T-mobile Netherlands are a bunch of crooks!!! Updated!

This is way off my usual topics but I have to get this out there.

I am originally English but have been living and working in Holland for the last seven years (my wife is Dutch :-) I speak Dutch but can't really write it. I have had a contract with T-mobile since 2008

At the end of October to the beginning of November I had to go to Munich for a week for an event I was working on. I paid T-mobile 15 euros for "Travel and Surf" unlimited data in Europe so that I could check email on my iPhone.

The Hotel I was staying in had a T-Mobile Germany hotspot, so when I used my phone it asked me if I wanted to connect. I checked the login page to see if there was an agreement with T-mobile Netherlands and sure enough under "roaming partners" there was an option to login in with my Netherlands account. There was no warning that this would cost anything.

I received no texts or emails from T-mobile informing me of any charges to my account, but obviously their system knew I was connected.

If I had known that there would be charges I would never have connected to the Hotspot as I had already paid for connection via the data network.

I would typically arrive back at the Hotel in the evening, my phone would automatically connect to the Hotspot, I would check my mail for maybe ten minutes, then maybe go for dinner and later put my phone on charge and go to bed.

At the end of November I received my bill from T-mobile, including charges for connecting to the Hotspot in Germany. But not charged by use of data but by time connected. They want to charge me for 7872 minutes at 25 cents per minute!!!!

November invoice:

Internet in het buitenland

26.10.11                15:24     DATA     Internet Hotspot  507:00 min.         106,51

27.10.11                00:00     DATA     Internet Hotspot  854:00 min.         179,41

28.10.11                01:20     DATA     Internet Hotspot  1018:00 min.       213,86

29.10.11                00:13     DATA     Internet Hotspot  976:00 min.         205,04

29.10.11                20:49     DATA     Internet Hotspot  158:00 min.            33,19

30.10.11                02:30     DATA     Internet Hotspot  654:00 min.         137,39

02.11.11                22:40     DATA     Internet Hotspot  433:00 min.            90,96

03.11.11                06:59     DATA     Internet Hotspot  936:00 min.         196,63

04.11.11                00:00     DATA     Internet Hotspot  1219:00 min.       256,09
05.11.11                00:00     DATA     Internet Hotspot  1117:00 min.       234,66

Totaal Internet in het buitenland                       7872:00 min.                  1653,74

If you look at the time they're charging for it doesn't make sense. 1219 minutes is over 20 hours! I didn't stay in the hotel all day, I was working at an event 5 kilometres away!


I rang T-mobile customer services to ask what was going on. They told me I had to go to a T-Mobile store to make a complaint so I went to the T-Mobile store in Amstelveen and spoke to the manager. He told me this kind of thing happens all the time and they would probably cancel the bill. He said it would take 4 or 5 days and then someone would contact me.

I heard nothing until mid December when I received another bill, with another 2234 minutes of connection time. So now I am being charged for 10,106 minutes at 25 cents per minute.

That's 2,526.50 euro plus 19% tax!!!

December invoice:

Internet in het buitenland

06.11.11                00:13     DATA    Internet Hotspot  1241:00 min.        260,71

07.11.11                00:00     DATA    Internet Hotspot  993:00 min.          208,61

Totaal Internet in het buitenland                       2234:00 min.                   469,32

I tried to speak to T-Mobile customer support but if they don't want to deal with your case they just hang up on you. Eventually I spoke to a name removed in their billing department and she told me that the case had been decided and I had to pay.

I pointed out that I had paid for unlimited internet access but she said "Oh that's different"

I pointed out that I was not informed that connecting to the Hotspot was billable and she said "Oh we don't have to tell you"

I pointed out that the European commission had set a 50 euro cap for data roaming in Europe and she said "Oh that doesn't apply here"

I suggested that what they were doing was like stealing and she said "Oh we can't be doing anything illegal or we wouldn't be allowed to do it"

There was no negotiation, no apology and no option to speak to anyone else.

I am refusing to pay the bills until I have made my case with the Ombudsman and if necessary with the European Commission.

If you have an account with T-mobile be very careful when you travel abroad.

If anyone has any information or advice that might help me in my case with T-mobile please feel free to contact me using the comments below.

UPDATE
I have also posted this information on a T-mobile forum and have now had a couple of replies from a moderator with the screen name CindyS. This was the first:


I'm sorry to hear you assumed using a T-Mobile Hotspot outside The Netherlands was for free. On our website you can find information about using Hotspots: http://www.t-mobile.nl/mobiel-internet/hotspots. There you can read that using a Hotspotconnection abroad costs €0,25 per minute. 


The €59,95 cap for data roaming only applies to using mobile internet on a mobile network, not a Wi-fi spot where a login is required.


To which I replied:

How convenient. It would have been nice to be TOLD that the hotspot was not free. Your system knew I was connected but there was no text or other message to warn me of the charges.

How do you explain the connection being on for over 1200 minutes in a day? 
Also, why do you charge by the minute rather than for data used?


This was her reply:

The connection time is registered with your simcard.

In what way T-Mobile charges the usage of a certain service is a policy decision.



Unbelievable! The connection time is registered with my simcard, so even if it makes no logical sense, it must be right. As we all know, computer systems never make mistakes :-)


And the way T-Mobile charge is "a policy decision" Well yes I can see it's T-mobiles "policy" to screw as much money out of their customers as they possibly can!


Thanks CindyS for the ammunition. :-)


Oh yes, if there is an ad for T-mobile under this post (how ironic) please click on it.
That way I might just get some of my money back! Haha :-)

UPDATE 2
Some more posts from the forum, my replies:

On Monday:

So you have no answer as to why I was not informed of the charges?

You think it makes sense that I am being charged for connecting to the Hotspot for 20 hours in a day when I wasn't even in the Hotel that long?
And the way you charge usage is "ä policy decision" , in other words, you can charge whatever you like?
Do you think it is fair and justified that I should be charged 3000 euros to check my email?

Yesterday:

Nothing to say?

No corporate answer as to why I was not told about the charges?

You think 25 cents per minute for 10,000 minutes is perfectly reasonable?

Come on CindyS, make me smile :-)


Then today this:

T-Mobile in all fairness expects travellers are aware that the costs of the services they use abroad are higher than in The Netherlands. This information is available on our website.

It's the responsibility of the traveler to keep control of the duration of use and therefore also the costs. Though I really regret that this was not the case for you, it's T-Mobile's position that you are finally responsible for start and termination of a data connection.

I agree you are confronted with an extreme situation. Therefore I have brought up your case within our organisation, although I can not guarantee this will result in a different outcome. As soon as I receive an answer you will be informed.

At the moment there's a very high demand for our services and that is why you had to wait a while for a reply from a moderator.


Well, there's hope for the world yet :-) Thank you CindyS for this more human response and I look forward to hearing from you.

UPDATE 3 

Had an email chasing the November invoice and threatening to block my phone if I don't pay.


I rang customer support and spoke to  name removed, who was very helpful.


He checked and found out that my complaint is being dealt with and I will be receiving a letter "shortly". In the meantime I don't have to pay the invoice and I wont be blocked. Phew!


I look forward to the letter and will post the content here. Fingers crossed :-)


UPDATE 4
I suppose it was foolish of me to hope that common sense might prevail. Sigh.
This is T-mobiles response to my situation:

First of all I paid for unlimited internet access (their words not mine) when I bought a "Travel and Surf" package.


Secondly I only logged on to the T-mobile WiFi Hotspot because it accepted my T-mobile Netherlands user name and password under "roaming partners" there was no mention of charges on the login page. 


At no point did I agree to paying 25 cents per minute for access to the Hotspot


There was no email or SMS message to tell me I was running up charges. There was no warning whatsoever. I do not call that "as much information as possible"


Thirdly, I only raised the issue of the data roaming cap after they tried to bill me 3000 euros for the privilege of checking my emails! I did not "assume" the cap for data roaming applied to the WiFi Hotspot. I believed I had already paid for access to the internet via the T-Mobile network.


So they apologize for the inconvenience? I don't call a bill for 3000 euros "inconvenient", I call it robbery. Charging 25 cents per minute for access to wifi is blatant extortion.


They want to offer me the possibility to pay in instalments? I am not going to pay one cent of the charges for the Hotspot. I will see them in court trying to defend their charges.


T-mobile customer service has to be some of the worst in the world. It's not surprising they can't even spell customer.


This isn't over. 
Over 1000 people have seen this page now. 
Please forward the link to everyone you know. 
We wont be treated like this.

Continued here: http://nrsotw.blogspot.com/2012/01/t-mobile-netherlands-are-bunch-of.html

New version of Sony Vegas Pro 11

Sony have released new versions of Vegas Pro 11.

Version 11 uses GPU (Graphics processor unit) acceleration quite extensively and there have been some teething problems getting it to run smoothly on some systems.

The latest builds, 510 for 32 bit systems and 511 for 64 bit systems (downloadable here), address a lot of these issues and I have found them to be more stable and with faster performance than the previous builds.

There are release notes here with details of the improvements.

Go ahead and download them and let me know if you have any comments.

New Vegas Pro 11 info

There is new page on the www.sonycreativesoftware.com website with more information about Vegas Pro 11 and a great video showing the kind if work that can made in Vegas using some of the new tools and plug-ins that are now available.

It also confirms that Vegas Pro 11 can now use Camera RAW files by taking advantage of support for over 200 camera RAW formats in Windows Vista and Windows 7.

I'm going to do a bit of testing today at the show and will update this post with my findings.

It's the last day of IBC today. It's been hard work but fun. Come check out Vegas if you're at the show! :-)

IBC 2011 - Vegas Pro 11

On my way to IBC at the RAI in Amsterdam. I am demonstrating Vegas Pro 11 on the Sony stand.

Specifically I am showing integration with the new Sony SRmaster memory cards which allow recording of media at up to 4K resolution and 5.5Gbps! Unbelievable!

We also have some gorgeous OLED monitors which show the material in it's best light.

Vegas Pro 11 is currently in beta and is expected to be released in the next few weeks.

If you are at the show, drop by and say hello.

Final Cut Pro X = iMovie Pro?

Final Cut Pro X

I've had a couple of hours to play with FCPX and I am amazed, both at the performance improvements and at the missing features.

Firstly let me state that I was not a big fan of FCP 7. I found the UI to be old fashioned and needlessly complicated, hanging on to the editing methodology first used by Avid. Having come from a Lightworks background I was comfortable in a more flexible environment, which is one of the reasons I use Sony Vegas.

I bought Final Cut Studio a few years ago and learnt how to use FCP, just to see if the grass really was greener on the other side, but I was never very comfortable working with it. Having said that I understand how for many editors FCP allowed them to break free from the limitations of Avid and at a far lower cost. Like all Apple products FCP commands a fierce loyalty from it's users.

There had been rumours that FCP was being dropped by Apple, but then we were told to expect "something awesome". The sneak peek at NAB created quite a storm and raised more questions than it answered, but now we have the chance to see for ourselves (provided you've got $299 to spare)

My first impression of FCPX was "WOW!" This is no clunky Avid clone, this is a genuinely new product, written from scratch with the aim of making the editors job as easy as possible. I found the responsiveness of the UI when "skimming" clips to be amazing, and previewing effects was a dream. But I ran into some issues that I think anyone could have trouble with, even if they don't have an FCP background.

Firstly, I found FCPX to be very picky about media. I have a collection of different media formats that I used to test media import and I was disappointed in the results. FCPX would not import any flavour of mpeg2 files. Not .mpg, .m2v or .mts. It would also not import AVCHD files. Worse than that, some of the files it did import just showed up as red tiles with a yellow exclamation mark, with no explanation of what went wrong. Some others just showed a solid green tile, again with no explanation.

Secondly, Editing in the "magnetic timeline" was interesting but frustrating, how do I stop things rippling if I don't want them to? (disclaimer: I have not RTFM) I also spent far too long trying to get a picture on one layer to fade in over a picture on another layer, without success. If I tried to drag a transition to the start of the clip, FCPX insisted on putting it on the nearest transition on the layer below. (yes I know, there are no "layers")

I found the lack of "save as" unnerving. I always work on projects incrementally and sometimes end up with dozens of versions. The only way I could see to do this in FCPX was to keep duplicating my project.

The preset effects and transitions are good, but of course the preset is never quite what you want. Getting under the hood seemed tricky. I wanted to add a drop shadow to a text effect, only to find it was already being used to create the reflection.

Of course the biggest issue from an FCP users point of view is the lack of options to collaborate with others. The only import option is from iMovie. There is no XML, OMF or AAF import. Not even an EDL. Likewise there is no way to export your project to another system like ProTools or smoke.

iMovie 11 - Look Familiar?

I'm not quite sure what happened at Apple. This was obviously developed by the same team that did iMovie 11 but it has a lot more power than iMovie. So should it have been iMovie Pro? It certainly isn't FCP 8, it is a completely different animal and expecting FCP users to adopt this in their existing workflows is a non starter.

I'll keep playing with it to see if it grows on me, but I understand the pain of all the FCP editors who were promised something awesome only to have their hopes cruelly dashed.

Vegas for the home user

Sony have just released the latest version of Vegas Movie Studio HD Platinum 11 (Hereafter called VMS11 ;-) which has lots of new features and brings 3D editing within reach of the home user.

Vegas Movie Studio HD Platinum 11

Sony's Studio line of products are cut down versions of the Pro applications with a few of the more complex features taken out to make them more accessible for the home or semi-pro user. Having played with the latest version of VMS11 I have to say that I could do 90% of my projects on this software and there are even a couple of features that I want to see in the next version of Vegas Pro!

The new version of VMS features support for Standard and High Definition video with colour correction, stabilisation and chroma keying. Projects can be put on DVD or Blu-Ray discs or even uploaded directly to YouTube.

The Vegas Movie Studio interface

The user interface is very similar to Vegas Pro and is very clear and simple. There are even built in tutorials which teach you all the different features of the program.

The new version features the ability to edit 3D footage from the new generation of 3D camcorders such as the HXR-NX3D1 or the HDR-TD10 which I mentioned in earlier blogs. Together with these cameras VMS11 provides a low cost solution for editing your own 3D material and then delivering either a 3D Blu-Ray disc or uploading your masterpiece directly to YouTube (which now supports 3D formats.)

There is a very cool new text tool with some fun animation templates and there is a new "Make Movie" wizard which takes a lot of the guesswork out of choosing a rendering format. All the technical information can be found on Sony's website.

There are also two suites of software which include VMS11: The Platinum Production Suite which includes VMS11, DVD Studio 5, Sound Forge Audio Studio 10 and Vocal Eraser software and Imagination Studio 3 which also includes Acid Music Studio, Photo-Go photo editing software and 360 music tracks for your productions. A complete production package in a box!

Sony have some special pricing until the end of the month. VMS11 starts at just $49.95 and even the imagination studio is only $124.95! That's incredible value for money and would make a great gift for Fathers day!

Thanks for reading, any questions or comments gratefully received.

Neil

Sony's new 3D baby!

One of the products on the Sony stand at Dimension3 which drew a lot of attention was the HXR-NX3D1 mini 3D camcorder. I had a chance to play with it and was very impressed with the functionality and quality of the output from such a small package.

Sony HXR-NX3D1 Camcorder

It basically consists of two HD camcorders in a single housing, with separate lenses, sensors and processors.

The distance between the lenses (Inter-Ocular Distance) is fixed at 31mm but the convergence can be adjusted manually or automatically to vary the convergence plane and hence the 3D effect.

The Camcorder has 96GB of onboard flash memory, which is enough for about 7.5 hours of 3D material, but there is also a slot for Memory Stick or SD cards to expand the capacity. It is also possible to connect an external hard drive and copy media direct to that without a computer.

The handle on top of the Camcorder has a professional audio interface with two XLR connectors for line or mic level inputs, it even has support for phantom power. The mini shotgun mic is also part of the kit.

The whole handle and audio section can easily be removed from the Camcorder to reduce size and weight as can the lens hood.

Handle and Audio interface

The whole thing weighs just over a kilo with mic and battery attached and is very comfortable to hold, although it was a little right heavy when held by the handle. I would love to get it on my little Steadicam rig!

Talking of Steadicam the Camera has active stabilisation which does a very good job of smoothing out bumps when shooting handheld or walking. The Camera can sense when it is moving and adjusts the stabilisation accordingly.

The 3.5" touch screen screen display allows access to all of the features of the Camcorder with the ability to select automatic or manual control for many of the settings.

The screen is also Auto-Stereoscopic so you can see your 3D shots when you are shooting or when you play them back later without the need for 3D glasses. The screen can also be switched to show Left only, Right only or a combination of Left and Right images which is very useful when setting convergence. There is also a mini-HDMI output so you can play your 3D footage back on a domestic 3D television.

Material is recorded as Full-HD AVCHD at 28mbits per second in a file format called "MVC" (Multi-View Coding) which carries both streams of HD video. This can be loaded directly into Vegas Pro 10d and is recognised as 3D footage. I did have some problems with this at Dimension3 but I believe that was because we had a pre-production unit. Sony are also working with Cineform to make the format compatible with their Neo3D format.

The HXR-NX3D1 is expected to be released this summer with a street price of around $3000 which I think is amazing for the capabilities of this camera. This will open up 3D production for anyone who would like to get into 3D but who cannot justify the cost of a full sized 3D rig.

There is more (preliminary) information from Sony here.