Data Packs and Excess Data Charges??? HELP!!!!!!

[RiverSong]

Hi everyone,

I'm beginning to get desperate at the present time... :/

I'm on a $79 Freedom Connect plan and have just exceeded my 2GB limit and have approx. $40 of excess data charges.
One of my friends also had a similar problem and she had it solved by purchasing a data pack to cover the excess she'd used.
My question is -
Can I purchase a data pack (preferably a $29) one and apply it only to my current bill cycle to get me through and also to cover the excess data (and the fees?).

If I purchase the pack tonight via Visa Debit, how long will it take to come into effect?

Finally, will purchasing the extra data pack get rid of the excess data fees (as the pack increases me limit?)

Any answers as quickly as possible would be greatly appreciated!!!
Thanks so much,
Sarah

[jokiin]

data packs are applied on a pro-rata basis so you would need to purchase one large enough to allow for that

[RiverSong]

Thanks for such a quick response!

I've only gone 111MD over my limit and I plan on getting a $29 (3GB) pack.
I'm not sure if that helps at all, but this only my second billing cycle and i'm still not sure about some things (like Pro Rata)...

I have looked around to see if I could find an explanation, but none made sense to me... What exactly is Pro Rata in simple terms?

Thanks so much again!

[RiverSong]

111MB**

[RiverSong]

Actually, I think I'll go with a $20 pack - but still... Will this cover my excess charges??

(P.S - Sorry to keep asking so many questions)

[Ben_F]

As I understand it, you will get the full allowance till the end of the month, however I can't confirm that the charges will be waived automatically. Best bet is to contact us when the Bill is issued to see what we can do for you.

There are, in very rare and specific cases, some things that the call centre can do regarding data usage and excess charges. Best bet would be to call us and find out what we can do when the bill is issued, or chat with our team 24/7 https://livechat.telstra.com/TCOM:Crowdsupport:Consumer

[Greg_Ory]

pro rata data charges have been abolished (since last month I think) for consumer plans, _ie freedom connect , as long as you have the additional data pack applied before the end of your current bill cycle
you should receive no excess dara charges. ( providing your total data used is less than the plans included data + the data of the additional data pack.

125111 should be able to provision this for you.

[RiverSong]

Thankyou all so much.
Hopefully the $29 data pack covers me until next weekend when my bill cycle ends (and hopefully the charges disappear)

Thanks again!

[jokiin]

might be worth leaving the data pack in place for the following month anyway until you are sure of your usage requirements

[kirwan]

I just had to do this the other day, if your over by 40mb then getting them to add a $10 data pack will give you an extra 1,000 mb, spending an extra $29 is overkill

The useage amount also applies retrospecitively to the whole month, not just after purchase. 

[Ben_F · Accepted solution]

Just to clarify, to the best of my understanding, if you have already exceeded your allowance when you get the data pack, you may still be required to pay Excess Usage Fees.

I'm will say this though, keep an eye out for an announcement on Monday Re this issue

B.

[RiverSong]

Thanks!
I went to my local Telstra store last week and asked about this and they said the data pack would have worked if I had put it on BEFORE I went over my limit. Thanks anyway everyone!

And thanks for the heads up for Monday

[Ben_F]

Post Edited: 14/12/2011
Information below was provided by the Australian (news.com.au) and not an official post of Telstra.

http://www.news.com.au/technology/tablets/telstra-will-choke-download-speeds-instead-of-charging-ext...

MILLIONS of mobile phone and tablet users will have their download speeds all but stopped when they exceed data caps in a bid to stop losses from customers refusing to pay bill blowouts.

Telstra will scrap excess data usage charges for 3.4 million post-paid mobile and tablet customers within weeks, in a bid to curb so-called customer "bill shock".

The telco will instead slash internet downloads to a third of normal speeds and ask customers to purchase pre-paid top-ups or wait for their next billing period.

The move comes amid a boom in smart phones and tablets and after Telstra claimed last year it was losing tens of millions of dollars from customers who blew data limits and then refused to pay bills totalling thousands of dollars.

[RiverSong]

Thanks so much for posting this!!
Its great news!!

[toholio]

Was this supposed to start working? I got an SMS alert for data usage a day after I'd racked up $1,000 in excess charges which apperantly can't be fixed until after I'm sent a bill.

Not very happy about this. What's the point in having the service at all if it fails right when you need it the most?

[Tyrone]

Hello Fellow bloggers.

Just to clarify Telstra will make a public announcement in regards to this WHEN and if  it gets implemented .

Regrettably as it stands at the moment it stands as business as usual 

Sorry  to spoil any celebrations .

[billythekid]

Telstra should not announce it till it's been approved and ready to be implemented!

[TheL]

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@billythekid wrote:
Telstra should not announce it till it's been approved and ready to be implemented!

---

Hi there, 

I can confirm that we have not yet officially announced that this service is up and running for our Mobile customers. 

Regrettably, the post (the one with the smh news article) was not the announcement, hence as to why it has been edited.

Apologies for the confusion. 

Regards,

[tom123hh]

Hi there. Thanks for all the good info from telstra/mods. Its good to be able to find some of the info I've been needing. But not sure if I was I informed that data packs are no longer pro-rated. Its a good thing anyway, I think. Anyway I also hope the abolishment of excess download fees comes into effect very soon as this will lessen the stress associated with my service re. bill shock. I received a txt on 24 nov about an update to the mobile service on the 15 dec. Is this related?

[TheL]

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@tom123hh wrote:

Hi there. Thanks for all the good info from telstra/mods. Its good to be able to find some of the info I've been needing. But not sure if I was I informed that data packs are no longer pro-rated. Its a good thing anyway, I think. Anyway I also hope the abolishment of excess download fees comes into effect very soon as this will lessen the stress associated with my service re. bill shock. I received a txt on 24 nov about an update to the mobile service on the 15 dec. Is this related?

---

Hi tom123hh, 

No worries and you are welcome! This is what CrowdSupport is all about! Glad it helps you out. 

As I explained in one of my responses on the same enquiry, we did release it however we had experienced several bugs that caused issues. As this was the case, we are still working to resolve these issues, before the service is implemented to our wider mobile customers. 

I am too am looking forward to have this set up on my 3 mobile services, however at this stage, I am stil monitoring my usage as is. 

In regards to the text you received, you're going to have to be a bit more specific as we do send out different notifications to our customers. 

If you wish to private message me (for your privacy) or post the message on here, that would help. 

Regards,

[eGoof]

Hi,

Can someone please confirm that what was discussed in this thread is still current?

If I go over my quota and I purchase a datapack to cover my 'over quota' ammount I will not be charged for the excess data?

Thanks,

[trafa52]

...and why should they pay it? $2/mb is criminal, indefensible in this day & age, or any other for that matter. The other thing is the sneaky way they go about it. I'd like to cap my data just like my broadband but no, they wont do that will they? You pay $5 for 250Mb or $15 for 1 GB with a pack but that would cost you $500 or $20,000 at their nasty $2/Mb rate. Thats a hundred-fold increase!!  Dont even try and justify that....

[Steph]

Hi Trafa52, 

Our Mobile Phone plans don't have a $2/ MB rate. 

Generally, our Mobile Phone post-paid plans have a rate of around $0.10 per MB

The $2 rate is a pay as you go rate for services that don't have data packs in them. OurFreedom Connect Plans, and Every Day Connect plans, which are the three types of plans we've used in the last 2-3 years all contain data packs, and don't have the $2/ MB rate.