I was a little annoyed when the Vodafone 3G network went down today. All I wanted to do was to twitter my status to the thousands that follow me (Hi Mum) and yet there wasn’t a 3G bit in sight. Ten minutes later it was still the same but when I tried my backup phone that today contains my data-only card, 3G was working. Swapping the SIM from the primary to backup phone proved that the issue was with the SIM so I called the customer helpdesk and, after the usual support-avoidance tactics I managed to log a fault. As soon as I did that, the call operative took the time to log into my account and saw that my Internet had been blocked for over-usage. Strange. No, very surprising as I have had a flat-rate HTTP-only plan for a while now and i’m very careful about how I use it. She offered to refer the case and an hour later someone calls me back from Vodafone and carefully explains (i could tell he’d done this before) that I had accrued 1594 Euros of data charges. IN 6 DAYS!!

After calmly (I was proud of myself) explaining that I had a flat rate Internet package, and a second data-only SIM, and a third PAYG SIM that I use for per-day flat usage, they repeated that no Internet package had been booked to my account since I had started the contract and that I should have taken the Vodafone Internet Flat option. Vodafone. FAIL. After a short explanation about my 4 year data-usage history with Vodafone, they agreed they they had made the mistake and offered to reduce the charge to 94 Euros. I was reduced to a short ’spiel’ about my status as a researcher of mobile Internet devices and mobile Internet services and within an hour I was allowed back in through the pearly 3G gates. Phew!

There’s a couple of lessons to learn here. 1) You carrier is probably watching out for you. I wonder what would have happened if the 1600 Euro alarm bell hadn’t have rung so i’m happy about that. Despite their mistake, they were responsive and apologetic once i’d explained what the situation was although I pity the  person that doesn’t understand the system. 2) Data can be hugely expensive so take care, even in your home network so make sure you have the right data plan and once you have the right data plan, make sure you use the correct access point. Again, I pity the man on the street that doesn’t understand what all that means. I have 4 APN’s to choose from with Vodafone which doesn’t make it easy, especially when each application on a Series 60 phone can be configured to use a different one! 3) This is what makes the iPhone so easy. If you’re in your home network all the time, there’s really no need to worry but living, as many Europeans do, within an hour of a few country borders, it does make the choice difficult. 4) ‘Open’ smartphones allow so many services to be set up that its very easy to be downloading 50-100MB of data a day without even thinking. Audio and video podcasts are the ones that clicked up the data bill in my case.

So as I near the German border on the (delayed) ICE train to Amsterdam, I’m preparing to go off the grid again. I’ve got a PAYG Vodafone NL SIM card waiting for me there though so I can add that to my collection of 7 other SIM cards that I juggle with on different devices in different countries to avoid even more expensive roaming data costs. Being mobile can sometimes be a pain in the arse!

Posted at 160kmh. A new personal best!