Slingshot Mobile experience so far...

Forums › 2degrees (including Slingshot, Orcon, Flip, Stuff Fibre, MyRepublic, 2talk and Vocus) › Slingshot Mobile experience so far...

nyquist

100 posts

Master Geek

#61104 9-May-2010 15:52

So, I decided to try out being on account after many years of prepay. There were two things that made me hesitate about going on account: 1) lack of flexibility and 2) dealing with account issues

I was unfortunately right about these issues - I probably called Slingshot about three times within that first week of getting connected. Some of it was probably initial set-up questions though, but others were regarding activation/add-ons issues.

Pros:
+ The CSRs I spoke to were nice and informative (barring one, who sounded half asleep and impatient to get off the phone)
+ I was given some credit after it turned out they hadn't activated my free minutes/texts
+ The porting process went smoothly, within the 4 business hours they stated
+ The sim card arrived within the time frame they gave me
+ Length of contract isn't too long; either 6 or 12 months (or 24 months with a free phone) depending on which plan
+ One bill, since I have broadband with them too

Cons:
- My free minutes/texts weren't activated when I initially joined, even though I was told I would have them
- Not knowing my free minutes/texts weren't activated until at least two days after I was connected, and only because I called in after seeing I was being charged for the free minutes on Visibill
- The 48 hour Visibill delay
- Not having access to add-ons immediately - they were only able to be processed on the next billing month - so I had to be charged on a casual basis until then
- That one CSR - the others were nice and more than made up for that - but I don't think it leads to a good impression since this was the next day after I joined

So. All in all, not too bad an experience, but not an impressive one either. My experience with broadband went much smoother, so I'm leaning towards mobile being a new product with new processes/systems needing a bit of time to tweak.

I did find the 48 hour delay in viewing mobile usage and the add-on waiting to be a bit frustrating after having been on prepay, where they were available within 5 minutes. Will have to wait and see what kind of improvements are made, and whether some of the inflexibility of add-ons will continue being an issue for me. However, the calling rates look good, and I'll be paying for my mobile + broadband together and don't need to remind myself to top up. Will see what happens after my contract ends...

nyquist

100 posts

Master Geek

#338042 3-Jun-2010 20:45

I have been on for over a month now, and two things to note:

-The delay in viewing usage stats has become more frustrating. It's actually more than 48 hours behind - it's more like a 72 hour lag.

-Inconsistent billing due to the delays. Having broadband and mobile on one invoice is nice, but having to calculate and track my usage with a 48-72 hour delay kind of cancels it out.

I'm probably going back to prepay after my contract is up. I miss the flexibility of adding/cancelling add-ons without having to wait for the next billing month and the way in which I used up my credit, and the real time usage stats. Hopefully these issues will be smoothed out (and maybe a smaller data bundle? I can't use up 200MB per month, and casual data usage charged at 40c/MB + inconsistent billing due to Visibill delays is not very appealing), but at the moment, prepay is edging out on account.

NordVPN

Protect your online activity with NordVPN (affiliate link).

zkcow

57 posts

Master Geek

#341294 13-Jun-2010 19:49

Slingshot's mobile launch has been pretty atrocious. 6 family members (including me) switched with the "Jump from XT" promotion. Since switching, not one of us has had a truly happy experience. My mother and I have had issues with being overcharged - around $200 after only 3 months. We've had issues with credits being given and refunds made. We still can't understand the biling system and how we're being charged - and neither can anyone at Slingshot for that matter.

I don't think I've heard of anyone who's had a positive experience yet.

To Slingshot's credit, the CSRs are generally helfpul and there was a couple who went to great lengths (hours of time) to try and figure it out. Also to Slingshot's credit, the promotion was pretty amazing - a free phone and free service for 12 months.

richms

26394 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Subscriber

#341308 13-Jun-2010 20:56

Can you even find where they are billing you for data on the visibill? I cant seem to get a day by day breakdown or even know if I am paying for my odd facebook/whatever check.

Also loads of sites dont work on slingshot but do if I swap for my 2 degrees sim. Gateway something error and a link back to the call plus webpage is all I get.

Will re-assess it when the year is up but for now am just tollerating it.

Richard rich.ms

nyquist

100 posts

Master Geek

#341750 15-Jun-2010 00:24

@zkcow yeah, I agree. Seemed like the promotions/plans were good, CSR were mostly helpful, but the issue with the billing system really let them down. I've had broadband with them for a while (so have become quite familiar with Visibill) and it still took me a while to understand how they were charging mobile and what they were actually showing on Visibill.

@richms for the current billing month if you look under Mobile on the left hand side menu there should be a link to the current Data used (minus three days). It looks like it's only available for the current month. Once the invoice is generated, the Data link doesn't show up in previous months' summaries.

richms

26394 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Subscriber

#341800 15-Jun-2010 09:30

nyquist:
@richms for the current billing month if you look under Mobile on the left hand side menu there should be a link to the current Data used (minus three days). It looks like it's only available for the current month. Once the invoice is generated, the Data link doesn't show up in previous months' summaries.

Nope, got a dropdown list with the numbers in it, then summary, by date, by type of call.

Perhaps because I have not used any data since it has rolled over, but I cant even find what the total usage for data is billed as on the invoices.

Best guess is this line of the invoice summary

Mobile Plan + Add-ons
5
0:00:00
$60.75

since the plans are $20 each, but clicking on that link tells me found 0 calls - so I have no idea what the extra 75 cents is for, that could be it since i have only done light facebooking on the phones since no other sites seem to work properly with the slingshot sim in it. Will probably log that issue a little later in the week since I really do need internet banking when I am out.

Richard rich.ms

nyquist

100 posts

Master Geek

#342034 15-Jun-2010 18:24

richms:

Nope, got a dropdown list with the numbers in it, then summary, by date, by type of call.

Perhaps because I have not used any data since it has rolled over, but I cant even find what the total usage for data is billed as on the invoices.

Best guess is this line of the invoice summary

And after type of call, you don't have TXT and Data underneath? Have you selected Current Bill Month under Select Month? It should be on the very top left.

From what I can see, if the Select Month is on any thing but Current Bill Month, it won't show TXT or Data or list calls etc. It'd all be on the invoices, although it's strange your data usage doesn't show up in the invoices. Have you looked at the very last page because that's where they have put my one.

They charge in 1MB blocks so the 75c sounds likely to be your data usage.

richms

26394 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Subscriber

#342155 16-Jun-2010 02:41

Ah there it is.

really poor that I cant see a breakdown of by day or by session IMO.

Richard rich.ms

nyquist

100 posts

Master Geek

#342780 17-Jun-2010 21:18

Yeah, would have to agree. No break down by date or session makes tracking more difficult since they have the Visibill delay.

I think the summary of prices might be better on the second page (before they do the complete break down of texts and calls etc) for visibility.

At the moment, I'm a little befuddled by their system. I had to call in again regarding my free minutes, which seemed to not have rolled over to this month even though it was activated last billing month.

vimfuego

76 posts

Master Geek

#346522 29-Jun-2010 22:38

I'd have to agree with most of the above, great promo to get me there but horribly disappointed with the first bill and overcharges. I'm still getting charged for calls btw, can't be bothered to contact the call centre as yet. Will do soon.

Other quick questions, whenever someone sends me a pxt I have to go to a website to view it. Is that right? And is there a way to check txt and calling usage via the phone?

Ta

nyquist

100 posts

Master Geek

#349624 9-Jul-2010 18:52

I've contacted the call centre regarding being charged for my free minutes. They suggested I wait for the billing month to finish to see whether those charges are still there, and they are. I have contacted them again and will wait to see if they credit it back.

Their billing system has just become even more messy - at the moment, they are saying add-ons are loaded on the new day of the billing month except really, they're not - they're loaded on the day before that billing month and so tiny charges for what should be a straightforward amount is creeping in.

It's incredibly frustrating trying to monitor and keep track of usage when usage stats are delayed and the way things are being charged keep changing. It's difficult to budget and manage, and I'm not a particularly happy customer at the moment.

Once my contract ends, I'm moving to another provider.

Other quick questions, whenever someone sends me a pxt I have to go to a website to view it. Is that right? And is there a way to check txt and calling usage via the phone?

As far as I know, you can only check usage on Visibill. Not too sure about the pxt though.

ahmad

1937 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#358347 29-Jul-2010 13:23

Don't want to derail this thread - if you "jumped from XT" to Slingshot and had problems, then please read this and take a few minutes of action to help your fellow Geekzoners and eCitizens:

http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=81&topicid=65088