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Telco C credits customers who received high bills after using a ‘pre-paid’ service

The complaint
Telco C credits customers who received high bills after using a ‘pre-paid’ service
The outcome
We worked with Telco C to help it improve the information it gave customers about possible data charges

The issue

Telco C advertised a roaming service so customers could use their mobile service while travelling overseas. Customers could select the date range they wanted and then pre-pay a daily rate for all mobile calls and texts and a small amount of data each day for that period.

Some customers who signed up to this service contacted us after receiving unexpectedly high bills for excess data. They said they understood once they used up their daily data allowance the service would stop working and then reset the following day.

The investigation

When we investigated, we found the total data was pooled into one allowance, rather than becoming available each day. , Telco C charged for excess usage at often high rates. While Telco C sent data usage alerts to customers, the small amount of data meant the alerts often arrived together – and after the consumer had already used more data. The terms and conditions for the roaming service were not available on Telco C’s app where customers would most commonly buy the service.

The outcome

We worked with Telco C to help it improve the information it gave customers about possible data charges. During our investigation, Telco C credited some of the excess charges to affected customers who met certain criteria. It updated its terms and conditions and the description of the service on its website and app. And it also added a clearer explanation about how data was allocated and the cost of excess data.

Since these changes, the number of complaints to us about Telco C’s roaming service has significantly decreased.

How we've helped other customers

Complaint
Carlo, a full-time student with limited income, was scammed into buying three mobile phones, leaving him with a $3,200 debt. He contacted BranchTel for help as he couldn’t afford to pay off the debt, causing him significant distress and hardship.
Outcome
During conciliation, BranchTel initially offered Carlo a payment plan of $180 per month, which he couldn’t afford. After raising concerns about this, BranchTel agreed to waive all of Carlo’s debt due to his severe financial hardship.
Complaint
Tamin Tutoring signed up for an NBN service and equipment bundle with BlockTel but experienced frequent faults with slow and dropped video calls and inconsistent phone calls. When they tried to cancel due to these issues, BlockTel demanded over $7,000 for early termination.
Outcome
Tamin Tutoring didn’t want to pay this cancellation fee because the service never worked properly. After complaining to our office, the parties agreed that Tamin Tutoring could exit its contract and only pay 40 per cent of the cost of the cancellation fees.