet, the downloads would stop after the page is downloaded anyway, according to the CSR. Please help if you can.

 

They said there was no way to block internet service for my cell. I believed them because i havent had this problem before. What they did want me to do was to sign up for internet service before anymore useagae charges came about. I refused this because i do not use the net on my phone and to me, that would make me look guilty of the situation. Im not willing to pay an extra charge each month for something im not accessing. Maybe internet service can be blocked at different cell companys, but AT&T told me they could not do this. If anyone thinks this is untrue, i will try once again to see what result i have.

 

Sorry about that. It is a 580i. (sony ericson slide ph./walkman) I have not used any of the music features, email, blue tooth, nothing. I have my download set to "ask before downloading". I havent used the AT&T mail, media, or email feature. I am using the basic phone, and t.m. which i do not go over the message amount before it sends 2 messages instead of 1, due to me not knowing if that will charge me. Instead, i just manually type part II of the t.m and send it then. That is how careful i was when i first got the phone, so i dont know how this is happening. I cant believe the CSR told me they cannot block internet useage. I hope he just didnt know, I wasnt rude or mean at all,, and the CSR was nice, there was no problem between us. I dont remember if it is you or someone else who asked, but the answer is no, i have not hooked a USB cable to my computer and hooked my phone in. I have no use for any of the downloads, screensavers, etc. on my phone. I do have the cable, but i have not hooked it up, for no reason at all. I did get my credit review back, (dont remember if i posted this already) and they are not going to give me a credit. This is only the first step, i know, but first of last, i am not paying this, i did not do it. I did not do it knowingly, or accidentally. Im terrified of my own phone at this point.

 

thanks! that is correct. it is not on my phone. Finally i went to get the box to look up the model number. As i am too "afraid" to look up the number internally on my phone. May have a charge for that too. (thanks Efparri, for correcting my phone model)

 

Why do I need to pay extra each month for something im not useing? I know it would cheaper, and im not trying to sound rude to you, I understand exactly what you are saying. But, for extra money each month, i would rather apply it to something im actually using. I dont want to pay extra just to keep them from screwing up my bill. Since i havent done what is on my bill, what else will be charged on it next time? Maybe something else im not signed up for. I havent had this problem the entire 4 years, until i got this new phone, and then it all started from there.

 

Do most of the mms text messages get charged as data charges? I would imagine they do, but i am not sure. I have always just cut my message of myself, and sent out another text manually, to avoid any data charges just in case of this. The CSR also told me that AT&T could not go into my account and check to see what the activity consists of as far as net useage, he told me it wasnt legal. So, basically, there is no way for them to find out exactly what was done that i am being charged for. What if there is a bug in the billing, and there is no actual info as to what I was doing to run up "useage" charges. How would they know that? Since ive obvioiusly been told something false about blocking my internet for my phone, I have no idea anymore. I think the CSR honeslty didnt know what he was telling me was false.

 

No, i have never connected my phone to my computer. If i did, I can see how charges may have gotten on my bill, moreso than i can understand it now. Thats why ive never hooked it up.

 

No, Ash, I do not have a bill that explains any of this. Thats another great situation as i look at this mess. I cant believe i have this huge bill, and the charges are listed as "useage charges". Thats it, no explanation, nothing. The CSR, told me they had no way of looking up what this is for, it is illegal for them to look at what we have been doing as far as the internet. Which, I thought was odd, maybe they cant read my emails, but at least be able to tell me what all this data is used for., Is there a possible way that someone is "hacking" into my phone service? Its just amazing to me that this is mysteriously on my bill. We have to other Samsung phones here from AT&T that were free when i bought this one. If i take the sim card out, and put inside of one of those, it wont charge me for something weird will it? Normally, i would say "no" but im terrified to do anything. Im thinking there is something wrong with this phone, since this started when it was purchased, and ive never had charges from the internet the entire 4 years of being with AT&T. I think he told me I had around 5000kb on my first bill. I dont know what would be a normal amount of kb.

 

My phone is locking okay. But i dont know if there is another problem, like you mentioned, about something constantly streaming. When i close my phone, of slide it back into one solid piece, it locks then, i set it that way, no problems with that, so far.

 

I will block it, i have to call them tomarrow. The thing is, I asked about blocking the internet, (which is what AT&T is saying the charges are from) and I was told they could not do that. The only way i have learned differently about this is through you guys. Trust me, I suggested they block it. Reply was, they could not, and for me to sign up for net service, eveh though im not using it. Its just all ridiculous. When this gets straight however that may be, im getting away from them.

 

I have been to this page many times. Everytime I check my data useage, it says, "data is being updated" Its been that way on my account each time ive been to the site. I thought it may be due to them working out my bill.

 

This is just getting better by the second. I just now went to the online AT&T site, and of course the only thing listed on my data charges is five pictures for .25 each. No problem. And this is the only time ive seen any data charges on my account. The main problem is this, i tried to go in, im getting a securtiy warning from my Norton and ie. Security Certificate is invalid. I checked and supposedly the date has not expired. If it was just ie security doing this, i would not take as serious. But my Norton is doing this as well. I did notify AT&T of this. And i did report the site. IF I used all the data that they are saying i did, why did it not appear anywhere on my account? Online or the one that comes in the mail. Only explanantion I have, is for the one in the mail, and all it says is, "Data Useage" and then, a large amount. No explaining, no itemization, nothing. I imagine if this is not resolved when i call them tomarrow, I need to give a dispute in writing. This is driving me nuts. I hope one of you can go to the site to see if you can get in. When I click on My Account, is when the warning pops up. In RED. Thanks for all your help.