[Snap] Snap first invoice and uplift fee

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timmmay

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#139474 10-Feb-2014 18:31

I got an invoice from Snap on 7th Feb 6pm for the following month that includes "FRITZ!Box 7390 Uplift Fee $43.48". I didn't know what this was, so I replied to the email Friday, no-one answered it. Can anyone tell me what it is? I got the Fritzbox months ago, I paid for it then. Do Snap accounts reply to emails, or do I have to call them?

The invoice also says "Unless advice to the contrary is received from you by 05 February 2014, the amount of $15.00 including 15.0% GST will be directly debited from your bank account on 07 February 2014." Note that this email was sent on the 7th. It was obviously an automated email triggered by my UFB connection starting to work. That's not really on giving no notice. It makes no real difference to me when it goes out, but there should really be a minimum notice period.

Today I got another invoice, for the month after, so giving me 30 days notice - that's a lot of notice. Better than too little I guess.

hio77

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#983549 10-Feb-2014 18:38

just give their billing team a call and sort it..

i had an issue with my replacement fritz, where 4 months later they suddenly sent me a message telling me to send back the fritz that they had replaced, or i would be invoiced.

sent a very unimpressed email back to the snap staff member woh sent me the letter, along with following up with their billing, to ensure it was closed.

within about 15 mins of getting the email, i had two apologies, and it was resolved.

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timmmay

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#983619 10-Feb-2014 20:15

I don't understand why businesses treat email like a second class communication mechanism. ASB takes 3 business days to reply to messages. I sent them a message the other day "your credit card system won't show me my credit card balance". Three days later they said "it's working fine". Yeah it is now, but three days ago it was broken.

I'll call them if I need to, but I thought replying to email within a business day was reasonable - 3 calendar days.

hio77

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#983651 10-Feb-2014 20:51

i agree, in this day and age, i would expect email to be a little more... effective..

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cjmchch

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#983685 10-Feb-2014 21:20

The most likely reason is that the same people who respond to the emails are the ones who answer the calls (eventually) and if they aren't answering something that's ringing in their ear, they sure as hell aren't going to be bringing up a new screen to answer you email. Email's are easier to deal with than phone calls, they just continue to drop down the list.

In reality, support emails are more time consuming for companies to deal with than phone calls.

mattwnz

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#983688 10-Feb-2014 21:24

timmmay: I don't understand why businesses treat email like a second class communication mechanism. ASB takes 3 business days to reply to messages. I sent them a message the other day "your credit card system won't show me my credit card balance". Three days later they said "it's working fine". Yeah it is now, but three days ago it was broken.

I'll call them if I need to, but I thought replying to email within a business day was reasonable - 3 calendar days.

Try telling government departments that. SOme take weeks to reply, but if you try to call them, you could be on hold for an hour, so it is the lessor of two evils. It makes me wonder if they are understaffed. Private companies seem to be better at replying. I beleive one of the new ISP is email support only, and has no phone. I think that is possibly the way of the future, as long as emails are replied within the same day.

hio77

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#983721 10-Feb-2014 22:06

mattwnz:
timmmay: I don't understand why businesses treat email like a second class communication mechanism. ASB takes 3 business days to reply to messages. I sent them a message the other day "your credit card system won't show me my credit card balance". Three days later they said "it's working fine". Yeah it is now, but three days ago it was broken.

I'll call them if I need to, but I thought replying to email within a business day was reasonable - 3 calendar days.

Try telling government departments that. SOme take weeks to reply, but if you try to call them, you could be on hold for an hour, so it is the lessor of two evils. It makes me wonder if they are understaffed. Private companies seem to be better at replying. I beleive one of the new ISP is email support only, and has no phone. I think that is possibly the way of the future, as long as emails are replied within the same day.

irony is, if your having a fault with your internet, emailing could be difficult.

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mattwnz

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#983784 10-Feb-2014 23:07

hio77:
mattwnz:
timmmay: I don't understand why businesses treat email like a second class communication mechanism. ASB takes 3 business days to reply to messages. I sent them a message the other day "your credit card system won't show me my credit card balance". Three days later they said "it's working fine". Yeah it is now, but three days ago it was broken.

I'll call them if I need to, but I thought replying to email within a business day was reasonable - 3 calendar days.

Try telling government departments that. SOme take weeks to reply, but if you try to call them, you could be on hold for an hour, so it is the lessor of two evils. It makes me wonder if they are understaffed. Private companies seem to be better at replying. I beleive one of the new ISP is email support only, and has no phone. I think that is possibly the way of the future, as long as emails are replied within the same day.

irony is, if your having a fault with your internet, emailing could be difficult.

I can see you point, especially as it is an ISP you are tying to communicate with. However these days many people tend to have a smartphone with a dataplan.

hio77

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#983796 10-Feb-2014 23:39

mercutio:
mattwnz:
hio77:
mattwnz:
timmmay: I don't understand why businesses treat email like a second class communication mechanism. ASB takes 3 business days to reply to messages. I sent them a message the other day "your credit card system won't show me my credit card balance". Three days later they said "it's working fine". Yeah it is now, but three days ago it was broken.

I'll call them if I need to, but I thought replying to email within a business day was reasonable - 3 calendar days.

Try telling government departments that. SOme take weeks to reply, but if you try to call them, you could be on hold for an hour, so it is the lessor of two evils. It makes me wonder if they are understaffed. Private companies seem to be better at replying. I beleive one of the new ISP is email support only, and has no phone. I think that is possibly the way of the future, as long as emails are replied within the same day.

irony is, if your having a fault with your internet, emailing could be difficult.

I can see you point, especially as it is an ISP you are tying to communicate with. However these days many people tend to have a smartphone with a dataplan.

i sure as hell aren't going to send emails from my smartphone. sure i might read emails on a secondary account. but smartphones aren't exactly easy to communicate on with text. that said when your phone goes down, you call from another phone. you could always email from another computer i suppose.

exactly this.

ill write one if its called for, but i certainly stop to consider.. shel i wait for this till i get home..

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timmmay

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#983827 11-Feb-2014 07:00

Ok, I called them because I didn't want to wait.

"Uplift fee" is the upgrade to the Fritzbox 7390, from the base model. The initial invoice is really just a receipt for the payment you made when you first signed up for internet.

So the information on the invoice is incorrect, it's not taking money from your account on the date it says it is. The helpful guy at Snap says their invoicing system can't deal with this properly.

While it's not a big deal, I suggest they fix it, as there are probably laws around these sorts of things.

hio77

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#984062 11-Feb-2014 13:22

does seem a bit odd...

i too had an issue with their billing system, changing my data package..

i assumed their billing system would just reinvoice or something, as their website shows the online view pretty clear its just swapped one bit for another...

but they actually remove the package you would have paid for from the invoice - thus you are paying less.. clearly the invoice has been changed.

but they wont add the new pack into that invoice. ends up with the next month, paying for two datapacks to catch up.

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mattwnz

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#984107 11-Feb-2014 13:53

timmmay: Ok, I called them because I didn't want to wait.

"Uplift fee" is the upgrade to the Fritzbox 7390, from the base model. The initial invoice is really just a receipt for the payment you made when you first signed up for internet.

So the information on the invoice is incorrect, it's not taking money from your account on the date it says it is. The helpful guy at Snap says their invoicing system can't deal with this properly.

While it's not a big deal, I suggest they fix it, as there are probably laws around these sorts of things.

I believe the IRD requires invoices to be accurate. Maybe get them to reissue it with the correct information on it.