$6 text: Am I missing something here?

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › $6 text: Am I missing something here?

Behodar

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#36113 19-Jun-2009 12:30

Hi everyone,

I'm currently on the casual text plan at 20c per message. I can sign up for 150 texts for $6, which is better value for money once I exceed 30 messages per month.

However, I'm under the impression that it's actually charged at 20c per text for the first 30 texts, with the remaining 120 for free. Is that correct? If that's the case, then it would *never* be cheaper to be on the casual plan, so why does it exist in the first place?

Basically, is there any downside at all to me moving to the $6 plan? I'm on postpaid.

Thanks :)

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#226679 19-Jun-2009 13:16

If you're always going over 30 texts in a month then yes you should move. The casual plan is for those who don't actually text much at all maybe one or two every week or so.

It is not billed at 20c for the first 30 and then the remaining are "free". If you're on postpaid Telecom bill you pay the $6 as rental in advance and for that $6 you get 150 texts.

I generally send between 60-100 so the plan is great for me and gives me a bit of a buffer for those heavier texting months, while still being cheaper than $10 text.

NealR

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#226680 19-Jun-2009 13:17

Yes, for all of the Text plans you are charged 20c per text up to the plan charge, then the rest of the texts in your bundle are free. One you go over the bundle then you start getting charged 20c per text again.

I maybe biased but I see no downside of moving to the $6 text plan as you recieve the vaule as soon as you send the 31st text message.

The comments I write on this forum do not necessarily reflect the views of my employer and as such cannot be taken as official statements of my employer.

Bung

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#226688 19-Jun-2009 13:48

NealR: Yes, for all of the Text plans you are charged 20c per text up to the plan charge, then the rest of the texts in your bundle are free. One you go over the bundle then you start getting charged 20c per text again.

I maybe biased but I see no downside of moving to the $6 text plan as you recieve the vaule as soon as you send the 31st text message.

Are you saying that on an XT text plan if you only sent 3 txts that you would only pay 60c.?
Where is the XT equivalent of this statement?
"And you'll only pay for what you use, so if you don't send 50 texts, we won't make you pay $10. For example, send 20 texts and pay only $4, send 30 texts and pay only $6 (charged at 20 cents per text message)"

plumebee

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#226694 19-Jun-2009 13:57

Bung:
NealR: Yes, for all of the Text plans you are charged 20c per text up to the plan charge, then the rest of the texts in your bundle are free. One you go over the bundle then you start getting charged 20c per text again.

I maybe biased but I see no downside of moving to the $6 text plan as you recieve the vaule as soon as you send the 31st text message.

Are you saying that on an XT text plan if you only sent 3 txts that you would only pay 60c.?
Where is the XT equivalent of this statement?
"And you'll only pay for what you use, so if you don't send 50 texts, we won't make you pay $10. For example, send 20 texts and pay only $4, send 30 texts and pay only $6 (charged at 20 cents per text message)"

From the T&C's:
How will I be charged for TXT Extra?
- Your chosen TXT Extra provides you with a set amount of national person to person text messages per month. For example, if you’ve subscribed to 150TXT Extra you will be entitled to send 150 national person to person text messages per month for a set monthly fee.

But then it says:
- If you do not exceed the first set number of eligible TXT Extra messages, you will only be charged for what you use that month and not the monthly fee. For example, if you’ve subscribed to 150TXT Extra and you use less than 30 text messages per month then you will only be charged $0.20 per message and not the $6.00 monthly fee.

However, I've seen a bill and its billed as a normal rental fee, like an included minutes plan. I would assume the second statement refers to prepaid, howver that is not clear in the T&C.

Behodar

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#226727 19-Jun-2009 15:35

I can't actually find that in the T&Cs. Do you have a link to it?

Bung

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#226762 19-Jun-2009 16:39

I couldn't find it in the T&C either but there's a separate plan specific T&C for the extras.

http://www.telecom.co.nz/mobileplanterms

plumebee

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#226800 19-Jun-2009 18:02

The link above is where I got the info from.

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PaulBags

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#227580 22-Jun-2009 23:54

Thats how it always worked on CDMA prepay, I was assured today when I had to buy a new phone that thats still how it works. Only now the threshold is $6, so me and my 100 odd texts a month can feel less ripped off with the cost.

And according to the 'your telecom' link I'm still on the 'go prepaid mates rates plan', 49 cents any time to landlines. Good, I thought a 40 cent hike per minute was a ******* rip off.

paradoxsm

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#227583 23-Jun-2009 00:30

PaulBags: Thats how it always worked on CDMA prepay, I was assured today when I had to buy a new phone that thats still how it works. Only now the threshold is $6, so me and my 100 odd texts a month can feel less ripped off with the cost.

I would not say that being able to buy bundles of SMS messages for $10 was a "rip off", in fact it was superb value when the "others" were auite happy charging 20c each back then and usually only to "same network" if they offered deals. Though I would have been much keener on "pay monthly bill" if the bundles were charged "only for what you used up to the cap and over the cap" as it does with Prepaid.

And according to the 'your telecom' link I'm still on the 'go prepaid mates rates plan', 49 cents any time to landlines. Good, I thought a 40 cent hike per minute was a ******* rip off.

I wouldn't bank on it! You can almost bet your bottom dollar that you are paying 89c per minute. Do remember on CDMA you paid 49c + 49c if you talked for 1:05 or 1:55 whereas the new pricing is per-second after first minute so if you actually added it up, you are most probably saving. Remember that you also paid $1.40 with that minute + minute charging on the old CDMA matesrates.

To the first poster :

You are on a downside if you sent less than 30 SMS messages per month, any more than that and it's an instant saving, even if not by a huge margin. You are charged $6 regardless if you send the 30 SMS messages or not (I would have much preferred the pricing as per CDMA but you can't have this nice new network, the utter simplicity and pricing excactly I wanted but overall it's a great deal with more options)

PaulBags

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#227589 23-Jun-2009 01:49

paradoxsm:
PaulBags: Thats how it always worked on CDMA prepay, I was assured today when I had to buy a new phone that thats still how it works. Only now the threshold is $6, so me and my 100 odd texts a month can feel less ripped off with the cost.

I would not say that being able to buy bundles of SMS messages for $10 was a "rip off", in fact it was superb value when the "others" were auite happy charging 20c each back then and usually only to "same network" if they offered deals. Though I would have been much keener on "pay monthly bill" if the bundles were charged "only for what you used up to the cap and over the cap" as it does with Prepaid.

But say I send approx 120 txts a month, under the old scheme I'd spend $10 a month, now I'd pay $6, a saving of $4.

paradoxsm:
PaulBags:
And according to the 'your telecom' link I'm still on the 'go prepaid mates rates plan', 49 cents any time to landlines. Good, I thought a 40 cent hike per minute was a ******* rip off.

I wouldn't bank on it! You can almost bet your bottom dollar that you are paying 89c per minute. Do remember on CDMA you paid 49c + 49c if you talked for 1:05 or 1:55 whereas the new pricing is per-second after first minute so if you actually added it up, you are most probably saving. Remember that you also paid $1.40 with that minute + minute charging on the old CDMA matesrates.

Aw, I just checked it again and they have changed it. Hey, it would be nice if they gave me SOME NOTICE that this would happen. I bought a new phone, got asked to choose a new txt plan, nothing at all was mentioned about the voice plan. This is sneaky, underhanded, and disgusting.
Besides I thought that in the latter years of CDMA they rolled out per second pricing. If that wasn't the case, why did I hear so much about it? Even if your right and they didn't, I still got no notice about a near %50 increase to calling rates and by all accounts I should have been notified. Heck had I the option I would have stayed on CDMA, but my old phone died and i didn't see the point of going second hand.

Also reading throught their new [url="http://store.telecom.co.nz/mobile/prepaid/plans#terms-conditions-calling-costs"]costs[/url] I A) didn't get the $10 credit that was supposed to come with my SIM B) (* Bonus credit is applied to your account overnight, so I can't complain about not getting it any more) C) can't get the $10 for registering because i wanted to keep my old number (No biggie).

Bah humbug. Guess i just don't like change.

[edit]And video calling costs exactly the same as regular calls. I surely uses more bandwidth, wheres the fairness there?

Bung

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#227636 23-Jun-2009 09:54

paradoxsm: To the first poster :

You are on a downside if you sent less than 30 SMS messages per month, any more than that and it's an instant saving, even if not by a huge margin. You are charged $6 regardless if you send the 30 SMS messages or not (I would have much preferred the pricing as per CDMA but you can't have this nice new network, the utter simplicity and pricing excactly I wanted but overall it's a great deal with more options)

If that is the case, and plumbee's bill seems to indicate that you are right, why does the T&C I linked to say

"If you do not exceed the first set number of eligible TXT Extra messages, you will only be charged for what you use that month and not the monthly fee. For example, if you've subscribed to 150TXT Extra and you use less than 30 text messages per month then you will only be charged $0.20 per message and not the $6.00 monthly fee"

Is it a credit the next month?

Behodar

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#227640 23-Jun-2009 10:04

I added the text plan today. I'll let you know how much I end up being charged if I send less than 30 this month.

NickiB

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#227647 23-Jun-2009 10:21

PaulBags: This is sneaky, underhanded, and disgusting.

I'm all for highlighting when businesses try this crap on, but this is not the case with the introduction of XT. Telecom have been quite clear from day one that the calling rate on XT (prepaid) is $0.89 anytime, any network, plus the added bonus of 1-second charging after the first minute. If I knew the text plans had changed, then I would have been asking questions about what else had changed when I was purchasing the phone...

nOOb alert

PaulBags

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#227682 23-Jun-2009 12:42

Telecom have been quite clear from day one

Doesn't apply, I went in with an old nokia brick, said 'my phones dead I need a new one', and was not informed about the pricing change. That fact that I could look it up else where (and did, and had my fingers crossed) is irrelivent to that fact that the sales rep did not inform me at the time of purchase. Heck, presenting a beat up brick and asking for a new phone should have prompted some sort of 'this is the XT network' speel, but none of that ether.

If I knew the text plans had changed, then I would have been asking questions about what else had changed when I was purchasing the phone...

Fair point, but also fair to assume I'd be informed of any other changes, they were after all already informing me of one.

NonprayingMantis

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#227687 23-Jun-2009 13:36

PaulBags:
Telecom have been quite clear from day one

Doesn't apply, I went in with an old nokia brick, said 'my phones dead I need a new one', and was not informed about the pricing change. That fact that I could look it up else where (and did, and had my fingers crossed) is irrelivent to that fact that the sales rep did not inform me at the time of purchase. Heck, presenting a beat up brick and asking for a new phone should have prompted some sort of 'this is the XT network' speel, but none of that ether.

If I knew the text plans had changed, then I would have been asking questions about what else had changed when I was purchasing the phone...

Fair point, but also fair to assume I'd be informed of any other changes, they were after all already informing me of one.

I'm surprised it wasn't mentioned at point of sale, but when you got your new phone, I think you would have also gotten a leaflet in the box explaining the new pricing structure.

Was that not the case?

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