Roaming metering

[peosteve]

I just returned from a trip the the US and the roaming data measured by my phone was 18% less than what the roaming system measured, even though my phone's measurement has been very accurate in the past.

There should be a better way of tracking/metering data, so we don't run out. I had alerts set, which was good, but they didn't kick in until 75% of the data was used...

[WearySky]

Your phone is going to be more accurate than PM's system (obviously, it's built into the OS so it knows how much data is being used), but unfortunately PM's system is the one used for billing purposes.  But roaming data tracking is NOTORIOUSLY inaccurate, as it relies on the foreign company passing the data back to the local company correctly.  Your only real option is to login to see your usage, because the only other option would be for PM to build an app, and they've already made it pretty clear that there ain't no way that they're gonna be doing that.

[peosteve]

Gotcha.

So,consumers get cheated and we're ok with that? 😬

[WearySky]

Of course not - and if you have an issue with it, you can always complain to the mods and they can escalate it to either T-Mobile or AT&T, or both, depending on which networks you happened to connect to.  But I imagine that the response from both of those companies will be something along the lines of "get stuffed" 😛

This isn't just an issue with PM, incidentally.  I've encountered similar issues with every provider I've ever been with.  Particularly fun was the time when Rogers tried to charge me several hundred dollars for roaming in Poland, when I was actually in Ireland.  

[peosteve]

Haha, wow.  They didn't even get the country right?  That's just ridiculous... I'm guessing all of your providers never erred in your favour?

I agree - I'll be told to get stuffed, even if they're wrong...  

[WearySky]

Never when it came to roaming, at any rate.  The reason for this is because foreign providers know they can get away with it.  

1 - how many people are really going to check that closely, exactly how much data they used while abroad?

2 - of those who actually check, how many are going to complain loudly enough that it ever becomes an issue?

It's frustrating, but it's one of those things I've just learned to suck up and accept it.

Out of curiosity, how much data did you actually use?  I've noticed in general that with small amounts of data being measured (when measuring in the megabyte range, as opposed to gigabytes), carriers are often farther off, percentage-wise, than when measuring large amounts.

[peosteve]

I guess your advice to me is to suck it up and accept it? 😛  I agree with you - no reason for the companies to care all that much.

My phone is showing data usage of 206MB of the 250MB.  Hasn't changed since I got back.  :)))

I posted about this elsewhere in the forum.  I don't care all that much, but...I couldn't get my boarding pass on the way to the airport, which really pissed me off, especially since everyone else had gotten it displayed on their phone.

[WearySky]

See, with data amounts that small, I'm wondering if there's any kind of "rounding up" issues at play here.  Like, I'm wondering if T-Mob or AT&T have some amount of rounding up of the amount of data you used, either on a daily basis or otherwise.  

[peosteve]

That may be the case.  All the reason why PM should be giving more than 250MB over 10 days.  That isn't really isn't much data for somebody travelling, especially if they're getting their emails, doing light browsing and some navigation.  I don't expect 1 GB, but if rounding happens, they should give a bit more than that...

[WearySky]

I guess you got the talk text and data bundle?  Yeah, that's not really the best value bundle IMO.  250MB isn't much at ALL for 10 days.  I'd wager the best option for most folk that actually want to use data is to just get the talk and text addon on its own for $15, and then pick an appropriate data addon to go with it.  Costs a bit more ($30 total if you go with 500MB, or $35 if you want to go with 1GB), but IMO worth the extra money to not have to worry about running out of data.

[peosteve]

Well, in retrospect, I agree with you.  However, I set up the alerts to limit my data.  I was good about it and ran out on the last day...with 44MB left.  I rationed well, but...I got screwed.