Fraud, and a warning about auto renew problems

Forums › 2degrees (including Slingshot, Orcon, Flip, Stuff Fibre, MyRepublic, 2talk and Vocus) › Fraud, and a warning about auto renew problems

MrTomato

149 posts

Master Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#173168 13-May-2015 20:01

Evening everyone!

There's been a problem with the $10 / 300MB data value pack on my wife's prepay account.

When it came to the usual auto-renew time she didn't have enough credit. She topped up two days later, but it still didn't auto-renew, even though it should have done. As a consequence she's been charged nearly $30 for data usage that should have been covered by the pack.

She's sent an email to customer services about this, so I trust she will receive a credit and the problem with her account will be resolved promptly and without fuss.

However, I was horrified that a thirty-second search immediately uncovered numerous other people complaining about this exact same issue, dating back all the way to 2011! (Examples hastily grabbed out of thin air: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.)

I know 2degrees has a presence on this forum, so this is for them: Everyone understands that errors occur occasionally, but long-standing billing problems like these are completely unacceptable. Negligence and incompetence in matters related to billing is fraud, made all the worse when it occurs over such a long period of time.

How many other customers have been affected by these billing problems? If they didn't notice or report the error, were they ever compensated?

I'd encourage anyone reading this to double-check that any auto-renews they have in place have gone through correctly.

Also I'd be very interested to hear from anyone else that has been affected. I am prepared take up this issue with the Consumer Affairs group within the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, Consumer NZ and the press.

michael001

160 posts

Master Geek
Inactive user

#1304888 14-May-2015 08:06

That first example link was me. I ended up changing my monthly behaviour to avoid it by adding a manual step each month.

It just made it so much easier to transition to Skinny a couple of months later. Who I have had zero issues with and billing works perfectly according to the rules I have setup.

Anyway, I don't need the nickname I came up for the issue, so you may use it - HERPES. It just never goes away.

NZCrusader

646 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1304889 14-May-2015 08:25

Had the same problem (both me and the missus).

Rang the call centre, but the staff literally said "too bad" its just how it works and we won't be refunding you.

Both of us are now with Spark (hate that name though, still call it Telecom) and have had zero issues.

NZ / AU Battlefield 4 Gaming Community
http://www.sonsofvalour.net/forums/forum.php

2degreesCare

1537 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

2degrees

#1305282 14-May-2015 16:45

Hi Mr Tomato

Thank you for posting, we’re sorry to hear that your wife used her Prepay credit when her data pack failed to renew. We acknowledge the frustration caused by this and will look into her issue if you can PM us her number, name and 4 digit PIN for authentication.

Just to clarify, when a customer is using data and they are running low on their 'data wallet’ we try to send an SMS notification, however we cannot guarantee delivery. We want our customers to have the best experience possible without disconnecting therefore if the customer continues to use data and depletes their data wallet our system will continue the connection using a data reservation taken from their ‘cash wallet’ charged at casual rates.

This ‘cash reservation’ will be returned to the customer’s cash wallet less any cost in casual rates (50c per MB) at the end of the data session, in other words when data is turned off or disconnected. If the amount left in the cash wallet is less than the amount needed for the pack to renew, the customer will continue using data at casual rates until that is depleted or until they top up with enough credit for the Data Pack to renew, if they top-up within 14 days.

We encourage customers to check the balance of their data pack before they start a data session and keep a check on their levels regularly. To give an analogy, if you go on a car journey you would ensure you have enough petrol to get to your destination without using your reserve tank.

We have a number of tools available to customers to help them check their balance, either on their phone or online and recommend them to do so regularly -

Your 2degrees
Mobile-app
*100# Menu (also known as USSD)

Alternatively you can call our Care team free on 0800 022022 or 200 from your 2degrees mobile and get your current balances.

We also have some tips for customers to help manage their data plus we introduced ‘Worry Free Data’ for Pay Monthly customers to prevent ‘bill shock’ when running out of data.

We look forward to your pm so we can try to resolve this matter for you to your satisfaction.

Regards
^POB

phantomdb

583 posts

Ultimate Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#1305327 14-May-2015 17:44

download he app for your phone and set up the widget on your home screen some where, then you will flick past it while searching for other things and get a visual of your account, hopefully in time to notice an issue. just a thought.

And top-ups via the app are easy so you can control it better.

[ SIGNATURE HERE ]

Dairyxox

1594 posts

Uber Geek

#1305496 14-May-2015 21:45

I've also found if you're trying to do hassle free auto renewals 2 degrees doesn't really work.
Its okay for some techie with a smartphone, but not for grandma wanting internet access.

MrTomato

149 posts

Master Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#1305647 15-May-2015 10:22

2DegreesCare: Hi Mr Tomato

Thank you for posting, we’re sorry to hear that your wife used her Prepay credit when her data pack failed to renew. We acknowledge the frustration caused by this and will look into her issue if you can PM us her number, name and 4 digit PIN for authentication.

Thanks for your message and for offering to look into this - I'll PM you the details in a moment.

Just to clarify something myself, the only thing that has any bearing here is the terms and conditions agreement my wife accepted when she subscribed to the data value pack. Any data use charged at the usual casual rate between the point that the pack expired and when my wife topped up is not in dispute, and I acknowledge that 2degrees cannot guarantee that a reminder text message is received by a customer. The problem is that when credit became available the data pack should have been automatically renewed but wasn't, which contravenes the behaviour of the service described in your own terms and conditions. Actual loss occurred as a consequence of this - my wife was charged for data use that she should not have been charged for.

Your acknowledging this problem as causing 'frustration' is not a sufficient response. Here are some questions I'd like you to answer:

Why is this problem still occurring when there is evidence in this forum that it was first reported in 2011?
What efforts are being made to resolve the problem permanently for all your customers?
What efforts are being made to identify and compensate customers who may unwittingly have been affected by this problem?

Thank you to everyone for your responses so far. Anyone else experienced this problem recently?