Fair Usage Policy - Orange BB.

[BenWall]

Don't know if anyone has had this before but Orange are taking the biscuit. I have unlimited 8 meg broadband and I got a letter from Orange saying that I downloaded 61 GB in one month, and that their now going to monitor my usage for a while. I didn't think I downloaded that much, but maybe a few 700mb files during peak. I don't mind them monitoring my usage, as I've now stopped downloading in peak (6-12pm). But it's a joke, they've capped me down to 56k in peak time for 3 months!! So now I'm struggling to load web pages, esecially with lots of pictures, and I can't play xbox live! Can't believe it, the only time I use the net is during peak due to work. Why can't they just monitor my usuage for the next 3 months to make sure I'm not downloading in peak rather than capping. I'm not going to be downloading anything at all any time fast with 56k! Anyway rant over. Hate Orange now

 

[iain187]

hand in your notice?

 

[BenWall]

To orange? They will wont the remaining 9month balance paying.

 

[Gally]

Pmsl! Bum and raped Ben!

 

[BenWall]

 

[Damo_Sport]

cancel direct debits and f**k em?

 

[BenWall]

cancel direct debits and f**k em?

They will chase and get debt collectors on to me. Not worth the hassel.

 

[Tom]

Don't know if anyone has had this before but Orange are taking the biscuit. I have unlimited 8 meg broadband and I got a letter from Orange saying that I downloaded 61 GB in one month, and that their now going to monitor my usage for a while. I didn't think I downloaded that much, but maybe a few 700mb files during peak. I don't mind them monitoring my usage, as I've now stopped downloading in peak (6-12pm). But it's a joke, they've capped me down to 56k in peak time for 3 months!! So now I'm struggling to load web pages, esecially with lots of pictures, and I can't play xbox live! Can't believe it, the only time I use the net is during peak due to work. Why can't they just monitor my usuage for the next 3 months to make sure I'm not downloading in peak rather than capping. I'm not going to be downloading anything at all any time fast with 56k! Anyway rant over. Hate Orange now

Do you use torrents?

 

[Ex-User (19928)]

Don't know if anyone has had this before but Orange are taking the biscuit. I have unlimited 8 meg broadband and I got a letter from Orange saying that I downloaded 61 GB in one month, and that their now going to monitor my usage for a while. I didn't think I downloaded that much, but maybe a few 700mb files during peak. I don't mind them monitoring my usage, as I've now stopped downloading in peak (6-12pm). But it's a joke, they've capped me down to 56k in peak time for 3 months!! So now I'm struggling to load web pages, esecially with lots of pictures, and I can't play xbox live! Can't believe it, the only time I use the net is during peak due to work. Why can't they just monitor my usuage for the next 3 months to make sure I'm not downloading in peak rather than capping. I'm not going to be downloading anything at all any time fast with 56k! Anyway rant over. Hate Orange now

They did that to me too, I downloaded 131GB in a month though.

 

[Ex-User (19928)]

Do you use torrents?

It's to do with actual usage rather than content IIRC.

 

[BenWall]

Do you use torrents?

Nope, newsgroups.

 

[guysy]

Hoping i dont get this with BT, I only get good download speeds at 4 in the morning anyway.

Have a look on some forums etc, Maybe phone orange and try and see what they can do?

Unlimited broadband should be unlimited, Really f***s me off.

 

[Rob]

Phone up and complain, say you have a consol or two (xbox and/or ps3) running in the same house, both users often download video trailers, demos etc, all which are normally a gig. Tell them if the service is not suitable for online gamers then this should be advertised, and you wish to be able to continue playing consols online during peak time, and if not, this is not acceptable, and you wish to cancell your contract as they are not providing you with a useable service.

They'll soon bump up your speed.

 

[BenWall]

Rang the other night at 11pm (because PES online was unplayable), got some guy in an indian call center just saying that there monitoring it etc etc blar blar. Told him I can't even play my xbox and he replied with 'well xbox online does use a lot of bandwidth', to which I replied, 'OK I would like to cancel then' to which he said I'll have the ring back in the morning because the cancellation department is close.

They don't give a s**t about their customers. Hate it when companies get to big and forget whats important. The more I think about it the more I'm getting pissed off.

Phone up and complain, say you have a consol or two (xbox and/or ps3) running in the same house, both users often download video trailers, demos etc, all which are normally a gig. Tell them if the service is not suitable for online gamers then this should be advertised, and you wish to be able to continue playing consols online during peak time, and if not, this is not acceptable, and you wish to cancell your contract as they are not providing you with a useable service.

They'll soon bump up your speed.

Yeah think I'll try this tonight. Thanks

 

[BenWall]

Just called and got some dick in the call center saying there is nothing they can do. It's policy. I've now found out that there is a limit on their unlimited package, which is 40Gb. Jokers.

Going to write a letter to there HO now.

 

[Tom]

It's to do with actual usage rather than content IIRC.

Ok, your point?

I was asking a question.

 

[the1]

Just called and got some dick in the call center saying there is nothing they can do. It's policy. I've now found out that there is a limit on their unlimited package, which is 40Gb. Jokers.

Going to write a letter to there HO now.

Surely, unlimited means unlimited!. Its amazing how these companies get around the English language.

If you can cancel - do so!. Otherwise your just going to have to live with it (sadly).

 

[BenWall]

Canceling will cost me £146. Yeah it's not unlimited, they got done by Offcom when there adverts said unlimited, but now there adverts state in small writing about the fair use policy.

 

[seb]

harsh man.

off peak with bt for runs at about 6mb. on peak get about 1.5mb....

got a 20gb cap... they got the hump one month when i downloaded 26gb and said they would bill me if it continued. seems they throttle me due to that... but not to yuor extend! harsh.

 

[tyranical]

Why are you acting surprised? Nearly every mainstream internet company has a fair usage policy, most of which are capped at 40gb which is plenty for an average user.

I don't class this as Orange being c***s, i class it as you not reading your contract properly before signing up.

 

[emdos]

yep i agree, every company has a fair usage policy. however some are better than others. I download alot too and im with o2 and they've never complained however I believe a fibre optic provider would be better. Our severs in work use Telewest business. it costs abit more than consumer bb but we download and upload hundreds of gigs every week!! with no complaints.

The UK internet back bone is currently backed up as it is which is why they enforce these limits. It's essential they do this so universitys, banks and govenment agencies have prority and a constant working connection.

 

[BenWall]

Why are you acting surprised? Nearly every mainstream internet company has a fair usage policy, most of which are capped at 40gb which is plenty for an average user.

I don't class this as Orange being c**ts, i class it as you not reading your contract properly before signing up.

Don't be a idiot. It doesn't say anywhere in the fair use policy or terms and conditions or anywhere on their site that it's 40Gb. They said I was meant to get a warning via email but never did. How was I meant to know that there unlimited package is actually 40Gb?! And 40Gb isn't a lot at all these days.

Games/Movies/Demos from xbox alone can rack up 50Gb alone. So don't come that contract crap..

 

[Gstar2006]

Had this with orange last year but to be fair I had downloaded over 60gb in one month. I know this was true cos I filled a 500gb external pretty damn quick over the space of a couple of months.

After a while speed went back up, I stopped downloading everything on the internet and no probs since.

 

[Nomad]

I have unlimited 8 meg broadband and I got a letter from Orange saying that I downloaded 61 GB in one month, and that their now going to monitor my usage for a while. I didn't think I downloaded that much, but maybe a few 700mb files during peak. I don't mind them monitoring my usage, as I've now stopped downloading in peak (6-12pm). But it's a joke, they've capped me down to 56k in peak time for 3 months!!

Okay, I work for an ISP and I do the legal work... (as well as tech support, as well as provisioning, I actually don't get paid for all these things, I'm just a corporate wh&re in the rat race but thats just my sob story :dapprove

Anyway restricting your bandwith for three months is over the top when you havn't even doubled the usage over a month.

The benchmark for the Fair Usage Policy is a 30gb limit by most ISP's and they usually have an extra 10gb flexibility (however this is being dismissed of late).

Although a package is Unlimited, it is only unlimited within the confides of a Fair Usage Policy. A contradiction in terms? Well that's capitalism, you have a straw, I have a straw etc.

If you do think you didn't download as much as is being claimed, then you can ask for a usage chart which tells you how much you downloaded and on which days.

If you find you are downloading dubious amounts and you weren't even home on the day, change the security on your router. Your neighbours maybe piggy-backing your router and using your bandwith.

(Personally I think 30gb is enough, I mean thats 1gb a day, thats a full AVI movie in DVDRIP and around 300mb for other stuff including browsing.)

Most ISP's have a Fair Usage Policy, some more active than others and some may have gone active recently but it will be in your terms and conditions.

Also, it is not only the bandwith ISP's are cracking down on, it's also the movies/games/music illegally being downloaded. This is due to the production companies actually tracing the downloaders, nothing to do with the ISP as I understand.

As far as cutting payments off and stopping your direct debits, I'd avoid it. The companies will follow up and take legal action, you will not have a leg to stand on in most cases, I deal with this everyday. They will ask for a cancellation fee (usually £60), remainder of the contract and the sickener... the original modem you were sent by the ISP no matter how crap it were.

Don't hate the player, hate game.

 

[Chapperz]

okay mate. Never had this prob before and if nomad is a legal boff for orange then ask him a few more questions.

As far as i am concerned though. A company has to honor the contract it sold you. If it has changed it`s terms since you have sined up then you have rights for a complete cancelation outside of the normal contract terms (due to them changing the contract). ie no early cancelation fee`s.

if you signed up for umlimited then you should have unlimited. I download 30 plus gig a day on a 4mg connection and upload about 6gig.

My ISP has not questioned this! The morden world is full of streaming movies, HD and otherwise. You could be downloading games, using skype, have multiple users on your connection. If you have good reaosn then it is fair usage because that is what you internet is for. A FUP (fair usage policy) is a very ambiguos bit of legal work as it does not define what is high usage alot of the time. the best they can say is the top 1% of downloaders.

Dont be nastey to the call center monkeys but explain that you usage is justifyed and that they are not providing you with the service you have paid for by limiting your bandwidth. Explain that you would like to cancle the contract because of this and that the earlie cancelation charges should not apply because they have are not providing the service they sold you.

See where that gets you.

Failing that try citizens advice as tehy are usually quite helpfull but will probably put you onto ofcomm who will just log your complaint and do nothing untill about a million people have done the same. After thsi you will have to start putting pen to paper and writing well consturcted letters of complaint explaing how they mis-sold you the product. that should allow you to get outa the contract early!

If you need a hand with any of this then send me a pm and i will do my best. Just dont accept being limited to 56k! it is in no way acceptable!

 

[172Ben]

http://www.orange.co.uk/terms/7094.htm

Did you read the terms and conditions?

 

[172.com]

Do Orange allow you to get out of a contract if you keep breaking the rules? Tiscali did, and after they warned me about my usage three times I was able to break the contract and move on. It was great, I hated them and wasn't with them very long. In fact I was getting quite annoyed at how long it took to get the third warning, I was downloading anything I could just to piss them off!

My advice, get on to http://www.bethere.co.uk as soon as you can. I can download over a hundred Gb in a month and they don't bat an eyelid.

 

[iain187]

I think it is wrong that ISP's can advertise as unlimited when it's not.

The other thing that would help this issue is if all ISP's would make usage data easily accessible. I can get it at work but not for my home connection. I think then customers could more easily choose what package they need and wouldn't make a fuss over the 'unlimited' problems.

 

[BenWall]

http://www.orange.co.uk/terms/7094.htm

Did you read the terms and conditions?

Yes. The terms don't state that there is a 40Gb allowance for off and on peak. It doesn't matter if you download 41GB all off peak they still cap you. This is without wanring which isn't mentioned on there. And they don't have a online monitor to keep track of your usage. Was you pointing to something specifically in the FUP?

I think it is wrong that ISP's can advertise as unlimited when it's not.

The other thing that would help this issue is if all ISP's would make usage data easily accessible. I can get it at work but not for my home connection. I think then customers could more easily choose what package they need and wouldn't make a fuss over the 'unlimited' problems.

They got told off by Offcom for misleading adverts. They said unlimited was it's obviously not, and Offcom told them to add some small print at the bottom and now it's all okay. They still promote unlimited usuage. Tbh it's a scam, just an an ecuse to slow you down for their gain.

 

[Nomad]

okay mate. Never had this prob before and if nomad is a legal boff for orange then ask him a few more questions.

As far as i am concerned though. A company has to honor the contract it sold you. If it has changed it`s terms since you have sined up then you have rights for a complete cancelation outside of the normal contract terms (due to them changing the contract). ie no early cancelation fee`s.

if you signed up for umlimited then you should have unlimited. I download 30 plus gig a day on a 4mg connection and upload about 6gig.

My ISP has not questioned this! The morden world is full of streaming movies, HD and otherwise. You could be downloading games, using skype, have multiple users on your connection. If you have good reaosn then it is fair usage because that is what you internet is for. A FUP (fair usage policy) is a very ambiguos bit of legal work as it does not define what is high usage alot of the time. the best they can say is the top 1% of downloaders.

Dont be nastey to the call center monkeys but explain that you usage is justifyed and that they are not providing you with the service you have paid for by limiting your bandwidth. Explain that you would like to cancle the contract because of this and that the earlie cancelation charges should not apply because they have are not providing the service they sold you.

See where that gets you.

Failing that try citizens advice as tehy are usually quite helpfull but will probably put you onto ofcomm who will just log your complaint and do nothing untill about a million people have done the same. After thsi you will have to start putting pen to paper and writing well consturcted letters of complaint explaing how they mis-sold you the product. that should allow you to get outa the contract early!

If you need a hand with any of this then send me a pm and i will do my best. Just dont accept being limited to 56k! it is in no way acceptable!

I 100% agree with that to be honest.

It is false advertising and I hate having to patronize customers and give them my speel "It is unlimited in the confides of a fair usage policy". I think the term unlimited is miss-selling but communication companies use it as a loophole by the small print in the contract. Even if its a verbal agreement.

On a brighter note the standard fair usage policy in the UK is far better in say Australia where the limit is between 10 and 20gb iirc. I think we have a better than the US also.

One of the main reasons we have fair usage is ridiculous abusers who download like 500gb a month, as always the minority ruin it for the rest. These guys take up so much of the bandwidth that other users who moderately use it get extremely slow speeds who in turn complain to the ISP. The only way round this is obviously have more servers and have a better contention ratio, however the cost for that is expensive and will raise the prices for the end user.

It's a strange system though, I mean you pay a TV license for the BBC but you can't incorporate the BBC iplayer with the rest of you broadband usage, (although it's legal) as you have a fair usage limit. Catch 22.

 

[Lee]

Why are you acting surprised? Nearly every mainstream internet company has a fair usage policy, most of which are capped at 40gb which is plenty for an average user.

I don't class this as Orange being c**ts, i class it as you not reading your contract properly before signing up.

Saved me typing it.

I'm more than aware of where my cap with Sky is, and the same goes for my o2 fair usage contract regarding free calls and texts. It will all be in the terms and conditions.

Just imagine everyone on your exchange was using the service in the same was, the performance would be horrendous, so then you moan about that. These caps do exist for a reason.

 

[172.com]

same goes for my o2 fair usage contract regarding free calls and texts.

Mobile contracts explicitly define what you get though, they don't hide behind the unlimited bulls**t.

Be seem to do a pretty good job, maybe some companies should take the focus off profits and more on customer care and service? Rip-off Britain FTL.

Edit: Although I've never been with Orange for anything other than mobile contracts it doesn't surprise me if they run their BB operations like their mobile operations. They're a crap telecomms company. I was first with them around 13 years ago, and again about 5 years ago. Both times they were useless, and would definitely not make the mistake of using them a third time for anything. Terrible company.

 

[H182]

Yes it should be stated in their terms and conditions about FUP... But tbh 40gig limit for fair useage isn't much, I'm sure sky and o2 are at least 100, and even then I've never heard of anyone getting penalised for downloading that and more.

Also as said, they should have really emailed you if you were approaching or over your limit and give you time to rectify that. Just capping for 3months seems excessive.

But at the end of the day if its in their terms and conditions and you didn't stick to it, they can do as they like i guess.

 

[Lee]

Skys mid (8mb) package is 40gb per month.

Back in the day I used to get capped each month by Plusnet.

 

[Brett]

I think you should be able to log into your account and see how much useage you have used. If you download a film or two, some songs, browse the net and play some xbox live you rarely think oh no what about the fair use policy.

You have no idea untill its too late therefore this system would eliminate the problem would it not.

 

[172.com]

I was with Plusnet before they went crap. Pity really, I quite liked them.

 

[Lee]

I was with Plusnet before they went crap. Pity really, I quite liked them.

Same here. They were great for a few years then suddenly went to pot.

Plusnet had a usage meter, which was handy. I don't know if Sky have one, I'll go look now. lol

 

[Nomad]

I think you should be able to log into your account and see how much useage you have used. If you download a film or two, some songs, browse the net and play some xbox live you rarely think oh no what about the fair use policy.

You have no idea untill its too late therefore this system would eliminate the problem would it not.

Some ISP's have this feature. If you ask they have to give it to you but some ISP's update it daily on-line for you to check.

 

[Chili Red]

Skys mid (8mb) package is 40gb per month.

We've got Sky Max for £15 a month, and there really is no limit on usage.


Looking around it seems O2 Broadband has the best deal at the moment (if you're an O2 customer).

 

[daydotz]

http://www.broadbandchoices.co.uk/partner-gadgetshow/broadband-download-monitor.html is a handy tool to keep track of your pc bandwidth