Mobile phone carriers - which company to go with?

My wife's phone got run over by a car and as she is out of contract we are looking for a new plan. We both had iphones, her's on Optus and mine on Telstra. The reception and download speed with my Telstra phone was always way better than her's on Optus but it comes at a premium. I'm lucky enough to have my phone paid for by work so don't have to worry about the cost. I'm wondering if anyone has had any good experiences with any of the cheaper phone companies, ie Virgin, Vodafone etc. or should we just fork out the bucks and go with Telstra??

I know it is a trend to bag Telstra but if you go around they have the best coverage. I had Telstra for years and love it. Look at the plans and they are not that bad. My wife has Optus and when she goes country her reception is very much up and go! Mine never fails!

Don't forget the 300 free overseas call minutes you get first

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Gazuki said..

AMAYSIM!!

Amaysim are amazing! They got voted money magazines best plans 4 years in a row. They use optus satellites so you get 97% of Telstra coverage.

I'm on a $40 plan, unlimited call, unlimited text, and 5G of 4G data :) Overseas call are heaps cheep too, 5c stuff!

Yep, it amaysims me how nobody I know has even heard of 'em.

depends on where you are and where you go . I am constantly doing long trips in the bush in a circle from dongara out to mekkatharra and down to esperance


only one carrier to go with

telstra

Telstra , Optus sucks ! They use crooked accounting to increase their profits . I took out the $29 plan for a $180 cap value.

$29 plan , GST ='s $2.90 , right !? Wrong!!! , Optus factored in GST on the cap value leaving me with a cap value of $163.64 .

Of course , you don't know this until you get your first bill , by that time you've already been stung . GST was always intended for the purchase price . So unless Optus were handing over $16.36 in GST over to gmnt every month, they were screwing their customers . I had a land line , internet and mobile with them and by the time my $29 per month plan expired , they had none of my business , J

Edit : Special little footnote for Cauncy here. Yes , I did phone them to protest and tell them I thought they were a bunch of crooks and straight off the bat ( yeah , thought you'd like that ) she says " we're sorry you feel like that " . That's because , IMHO , she had to respond to that statement several times a day !!!

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James said..
Telstra , Optus sucks ! They use crooked accounting to increase their profits . I took out the $29 plan for a $180 cap value.

$29 plan , GST ='s $2.90 , right !? Wrong!!! , Optus factored in GST on the cap value leaving me with a cap value of $163.64 .

Of course , you don't know this until you get your first bill , by that time you've already been stung . GST was always intended for the purchase price . So unless Optus were handing over $16.36 in GST over to gmnt every month, they were screwing their customers . I had a land line , internet and mobile with them and by the time my $29 per month plan expired , they had none of my business , J

Edit : Special little footnote for Cauncy here. Yes , I did phone them to protest and tell them I thought they were a bunch of crooks and straight off the bat ( yeah , thought you'd like that ) she says " we're sorry you feel like that " . That's because , IMHO , she had to respond to that statement several times a day !!!

Don't they all do that? If I read your post correctly, they would be 'charging' calls at a certain price per minute (including GST), but then really taking that away from your cap? You aren't paying $16.36 extra a month are you?

I think Telstra do the same, but I had better look at my bill and find out.

Blame Voda for this. They brought in this whole cap business I think. Its a bit of a rort as you aren't really capped, you just pay through the nose when you go over the artificial value they promote.

I like the older way of billing where it was just something like 19c a minute and they gave you $35 a month credit as part of your plan. This whole cap business just makes it seem more impressive but they are just charging you $2 a minute for calls and making you think you are getting better value.

Although slightly more expensive, I've been with Telstra for quite a while. Never had any issues.

I have started buying phones outright and going pre-paid. Get much better value for money.

When driving in remote places, it is piece of mind knowing you have the best possible coverage with a mobile.

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FormulaNova said...


Don't they all do that? If I read your post correctly, they would be 'charging' calls at a certain price per minute (including GST), but then really taking that away from your cap? You aren't paying $16.36 extra a month are you?

I think Telstra do the same, but I had better look at my bill and find out.

Blame Voda for this.

Not sure if "they all" do it . I won't blame Vodaphone for Optus being crooked and using GST to rip off customers.

Thing is, you think you have a $180 cap , but you don't , the cap is really only a little more than $160 , but until you get your first bill, you don't know that , by then you've gone over your cap of $180 , paid $16.36 extra for your first month and you're spewing bcos you're locked into a 24 month contract with exit fees . Optus suck !!!

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James said..

FormulaNova said...


Don't they all do that? If I read your post correctly, they would be 'charging' calls at a certain price per minute (including GST), but then really taking that away from your cap? You aren't paying $16.36 extra a month are you?

I think Telstra do the same, but I had better look at my bill and find out.

Blame Voda for this.

Not sure if "they all" do it . I won't blame Vodaphone for Optus being crooked and using GST to rip off customers.

Thing is, you think you have a $180 cap , but you don't , the cap is really only a little more than $160 , but until you get your first bill, you don't know that , by then you've gone over your cap of $180 , paid $16.36 extra for your first month and you're spewing bcos you're locked into a 24 month contract with exit fees . Optus suck !!!

No, you misunderstood me. I am blaming Voda for introducing 'capped plans'. They introduced them and Telstra and Optus had to follow suit because of all the customers that thought 'wow, $180 is much much better than $35'. Unfortunately customers don't like to read the details and missed that the calls were now much more expensive on the capped plans. As a lot of customers fell for this, Optus and Telstra had to offer the same deal to keep the same type of customers. Before that, things were simple and you had a set cost per 30 seconds and so much credit. Capped plans just made it sound fantastic for the same number of calls, AND you got hammered if you went over the cap, which is really not a cap anyway.

I don't need to defend Optus. I use Telstra, and their info says something like "2 Minute standard call is $2", i.e. it includes GST as part of that $2. If you have a $300 cap, you can get 150 of those 2 minute calls, and guess what, it automatically includes GST.

Mate, I hate to say it, but it seems like your misunderstanding is your misunderstanding. They probably could explain it better so that its really obvious, as you are not the only person that would have not understood it correctly.

Have I got it wrong or did something else happen? You are not a tradie by any chance that thinks GST is optional are you

In all seriousness, if they have done something misleading, go after them. They have an ombudsman to fight this stuff and make it fair and transparent, and it benefits all of us too.

FormulaNova , Let me explain more clearly : Cap value $180.00 per month . Cost per month $29.00 . Intuitively, you would not foresee a GST amount of $16.36 when signing up for this deal but as you point out , it is there stashed away in the fine print . Highly creative, equally deceptive and a flawed application of GST. The GST component of a $29.00 GST inclusive payment is $2.63.

This is the only GST amount that should have been applied in this contract had the contracted customer stayed within the cap amount of $180.00 as this is the true GST amount Optus would hand over to the tax man , not the inflated amount of $16.36 they have so creatively used to gouge their customers . As soon you creep over $163.60 service you are slugged full rates. Edit : No big deal for me in a monetary sense , but it will catch out some who can't afford it . Does this make sense ?

Sigh , not even a nibble from Cauncey , must be busy creating the 2016 Winter Ensemble for his pooch to wear down at the beach while he kites the winter fronts

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slammin said...
I have a dual sim with Telstra and Amaysim. The Amaysim often gets coverage when Telstra can't. Go figure?

I have a very, very old out of contract plan with Telstra which they've just upped $5 for unlimited calls texts etc for $25 still no contract.

Anyway I suggest you get the cheapest Telstra prepaid sim for coverage and then use Amaysim or other cheap Optus sim for your calls and data.

If we all dual sim we'll keep the bastrds honest.

For phone I suggest a Motorola G, Cheapest smartest dual sim phone available. Also consistently gets software updates to the latest flavour of Android without all the other bloatware as well.

Love my moto g so glad I ditched the iPhone. Have you updated to marshmallow? If so how does you moto g go with the new update?

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James said..
FormulaNova , Let me explain more clearly : Cap value $180.00 per month . Cost per month $29.00 . Intuitively, you would not foresee a GST amount of $16.36 when signing up for this deal but as you point out , it is there stashed away in the fine print . Highly creative, equally deceptive and a flawed application of GST. The GST component of a $29.00 GST inclusive payment is $2.63.

This is the only GST amount that should have been applied in this contract had the contracted customer stayed within the cap amount of $180.00 as this is the true GST amount Optus would hand over to the tax man , not the inflated amount of $16.36 they have so creatively used to gouge their customers . As soon you creep over $163.60 service you are slugged full rates. Edit : No big deal for me in a monetary sense , but it will catch out some who can't afford it . Does this make sense ?

Sigh , not even a nibble from Cauncey , must be busy creating the 2016 Winter Ensemble for his pooch to wear down at the beach while he kites the winter fronts

James, I am trying to understand what happened here. If there is a genuine ripoff then its easy to challenge it.

My understanding is that they have a call charge that includes GST. Right? They have to, the government insists on everything have a GST component and if there is no mention of 'GST' it is assumed to be included. (Telstra's doco seems to leave it out, which implies its already included)

They then "charge" you based on that call rate, until you reach your cap. Correct? So, you have paid $29.

Once you reach that cap, and then go over it, they will charge you full price for those calls. So you pay your $29 which includes your $2.63 of GST and for the extra calls you are paying $1 a minute (or something like that) which includes GST. Make 100 minutes of calls and you pay $100 of which $9.09 is the GST. So, you have used your cap, made another 100 minutes of calls and you are still paying less than $12 in GST.

I don't see how you are paying $16.36 of GST unless your calls over the cap are somehow rounding up to have a GST of $16.36.

Everyone does it that way. Telstra, Optus, and Vodafone bill that way.

Can you imagine what would happen if they said 'calls are $1 a minute (without GST)'. No problem. You pay just your $29 and all is good. Once you go over the cap, you would then be charged $1 a minute and then by law they have to add the GST, so you end up with $1.10 a minute. Imagine explaining that to customers.

If I've got this wrong, put up some example numbers of when you went over the cap and I will see if I can work it out.

I think capped plans are stupid. You pay what you think is a cheap amount, but if you go over the cap, you are screwed on call rates. Imagine if you were told that for $50 you could get $10000 worth of credit, but calls were $50 a minute. In the cap you can make 200 minutes of calls, and all included. The minute you go over, you get slugged $50 a minute and there is no recourse. Its a scam,... and as far as I know, Vodafone were the first telco to introduce this idea to the market. Unfortunately due to human nature it looks like a fantastic deal, unless....

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James said..
It's simple , in the fine print Optus removed the GST component from the $180 value cap plan leaving me with an actual cap of $163.64.
Believing I had $180 to use , I did , and recieved a bill for my monthly payment of $29 plus the $16.34 they extracted from the $180 giving me a total of bill of $45.36 for that first month.

It's a blatant con !!! You dont have to be Einstien to work out that the 10% GST component on $45.36 will be $4.12 but Optus have were able to milk $16.34 out of me because they applied GST to the "value" , not the cost . In so doing , they have been able to pocket the difference between the $16.34 and the $4.12.

If that doesn't make it clear for you , I can't help you any further mate . Have a good weekend though . Youve put as much work into this as I have. Cheers, J

No worries.

If they have done what you said, they have done something wrong. They cannot charge you GST for something that they didn't receive. It is akin to charging you something like 65% GST, which is illegal.

Obviously the ATO frown on this sort of stuff, so you would have a really good case if you pursued this through the ombudsman, or even the ATO.

You just can't do it, no matter what the fine print seems to say.

Hmm, didn't see that plan in the two they offered when I joined up. How so cheap Harrow?

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R1DER said...

slammin said...
I have a dual sim with Telstra and Amaysim. The Amaysim often gets coverage when Telstra can't. Go figure?

I have a very, very old out of contract plan with Telstra which they've just upped $5 for unlimited calls texts etc for $25 still no contract.

Anyway I suggest you get the cheapest Telstra prepaid sim for coverage and then use Amaysim or other cheap Optus sim for your calls and data.

If we all dual sim we'll keep the bastrds honest.

For phone I suggest a Motorola G, Cheapest smartest dual sim phone available. Also consistently gets software updates to the latest flavour of Android without all the other bloatware as well.

Love my moto g so glad I ditched the iPhone. Have you updated to marshmallow? If so how does you moto g go with the new update?

Like the Moto G so much I'm almost glad I took my Samsung SIII for a first and final outing on the paddle board last September. Thumbs up to Amaysim too.