Telstra offers customer refunds after Next G data bill shock - EXCLUSIVE

Adam Turner
Monday, 26 February 2007 11:33

IT Industry - Strategy

Telstra has pledged to refund excess data charges to users of its new Next G broadband data network, after failing to warn them they had exceeded their data usage limits.

Australia's largest telco assures new Next G mobile phone customers they will receive an SMS notification when they reach 80 per cent and 100 per cent of their monthly data allowance. Telstra doesn't reveal that such warnings are not sent during the first three months of a new contract. Next G customers are granted an extra 50MB of data usage per month on their mobile phones for the first three months of a contract, but not warned if they exceed this limit.

As the Next G network was only launch in October, the problem affects almost every Next G bill issued to date. A Telstra spokesman said the company is prepared to refund affected customers' excess data fees, if they call Telstra to complain.

"By far the vast majority of customers wouldn't use 50MB through their phone," he told IT Wire.

"Those who do, when their bill comes in they can phone Telstra and get the excess charges credited back to them."

Customers contacting Telstra to complain of receiving excess data charges without warning during their first three months have been initially told "it's not up to us to notify you when you've passed the limit". After further pressure, some customers have been offered a 50 per cent discount on their excess data charges without an acknowledgement of the problem.

Despite launching several months ago, until recently users of Next G couldn't tell how much data they'd used by checking network's WAP portal. Users were presented with a breakdown of their usage for each time they had accessed the internet - a list up to 10 pages long - but no grand total. A total usage graph has been introduced this month, but customers have reported inaccurate readings. Staff at Telstra call centres are unable to calculate customers' exact data usage figures, making it extremely difficult for customers not to exceed their monthly limits.

Telstra has some of the country's highest excess mobile data charges - ranging from 25 cents to $5 per megabyte, which includes uploaded data.