The length of the URL for this request exceeds the configured maxUrlLength value. REST API

I was wondering if someone could help, or am I missing something. In the articles found here http://ift.tt/13IyE86

They refer to using the /getfilebyserverrelativeurl. When I build my request and try and make a HttpWebRequest I get "The length of the URL for this request exceeds the configured maxUrlLength value" in the webresponse.

I'm making these requests from a console application against Office 365/SharePoint Online.