billed for data transfer usage even when service was not used

C

Curious ^.^

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for the last 2 billing cycles, my ATT bill shows usage for data transfer (pay per use)on both my phone (800+ kb) and my wife (900+kb) but we never use our phones for e-mail or browsing. if ever, i may have accidental connections because i have an LG VU touch screen phone, but usage shouldn't be that much. i have contested this issue with ATT for the last 2 months and getting annoyed. has anybody experienced same problem?
 
no. bill shows data transfers even at the wee hours of the morning when we are asleep and no one definitely using or in physical contact with the phone. and bill shows small number of kb for each data transfer (2- 10 kb). so there are multiple data transfers throughout the day. att says i should just get a data plan. why would i when i don't intend to use the phone for such purpose. i would have gotten an iphone if i wanted to use my phone to browse/surf the net.

no. bill shows data transfers even at the wee hours of the morning when we are asleep and no one definitely using or in physical contact with the phone. and bill shows small number of kb for each data transfer (2- 10 kb). so there are multiple data transfers throughout the day. att says i should just get a data plan. why would i when i don't intend to use the phone for such purpose. i would have gotten an iphone if i wanted to use my phone to browse/surf the net.
 
If you have Video Share Pay Per Use turned on, go into OLAM and turn it off. Apparently several LG phones with Video Share capability connect to the Internet using the ims.cingular APN. Your data details in OLAM should show that APN instead of wap.cingular, if that is the problem. You have to check the data details for each line individually.
 
thanks for the help. however, ATT OLAM and paper bill does not show details. bill just says data transfer without much description. how else can i check that this might be the source of my problem. be that as it may that this might be the cause, why do the phones connect to the internet by themselves?

my bad, i saw the tab for data details. data shows ims.cingular with data sent. what does this mean? i'm positive that i'm not trying to connect to the internet and am not even using the phone at the time the OLAM said i sent data.
 
Have you setup the individual users On OLAM? You click on the user on the first screen of OLAM and then Data. Then View Details. On the next screen should be a line by line description of each data connection and each message sent or received. If you do not have detailed bills sent to your home, you can view your detailed bill online.

These are the column headings:

Then you would see lines for each transaction. This is a line for an iPhone. The To/From on your phone should be wap.cingular or ims.cingular;


If you have Video Sharing turned on, each time you make or receive a call, your phone has to report to the network that it is available for a Video Share call. It also makes periodic reports when the phone is available for incoming Video Share calls. This only occurs if you are in a 3G area.
 
Are you sending/receiving picture mail? Also be sure your friends aren't texting you from a computer because these charges appear as data transfer as well...though they can be sub-identified as mobile to web and vice-versa. I would recommend getting a data plan.

Of course you can always get the Smart Limits feature for $4.99. This would allow you to restrict data services + more. I guarantee AT&T will not credit you every month you call in.
 
i haven't sent/received mail pictures. i use data primarily with the mobile tv feature and text messages only. plus the time stamp on the OLAM for the data transfers indicate times when data is supposedly being sent during wee hours in the morning (1-4 AM) while i'm asleep. unless their time stamps are inaccurate. but even then, like i said from the beginning of this thread, i've never used the phone for receiving or sending data thru the web. i decided to switch my sim card to an old cellphone to see if the charges will continue, it has been a day and a half now since i switched and so far i don't see anycharges. of course it's holiday and maybe they haven't hadthe chance to update yet. if it still occurs, i'm taking the phone to an ATT store and have them keep it for at least two days and see if the charges still occur while phone is in their possession. mightbe the only way to prove to them that i don't use the phone for data transfers and yet get charged for it.
 
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