Hi all,

I thought I'd post a warning to existing customers of Orcon as there is a very sneaky hidden bill you can get charged for when moving house.

Background:
I am an existing customer of Orcon since 2005. I am on the $99 / 200GB Orcon Genius plan.  When I recently moved house, I called up Orcon to get set up in the new place.  I was directed to the help-desk in the Philippines (what happened to the great local help-desk?!!) and the guy sorted it all out for me and we got connected within about a week.  

All was well until I received my bill for $200 for the last month.  I checked the statement and it had a charge for excess of 50GB charged at $2 per GB.  I checked my usage over the past 30 days - I had done 11GB for the current data cycle in the old house, and 189GB in the new house - right on 200GB.

I called up credit services and got redirected to the Philippines again - and the girl explained to me that because I moved house and there was 1 week without internet access, Orcon doesn't bill for the full month - they bill PER DAY.  Also, your data cap is calculated PER DAY and adjusted accordingly.  So in effect, I ended up with only 150GB data allowance for the last 30 days, even though Orcon did charge me the full $99 for the last billing period.  

On top of this, the online system Orcon provides the customer to check their monthly allowance - i.e.. the homepage, and the txt notifications, did not exceed 200GB - and it actually showed my plan was still eligible for 200GB. 

I queried this with the help-desk and the lady said the change in billing should have been explained to me over the phone when we moved house.  I said it was not, and a request was logged to retrieve the phone conversation recording.  She advised it would take 10 - 14 working days.  I called back the next day and asked to speak to a supervisor as 14 days is too long to resolve a dispute.  I was told someone would call me in 2 days.  I then logged a billing dispute via the Orcon website - which I haven't heard from since.

2 days later I've had no call back so I called again and was told that the supervisor listened to my call and I was told to read the term and conditions on the Orcon website, so I am responsible for these charges.  After about an hour back and forth on the phone, I decided I am not getting anywhere and wanted to speak to someone in NZ.  All home based phone numbers listed on the Orcon website, even for disputes, went to the same help-desk in the Philippines.

This morning - about 10 days later, I finally get a call from Orcons credit services and the gentleman tells me Orcon has decided to reverse the charge on the excess data on a goodwill, one-off only basis. 

To conclude, when you move house, or have another billing dispute, expect that:
- There are no more local people you can talk to if you have a problem
- Be prepared to make multiple calls and spend literally hours on the phone
- As a customer, you have no access to a more senior person other than the helpdesk in Philippines.  I only mention this, as when I used to work at the Wave ISP helpdesk, we could easily transfer a customer to the Boss at the time and he would happily help out.

That all said and done - Orcon does deliver good service on a technical level.  I am happy with the actual internet service and will remain a customer for now!

Cheers, 
A.