Sign in / up

back to article Aussies stumped reading the phone bill

Australia may enjoy some of the highest teledensity levels in the world, but the more calls made, the less the understanding of pricing and billing information, claims the Australian Communications and Media Authority. New research from ACMA reveals that the vast majority of Australian telephone consumers have a “patchy …

COMMENTS

House rules Send corrections
This topic is closed for new posts.
  1. Steven Roper

    As an Australian resident

    When I look at my phone bill, what I see is something like this:

    Metered calls: $5.60

    Metered calls to mobiles: $32.85

    Metered calls to international numbers: $6.85

    Administration Fees: $22.50

    Line Rental: $26.50

    Service Charges: $12.50

    GST: $10.70

    Metered calls I get. It's all the other bullshit scalpings that piss me and my countrymen off.

    0 0
  2. Slipoch
    FAIL

    KFC stats

    Ah another poll only done in sydney, never before have i seen such breadth of ignorance as in Sydney.

    0 1
  3. david 12 Silver badge

    Identify a local call

    There is no easy way to identify a local call in AUS. For example: "85 km is the distance between zonal or district charging points." Who knows if the call you are making is more or less than 85 km?

    There used to be simple number rules (if you dialed an STD prefix, it was charged at STD rates), but a policy decsion was made to partly disassociate numbers from locations and call charges.

    Fortunately, long-distance telephone calls don't cost very much now, so it is mostly possible to ignore the distinction. And you have to do that.

    0 0
  4. Goat Jam
    Flame

    Consumers have a “patchy understanding” of how their services are charged.

    Quelle surprise!

    The Telcos go out of their way to make things as confusing as possible in order to discourage plelbs from shopping around.

    I can't tell you the number of times I get told "Wow, my plan gives me $100 worth of calls!"

    When I enquire "oh, and at what rate are those calls charged?" I get looked at with that blank, glazed eye look that we geeks know oh so well coming from our less geeky brethren.

    Sigh.

    1 0
  5. Tim Bates
    FAIL

    Not surprised

    Working in a little Aussie computer shop that now sells phones, I can agree with the ACMA - most consumers are idiots.

    And here's a tip people - if you don't even bother reading the large print, you're going to get really caught out by the fine print.

    0 0
This topic is closed for new posts.

Other stories you might like