Money



Bill Shock



‘Bill shock’ refers to the term that describes the horror at receiving an outrageously high bill. Let bnextadvise you on how to manager your mobile spend and save yourself hundreds of dollars in the process.

Sara Dennis was in Malaysia for a short break with her boyfriend when she decided to share images of the pretty-as-a-picturescenery with her friends and family back home in Melbourne.
What better way to spill the secrets of the area and its surrounds than to post regular updates on Facebook and Twitter?
Or so she thought! Sara only stayed on the island of Pangkor Laut for 10 days. But what the 27-year-old early childcare teacher didn’t bargain for was a bill in excess of $2000 to add to the cost of the luxury holiday she and her partner had spent 18 months scrimping and saving for.

Sara said she had only had her new iphone for a few weeks and didn’t really understand her plan or how to manage her mobile spend.
After the high of Sara’s luxury holiday, she was brought back to earth with a thud when the postman delivered an envelope containing a bill that was far higher than she expected.
It’s fair to say Sara experienced ‘bill shock’. The term – which is now firmly entrenched in the Australian vernacular – usually occurs when mobile phone users get a new phone and get excited about its capabilities, download a lot of data or take a trip overseas.

Chris Althaus from the Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association agrees there are more and more complaints from consumers about shock-inducing bills from their telcos.
But Althaus said the mobile telecommunications industry remained committed to educating consumers about capped plans, including the importance of taking steps to monitor usage of mobile services and resultant expenditure.
“Consumer awareness of mobile service usage is also very important given the rapidly growing demand for mobile data services such as mobile broadband,” he said.
“It is in no one’s interest to have customers in debt as a result of unexpectedly high bills – so [the telecommunications] industry is actively promoting consumer awareness in this regard,” Althaus said.

“Mobile operators offered a number of self-help tools to assist consumers in keeping track of their usage and spending on a range of services. These are free online accounts allowing them to monitor their usage on a daily basis,” he said.

Althaus said consumers should check with their service provider to see if they offer a service whereby it will contact them if their expenditure is particularly high compared to previous bills. They can also request the barring of some services at the network level.

“Consumers can also ask if they offer an SMS notification service that lets them know when they have reached 80 per cent or 100 per cent of their cap. Some providers offer free text services that consumers can use to monitor their usage,” he says.

Along with increased mobile phone usage are the complaints being made to the telecommunications industry ombudsman.
In a recent interview with Choice magazine Ombudsman Deirdre O’Donnell urged consumers to do their homework before signing up to “smart” phone contracts.
Although many younger Australians consider themselves to be a fairly digitally tech-savvy crowd, using apps that suck in more data than expected or choosing a plan that doesn’t suit your requirements may see your mobile phone spend spiral out of control.

If you do want to better manage your budget, the AMTA offers tips and hints on how to avoid an horrific bill.
As well as the AMTA’s guide Tips on Buying Your Mobile Phone, the organization recommends the following:

1. Consider pre-paid. If you are concerned about how much you will spend and are not exactly sure of what your needs are, and do not want to sign a long-term contract, consider this option first.

2. Choose a plan to suit you. Whether you opt for a pre-paid or post-paid contract, you’ll find there’s a huge choice of options available to suit many different needs. If you use the phone a reasonable amount, the newer ‘capped’ deals are well worth considering.

3. Select a service that allows you to check your mobile credit. Some mobile companies have optionsto help you keep track of, and manage, your spend such as a spend alert, a free call number to check the account balance and call barring, by limiting the number of calls you can make.

4. Stop others using your mobile phone. Make use of your phone’s security features to stop others ‘borrowing’ your phone.

5. Ask the service provider how much data different activities might consume.
(Determine the total cost of a plan – cheaper plans may have high excess data charges.

6. Understand how the plan works. Will you pay excess charges if you exceed your data limit?

7. Understand your voicemail service. It may be free or you may be charged when you listen to a message. If this is the case, clear your voicemail quickly.

8. Call or SMS? Understand if it’s cheaper to call rather than SMS or vice-versa.

9. Contact your carrier. If you are having problems contact your carrier before the problem becomes too big.

moving in together.

Any advice given is of a general nature only and does not take into account your individual objectives, financial situation or needs.

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