Paper Bill Charge

[Caz]

Just got a letter informing me that to receive a paper bill or to pay a bill in person or by post you will now be charging and adding $3.20 to the bill. I can deal with that, but please tell me that this does not apply to pensioners many of whom do not have or do not want a computer/iPad or other electronic device.

[DrQ]

The Paper Bill / Pay in Person charge is waived for most Pensioners (last I looked there was a couple of specific types of 'pension' that weren't applicable) as long as they provide Telstra their CRN/CAN and give Telstra permission to have it validated by Centrelink.

This also waives the debit card or credit card payment processing fee for payments via things like visa or mastercard.

The summary of charges can be found here

[Yannick · Accepted solution]

We do provide a full range of options and advice on how to setup your invoice/payments, so you don't have to pay for receiving a paper bill or paying over the counter.  

http://support.telstra.com.au/t5/Paying-My-Bill/Changes-to-the-non-electronic-billing-and-payment-fe...

You can also now check your bills through Telstra My Account or the Telstra 24x7 App. There’s no charge for paying an account via Direct Debit, Paypal or over the phone/internet.

Some groups of customers are exempt from this fee, such as Pensioners. You can check out the list of exemptions in the link above.

[northernangler1]

Not much help so far, I am another long time previous employee with a pension card. I tried calling "billing" and gave up after 20 minutes of waiting. Giving us a link to the same old non help area is not assisting.

If anyone from billing wishes to call me or write to me on this forum please do so.

I will gladly give you my CRN number and look forward to a free account postage.

A refund for the last couple would also be appreciated.

[DrQ]

Hey northern angler,

As this is a public forum, your chances of getting anyone who is able to do that via these forums is unlikely, if you are having issues with getting the billing team to update your concession details, then you can also do this via LiveChat or in store.

Once they have updated the concession details that will be reflected after that date.

If you feel the previous months charges also should be waived then your best bet is going to be either phone or LiveChat as I believe stores a limited in what they can do in regards to credits.

[northernangler1]

Been in twice now and shown my pension card, Latest bill, today still has the charge for postage.

May another trip tomorrow to the telstra shop. This time I will ask fo written confirmation the card was verified and by who.

How do you rate my chances?

Fast operators these account people.

[DrQ]

You might have better luck by phone. Maybe. At least it is recorded that way. They validate it against Centrelinks database anyway so they don't really need to see the card just to have the card number. But depends on who you get c

[darrell2]

Yeah telstra just another way to rip you of. Will be changing to someone else. Testra bunch off thieving c____s

[NanniB]

we too are pensioners ... telstra have all our details for the pension concession stuff .. we had just moved house and i was getting the land line put on in the house .. had not had one for bout 12 years .. we were traveling for some f thst and had mobiles so really did not need a landline ... but it sort of came with the ADSL so why not ..  now his yooung chap had only just finish soritn out our pension card stuff .. and he next thing he does is tell me would get charged to get a paper bill .. and to pay certain ways would also cost us $$ .. 

i wen to online billing is great .. one less thing posted on the fridge .. ... but he knew we were on a pension but never told me were exempt ... just .. if you do his we will charge you .. if you do that .. we will charge you or that too ... bit of a joke really ..

[upstander]

The charging  for a paper bill by any company is outright theft,  one has a contract  for a supply of a product therefore one should recieve a paper bill,  no chance of fraud / scamming,  One is now expected to own a home pc and have an internet connection, so no help from the government with costs  and has tis happened to you,  cant get on line because of some bug  and stuff Apple, I had a good pc  they decided to change things and my you beaut MAAC is no longer suppoerted  , their answer,  by a new pc !!!!!!hen I do it wont be an APPLE MAC

 Well,  here are some facts , how many emails do you get that are scams , unsolicited emails from companies and even from telstra,  I just got one  and cant even forward it on to telstra  who are the experts in the field to track down the scammer and remove the IP address so they cant keep scamming,  my  mobile phone rings all the time,   answer it ,  no response ,  ring back the number and its some company wanting to sell you a product  . i have a phone  for my personal use and not for ahole companies to ring me using telemarketers to do business, if that is the case  then telstra should charge that company  or even better  reimburse me for each business call  I recieve  now that would be a bonus  for current telstra  members  , now ,  late payments   ,   us pensioners may not alway have internet access and even though we pay our dues  we get hit  harder , I ELECTED TO GO BACK TO PAPER   SO WHEN THE BILL ARRIVES  MY WIFE CAN SEE IT AN ORGANISE PAYMENT , NOT ALL OF US ARE COMPUTER SAVVY, 

teh keeping of your records  on a pc is a recipe for disaster  I cant see my last electricity bill  becuase the suppliy company changes their proceedured  so one would have to print off a copy   thats deared than paying for a paper billI. 

I am not a negative person  just an upstander, one who wants to see justice for us consumers,  so enough of all this hi tech stuff,  lets go back to paper bills so we dont get ripped off, 

[DrQ]

Telstra do give you a choice and do waive it for you if you are a pensioner which is better than some companies. Our water services provider in our old house only had paper bills and charged you for it, so you didn't have any way to avoid it.

If it isn't reflecting on your account after getting it added the complaints team should be able to arrange it. I had to do it last month after a store refused to add it but they did it no worries. I on the other end of the spectrum love my email bill, I hate the paperwork and find it easier to manage on my computer.

With people calling you trying to sell you things, have you got yourself listed on the do not call register? If they continue to call after that, if you tell them they have to remove you from their calling list - that is for legitimate businesses selling things, doesn't go for scammers, most of the time they are using fake numbers that they replace with another within a short while of one getting deactivated.

[northernangler1]

If I could afford it I would have a 1300 number then the scammers would be charged and not me. 

Re the paper bill, I had lots of trouble with Telstra getting the paper bill sent for pensioner rates (free) it eventually happened. 

Telstra service has gone down lately and probably will continue to to drop mainly due to the run around provided by the so called help lines. The "help" staff just say it will be fixed or pass it on to other "better" qualified staff who also do little to help.

I know one local busines that relies on the phone (Vet clinnic) and they have been told a "tech" will be sent if possible on Friday, today is Monday. They really appreciated this sort of fast service. No like the old days when telstra had some local staff. 

[mp5]

I would like to print of my bill  and pay at the post office being a pensioner  to keep costs sown how is this telstra forcing us into paying online also I rang by phone  but  my bill went up not down getting very  upset about this  thank you mavis

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@Caz wrote:

Just got a letter informing me that to receive a paper bill or to pay a bill in person or by post you will now be charging and adding $3.20 to the bill. I can deal with that, but please tell me that this does not apply to pensioners many of whom do not have or do not want a computer/iPad or other electronic device.

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[DrQ]

Hey Mavis,

If you are able to visit your nearest store and give them your pension card and get them to note it on the account it will remove the charge for paying at the post office. Telstra waive this for pensioners once it is noted on the account.

[rebeccahudson]

I just what a paper bill sent each month.

[rebeccahudson]

thanks

[northernangler1]

I can also confirm you will get a FREE paper account posted from telstra if you present your pension card to a telstra shop. I will not put in any internet links as you do not have a computer to look at them.

Good luck in finding a telstra shop, they are closing fast everywhere.

[northernangler1]

I have only found one programme that will not run on apple, Quickbooks, even Autocad works fine. I have been running apple for over 10 years with no hint of a problem. No antivirus needed.

[alchemie]

A charge for a mailed bill is just a push of the masses to online services.
I did elect to go paperless to avoid the charge.., but, the bill still is not available any earlier! In fact my current bill took 9 days from the closing date to generate!
I expect the online method to be faster.... NOT SO!
No one should be expected to pay a bill by AutoPay! Everyone should have the opportunity to review the charges.
If the online channel for billing is better for Telstra, then the benefit should also reflect for the customer!

[Chris_G]

Hi Alchemie,

There are some circumstances which can cause a bill to be generated later than a previous month. You can log into your My Account any time to view your bills if needed. If you're concerned there may be an issue with your bill please chat with us online or give us a call on 132200.

Thanks,

-Chris

[frank101]

They want to bill people for actually billing people,, that this should be free as of being apart of the requirement ,, of the actual bill,, that telstra want to add a charge for a bill is near to as what they want to do for everything,, as if it was a service,, it's not a service it's part and parcel of the legal requirement to actually bill people with a hard copy,, that you would ask to be paid for it as well as of the bill in question being paid,, that maybe we will post it to you,, can you please give us an address.

I got charged 3 dollars for owning my own phone, that was purchased 3 years ago for 20 dollars, no one is fronting up to say why that I am being billed 3 dollars rental on a phone that I paid for 3 years ago, that was charged last month with no clear reason for it,, it's as if the Mafia are infiltrating Telstra ?