Big Time plan removal

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › Big Time plan removal

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#332240 20-May-2010 11:34

It is possible to get out of the early disconnection fee, according to doozy. It will involve sending the router back to them im guessing.

farcus

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#332242 20-May-2010 11:36

Telecom via AAPT in Australia have been expanding their unmetered plans. Why is it they are unable to offer similar plans here in NZ where they have a larger customer base?

Kalarin

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#332243 20-May-2010 11:37

garvani: It is possible to get out of the early disconnection fee, according to doozy. It will involve sending the router back to them im guessing.

That's what I am assuming, the only issue is that I got the modem after I had changed to the bigtime plan (As I needed a wireless router and was happy with the plan at the time)

I will give them a call at lunchtime and see what they say.

Kilack

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#332244 20-May-2010 11:37

garvani: It is possible to get out of the early disconnection fee, according to doozy. It will involve sending the router back to them im guessing.

I doubt you would have to send it back.

Flashcards

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#332245 20-May-2010 11:38

farcus: Telecom via AAPT in Australia have been expanding their unmetered plans. Why is it they are unable to offer similar plans here in NZ where they have a larger customer base?

Very, very simple - competition. There is some in Australia.

hellonearthisman

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#332247 20-May-2010 11:41

They called it unlimited, but had no idea of what they really expected users to use. Why didn't they say 200GB cap, that would have stopped the rare 1TB+ users and would have made most of there other users more than happy. It doesn't sound like Telecom tried hard to find a working solution. -ok so that been covered...

I guess they will not be expecting their users to honour the contract fees for early termination.

Looks like Slingshot is the only ISP still trying to off an Unlimited deal, even if it is only between 1am - 7am or 2am - 8am. Maybe Telecom could have done something like that as it works for Slingshot.

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ArranH

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#332249 20-May-2010 11:48

FreakyKiwi: Of course they reserve the right to change plans and remove them at any time with 30 days notice...

Not unless that is stated to the person during the sign up. I think I signed up over the phone and it wasn't stated to me. I think my plan will be up in a month or two anyway, but if they try to stop it early I'll be fighting it.

doozy

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#332252 20-May-2010 11:51

ArranH:
sbiddle:
cokeman2: i ve had big time since october , has never complained to telecom , yeah ok it was slow at times , but hey free data ....the constant maoning has resulted in this ...while rest of the world enjoys unlimted data plans we always seem to go backwars after a while ...sad day really ....

It's not entirely true that everywhere else in the world has unlimited data plans. Canada is one obvious exception to this rule and data caps are common there. It's also worth noting that many US ISP's are also introducing data caps as well, which while still significantly higher than NZ (say 200GB), they are not unlimited plans.

I had a reasonably priced unlimited use dataplan in London in 2001. It was capped at 1MB/s but it still shows how far behind we are here. NZ is so focused on fast connection speeds, but without the usage limits to match it will be a long time until we get the legal digital distribution of movies etc here in NZ.

It sucks that I'm going to have to limit my use of TVNZ on demand (or change to Orcon) but I doubt I'll be in NZ in a few months anyway.

As to those who Telecom will want to move off the plan before their 12 month contract is due, I say fight it. You have a 12 month contract with Telecom to provide this service. Make them provide it.

The contract is for Telecom Broadband, it is not plan specific and also as someone else has mentioned it is part of the T&C's that we reserve the right to change/remove. In saying that as I have mentioned no early termination fee will apply for those that want to go elsewhere

Kalarin: This isn't too good for me.

I was happy with the plan so I signed up for another 2 years to get a free wireless modem. You say that a termination fee will be waived but how does this apply in my case? I probably received the modem sometime around the end of last year....

The waiver applies to you and you can keep the modem.

Kalarin:
garvani: Move to another telecom plan.. simple, keep the same wireless router.
If you move isp you can chuck that router away as its locked to telecoms network (there are workarounds but anyway,,)

I really don't care to much about the wireless router as I can sign up with another ISP and get another. What I am worried about is the $200 termination fee for getting it in the first place...

I am not interested in moving to another telecom plan unfortunately.

As mentioned, it will be waived should you want to leave.

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ArranH

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#332254 20-May-2010 11:54

Kilack:
ArranH:
sbiddle:
cokeman2: i ve had big time since october , has never complained to telecom , yeah ok it was slow at times , but hey free data ....the constant maoning has resulted in this ...while rest of the world enjoys unlimted data plans we always seem to go backwars after a while ...sad day really ....

It's not entirely true that everywhere else in the world has unlimited data plans. Canada is one obvious exception to this rule and data caps are common there. It's also worth noting that many US ISP's are also introducing data caps as well, which while still significantly higher than NZ (say 200GB), they are not unlimited plans.

I had a reasonably priced unlimited use dataplan in London in 2001. It was capped at 1MB/s but it still shows how far behind we are here. NZ is so focused on fast connection speeds, but without the usage limits to match it will be a long time until we get the legal digital distribution of movies etc here in NZ.

It sucks that I'm going to have to limit my use of TVNZ on demand (or change to Orcon) but I doubt I'll be in NZ in a few months anyway.

As to those who Telecom will want to move off the plan before their 12 month contract is due, I say fight it. You have a 12 month contract with Telecom to provide this service. Make them provide it.

That is actually an interesting point about the 12 month contract. I am no lawyer but if they wanted to make us pay an early termination fee to leave it then surely they should have to pay us a fee also or provide us the full 12 months that they agreed to.

I've just finished my law degree and professional exams, so not speaking from work experience, just from what I've been taught. Telecom will rely on, I'm assuming, a clause in the written contract that allows them to withdraw the plan. However, as many of us signed up over the phone, we can really only be held to the terms that we were told when we agreed to the plan (and general terms that required in every contract, such as an agreement to pay each month for the service etc). I can't quite recall if I signed up online or over the phone, I'd have to go back and check, but those that signed up by calling Telecom would need to recall what terms were set. I would be suprised if Telecom didn't mention the right to cancel the plan, knowing that it was a plan they were unlikely to continue long term, but it may have been overlooked by the person taking the calls.

FreakyKiwi

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#332255 20-May-2010 11:58

You should check Telecom's general terms and conditions (not just boradband ones) and their terms of service which are publicly avilable and apply to all services you have with them

k1wi

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#332256 20-May-2010 11:59

I'm not really that concerned about 'telecom should pay me to discontinue the plan' and seeing as Doozy has already stated about four times that BT users wont be penalised for leaving Telecom, all of the above is moot for me.

More than anything I'm just sad the plan is going the way of the dodo.

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ArranH

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#332261 20-May-2010 12:05

doozy:
The contract is for Telecom Broadband, it is not plan specific and also as someone else has mentioned it is part of the T&C's that we reserve the right to change/remove.

Which would hold for those that signed up online. Those that agreed to the contract over the phone would have had to have the T&Cs read to them to be held to them. Even sending them a copy of the T&Cs after agreement to the contract would not make them binding as that would be after the contract formation.

I'm thinking now that I signed up online so would have read the T&Cs prior to agreeing to them, but I doubt that, over the phone, the Telecom staff member would have read all the T&Cs to the person, or asked them to go and read them before signing up. Though I could be wrong.

It is good to see that Telecom will be waiving the termination charges, and hopefully allow people to retain the modems and routers they received. Personally though, to see Telecom retain the goodwill it has built up in the past year or so, it would have been nice if it had grandfathered the plan to the end of each contract, so those that agreed to a two year contract would only be required to change at the end of the contract.

Telecom retaining the right to cancel a contract while also the right to charge the consumer for doing the same thing seems a bit rich to me. I know it is a common component of many service contracts but it would have been a good sign for Telecom to stand by the contracts it has agreed to, and would have retained much of the goodwill they desperatly need.

Dratsab

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#332262 20-May-2010 12:05

ArranH: However, as many of us signed up over the phone, we can really only be held to the terms that we were told when we agreed to the plan (and general terms that required in every contract, such as an agreement to pay each month for the service etc).

Don't confuse the service (your broadband connection) with the plan (unlimited access to the service). As Doozy points out, they are two very different beasts.

enserf

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#332263 20-May-2010 12:07

What a shame my first post on this site has to be on this news.

Not at all happy with this decision. We had been with Slingshot for years, but started looking elsewhere when they mucked up when we moved house. The deciding factor to move to Telecom was the Big Time plan. Prior to that Slingshot was the only ISP to offer us affordable data- we generally do 100-200GB/month, so $40 for a 50GB block wasn't too bad- but it was great to have a flat rate.

As it looks like there's no chance of staying on it, may I add my vote to some suggestions given. I would love to stay with Telecom, as their customer service after Slingshot stuffed us around was fantastic- but how can we affordably maintain our current data usage? We're not stealing software or movies, and it's all http traffic. (ie no torrents- and believe it or not, no p0rn!)
Perhaps a plan with a reasonable cap? I don't see how 40GB can be considered "heavy usage". Perhaps blocks as Slingshot offer- at a realistic price? I wouldn't even be too fussed if it cost me another $10 or $20/month- but I dare not even calculate what it would cost us with other alternative offerings.
We also don't do online gaming, and only limited streaming- so not even too fussed if there's a go-slow from time to time. (For the record, we never complained about the speed- it was comparable with Slingshot, and it was in the contract that it could be throttled in peak times.)

Come on Telecom, help us out here...

ArranH

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#332267 20-May-2010 12:13

Dratsab:
ArranH: However, as many of us signed up over the phone, we can really only be held to the terms that we were told when we agreed to the plan (and general terms that required in every contract, such as an agreement to pay each month for the service etc).

Don't confuse the service (your broadband connection) with the plan (unlimited access to the service). As Doozy points out, they are two very different beasts.

From Telecom's point of view they are, from the consumer's point of view they are not. The consumer calls the ISP to join BigTime, not to get with an internet connection as well as BigTime. They are also contained within one contract. I can't see, from a legal point of view, why the consumer should see them as two seperate items, when the terms of delivery for both sides (being speeds, usage limits and price) are all attached to the plan, not the connection.

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