02.The right plan
The solution
ACCAN wants telcos to introduce “hard caps” that stop consumers going over the monthly spend for which they’ve signed up. “If the telco industry is serious about fixing their customer service problems and looking after their customers’ interests, they should put an end to ‘soft caps’ that mean nothing,” says Elissa Freeman, director of policy and campaigns.
The consumer group sees capped plans as part of a wider problem of misleading behaviour, and recently made a series of formal complaints to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. “The wall-to-wall deception that seems to pass for marketing in the telco sector is out of control,” says Allan Asher, ACCAN’s CEO. “The industry trades on the fact that no reasonable consumer can compare different mobile or internet plans because they simply can’t make sense of them.”
Finding the right mobile plan
- Contact your telco to move to a more suitable plan if you regularly exceed your cap, or consider switching providers.
- Compare plans and find tips on how to avoid unnecessary costs at Phonechoice.
- Watch for high excess data usage charges with iPhones and other internet-enabled smartphones.
- Contact the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman if you have any complaints.
- Contact your state or territory’s fair trading department, or the ACCC, to report misleading advertising and behaviour, a telco’s failure to honour your statutory warranty rights, or for other general complaints.
- Avoid bill shock with our data usage guide.