Pay To Retrieve Voicemails?

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › Pay To Retrieve Voicemails?

Jos1969

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#260043 7-Nov-2019 23:46

I'm a pre-pay customer with Spark.
I top up every month, and get the half price Spotify thing as well (comes to about $26 all up).

So sometimes I have money in my account, and sometimes not. I top up when I get the reminder and it does into pre-pay.

At the moment it seems I have nothing in my actual Spark account, and I have found that with no money in there, Spark won't let me access voicemails.
Really? I mean, I have plenty of talk minutes in my prepay, and data left, etc, but they won't let me hear my voicemail?

That seems a bit stingy to me.... 😕

mattwnz

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#2349880 8-Nov-2019 00:21

I think what many people do these days is disable voice mail, as many people will now just txt if they can't get through. Or people have a message to txt or email, and say they don't monitor their voice mail.

Linux

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#2349891 8-Nov-2019 06:07

Is calling Voicemail a charged call?

sbiddle

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#2349936 8-Nov-2019 07:05

Can you still just call your own number and press * to access voicemail for free (using incl mins) like you can on VF? This used to be the way to access VM on Spark while roaming.

Jos1969

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#2349945 8-Nov-2019 07:40

Linux: Is calling Voicemail a charged call?

It seems to be, yes. So, I'd have to top up a minimum of $10 to access my voicemail. I'm sure it used to be free. Or why can't Spark take it out of the minutes I still have on my prepay if they're going to charge?

Linux

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#2349949 8-Nov-2019 07:53

If it's clear on the SparkNZ site that it's a charged call per call what is the issue?

surfisup1000

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#2349962 8-Nov-2019 08:12

Jos1969:.

At the moment it seems I have nothing in my actual Spark account, and I have found that with no money in there, Spark won't let me access voicemails.
Really? I mean, I have plenty of talk minutes in my prepay, and data left, etc, but they won't let me hear my voicemail?

That seems a bit stingy to me.... 😕

This is similar to the way airlines operate -- on the cheapest no-frills ticket you get the seat-only and pay for any extras like food and luggage.

Same with mobile phones -- on the cheapest plan you get the very basic functionality with limited voice/data, and pay for extras like VM.

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sbiddle

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#2349966 8-Nov-2019 08:16

Jos1969:

Linux: Is calling Voicemail a charged call?

It seems to be, yes. So, I'd have to top up a minimum of $10 to access my voicemail. I'm sure it used to be free. Or why can't Spark take it out of the minutes I still have on my prepay if they're going to charge?

Accessing VM has never been free on Spark prepay - however across the whole 3 telcos many on account plans offer free voicemail retrieval.

robjg63

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#2349968 8-Nov-2019 08:19

Linux: If it's clear on the SparkNZ site that it's a charged call per call what is the issue?

Skinny has plans that have free voicemail access:
"Some Plans include free voicemail. i.e. $36 Plan, $46 Plan, $66 Plan and the $77 Plan."

So I am on a cheaper plan and they charge 18 cents. I would sooner they just took some minutes off my plan instead.

Nothing is impossible for the man who doesn't have to do it himself - A. H. Weiler

Jos1969

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#2349980 8-Nov-2019 08:22

I just had a look in 'Extras' on the add-ons they have. I can get "unlimited voicemail" but it will cost me an extra dollar a month....

sbiddle

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#2349984 8-Nov-2019 08:30

robjg63:
Linux: If it's clear on the SparkNZ site that it's a charged call per call what is the issue?

Skinny has plans that have free voicemail access:
"Some Plans include free voicemail. i.e. $36 Plan, $46 Plan, $66 Plan and the $77 Plan."

So I am on a cheaper plan and they charge 18 cents. I would sooner they just took some minutes off my plan instead.

Have you tried calling yourself as mentioned above which would use included mins? This used to work many years ago, and certainly still works on VF.

jonathan18

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#2349985 8-Nov-2019 08:31

One advantage (or disadvantage, depending on your view!) with the Kogan offerings is all plans come with free VM access; I can't recall if it comes off the plan's minutes or is just provided gratis (how many people use all their minutes, even if not on rollover?), but I appreciate its inclusion. For some callers like some businesses or the elderly, including my mother, texting a reply rather than leaving a message isn't an option.

When I was with Skinny I simply kept my balance at 0, with the money for my monthly plan being added to my account only a couple of hours before it was due to renew - this way I ensured I never ended up in that silly spiral of a few small charges resulting in needing a much more substantial transfer to cover the next month's bill.

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jonathan18

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#2349987 8-Nov-2019 08:33

sbiddle:

Have you tried calling yourself as mentioned above which would use included mins? This used to work many years ago, and certainly still works on VF.

I recall trying it a couple of years back (on Skinny) and it didn't work...

Groucho

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#2350027 8-Nov-2019 10:24

I'm prepay with 2degrees who in the last handful of months quietly made calling "NZ voicemail" free. May only apply if you have a prepay plan.