IT: Telstra drops SMS notification for pre-paid browsing pack

As readers may know I use a $10 browsing pack from Telstra to access the internet whilst on the go. Telstra's 3G provides the best and most reliable data coverage.

I should add I don't use the Telstra's service for anything but browsing on the go, which makes the service cost effective. I use other providers for other mobile services.

The good thing about browsing packs from Telstra is you can obtain a Telstra 3G SIM card, purchase $60 prepaid credit and the credit last 12 months.  What I do is each month purchase a $10 browsing pack which gives me $100MB of data.. The $10 isn't on top of the $60, it comes out of the prepaid credit . of $60. This is much better than paying extra for data as other Telcos do. In effect it means the $60 can last around six months.

The reason I can get nearly six months usage from the $60 credit is I only use the data whilst on the road.When around the office or home I use the wireless internet. By watching your use you can have mobile internet that doesn't cost too much.

One advantage Telstra had over Optus was when you reached the end of your data allowance for the month, or the browsing pack was about to expire as it reached the 30 days, you'd get an SMS notification. The reason this is good is with Optus there is no warning and it only takes a minutes to clock up hefty data costs. For example it took me 4 minutes to clock up $27 of data costs with Optus. Had I not realised what was happening that could have easily been hundreds of dollars.

Sadly Telstra has now dropped the SMS notification without warning. This month I went over my 30 days and clocked up around $30 of data charges.

There is no reason companies like Telstra and Optus can't provide users with a warning they are reaching their limit, or something is about to expire. I can't help feeling this is by design. Telstra had the facility and has now removed it. That's another $30 in their pocket.

To me these companies only damage themselves by not looking after their customers.Yes in the short term they garner a little extra income, but in the longer term they potentially lose a customer.

Optus didn't lose my business to Telstra because of their poor coverage, but when that was added to extra and very excessive charges when the prepaid data expired, they lost my mobile data business. In time they will probably lose other business from me (and probably my entire family) which will amount to thousands of dollars a year. Telstra lost my business a while ago, but started to claw some business back. This latest removal of a simple SMS notification has now started the process of me looking elsewhere. These companies will continue to churn customers whilst they garner additional income from people when they unknowingly reach their limits. I suspect the Office of Fair Trading one day will get involved and force Telcos to provide adequate warning to their users, but until that happens the only real option we have is to vote with our purchasing power.

I use pre-paid plans with Telcos as I've found in the past it is very easy to incur unexpected costs. I remember an early experience where I hadn't locked my phone. It was in my briefcase and as it moved it kept redialing the last number called. That was an expensive bill. With the high cost of data it is now very possible for people to be hit with bills of hundreds and possibly thousands of dollars. Using prepaid helps to avoid that situation to a degree. At worst you tend to end up consuming the prepaid credit a faster than expected.

I hope that by sharing my experience others find ways of avoiding unexpected mobile costs.

- Kelvin Eldridge

PS. If you are looking at the Telstra prepaid browsing packs I feel the $5 pack is totally inadequate. The $29 pack doesn't make sense because you only get 200MB whereas two $10 browsing packs will give you the same amount of data for less. Keep in mind the prepaid browsing packs only last for 30 days. You can monitor your usage online but my experience with Telstra's site is it is pretty awful.