I wonder if the deal didn’t get properly annalysed due to the shock of the friendly Te(not naming companies)tra rep.

Anyway here are the current details as provided by the patient.

Friend spends $450 per month on the following rates:

27c connection

19c per 30 seconds (ie. 38c per minute billed in 30 second blocks)

Average call is 3.15 minutes

Number of calls 300

The offer that is going to save him $371 per month is:

$79 Cap with $450 worth of calls included. My friend is told his future bills will be reduced to $79 per month. Its a no – brainer right? Wrong!

The $79 Cap has different call rates – they all do, irrespective of the provider. And here is the purpose of this post. BE AWARE – ALL CAPS HAVE DEARER CALL CHARGES.

In this instance the cap under the microscope has the following:

37c Connection

35c per 30 seconds (ie 70c per minute billed in 30 second blocks)

I’ll analyze this using the same data as with the above example:

Average call is 3.15 minutes

Number of calls 300

The math

300 calls x $0.37 (connection) = $110

3.15 minutes average duration x $0.70 x 300 calls = $661.50

Total = $771.50

Less $450 included calls = $321.50*.

Now this is below the $450 that my friend is currently paying so that’s good. However my friend is expecting a bill for $79 – and he entered into a 24 month contract to do it. What does he do now? (Actually that’s not a bad idea for a future post)

Let the buyer beware.

*This figure does not round up to the nearest 30 secs of the average call as would happen in the real world as the data was unavailable. The effect of this would be to raise the charge considerably. When the data comes to hand I will update the post.

Till next time

Disclaimer: Telcotalk does provide a range of mobile cap plans. When properly annalysed they can indeed be beneficial to the customer. This post was encouraged by the irresponsible sales practices roping people in to the wrong deal for them. The right deal for you is out there. Sing out if we can help clear the smoke and mirrors away or email mobiles@telcotalk.com.au and we’ll call you.

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A Quick Note About Telcotalk

I began building Telcotalk 3 years ago after a disappointing experience with with my provider. I don’t think it would be proper to name this publicly listed behemoth that was responsible for letting me down but at the end of the 6 month process I endured I actually found a manager that could help me. She was very good and my problem was resolved in short order. It got me thinking ‘wow, why did it take 6 months and countless phone calls and transfers to find somebody that was ACCOUNTABLE and could even MAKE DECISIONS’. These large telco’s are so top heavy that no one can make a decision, no one is held accountable for what actions they take and therefore no one is concerned with any follow up once the call is over.

Telcotalk is built on this concept. We ensure that you can speak to the same person more than once. You can have a relationship with a person at your phone company! Our staff are accountable to our customers because they can’t hide like in the larger telco’s. This makes a big difference because we make sure we ‘get it right’. If you prefer, you can email your requests direct to your account manager, rather than call through.

Feel free to check out our website and offers including fixed line, mobile and broadband.  If you are a business we can tailor a plan to suit your usage. The Telco industry is one of many ’smoke and mirror’ offers. You need to ask yourself ‘how important is your telephone to your business?’ ‘Are you getting the most out of it?’ ‘Can you get access to information about your phones easily?” Are you using your phones to make your business run smoothly and efficiently?’ ‘Is there a better way?’  We can annalyse all this with you and take the noise out so you can concentrate on what it is you do best. You can send off an online enquiry or just give us a call on 1300 720 591 and have a chat.

Till next time

Damien Johnson

Managing Director

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