after two years with TCL i can happily report that i've had only one or two minor hiccups and over-all happy with the service.

last night i was called and informed my latest contract is about to expire and without renewing it my phone bill would increase $30 per month for broadband data. i'd assumed once my contract expired i would just continue at the same rate but without a contract. i now see my error.

i always thought contracts were applied to stop people taking advantage of sign-up perks and then jumping ship for better deals and of course this is fair enough. after two years though i don't want to be bound by another contract (i could be moving soon) but i don't want to have to start paying an extra $30 per month on my bill either. so last night i went over past bills to determine my needs and started checking out my options.

oddly, considering i feel like i live on the net sometimes, i found my data consumption for the past 6 months was only 56 GBs so buying 40 a month is a bit of an over-kill if i don't have to. of course there are not a lot of better options for low end users but i did find a couple and have nearly decided to swith to 'flip'. flip being pre-pay doesn't bother me as i manage my bills just fine but the beauty of their data rolling over for 12 months and only having to pay for what i need and use is very tempting. i'm a bit concerned about their teething problems as a new company but all going to plan i should save a few hundred dollars a year and that's with a couple of extra phone services that i don't currently have.

back to Telstra - i think it's a shame for them that they're so insistent on contracts for the better deals. especially for established customers as i wasn't going anywhere. if i moved to a residence supplied by another telco it was in my mind to push for a switch to Telstra because they've given the best service and deals 'ive' had to date. so in my case it was a mistake to try and push me into another contract as without that i wouldn't have even considered looking for a better deal. in fact until last night i'd never even heard of 'Flip'.

i guess the bottom line is - the call i received from Telstra last night did me a favour. being on a very low income i do need to suss out the most suitable and affordable deals i can though it doesn't seem like the best business practice for Telstra to incense me to do that. but oh well ... consider this feedback and also, thanks for the good service i have received.