Prepaid Phone Users Warned About Debt
The Age
Wednesday April 18, 2001
Mobile phone users who buy prepaid services to avoid the shock of large bills could still rack up debts beyond the call credits they paid for, according to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman.
The ombudsman will warn today that consumers must be aware that prepaid mobile phone services could blow their budget, following complaints from prepaid phone users.
In one case, a boy was hit with a bill $60 above his limit.
``It staggers me that it is actually possible," said ombudsman John Pinnock.
The situation occurred, he said, because the prepaid billing systems sometimes did not record phone use in real time.
The ombudsman said the ``late-landing" of charges for SMS text messages caused customers' account balances to end up in debit, triggering the automatic issue of a bill for the shortfall.
It is believed the problem can occur for all mobile phone carriers' prepaid services.
Telstra's general manager of product, Max Jennings, said the company was aware of the problem and was investigating three complaints.
He gave a blanket assurance that any Telstra customer who received a bill exceeding prepaid limits would have the slate wiped clean.
``(For) customers in that situation who call our customer service line, it's our policy that we immediately reset their accounts to zero," Mr Jennings said.
``In the short term we're working on system developments to eliminate that issue altogether.
``We're confident the occurrence of that will fall to zero."
The ombudsman warned that the terms and conditions of prepaid accounts may contradict the meaning of ``prepaid".
``The time has come in dealing with consumers to be extraordinarily careful with the use of language," Mr Pinnock said.
An Optus spokeswoman said that, to the best of her knowledge, the problem did not arise in Optus prepaid services.
A Vodafone spokesman could not be contacted for comment.
© 2001 The Age
