Data Usage Exceeded Whilst in Hospital

[robwalker]

Hi,

I'm hoping i can get some advice.

My father was admitted into hospital a little over a couple of weeks ago.

It looks like he's on a package that includes 1GB, which he's exceeded by around 0.3GB.

He's not been in a position to make any plan changes whilst in hospital and i've only become aware of this today.

Currently it looks like he's going to be charged around £39 for 0.3GB, which seems excessive when i get around 20GB for a tenner with giffgaff.

Is there any adjustment we can make to his plan which would bring his use within an inclusive plan amount until he leaves hospital and can return to his normal use?

Regards,

Rob.

[imjolly]

You can buy data add on  https://www.bt.com/help/mobile/manage-service/buying-add-ons-for-extra-minutes--speed-or-data/what-a...

Probably cheaper buy a SIM from one of the MNVO providers for a month

[robwalker]

Thanks @imjolly. I was ideally looking at something that can be applied to the account retrospectively before his current billing cycle ends on the 8th April to try and save him his £39.

I've given him a spare PAYG phone to use until that date to prevent further cost. I thought the data add on options available to him were expensive for what they were.

[garybs29]

I honestly don't understand the response on a BT forum of basically "give another network money"

You should be able to login or call up & ask if there's any options. As already discovered the excess charges are very high

[gg30340]

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@garybs29 wrote:

I honestly don't understand the response on a BT forum of basically "give another network money"

You should be able to login or call up & ask if there's any options. As already discovered the excess charges are very high

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The respone on this BT Customer to Customer forum was probably the best way of saving costs for the OP's father unless of course you know of a better option and can point out to the OP what option to ask for and how to achieve that.

[HHGTTG]

Doesn't the hospital have free Wi-Fi? Most of our local hospitals run by King's College do according to their websites but maybe there are restrictions or they're not expecting patients to over use the facility not suggesting that your father is, of course.

[Paul608085]

@HHGTTG 

"Doesn't the hospital have free Wi-Fi?"

They do in my area, (Milton Keynes), as well. All of the NHS facilities that I have visited in the past few years have had free WiFi installed, though I have noticed a small change in some locations:

Whereas in the past it was simply a matter of selecting "NHS Free WiFi" from the list of available networks, when I was at our local GP surgery a few weeks ago I noticed that they now required you to create an NHS WiFi account before you could log on to the network.

I didn't bother at the time, but I assume that once created, this account would give access at all NHS locations with free WiFi?

[robwalker]

@HHGTTG yes - there was some hit-and-miss WiFi available on the ward.

My dad's in his 80s and doesn't really understand what 1GB means. It's the first time he's asked for assistance with his BT plans (he's old school and doesn't really look beyond BT for anything "phone") - and i was kinda shocked at what he's being charged for his broadband, phone and mobile package - his estimated bill for this month is currently running at £90+, which is crazy for his needs.

I'm hoping BT look at the situation sympathetically for him, but i'll certainly be reviewing his current plans with him in the near future.

[rbz5416]

@robwalker 

If he has a MyBT account, or you can set one up for him, there should be an option to switch plans under Your Products. But it's been a couple of years since I had BT Mobile, so can't check if that's still allowed since the push to EE.

I've no idea how that would work with regard to data, but I suspect it would only become active on the date of change & not be backdated to the last bill date..

[HHGTTG]

I'm in my late '80s more the pity and don't pay anywhere near that monthly amount to BT.  There again I don't have a mobile plan with BT either. My last quarterly bill was £129  or £43/month but this may go up as I now don't have a contract with BT as I don't want to elevate myself to FTTC/FTTP until I am forced to and so expect my prices may go up a bit as I'm out of contract. I have ADSL Broadband and 700 minutes of calls and nothing else.

I buy my own smartphones, my current one being over 6 years old and use an O2 SIM in it which gives unlimited calls and texts and 14Gb of data. I'd like to renew my phone in a way but they're all so damned large now and so I'll keep my Samsung A3 for the present. 

I cannot imagine what you dad has that costs him £90/month probably far more in excess of his needs?