A Word Of Warning...

[#1]

There are still plenty of alternative explanations. Virus/malware. Compromised machine. Runaway process. Mother hiding YouTube addiction.
Have you checked the router logs/stats to see what MAC addresses have been connected?

[#2]

I'm pretty sure it's not virus or malware.    I will check the rotuer stats and see if any clues are there.   I did check both the Android devices data usage histories, and nothing obvious there either.
There is only so many cats you can look at on YouTube.   80GB is ALOT of cats 🙂

[#3]

[#4]

Having been a customer for over 10yrs for the first time i've looked at "Manage my usuage"
Details say : "Maximum extra monthly spend         :£ Not Set"
Do we assume this means no limit or none ?
DM

[#5]

It means if you are not picking up emails regularly and someone hacks your Wifi (or some other reason), you too could end up with a silly bill.  Make sure you set it to £0, if only for piece of mind.  If you go over your limit for legitimate reasons, then you can increase it manually and set it back at the next billing period.
jim:quote

[#6]

I bought my Mum a smart TV one Friday and was pratting about having a look at BBCi player and how it worked, (not very good with the rubbish wifi range of the technicolour router) after I had had a look, the TV was switched off. The next 2 days my Mum watched TV as normal and on Monday morning my Mum got an e-mail form PN saying the 10 Gig limit had been reached and an extra £5 was being charged. My Mum usually uses about 1.5 Gig per month.
I guess my Mum was lucky checking her e-mails every day otherwise a heftier bill would have been forth coming. My fault though, I should have checked what apps on the TV were using bandwidth and made sure they were switched off.
So not only do we have to train our kids how to surf safely we also have to watch that out parents are not being charged through something they have no idea of.
I remember in Australia when it was dial up, I got my Internet from a house, setup with its own network. I used to go to the house every month and pay $50 for so much usage. I remember many times phoning them from work saying I think I left my internet on can you turn it off for me and they would. They would ring me when I was going near my usage. No doubt they are out of business now with all the big companies, but when I came to England I had the idea in my head that Free-online were like the house I used to get my internet from, just a bunch of lads in a house having a laugh and selling internet bandwidth, maybe they were before PN and BT came along.  

[#7]

Given that it is possible to restrict the allowable overspend to be £0 it does seem a shame, and frankly alarming, that this isn't the default.

[#8]

I would be keen to know if everyone's is "no limit", or if new accounts are now limited by default.  As if the default behavior is different for new accounts, then this seems rather unfair, that the only time you know about it, is when you get hit with a massive bill from Plusnet.

[#9]

Quote from: ClashcityRocker

I'm pretty sure it's not virus or malware.    I will check the rotuer stats and see if any clues are there.   I did check both the Android devices data usage histories, and nothing obvious there either.

If you go here https://portal.plus.net/view_my_broadband_usage/index.php then click on Usage Breakdown, this will give you an idea of the type of usage - but depends if you're in a new billing period now?

[#10]

The default setting for Manage My Usage for all accounts allowing extra usage is, and always has been, no limit.
What often catches people out is that if they've previously set a limit (eg £0.00) but then change package the setting reverts to no limit when the package change takes place.
Done this way Plusnet do not get complaints of broadband suddenly slowing down.

[#11]

That would explain things, as I was pretty sure I had put a limit on my mothers account in the past (when it was a 1GB/month account and easy to go over).  We changed it to a 10GB/Month last year, and the limit must have been taken away at that time.

[#12]

Quote from: spraxyt

Done this way Plusnet do not get complaints of broadband suddenly slowing down.

Better that than complaints of surprise £50 surcharges!
Is that really Plusnet's stance on the matter or are you just guessing? If it is then that's appalling.

[#13]

Indeed, better your internet slows down, you get an email telling you why and an option to instantly make it go faster again, rather than just taking £5 twice a day every day and just ASSUME the customer is aware of the situation...

[#14]

I can't help thinking that if you set up a limit previously and Plusnet removed that limit when upgrading your product, without telling you, you'd have a strong case for requesting a full refund of the £50. I agree that the default of "we'll charge you if you go over and then let you know" is highly undesirable. Rather like the mobile operators who were slapping large bills on customers who used data roaming overseas, until the EU stepped in and told them they must notify the customer of rates in advance (by text when you arrive in the overseas country) and limit the maximum charge.

[#15]

Thanks for the warning.
I've just logged in and set my mum's limit to £0 (took a bit of hunting to find the correct place) as it'll be me who gets the first phone call if her internet slows down…assuming she actually notices. 
Cheers,
Tony