TPG charges for 1300 support calls on NBN/landline in $10 increments

[Umack]

I have recently found that TPG charge for 1300 call to TPG on an NBNlandline.
It's allegedly only 30 cents, but the "Home Phone Prepayment Ouside included value" charge is a pre-payment or credit.

So the FIRST time you call up TPG support on your NBN landline, it will cost you more than $10 because your are being charged to pre-pay the additional charges credit. In my case that was $10.53.

So not only does TPG charge you 30 cents per cal to call TPG support, the first call will cost you more than $10.

Only customer comments can make TPG change this. Like maybe make support calls free for the customer?

[Umack]

I'd like to update this post.

I was wrong, you don't get charged $10 for the first call to TPG support (or any other 13/1300 number), YOU GET CHARGED $20.
That's right, $20. When your pre-payment credit drops to $10, you get charged an additional $10 so you have a minimum credit of between $20-$10.

I had to go back through my invoices to find this, a debit for $19.99 ($20) for the first 13/1300 call.
I'm aware of the 13/1300 call charge on my NBN landline, so I use my mobile instead, particulalrly since the only time I phone TPG support is when the NBN connection is playing up (so no NBN landline available).

But a friend dropped by with a TPG NBN issue, my mobile was upstairs so I called TPG support using my landline. That was followed with an invoise for $10.53, when I absolutely know the only 1300 called was TPG.

Thanks TPG!

[Rica_R]

Hi @Umack,

Welcome to TPG Community!
 

The Home Phone Pre-payment Outside Included Value (POIV) is used for any phone usage that is not included in your plan.

The customer needs to manually top up their account via TPG My Account once the POIV value drops down below $10.

For example, for this billing cycle you still have $10 left, so for the next billing cycle, it will still be the same. However, once the POIV dropped to $9 - $5 below, you need to top up the account with the needed amount to make the $20 requirement.

Please send us a PM with your TPG username or customer ID number for further checking of your account.

How do I private message (PM) in the community?

[Umack]

Hi

TPG mobile plans include calls to 13/1300 numbers at no extra charge.

That's obviously not the case for TPG NBN landline calls.

The pre-payment top-up is debited automatically, at least in my case, not manually.

If TPG have 50,000 NBN landline customers, at an average pre-payment credit of $15, that adds up to $0.75 million.

And they still have to. charge NBN landline customers to call TPG 13/1300 numbers.

Do you see anything wrong with this scenario?

Regards

Rick

[Umack]

Hi @HJoey

I have trawled through my NBN landline details and I can absolutely state that I've used 13/1300 numbers more frequently than I thought AND that calls to TPG 1300 number incur a $0.30 charge.

I wonder if TPG customers realise the total value of the POIV credit to TPG. I make it at least $10-$15 per NBN landline customer.

And they still charge their NBN landline customers for service calls.

[Angeli]

Hi Umack, 

We've sent you a private message and we'll be waiting for your response to continue with the discussion on your phone service and billing queries. 

Thanks!

[Umack]

Hi Angeli

I think I've done all the investigative work needed.

Here's a partial list of 13/1300 calls from my account:

2021-03-30 18:04:50 TPG Helpdesk 00:19 131423 $0.00000 0:00

2021-03-30 19:33:18 1300 00:44 1300993019 $0.30000 0:00
2021-03-30 19:34:52 1300 04:49 1300993019 $0.30000 0:00
2021-03-30 19:42:22 1300 08:46 1300997273 $0.30000 0:00
2021-03-31 10:47:31 1300 00:01 1300993019 $0.30000 0:00
2021-03-31 10:47:52 1300 07:05 1300995152 $0.30000 0:00

2022-09-09 15:29:41 1300 25:18 1300993011 $0.30000 0:00

Note the 131423 number is in fact free. The other 1300 TPG numbers aren't.

I would like to note that some of my earlier comments were incorrect. We (3 people) use 13/1300 numbers far more than I thought, or expressed. So the many top-ups to my pre-paypaid credit were in fact justified, mostly.
But I still think it sucks that I have to pay TPG for 1300 calls to TPG, the POIV credit adds up to a LOT of customers money available to TPG. My personal opinion is the NBN landline calls to 13/1300 numbers ought to cost the same as for a TPG mobile plan, NOTHING.

[Umack]

I thought I'd report on the response from TPG billing.

I was told that the 131143 number was free and the 1300 numbers weren't. I then asked, since both lots of numbers incur a local call fee, HOW does the customer know which numbers are free and which aren't on the TPG contact us page.

No answer except to give me directions on how to access my landline usage detail.

Did you know TPG have over 1.5 million NBN customers? If 0.5 million of these have a landline, the prepaid credit (POIV) that they have from their customers at any one time would be $15 times 0.5 million, or 7.5 million dollars. I don't understand whether this money gets refunded to customers when they leave TPG.
But you'd think the interest alone would allow TPG to make ALL their contact numbers free calls, not just the 13 numbers.
I'm ready to give up. In my experience TPG technical support have generally been very good. Pity this isn't a technical issue.

[Umack]

It's nice to see that the moderator vets anything that might be a bit embarassing, like TPG 1300 numbers that aren't free to TPG customers, or how much money is tied up in POIV credits.

No matter, it TPG don't want me to post here, and don't tell me why, there's always Whirlpool and IT News.

Stay tuned.

[Angeli]

Hi Umack,

We welcome everyone (TPG or Non TPG Customers) to openly discuss products and services. As with any forum or community we do have guidelines, I have posted them below for your reference.

https://community.tpg.com.au/t5/Welcome/Community-User-Guidelines/m-p/16#M10

https://community.tpg.com.au/t5/Welcome/TPG-Community-Terms-of-Service/m-p/15#M9

It appears that one of your post was flagged by our automated system as duplicate post, spam messages, or posts repeated excessively on one or more boards, as such it was not posted successfully. Seeing as the message of it as similar to this thread, we would encourage that we continue the discussion here.

I'll also send you a PM to provide updates.

Thank you,

Angeli