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________________________If Verizon isn't helping you:

If you're not getting resolution from Verizon, you should contact the Federal Communications Commission, which regulates wireless carriers. The more complaints the FCC gets, the more likely the FCC will take action on your case.

To file a complaint:

By phone: 1-888-225-5322 (888-CALL-FCC)

Online: https://consumercomplaints.fcc.gov/hc/en-us

By phone: 1-888-225-5322 (888-CALL-FCC)



_______________________________

A week ago, I wrote about a sudden surge, in my family's cell phone data through Verizon. In my unscientific survey that lasted one week in late August, every friend and acquaintance I asked said they were having the same problem: Their monthly data use had been soaring in recent months for no apparent reason. For some people, using more data meant hefty over-limit fees, often amounting to $50 or $100 or $200 extra a month.



In the past week, I've heard from thousands of people, mostly Verizon customers, but quite a few AT&T customers too. People from all over the nation. Most have iPhones. Some have Androids. All have seen their data use jump significantly -- doubling or tripling since the spring in many cases, even though their cell phone habits haven't changed. Data costs money. As if Verizon, the nation's largest wireless carrier, doesn't make enough money, it posted a profit of $18 billion -- billion with a B -- last year. That's up from $2 billion five years ago.



If you're getting hit by data over-limit charges, you might take comfort knowing you're not alone, no matter what Verizon tells you. And you may be encouraged by a couple of things: I've gotten a few answers this week. And I'm looking for a lot more.



But there's bad news, at least for now: I talked to two managers in Verizon's corporate office for 95 minutes late Friday. My family's use has basically doubled from 8 GB to 16 GB a month from February to July. Verizon conducted a "data utilization review" of my family's four lines. They insist they have no idea what's causing skyrocketing data for my family, or for many of you either.



"We're curious too," said Verizon Customer Service Supervisor Dama Galceran, who works in the company's executive offices. "We want to ensure everything is reporting accurately, not just for you but for all of our customers.



"We don't want any of our customers to feel that our reporting is inaccurate or that you're paying for something that you're not getting," she said.

To check your phone's Wi-Fi settings:

If your Wi-Fi connection setting is on, it allows your phone to use costly cellular data instead of free Wi-Fi.



On an iPhone, go to Settings, then Cellular. Go all the way to the bottom. Make sure the "Wi-Fi Assist" toggle is off (not green).



On a Droid, the button is called "Avoid Bad Wi-Fi" or "Smart Network Switch" or something similar, depending on the phone. Go to Settings, then Wi-Fi, then Menu, then Advanced. You should see some sort of Wi-Fi connection option that you can turn off.







Like me, many Verizon customers' data use is soaring even when they're on their home Wi-Fi the majority of the time. It's increasing even when their phone settings have been changed to prevent the phone from switching to data if the Wi-Fi is weak.



Verizon is tallying data on people's accounts when they are sleeping and not using their phones.



Data is being used when their phones are off.



Data is being used when the phone's owner has died.



A typical person who uses his phone frequently while not on Wi-Fi for things like email, navigation, or checking the weather forecast or Facebook might use 2 GB a month. If you watch a lot of videos, or stream, or download things while not on Wi-Fi, you'll use significantly more, maybe 6 GB or more.



One unhappy Verizon customer is Amy French of Toledo, who keeps buying more data to avoid over-limit fees on her family's Android phones. The phones are set to prevent data use when they're on Wi-Fi. Her usage has gone from 6 GB a month to almost 24 GB a month in the last few months. She has no idea why. She's paying $100 more a month now.



Another irate Verizon customer is Barb McCullough of Parma Heights, Ohio. She has an old flip phone that can't use data. Data is blocked on the line. But Verizon says her phone is using data. Granted, the amounts are minuscule -- 1.02 MB a month (not GB, but MB). But this "data usage," which seems impossible, makes her skeptical of her entire bill from Verizon. The company can't explain why a "dumb" phone with no data capability is registering data.

Having problems with data use?

Email me at tmurray@plaind.com or text me at 216-316-7064. Please don't call :)

Please include: what type of phone you have, what state you're in; and how many GB you used to use and how many GB you're using now.

McCullough's bigger problem is that she and her husband four months ago decided to cut their phone bill by $40 a month by downsizing from unlimited data to a 6 GB plan. Her husband had been using only about 4 GB, so 6 GB seemed like more than enough. But since changing plans in April, he keeps getting alerts every month that he's near his limit, even though he's almost always on their home Wi-Fi.



Then there's Ron Staso of Cleveland. His family's use jumped from 30 GB a month to almost 60 GB, according to Verizon. Staso can't figure out why. He just knows Verizon says he racked up over-limit fees of $1,600. After two decades with Verizon, Staso changed to T-Mobile. "I have not had any problems since I switched to T-Mobile," he said. But he refuses to pay the $1,600 to Verizon.

Julie Wilson's over-limit charges are less dramatic, but she's just as ticked off. Her family's usage has more than doubled in the last four months, from 2.5 GB to about 6 GB, again with no change in cellular habits. When the New York resident complained to Verizon about her $15 over-limit fee, they suggested she change plans. But that would cost her $40 more per month, above the $104 she's paying right now. She refuses to change from her grandfathered, lower-priced plan.

To file a complaint about your cell phone data use with the FCC

Online: https://consumercomplaints.fcc.gov/hc/en-us

By phone: 1-888-225-5322 (888-CALL-FCC)

When Theresa Cancila of Baltimore called Verizon recently to complain about her family's head-scratching increase in data, she got talked into increasing her plan to save money. Verizon assured her she could get 8 GB a month for the same cost as her current 6 GB. But instead of her bill remaining the same, she got charged a $15 over-limit fee for going over 6 GB, plus $10 more for the new plan that was supposed to be the same cost.



She's furious and thinks Verizon is squeezing customers. "They keep changing the data plans so you keep getting sucked into higher plans," Cancila said. "It's funny because I have been asking people, 'Have you noticed you are blowing through a lot of data lately?' And every time I am getting, 'Yes!' "



Perhaps few cases are more stunning than Joyce Shinn's. Her son Stephen is almost always on their Wi-Fi, but a few months ago, he started exceeding his 18 GB per month data plan. That's more than a lot of households with multiple people use per month. But her son ran over the 18GB, racking up $75 in over-limit fees last month. He swears he hasn't changed his cell phone habits.



"I talked to Verizon and they gave me some bull about his turning off some setting or another," said Shinn, who lives in Highland Heights, outside of Cleveland. "My son, like most young adults, is pretty phone savvy so I was sure he knew what to do."



Stephen's phone isn't the shocking part of Shinn's data usage. It's the phone that belonged to her husband, who died 18 months ago. "I kept his phone active until recently so I could deal with any business or other calls that might come in that needed to be addressed," she said.



His phone suddenly started using small amounts of data this year. Shinn insists her late husband's phone isn't used for anything other than looking at phone numbers of missed calls or dealing with incoming calls.



How, she asks, is her late husband's phone using data?



Yes, she's upset about the over-limit fees -- $75 on her son's account and $30 on hers last month. But more than that, she's upset that she's being deceived. "We are definitely being ripped off," Shinn said.



Karen Savena of Broadview Heights, Ohio, feels the same way. Her oldest son has a 6 GB per month plan. That was more than enough until his usage started inexplicably soaring last spring. When he reaches his data limit each month, he immediately shuts off his data. Yet every month for the last four months, his data exceeded his limit. The totals: 6.00900 GB; 6.00200 GB; 6.01100 GB; and 6.00400 GB.



How did he exceed 6 GB? Verizon notified him when he reached his limit. Is it the notification that Verizon sent that pushed him over and caused the $10 over-limit fee? That's possible, Verizon tells me, because push notifications always use data.

If you think I'm cynical about this bizarre situation, you're right. This is is the same company that in 2010 admitted it overcharged 15 million customers for data they didn't really use. Verizon had to pay out $80 million to the Federal Communications Commission and valued customers.



This time around, Verizon insists that many customers' problems hinge largely on the infamous "Wi-Fi Assist" button, said Steven Van Dinter, a manager for Verizon's Great Lakes region. With iPhones, this is automatically "on" under the iOS9 operating system, which was introduced a year ago and is buried in the phone settings. (See the box above to learn how to turn this off.)



Wi-Fi Assist allows the phone to switch automatically to costly data if the phone decides the internet connection is poor. What's the definition of "poor"? Right now, that's a secret. Van Dinter says the phone determines that. Verizon doesn't. But it racks up data. If your Wi-Fi assist button isn't turned off, your phone is probably eating up a lot of data, possibly even when you're at home or work or on trusted Wi-Fi.



With Droids, the default on this Wi-Fi function is "off". However, even customers with Droids are seeing surges in data.



My family's data usage isn't caused by Wi-Fi Assist. Galceran and Van Dinter spent 1-1/2 hours on the phone with me, trying to solve the mystery of my soaring data. I was hoping if they could figure out some things on my account, that would help other customers of Verizon and possibly AT&T. I did learn a few things:





Verizon says that when my phone records, and those of hundreds of other people, show data usage in the middle of the night, that may not really be accurate. If the records show you used data at 1:47 a.m., for example, when you were fast asleep, that may not be accurate. Verizon reports data in six-hour windows, Van Dinter said. One thing that uses data all of the time, regardless whether you're on Wi-Fi or not: Push notifications. So if you get alerts for your email, or breaking news, or sports scores, or Facebook, and they show up on your screen or make a sound or vibrate as an alert, then that will use teensy amounts of data. With iPhones, that's Apple's decision, not Verizon's, to use data instead of Wi-Fi for these notifications, Van Dinter said. "They feel the cellular network is more reliable," he said. Verizon customers who get an alert that they've reached 100 percent of their data and immediately shut the data off may still go over their limit, Galceran said. The usage Verizon logs is When your phone isn't used for long periods and goes dark and into "sleep" mode, the phone reverts to the LTE data network instead of Wi-Fi. If you get push notifications, it'll use teensy bits of data. We know that. If your apps like Facebook or Twitter or Snapchat are set to refresh in the background, they may use a notable amount of data during this sleep period. I believe Verizon realizes it has a problem with over-limit charges. That must be the reason the company just this week rolled out its "safety mode" feature for all new plans at no extra charge. Note, only for new pricing plans. Not the older plans like More Everything or America's Choice.

Having problems with data use?

Email me at tmurray@plaind.com or text me at 216-316-7064. Please don't call :)

Please include what type of phone you have and tell me how many GB you used to use and how many GB you're using now.

Overall, unfortunately, Verizon couldn't come up with any reasons for my family's huge increases in data use. My family long ago had turned off big data suckers like Wi-Fi Assist, and preloading of videos on Facebook and Twitter, and background refresh on apps. We don't stream when not on Wi-Fi. We don't download things when not on Wi-Fi. We don't play Pokemon Go. We don't use FaceTime or Google Hangout. . . . Galceran gave me some homework -- a few settings to look at on our phones that might be using a little bit of data here, a little bit there.



But nothing to explain why our data usage has doubled.





So, I still have a long list of questions for Verizon and AT&T, and a few for Apple, Samsung, Motorola, regulators, and others. (The FCC didn't return two phone calls and two emails last week)

1. Why are people's phones using large amounts data at times when they're on their home or workplace or school Wi-Fi and the Wi-Fi Assist button is off?



2. Why are people's phones using data in the middle of the night when the phones aren't being used and are turned off or are on do-not-disturb?

This is what the Wi-Fi Assist button looks like on an iPhone.

3. How can phones with the data function blocked still use data?



4. Do new (replacement) phones use data differently? Like if you get a new 6s to replace your old 6s?



5. If Safety Mode is such a great customer service, why was it offered as a free option just this past week for all customers with new plans?



6. If Safety Mode is such as great customer service, why isn't it available for all customers? Galceran blamed coding on billing.



7. If Verizon has known for a year that the Wi-Fi Assist button was causing many customers to use data without their knowledge, why not send a push text to all customers or include an alert with people's bills?



8. If the Wi-Fi Assist or Avoid Bad Wi-Fi/ Smart Network Switch features have been a problem for some customers for a year, why did people start encountering data surges only four or five months ago? And the data use has continued to increase every month for many customers without explanation. Why?



9. When customers call Verizon to complain about data usage, why is the default response from customer service to recommend that they switch their plans and increase their data usage? Why aren't all customers encouraged to look at their Wi-Fi Assist or Avoid Bad Wi-Fi buttons, or their Background App Refresh button, or their Location Services, or other things that could drive up data use? Instead, the customary response given to customers is often: Buy more data.



10. If the times of the data pings aren't necessarily accurate and are really only within a six-hour window, how is it that the phone call time stamps on my bill are accurate to the minute? Verizon says data is tallied and reported in chunks.



11. For people who have their Wi-Fi Assist/ Avoid Bad Wi-Fi buttons turned on, what's the definition of "poor" Wi-Fi? I'd rather be the one to make that decision rather than allow my phone to decide what Wi-Fi strength is acceptable.



12. Will customers who were harangued into increasing their data usage be able to switch back to their old plan at the same price? "It depends on the plan they were in," Galceran said. But there's "a great possibility" they can be switched back if they ask.

