Rampant confusion over mobile phone plans and charges (and yes, we’re still waiting for Vodafone to get back to us on its particularly bad case of iPhone plan perplexity) has apparently got so bad that the ACCC is getting involved. ACCC head Graeme Samuel has reminded consumers to be especially careful with excess data fees:
“The ACCC is particularly concerned that consumers may be misled if they are not made sufficiently aware that their data allocations can be exceeded – at significant cost. In the case of smartphones, consumers can download greater amounts of information from the internet than ever before. With this, comes the potential for them to exceed their phone plan value and incur considerable additional charges.”
This is sound advice, which we’d almost deem obvious if so many people hadn’t signed up sight unseen for iPhone deals. The ACCC is asking phone companies to supply evidence of their consumer education programs in this area; given the speed with which many responses are handled in telcos, we’d suggest self-education is still the best option. Read that small print carefully!
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