[srbs73]

I signed up for the free trial but can’t believe the ongoing charges. Is anyone actually using this?

£9.50 a month is okay, but for 1GB per month!!! What year are they in? Are they stuck somewhere around 2005? That is ridiculous and pretty much useless.

They don’t even offer a premium, say £15 for 10GB which for simplicity I might have gone for.

I think I’ll be looking at a MiFi device with it’s own data sim.

[Tam the Bam]

Originally Posted by srbs73

I signed up for the free trial but can’t believe the ongoing charges. Is anyone actually using this?

£9.50 a month is okay, but for 1GB per month!!! What year are they in? Are they stuck somewhere around 2005? That is ridiculous and pretty much useless.

They don’t even offer a premium, say £15 for 10GB which for simplicity I might have gone for.

I think I’ll be looking at a MiFi device with it’s own data sim.

I looked at this before and decided, as you state, that it is not worth it. I just use data on my mobile..... Personal hotspot.

[Funboy78]

Totally agree! I was gutted to learn this...... went to connect our little ones iPad yesterday during a trip only to find the silly charges! No way anyone would pay that for 1gb data? I’m actually quite surprised, can’t see anyone taking this out unless you have more money than sense.

Real shame, I can only assume the demand isn’t there hence no review in the pricing has ever been done? Wish BMW would look into this and consider a more reasonable package.

And yes I understand you can use your phone, but the car WiFi is good and fast with less drop outs, plus it’s a feature they sell, they just hide the price for obvious reasons lol

[srbs73]

I’m going to give them a call tomorrow and see whether there’s any changes being planned.

In Germany, they get 3GB for less and have 5GB and 10GB options. For £13 p/m I’d consider the 5GB option.

[del82]

Originally Posted by srbs73

I’m going to give them a call tomorrow and see whether there’s any changes being planned.

In Germany, they get 3GB for less and have 5GB and 10GB options. For £13 p/m I’d consider the 5GB option.

Glad someone mentioned this. I used the free trial and then tested it for a couple of months.

1. Super expensive and I drained the 1GB within a month each time without doing much.

2. My Wife's Audi has various levels. For £8 a month she has 5GB. Still a premium but far better value.

I've stopped the subscription and use my unlimited data hotspot on my phone. The WIFI was much quicker tbh. If they sorted out the pricing then it's worth having.

[Funboy78]

Originally Posted by srbs73

I’m going to give them a call tomorrow and see whether there’s any changes being planned.

In Germany, they get 3GB for less and have 5GB and 10GB options. For £13 p/m I’d consider the 5GB option.

Let us know how you get on, it appears a few could be interested if a better deal is to be had.

[blaz]

Surprised that the 'wifi' is quicker as it's based on a cellular connection too. Maybe an aerial thing? May be a way to use that from your phone??

[srbs73]

I phone T-Mobile and they were useless. They gave me an email address to raise it to which is hotspotdrive@hotmail.com!

The fact they are using a hotmail account doesn't fill me with much hope!

I also emailed BMW Customer Services at customer.service@bmw.co.uk.

[OM3RTA]

I mentioned this of sorts previously but after initial sign up I never got any extra billing, then all of a sudden I had to sign up again for whatever reason, we have used it intermittently since then but again no further billing despite us surely having reached the cap.

[Funboy78]

Any more joy? Any response? Might try emailing them myself, although agree BMW Hotmail doesn’t fill me with hope!

[srbs73]

Not yet. Maybe they've lost the post-it note with the password to the hotmail account?

[Funboy78]

Originally Posted by srbs73

Not yet. Maybe they've lost the post-it note with the password to the hotmail account?

[srbs73]

Sent a follow up email to BMW Customer Services as hadn't heard back from them or T-Mobile.

I said it's false advertising on their website saying you could catch up on episodes using the hotspot or do video conference calls. You can if you're okay with either one of those once per month!!

Not great getting cut off from a conf call whilst you put another £9.50 in the meter.

[del82]

Originally Posted by srbs73

Sent a follow up email to BMW Customer Services as hadn't heard back from them or T-Mobile.

I said it's false advertising on their website saying you could catch up on episodes using the hotspot or do video conference calls. You can if you're okay with either one of those once per month!!

Not great getting cut off from a conf call whilst you put another £9.50 in the meter.

Thanks for doing that. I'm going to do the same today.

When I was using it for 3 months, I went through the 1GB without even watching a video or a conf call!

I think I downloaded some music on Spotify on my phone and that is what used it all up. I don't know what else it could be!

[Funboy78]

I started my free trial at the weekend, Kids iPads etc, streams really fast so much better than my phone hotspot.

I won’t pay for it though, a tenner for 1gb is a joke!!

Keep us posted if anyone receives a response? Doubt it, typical big corporation couldn’t care less, even you have spent 40k with them in a single transaction.

[srbs73]

So, i've now had the car a month and went back into the t-mobile site (https://www.bmw.hotspotdrive.com/) and it appears I can sign up for my second free month.

This tariff is even dumber than I thought!

[Funboy78]

Originally Posted by srbs73

So, i've now had the car a month and went back into the t-mobile site (https://www.bmw.hotspotdrive.com/) and it appears I can sign up for my second free month.

This tariff is even dumber than I thought!

Haha brilliant! Let’s hope that continues then..... will try do the same when mine runs out

[srbs73]

Unsurprisingly, I didn't get anywhere with this. BMW UK couldn't give sh!t! They didn't bother looking into it, let alone taking it up with T-Mobile.

They did helpfully suggest that if I needed more data, I would need to insert a second SIM. I asked where you could insert it and they said it's not possible.

I'll try one more time with T-Mobile as I don't see how they can make this claim on the BMW portal:

OPTIMALLY EQUIPPED FOR EVERY ITINERARY: THE NEW DIMENSION OF WIFI SERVICE IN YOUR CAR

Your BMW is now your mobile hotspot: Deutsche Telekom and BMW are equipping most models with high-speed Internet. For unlimited surfing on all your travels. Once you are registered, you and your passengers will have Internet access in your car just as you would at home or at the office. How long and to what extent is up to you. And with no contract period, you can cancel online at any time.

ON THE ROAD WITH HIGH-SPEED INTERNET – THE ROAD IS OPEN FOR UNLIMITED SURFING IN YOUR CAR

With HotSpot Drive your BMW knows no limits when it comes to mobile surfing: Streaming your favourite music or movies is easy, upload and download speeds are fast, and you can even access business records or participate in video conferences. No additional charges in other EU countries – the service provided by Deutsche Telekom makes it possible. Families with children arrive at their destinations more relaxed, business travellers enjoy fast and easy network access. The best thing about it: Your mobile hotspot is always right there with you.

[Funboy78]

I went to use mine the other day but no data left... kids only used it a short while the week prior, 1gb GONE!!

Can’t say I noticed an ‘unlimited’ option? As you say, quite a claim to make. Good luck anyway, won’t get anywhere, I think TMobile will be the same if not worse than BMW themselves!

Shame BMW don’t have an additional sim slot like Audi’s do.... that would solve this quite easily and can’t cost them much? Like being forced to use their expensive version only.

[srbs73]

Got a response from T-mobile:

Unfortunately there must be a misunderstanding going on here and we apologize for this.

In fact the word “unlimited” should be understood here rather in the sense of “unlimited freedom to move around” and not in the sense of a flat tariff in the sense of “unlimited streaming” (which is indeed a synonym for flat surfing).

I think statements like this are false advertising:

For unlimited surfing on all your travels. Once you are registered, you and your passengers will have Internet access in your car just as you would at home or at the office

That’s like signing up for a mobile phone contract that says it includes Unlimited calls and then you find out they’re not included in the price, it just means you can move around or make as many calls as you like.

[Funboy78]

Originally Posted by srbs73

Got a response from T-mobile:

Unfortunately there must be a misunderstanding going on here and we apologize for this.

In fact the word “unlimited” should be understood here rather in the sense of “unlimited freedom to move around” and not in the sense of a flat tariff in the sense of “unlimited streaming” (which is indeed a synonym for flat surfing).

I think statements like this are false advertising:

For unlimited surfing on all your travels. Once you are registered, you and your passengers will have Internet access in your car just as you would at home or at the office

That’s like signing up for a mobile phone contract that says it includes Unlimited calls and then you find out they’re not included in the price, it just means you can move around or make as many calls as you like.

So so so true....... I hope you’ve asked them to update their wording!

[srbs73]

Originally Posted by Funboy78

So so so true....... I hope you’ve asked them to update their wording!

I did!