Dan Warne06 May 2009, 1:17 PM
$680 worth of calls for $49 looks like a great deal, but Optus is again using dodgy fine print to cheat customers.
Every time Optus has a pricing announcement, it's about providing more value for customers, saying 'yes', listening to what customers want, and so on.
And invariably, Optus adds nasty fine print that cheat customers out of what they think they're signing up for.
The latest shonky deal is Optus' new "monster caps", which offer "$680" worth of calling credit for $49.
Like many telcos, Optus has inflated the figure by splitting this amount into two: $330 to call people on any network, and $350 to call people only on Optus.
While we're no fans of this condition, Optus is not alone in doing it -- all the mobile telcos have similar plans. Also, it's probably no worse than ISPs advertising "50GB" of download allowance, and then only allowing you to use 40GB of it between 2am and 7am.
However, just like its wireless broadband service that charges you for 10MB of usage even if you only use 1KB in a session, Optus is taking the invention of dodgy terms and conditions to a new low.
It is now billing in one minute increments rather than 30 second ones, meaning a 1 second call will cost you a minimum $1.15.
But wait, there's more. These new "monster caps" require you to first burn through your $330 calling allowance to call people on any network before you can access any of your $350 Optus-to-Optus calling allowance.
This is pure evil in two ways: while you're in your first $330, even when you're calling Optus customers, you're using up your 'any network' credits.
Secondly, once you've used up your $330 worth of any network calling credit, and you're into Optus-to-Optus only territory, you'll be charged full rates on top of your $49 plan fee for any mobile calls you make to a non Optus customer. That $49 plan fee will quickly balloon.
Put simply, when Optus says "monster caps", what they really mean is "monster bills".
If Optus was feeling in an honest mood, it would advertise these plans as offering $330 worth of calling credit. In smaller print it could mention that you qualify for a further $350 of calls to Optus customers once you've used up the $330. But instead, Optus has decided to lump both figures together and use "Up to $680" as the headline offer. There's just no good reason to do this other than to try to hook in customers who think they are going to get $680 worth of credit.
Looking at Optus' marketing material, the telco clearly feels uncomfortable with how far it is pushing the boundaries, and has made efforts (in fine print) to make the limitations clear. However, it will also need to ensure that young mobile phone salesman makes these crucial limitations absolutely clear to every single customer before signing them up.
The problem for Optus is that the Trade Practices Act forbids companies from putting important limitations in fine print.
If a salesman glosses over the limitations or sells the plan based on the headline $680 calling value without explaining the stingy way Optus allocates a credit, consumers would have a strong case to complain to the ACCC and Office of Fair Trading that they have been sold a service on false premises. They should also complain to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman, which bills the cost of processing the complaint to Optus.