Warning: Telecom XT Monthly Charges for Prepaid

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › Warning: Telecom XT Monthly Charges for Prepaid

bonkiebonks

389 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 7

#34954 1-Jun-2009 19:57

Just thought I should warn all Geekzoners that Telecom XT charges by "calendar month" rather than a 30-day billing cycle.

I got my XT Prepaid SIM Card on Friday 29th, signed up for 1GB Data, and happily paid $1/MB up to the $54.95 cap. On the 1st of June (today), I got charged $1/MB again up to the $54.95 cap for my 1GB data for the month of June!!!

I was never made aware that I am paying $54.95 for just 3 days (!!) of data for the month of May - 29th, 30th, and 31st!

This is in stark contrast to Vodafone which charges by a 30-day billing cycle, i.e. if I started on the 29th, it will conclude on the 28th of the following month.

All Vodafone users switching to Telecom XT should be very aware of this!!!

I only realised this when I rang the CSR on 0800 32 32 32, and was only told of this then. CSR was not apologetic at all, and denied me any refunds. Argh :(

OMG!

1 | 2 | 3

2483 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 4

Trusted

#220534 1-Jun-2009 20:05

It pays to read T&Cs:

For prepaid billed customers, the included data allowance starts on the 1st of the calendar month and is charged on a pay-as-you-use basis.

... and this too!

Your included monthly data allowance is refreshed at 4pm on the last day of your monthly billing period.

4PM?!? Can't they do it at 11:59pm?

Find me on Twitter!

I posted 1, 2 x 10^3 times!

nzbnw

2374 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 22

Trusted

Spark NZ

#220552 1-Jun-2009 20:29

Hi Bonkiebonks

Can you please PM your details, mobile number, best contact number and where you got your SIM from?

I will do my best to sort this for you tomorrow.

Sorry about your Telecom experience.

nzbnw

NZCoderGuy

513 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 1

Trusted

Kiwi Dev Studios

#220566 1-Jun-2009 20:47

Hey mate, this has always been that way for 027 and 025 even.. so its such a suprise that you have only realised it now? Although things like this normally dont work like that.. when i was on TelstraSaturn and connect like the 27th of the month, they would only charge a 3 days out of the 30 in the month ($100 / 30 * 3).. but alas, Telecom don't and won't work that way.. :-(

--
Stephen
twitter/ NZCoderGuy / KiwiDevStudios

Peppery

919 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 188

Trusted

#220568 1-Jun-2009 20:49

Ugh. I haven't used any data on my XT SIM today, but I'm now shocked that I've essentially wasted credit on it. This really should've been made clearer as coming from Vodafone I didn't even think about it. Add that to the 1h30m that I was in the Telecom store waiting for my SIM, not a happy XT user.

scottjpalmer

6032 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 790

Moderator

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#220575 1-Jun-2009 21:00

Ouch, it stung me too, I only got a 240MB bundle though but I did only get it yesterday.

Definately a case of user beware.

jpollock

600 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 5

Trusted

#220585 1-Jun-2009 21:13

Wow, I would have expected those things to be prorated when started mid-month.

---
http://blog.jason.pollock.ca

Samsung

Shop now on Samsung phones, tablets, TVs and more (affiliate link).

zkcow

57 posts

Master Geek

#220601 1-Jun-2009 21:28

Isn't this how Telecom (at least) have always done it?
It suits me most of the time, but definitely user beware.

Sorry to her about the problem it caused you mate. I too would have expected it to be pro-rated, especially that close to the end of the month. Definitely pm nzbnw - sounds like he wants to help out.

nzbnw

2374 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 22

Trusted

Spark NZ

#220605 1-Jun-2009 21:34

zkcow: Isn't this how Telecom (at least) have always done it?

It suits me most of the time, but definitely user beware.

Sorry to her about the problem it caused you mate. I too would have expected it to be pro-rated, especially that close to the end of the month. Definitely pm nzbnw - sounds like he wants to help out.

Yes it is. However we (Telecom) want you to choose to be with Telecom; hence I am willing to help out to ensure a bad experience is turned into a good experience.

nzbnw

Damager

2125 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 37

#220627 1-Jun-2009 22:19

XT was launched on 29 May, and naturally everyone would have bought their phone and added their data or whatever add on, not realising that the add on would expire just 2 days later. Perhaps Telecom should have extended the prepaid add on expiry dates to 30 June or something like that, if the customer had purchased the add on prior to 1 June. Store reps should have known to remind prepaid customers "oh perhaps you would like to purchase your data after 31 May? If you purchase data now, your allocation will reset on 31 May". In fairness, with the hype and launch day rush on Friday, if i had bought a phone the same day, i would have immediately bought the data thinking "i have a month to use this".

Bonkiebonks, i'm sure nzbnw will get you sorted :)

- Telstra HTC Touch Pro2 - Energy ROM WM6.5.5 20 Oct/Cyanogen Mod Froyo 2.2 - R.I.P
- AT&T Galaxy S Captivate 16GB on XT (now with brother)
- Samsung Galaxy S2 on XT- Runs ICS 4.0.3 Resurrection Remix 9.2
- Business Hours - Work In The Electricity Industry, After Hours - DJ/Turntablist - Will Scratch Vinyl For Free'
- What's next??? S3?

jpollock

600 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 5

Trusted

#220641 1-Jun-2009 22:33

I'd be more impressed if TNZ sorted it out for _everyone_.

---
http://blog.jason.pollock.ca

n3m0

5 posts

Wannabe Geek

#220650 1-Jun-2009 22:47

Same thing happened here.

Got XT on 30th
Txted fine and dandy until 31st.
Continued texting today assuming my month had started on the 30th because that's what the sales rep told me
Spent rest of my credit

Lenovo

Shop now for Lenovo laptops and other devices (affiliate link).

bonkiebonks

389 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 7

#220679 2-Jun-2009 01:28

nzbnw: PM sent. Cheers for being so helpful, twice already over the three days, the other time being my slow 1GB broadband plan activation.

In all honesty, other than this charging issue, I've been really pleased with my XT connection. I even had full bar signal when I was in a car park basement. Incredible! And not to mention fantastic speeds too! :)

I hope my little rant here wouldn't put off people signing up XT. I mean, after a while when you get around how Telecom charges, you can start to enjoy all the great services being offered.

tomgeeknz

923 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 11

#220754 2-Jun-2009 10:56

I also rang telecom about this on Friday night and decided after being told by the hard to understand customer rep overseas that my txt plan would reset on sunday night that i would not sent any more until monday and when it did i was glad i had because i have no money left to topup for this months charges after buying my phone. I am Dissapointed that we could not of just had a longer cycle for this month and then start again on 1 July.

sson013

42 posts

Geek
+1 received by user: 1

#220836 2-Jun-2009 13:13

This is Telecom's fault. When you launch a new service on the 29th of May. Of course prepay customers are going to purchase data plans to test it out. Almost everything these days is pro rated so it is not an unreasonable assumption to make. Seems to me like an outdated billing system which is in need of an upgrade.

dan

1134 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 105

Lifetime subscriber

#220851 2-Jun-2009 13:36

good to know, thats a disgrace.

1 | 2 | 3