Boy oh boy. I got charged $169.21 for data usage. I've never ever been charged for data usage before so you can imagine my surprise at my last bill. Anyhow, I called up VzW to figure out why this was the case and ended up receiving a $169.21 credit for it. Here's why:

The reason is that a couple months ago, I "upgraded" my plan to get more minutes for the same price (I paid $59.99 for 800 minutes, now I get 900 minutes). During this plan change, the VzW representative was automatically prompted to add a data plan because I own the i700, which can do data. Well, the default data plan that gets added is the "pay as you go" type. I was neither asked to confirm whether I wanted this data plan nor was I given the option to choose the other unlimited data plan. It's something that HAS to be added, otherwise the system does not complete the transaction.

However, today, a very nice VzW rep (Walker) not only gave me full credit for all my data usage, he went so far as to REMOVE the data plan from my account.

Guess what? I still can use #777 (Express Network) and browse by just using my airtime minutes!

After all, this is how I've accessed the internet ever since I got the i700... Why pay for something you don't have to?

__________________
HoHum*
*someone who bought the Palm Professional the day it came out and hasn't "upgraded" until the i700 on 2004-03-11. Imagine HoHum's glee. HoHum is now using the i760. Yippee!

$160??? that is nothing, I got a $3120 bil last month... this is what happen, I have my 2 1/2 yr old i700 replace after it malfunction.. they sent me a refurb last mth and the same thing hapen. they add the pay as you go plan for me without telling me... any way, whtn i called the CS rep tehy had me back to the old plan so now I go back to using the min fro data...

my question is do you see that you are being chage for your min for data or you just use your data and not even your min????


ps when I talk to CS rep, they told me if i ever want o up grade my phone to something new i730/vx6700/vx6600.. if I pay full retail price, i can keep the same plan and use min for data WITHOUT needing a data plan.......

Please tell me you got some of it back!


I have 1400 minutes at my disposal (I just upgraded the plan last night). When I'm using my i700 to browse the internet, since I'm dialing #777, "technically" I'm on the "phone." As such, whatever data that I view during the day utilizes my daytime minutes. Obviously, on nights and weekends - I browse non-stop if I so wish. Bottom line, using the internet just eats my minutes and I neither get charged for the data by the data nor do I pay anything at all for data.

Do you have insurance? If so, since the i700 is no longer offered by VzW, perhaps doing an insurance claim will garner a new i730? As far as I understand, the insurance company is supposed to give you the equivalent equipment if your phone is no longer available. Somebody else know?

Call VzW again, until you get a CS person that KNOWS how to take OFF the data plan right now! Walker (the CS person who helped me - even sounded Texan) knew exactly how to do this. I wish I had his extension number. He'll be calling me on 2006/01/02 to verify that my plans working fine and to credit me any subsequent data charges that I may incur! I'll ask him for his extension at that time or ask him whether most CS people know how to remove an existing data plan.

__________________
HoHum*
*someone who bought the Palm Professional the day it came out and hasn't "upgraded" until the i700 on 2004-03-11. Imagine HoHum's glee. HoHum is now using the i760. Yippee!

what's the difference between using the express network at the cost of minutes and using the go 2 net at the expense of minutes?
dont they charge 5 dollars a mont for go 2 net and express is free? so why go with go 2 net if its slower and they charge?

Hey HoHum - Did it all work out for you?

Last July I had the same thing happen (although mine was "only" $40 to update WeatherPanel once a day) and they removed the "pay as you go" data plan I didn't know they had added when I added a 2nd phone line.

This time an unknown program racked up my minutes with data calls (hard rebooted to end that) and VZW let me upgrade the minutes on my plan to cover those extra minutes at a much lower cost, but required me to get a data plan - pay as you go, because I'd rather not use data at all than pay the extra fee for the plans (I can get my weather elsewhere). Anyway, on Feb 10 I spoke with many many reps at VZW and ALL were adamant that I HAD TO HAVE a data plan. They were aware that data plans had been removed for others (and previously for me) but said that the new policy is you have to have it. They're "cracking down."

So I'd like to hear if it worked for you. Thanks!

oh yeah it worked for me fine, right now im using the internet with the quick 2 net and i dont pay anything AT ALL it only waste the minutes that im online. i dont even pay the 5 bucks that were metioned previously i just went to the settings and made it log on with q2n instead of express network and its been working fine with no extra charges.

Same thing happened...phone would default to XNet when I wanted to use my WiFi card and I had a few small charges...called them up and whamo...no more data with minutes.

They said the only way to prevent this was to take away my Nat Access part so I did...phone still works, WiFi still works.

Looks like I need to look back into Quick2Net.

They told me the same thing and I talked to three different people and a supervisor...blah, blah, blah.

I was wondering if I could get your guy's help since you all seem pretty knowledgeable about verizon and the "Quick2Net" service they offer.

I'm gonna try to walk you guys through what happened, since it's totally confusing. Okay well I live in Canada and I am with Telus mobility (Canadian cell phone company). They are pretty much like verizon but a Canadian version. Anyways. I bought an i700 from a buddy of mine probably 2 months ago. I was told by Telus that I cannot activate this phone without a data plan. BUT, I went online and activated it anyways and now I am on the exact same voice plan I was on before (no data at all). So, eventually I found the pocket pc 2003 upgrade verizon had put out for it's i700 customers. I downloaded it, and installed it just fine. THEN, I noticed that when I turn my phone on or off, it does not have the old "Telus" logo's, it now has "Verizon" logo's everywhere. I called Telus and they said it's just software related and not worry, I am still on with Telus's network and everything is fine. So, a couple days later I was playing around with my i700 and I found that I got onto the internet using something called "Quick2Net" where it dials #7772 (There was already a username and password pre-programmed after I installed the pocket pc 2003 update). I was pretty amazed I could get on the internet because Telus told me that if I was not on a data plan, I could not get on the internet. Anyways, so here I am on the internet with Verizon's "Quick2Net" service, however, remember that I am in Canada. I only used it maybe 2 or 3 times because I did not want to get charged money by Telus for using internet on my phone. I called Telus and they said they have no indication on there system that I was using internet and that there has been absolutely no data activity on my phone. I even talked to a couple Telus people in person and they were like "keep it quiet, I think you have free internet".

So my question to you guys is, what the hell is going on? Am I getting on Verizon's "Quick2Net" internet service while being in Canada and not being charged? I don't think verizon can really do anything because they have none of my information. Anyways, do you guys think I just lucked into getting free internet?

I don't typically use it much though, I have a wi-fi card.

sooo...nobody knows?

How come whenever I post in this thread, it's here for a little while under the "i700" section and then it disappears? Do the moderators keep moving it to some other place or something?

The new interface defaults to only show posts from that day, I believe. Which is why your post disappears. You can change it to show posts from the last (day/week/month) but I have yet to figure out how to make it the default. I haven't really tried yet.*
And to answer your question, the Q2N data access just uses your minutes as it appears to verizon (or Telus) as voice usage. The XNet is what people get charged (arm+leg)/minute. As for your ability to use it without the $5/mo plan, most of us are experiencing that ourselves. I also have wi-fi, but in dead zones I rely on my slow-as-butt Q2N connection.


*<Edit> Selecting [Misc Links] -> [Edit Options] will display configuration allowing you to specify the age cutoff for posts on the main page. 30 seconds of work, well worth it...</Edit>

__________________
-UNOmar-

"hockey, hockey, hockey..."

Thanks for your answer. So, yeah I'm happy I got this free internet (even though it's slow). Hopefully verizon never catches on. And so you said that my service provider (telus) sees my Q2Net use as voice minutes only.

I have unlimited evenings/weekends starting at 6pm for evenings. So, if I use that Q2Net stuff after 6pm, it's pretty much free minute wise....right? Sorry I'm kinda new to the world of pda phones

Your evenings start @ 6pm? Not fair! In the world of Verizon "evenings" start at 9pm (also known as night). But yes, if you use it off-peak it only uses your unlimited minutes, which are...well unlimited.
Nothing to be sorry about. Welcome to your life...converged. And welcome to the forum.

__________________
-UNOmar-

"hockey, hockey, hockey..."

Some Telus plans start at 9pm for unlimited evenings. But Telus has some cheap plans, here is my current one:

250 daytime mins
caller ID
call waiting
call forwarding
3-way calling
voicemail
unlimited evenings and weekends (6pm)

and now free internet too (although thats more by luck).

for $15/month

My contract with them is ending soon, so I"m going to ask for free telus-to-telus mobile calling if I resign for a year or two again. They are pretty good like that.

Thanks! To follow up (I just received my bill for Jan/Feb)

I set my connection to use Q2Net - it seems to have worked, with airtime charged for calls made, but no data usage charges. My phone doesn't seem to be making random calls to the internet anymore, but I haven't re-enabled avant go, and I set my weather panel for manual update only (my two suspects). I also installed IP Dashboard - its a very cool little program that tells you when and how much data is being transferred and through what kind of connection.

Now if I can only fix my stupid Activesync that thinks my device is incompatible about every 5th time i sync, but thats another thread...

If you're worried about accidentally using the ExpressNet, or overly paranoid like myself there's a really easy fix to make sure.
Click:
[Start] -> [Settings] -> [Connections Tab] -> [Connections] -> [Manage Existing Connections]
Select "Express Network" then click [Edit...]
Click [Next]
You should see the number "#777". If you delete this (or as I do change it to the text "Disabled") it will prevent your phone (and friends) from accidentally connecting. I prefer the "Disabled" option because when it attempts to dial it will say "Dialing: Disabled" letting you know why you're not connecting properly.
Also, I should state, I got this idea from someone on this forum a while back. I don't mean to take credit for it. I'm just too lazy to search for it.

__________________
-UNOmar-

"hockey, hockey, hockey..."