Bandwidth Usage Warning

[solstyse]

Solar Legion wrote  "I am well aware of the particulars of tis bug. I simply don't care about your sob stories or your excuses. When you are on a data limited plan, you watch your data like a hawk, there is no excuse to do otherwise. Find a bug in a service that puts you over? Report the bug to the service, pay your overage fee, let others know about the bug and then wait for it to be fixed."

 

So I feel inclined to ask, are you also aware that this thread was started for just that purpose, and that it's people like you using it as your own personal podium to talk down to people that has caused it to deviate from its original purpose? And if you're so uncaring, why do you keep posting? These people are here to discuss a technical/customer service issue. not your personal opinion of them, or of anyone else.

Look, typing over an over, "It's your own fault for not watching your bandwidth usage every single second." will do nothing more to help or appease these people than their own complaining will. Nor will arguing about the exact dictionary definition of the word bandwidth.

The people who were affected by this spike in bandwidth which happened with no expectation, no warning, and no reason to believe it would happen came here for useful advice. They are not here to be ridiculed, or talked down to, or to make those who genuinely have nothing to complain about (those of us with unlimited internet) feel better about ourselves. It's sad that people who have experienced a technical issue are forced to deal with people who just want to try to make themselves out to be superior in a forum.

As for the finger pointing.

1. If they have not caught the issue, have they all figured out it's from SL? Probably not. Checking how much data you transferred is different than checking where all of it came from. many providers do not monitor sources without a legal subpoena because they feel that their customers value their privacy. You would have to watch from within SL yourself, or you'd be baffled about where all the data is coming from.

2. If they have not caught the issue, then they will be left with either no internet service, which some of them need for other things, or with a high bill.  Pointing out their responsibilities does not undo what was done. Figuring out the cause, and spreading the word may at least prevent others from suffering the same.

3. If they HAVE caught the issue before that, then what of the membership they pay for? And what of the land they rent or own? They are forced to either stay away from something they pay for, or to accept the issue and ignore it, leading to the same consequences as if they hadn't noticed.

4. This is a definite customer service issue, since customer service isn't all about strictly what is legal. It is also about making the product appeal to the customer, and avoiding customer complaints. Unhappy customers do not only go away. They also cost you future sales. Often, appeasing a customer is much, much less costly to the company than just "letting them go."

5. Most people can predict, or project their usage of any service after using it for a given amount of time. How many people constantly monitor their electricity, or water, or heat for a sudden spike? When usage spikes to the extreme that it has in SL for some of these people, then checking once a week or so may not have caught it ON TIME, even if they did catch it. It sucks when that happens, just like it sucks when ANY service you use goes outside of your own personal norm.

[Solar Legion]

Maelstrom did not come here for advice - go back and read. There have been at least two others who did not bother to ask for advice either.

The only sensible advice was given to those who asked: Report the bug, pay any overages and wait it out. If peple cannot handle this, they do not need to be using the Net.

Your list leaves out wholly the fact that network spikes happen. There is no such thing as a predictable usage of data. And yes, I'm gping to tell people who whine and demand recompense to take it in stride and either wait it out or use the door they have threatened to walk through.

I have been here long enough to have grown weary of their attitudes, the constant blame being placed for the simplest issues anywhere but where it belongs.

There's no "finger pointing" going on here - A bug occured/is still occuring in some of the server code, it has caused enourmous data usage spikes for some users. The solutions really are as simple as paying the fees and waiting it out (including waiting to see if Linden Lab wil decide to compensate affected users or not) or to leave and cease complaining about it.

Linden Lab is not required to compensate anyone for this. It's that simple. It doesn't matter what you believe the issue to be.