Data usage from prevous billing cycle being added to current

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@hibridwell wrote:
Maybe that explains why for the past 3 months we've been getting charged overages even though we have a 10GB plan and ALL use wifi 99% of the time!!! Seems like ever since the rates went down for the 10GB shared plan I've been charged extra for overages. Good way to make up the difference and make customers think we are getting a deal?

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Depending upon your smartphone, you may think you're on wifi, but you're not.  I believe that a Sony phone has an issue with still using cellular data when wifi is available.  I also know that the Apple iPhone will often turn off the wifi when the screen lock is active, and if you are busy streaming musc, but your phone locks, you could easily switch to using cellular data even though you think you are (or should be) using wifi.  Often these are not AT&T issues, they are issues with the phone manufacturer.  I believe that at least one phone maker had the hardware using the best network connection available assuming that wifi will be faster than cellular.  With LTE becoming common, it is not unheard of for the cellular data to be faster than the wifi, so now the phone may stay on cellular even though wifi is available...

That is exactly how the matter should be handled.  To go further, AT&T needs to take ownership of this substantial, reoccurring problem and re-write their software so that data usage is applied to the actual date it was accrued.   A customer should not have to exert time and energy to correct what is ultimately, AT&T's area of responsibility.

Unfortunately, too many AT&T employees either don't want to acknowledge the issue or are ignorant about it.  I spoke to a technical support supervisor recently who had the audacity to insist that mobile data usage dates and times are "always" accurate regardless of when the figures are published on AT&T's website or via myAT&T app.

Actually, if customers are within the limits of their monthly data allotment but are being billed as if they have exceeded their data usage, "fraud" is exactly the correct term for AT&T's actions. The fact remains that customers are not receiving what they have paid for.

Here's an analogy.  Someone rents a car for a four day time period from 4:00 PM on Monday, the 1st of September to Thursday, the 4th of September.  They return the rental vehicle a few minutes prior to 4:00 PM on September 4.  The car rental company's software does not update until after 4:00 PM, thus erroneously showing that the rental car was returned after 4:00 PM instead of prior to 4:00 PM.  As a result, the customer is charged another day's rental on a car they have already returned.

If AT&T will not fix their data recording software so that the day and/or time of data usage is reflected accurately, the customer is not at fault.  Since it can be easily proved that AT&T's data usage dates are not accurate, both through AT&T's technical support department's own admission, as well as through elementary and repeated test results, the burden of proof rests with AT&T, not the customer.

It does not matter how long it takes for the data usage for any particular day to be displayed.  What matters is the actual date of usage.

I recently conducted an experiment in order to approximate as accurately as possible, how much data I would consume when viewing streaming live video from an application or web browser.

I made certain that my phone’s mobile data was turned off until I performed the first of two separate tests on the last day of my billing cycle.  The first test began at 4:00 PM and lasted for precisely five minutes.  Mobile data was shut off after the conclusion of this test until the second test began at 6:00 PM.  The second test lasted 10 minutes.

At about 8:00 PM, I contacted AT&T technical support to receive further information about data usage amounts during video streaming. The technical support representative informed me that my data usage tallies for the last day of my billing cycle would be available at 12:00 AM.  At midnight I logged into my AT&T account but my data usage had not yet been published.  In the morning I again logged into my online AT&T account.  A data amount had been posted at 12:30 AM.  More importantly, all of the data utilized on the last day of my previous billing cycle was now being applied to the first day of my new billing cycle. I immediately knew that AT&T’s records regarding the date of data usage were in error.

I contacted AT&T technical support for an explanation of why my data usage was applied to the wrong day. I was immediately surprised by how difficult it was for the AT&T representative I spoke with to comprehend what seemed to me to be a very simple misstep.  After a discussion, the representative from AT&T’s technical support department said the matter was a billing issue, not a technical support issue.

It was onward to AT&Ts billing department for hopefully, a favorable resolution to the error.

It is worthy to note that practically every support person I spoke with from AT&T, from line employee to supervisor to manager, condescendingly instructed me how to program my Samsung smartphone to avoid going above my data allotment for the month.  I had to reiterate over and over again that I had not gone over my data usage. In fact, in the four years I have been an AT&T customer I have never exceeded my data usage amounts.

An AT&T rep. admitted that my issue with data being posted to the incorrect day was a common one.  The time that it takes AT&T’s software to process data usage figures can result in the figures mistakenly being attributed to a subsequent day.

Since I wasn’t getting anyone from AT&T’s technical support or billing departments to fully understand or do anything to correct the issue, I decided to table the matter until the next day.

I continued my quest for an answer to AT&T’s data record inaccuracies with another person in AT&T technical support. I found it very disconcerting the number of times AT&T customer service applied the “blame the victim” response in my case. For example, I was told to avoid using data on the last day of my billing cycle having the foreknowledge that this type of error could occur.  I assert that if I am careful enough to responsibly monitor my data usage, I should be able to use the data I paid for on any day of my billing cycle with the confidence that AT&T will calculate and report the usage records accurately.  As a customer, I believe that is the least that AT&T can assure.

I knew that the data totals for a given day were recorded by my Galaxy Note 3 and could be retrieved fairly easily. I was transferred to level 2 technical support and was told by the AT&T representative that the data logs recorded on my phone would be more accurate than those found on the AT&T website.

In order to help insure my credibility, I permitted the AT&T technical support person to remote control my phone with the use of an AT&T app so she could see exactly what appeared on my screen.

On her instructions, I filtered my data usage graph so that only the results for the particular day I conducted the usage test were shown. I carefully noted the amount of data reported expended on that day.

The AT&T technical support person then asked me to retrieve the results for the next day, the day that AT&T’s records claimed I actually used the data.  On that day, my phone’s internal data usage scale showed 0.00 megabytes used. I thought I had revealed the proof I was seeking.

To my amazement, that’s when the AT&T technical support representative changed her tune and told me that AT&T’s records would always be more accurate than those within my phone. She completely contradicted herself once the record showed a discrepancy that discredited AT&T’s figures. Please permit me to remind the forum readers, I am not disputing the amount of data used on that day. However, I do emphatically contend that AT&T’s method of time and date reporting is 100% in error.

Of the half dozen or so AT&T customer service representatives I spoke with in regards to this difficulty, not one said they would or could correct the error.  The most I was able to achieve (after my civil yet firm request) was a notation in my account that could be applied if I happen to exceed my data usage by as much or less than the amount that was incorrectly applied to my current billing cycle.  I have every intention of not going over my data consumption this month. Though I have almost 200 megabytes that is owed to me because of AT&T’s blunder, the possibility of dealing with a less than customer oriented billing representative may not be worth the hassle of trying to state my case all over again.

Though it should not be my burden, if I conduct any more data usage tests I have decided not to do so on the final day of my billing cycle until AT&T fixes their shoddy record keeping.

AT&T should diligently and responsibly address this matter swiftly so their customers can avoid the inequitable consequences of further inaccuracies caused by AT&T’s flawed recordkeeping and malfunctioning software.  In the meantime, AT&T can slightly lessen the sting by forthrightly accepting responsibility for any customer account history inaccuracies.

What AT&T unjustifiably takes from the customer with apparent effortlessness, AT&T should be able to return to the customer just as easily.

Much appreciated.

Unfortunately, your pooch probably has more intelligence than the average AT&T technical support  representative.