It ain't in the fine print....a consumer rant
I hate my phone company. Hate.Hate.Hate. And I don't hate many things.
I had a really good mobile provider - good service, good rates, simple bills and you could do everything on their website, including sending text messages, seeing your call costs/bill amounts in real time. I'd been with them for a while and I was happy. The only problem was that there were some places I went where I needed coverage and couldn't get it. An inconvenience, but not a huge deal.
My landline provider was ok too, but when I started making more long distance calls, I thought I should see if they could do me a better deal overall. I signed up for a package deal mid December, that included my landline and mobile. It looked really good.
Issue #1.
When I got my first bills, they'd charged for calls I'd made after I signed up, which were supposed to be free. They said my contract started when their billing period started. I said, no, my contract started when I signed up, so I'm not paying for those calls. "That should have been explained to you when you signed up." It wasn't. I'm not paying. They said fine.
Issue #2.
In my first landline bill, there were charges for calls back in September/October. I was pissed. I get billed monthly. They said it can take up to 6 weeks for the call details to come through to them. Mind you, it doesn't take them 6 weeks to work out the bill!
Issue #3.
I get a massive bill (around $400) between Christmas and New Year. It includes installation fees from September and calls from November/December before my contract started. Why'd it take so long? It can take the line provider that long to pass on the information. Um, if they've been billing me since September, surely they can tell the phone is on and working??? I tell them they can wait a while for their money since they don't need it so bad, considering they took so long to get around to billing me.
Issue #4.
Call charges that I've been told would be removed, appear on my next mobile bill. I call to find out why. They say I have a zero balance according to their computers and to ignore it. Their computer says I owe nothing, but it prints a bill that says I do???
Issue #5.
Their offer states that you get $120 worth of included calls on both the landline and the mobile each month. That's $120 credit, right? Nope. It's $120 minus GST. Nowhere on their website, or in the paraphernalia I was sent when I signed up, does it say that. I say to the last guy I spoke with, "Do you see how that's false advertising? You guys charge us, then add GST, but when you're giving us a deduction, you include the GST, therefore making the deduction less. You're ripping people off." He says he can see my point. I also spent 45 minutes on the phone with this guy, in which he (and his supervisor) couldn't adequately explain to me how they reached the amount owing on my last bill.
Issue #6.
I ask the same guy why I'm being charged full rates on my long distance calls, when the whole point of signing up with them (prior to the new contract) was for the cheap rates I'd get. He says I lost those rates when I started the new contract. "They should have told you that when you signed up." They didn't.
I have read all the documentation they sent me when I signed up, and all their terms and conditions online.
* It does not specifically say that the rates I was on would not continue to apply on the new contract.
* It does not say the amount to be credited includes GST and is therefore less than what customers would assume it to be.
* In one brochure I was sent when I signed up, beside the specified long distance rates, it states separately, "choose your long distance plan". (Their website does not say this.) I am taking this to mean I should/could have kept my original call rates on my landline.
So....this little black duck is about to go to war with the phone company!
Their motto is "Yes". Let's see how agreeable they are when I say I'm not paying the extra charges, because I was mislead.
I had a really good mobile provider - good service, good rates, simple bills and you could do everything on their website, including sending text messages, seeing your call costs/bill amounts in real time. I'd been with them for a while and I was happy. The only problem was that there were some places I went where I needed coverage and couldn't get it. An inconvenience, but not a huge deal.
My landline provider was ok too, but when I started making more long distance calls, I thought I should see if they could do me a better deal overall. I signed up for a package deal mid December, that included my landline and mobile. It looked really good.
Issue #1.
When I got my first bills, they'd charged for calls I'd made after I signed up, which were supposed to be free. They said my contract started when their billing period started. I said, no, my contract started when I signed up, so I'm not paying for those calls. "That should have been explained to you when you signed up." It wasn't. I'm not paying. They said fine.
Issue #2.
In my first landline bill, there were charges for calls back in September/October. I was pissed. I get billed monthly. They said it can take up to 6 weeks for the call details to come through to them. Mind you, it doesn't take them 6 weeks to work out the bill!
Issue #3.
I get a massive bill (around $400) between Christmas and New Year. It includes installation fees from September and calls from November/December before my contract started. Why'd it take so long? It can take the line provider that long to pass on the information. Um, if they've been billing me since September, surely they can tell the phone is on and working??? I tell them they can wait a while for their money since they don't need it so bad, considering they took so long to get around to billing me.
Issue #4.
Call charges that I've been told would be removed, appear on my next mobile bill. I call to find out why. They say I have a zero balance according to their computers and to ignore it. Their computer says I owe nothing, but it prints a bill that says I do???
Issue #5.
Their offer states that you get $120 worth of included calls on both the landline and the mobile each month. That's $120 credit, right? Nope. It's $120 minus GST. Nowhere on their website, or in the paraphernalia I was sent when I signed up, does it say that. I say to the last guy I spoke with, "Do you see how that's false advertising? You guys charge us, then add GST, but when you're giving us a deduction, you include the GST, therefore making the deduction less. You're ripping people off." He says he can see my point. I also spent 45 minutes on the phone with this guy, in which he (and his supervisor) couldn't adequately explain to me how they reached the amount owing on my last bill.
Issue #6.
I ask the same guy why I'm being charged full rates on my long distance calls, when the whole point of signing up with them (prior to the new contract) was for the cheap rates I'd get. He says I lost those rates when I started the new contract. "They should have told you that when you signed up." They didn't.
I have read all the documentation they sent me when I signed up, and all their terms and conditions online.
* It does not specifically say that the rates I was on would not continue to apply on the new contract.
* It does not say the amount to be credited includes GST and is therefore less than what customers would assume it to be.
* In one brochure I was sent when I signed up, beside the specified long distance rates, it states separately, "choose your long distance plan". (Their website does not say this.) I am taking this to mean I should/could have kept my original call rates on my landline.
So....this little black duck is about to go to war with the phone company!
Their motto is "Yes". Let's see how agreeable they are when I say I'm not paying the extra charges, because I was mislead.
posted by E in Oz at 2:25 pm
these thoughts escaped my brain at 2:25 pm
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