Firstly, I have data turned off, and my phone uses my wireless Internet connection. That said, it's my understanding that if I'm using my Internet connection, I should not be using up data from my phone's service provider (Bell), but instead I'm using the data from my Internet provider. Isn't this correct?
The Bell representative told me that even if I'm using my home's wireless Internet, I still use up my data from Bell because the data is going through my phone. Literally, that's what he said. This absolutely ticked me off because it doesn't make any sense whatsoever to me. It's not the way I understand how things work, and I feel like he's way out in left field. I also told him that some of the charges have time stamps of the early morning, but this doesn't make sense because my phone is turned off at 10-11 PM every night. Then he proceeded to tell me that all of that data charges are in Greenwich Mean Time (although he said "German Mean Time, or whenever it is in Britain"), so the times on my bill are actually 4-5 hours different from our time. This also doesn't make any sense to me whatsoever.
That CR rep doesn't know what they are talking about. If you are using Wifi for data, that SHOULD NOT count as data usage on the Bell network. They shouldn't be charging you for data usage done by your phone, only for data usage on THEIR network. The only exception to this rule is when you use microcell's like ATT's, which uses your broadband network to connect your phone to ATT's network. This is used when you can't get cell coverage in your own home. In ATT's case, your usage minutes are subtracted even though you are using your own broadband, which means you are paying multiple times for the same service. However, I don't think this is your situation.
One thing you should do is monitor the data usage on your phone directly. Most smartphones have some type data usage meter. My iPhone does. Then you can compare the reported uses against your bill. If there's a discrepancy, then you have a valid complaint.
Some other things to consider:
1) When you say that data is turned off, are you sure? For example, on an iphone, you can shut off 3G coverage but EDGE is still active. In that case, you're still using data albeit on a slower connection.
2) Do you know if your phone 'thinks' it's roaming? If so, then you are also getting charged for being outside of your coverage area. On an iPhone, you have an option to shut off data roaming to avoid this. Most smartphones should have this option.
3) Are you sure you are on Wifi? One way to check is to disable your wifi network (or disconnect your broadband modem) and then try to browse on your phone. If it still browses, then that means you are actually using the data network.
4) What apps do you have on your phone? It may be possible that you have background applications that are actually using the data network. Push applications tend to do this.
