optus prepaid credit expiry

[robbo55]

hey

im on optus prepaid and recently (today) recharged and noticed my service will be suspended.... october. how is that 6 months?? have they changed the time that calls last for or something.

the actual reason i recharged was because my i would lose them within a couple of days. i got an sms telling me this, and it said recharge for $30. $50 or $100 and roll over ur current credits with 6 months to use them or something like that. why does it say 6 months in that sms, but tells me they r only for 2 months?

ne1 else had this problem?

thank

robbo

[Ext User(Giles)]

> im on optus prepaid and recently (today) recharged and noticed my
> service will be suspended.... october. how is that 6 months?? have they
> changed the time that calls last for or something.
>
> the actual reason i recharged was because my i would lose them within a
> couple of days. i got an sms telling me this, and it said recharge for
> $30. $50 or $100 and roll over ur current credits with 6 months to use
> them or something like that. why does it say 6 months in that sms, but
> tells me they r only for 2 months?

Which Optus Pre-Paid offer are you on?

The 'Free Calls & Text' option gives you only 60 days to use your $ value
credit. If you're not on that option, or if the SMS explicitly advises that
you would get 6 months to use the credit, then I'd chase Optus to extend the
expiry period.

[robbo55]

i am on the free calls and text, but this is the _exact_ sms:

IMPORTANT! Your call credits will expire within 7 days. Recharge with $30.$50or$100 & rollover your credits for another 6 months! call 555 to check your expiry date.

i understand my free mins expire after 60 days, but surely my normal credit lasts 6 months

[Ext User(Giles)]

> i am on the free calls and text, but this is the _exact_ sms:
> IMPORTANT! Your call credits will expire within 7 days. Recharge with
> $30.$50or$100 & rollover your credits for another 6 months! call 555 to
> check your expiry date.
>
> i understand my free mins expire after 60 days, but surely my normal
> credit lasts 6 months

Nah, your $ value credit (as well as your free calls and free text) only
lasts 60 days - according to the Optus website, at least.
http://www.optus.com.au/prepaid (then go to 'Great rates')

Given the SMS expressly advises that your recharge credit would last 6
months, it's worth giving Optus Pre-Paid a call and explaining that you took
action on the basis of that advice.

If they don't agree to help, you don't think you'll use the credit within 60
days and you feel passionately enough about it, then submit a claim to the
TIO or write a letter to Optus's Corporate and Regulatory team explaining
your situation. As in any case where you're building an argument, document
any conversations/exchanges you have.

[robbo55]

yeh i dont know about all that, coz the calls do rollover so i might just change my rate plan back to what it was b4, next time i recharge.

i went to that site just b4 actually. is it me or is optus turning their prepaid mobile rate plans basically into proper plans, where u need to pay at least $30 a month in one case. thats not so pre paid nemore. i thought the idea of prepaid was that u didnt have to pay every month.

ah well, i think my old free calls anytime thing was much better, i just liked the idea of free sms, which is all i really use my phone for. i guess i can get the cheap sms cards or whatever.

thanx for the replies

robbo

[Unkit]

Hey, there are several things you can do (atleast for a while) 1. If you have a family member with optus, register for optus zoo, and send yourself some credit. Then send that same credit back. Both credit's validity should be extended by 6 months.

2. Get a friend to do the same thing suggested with family members.

3. Alternatively, buy more credit off me using ebay ($7 for $10)

Hope that helps.

[robbo55]

thats awesome with the optus zoo thing, can u explain it a bit more. how do i "send" myself some credit exactly. i think i am signed up already. also does the other person have to b with optus pre paid or can they b on a plan?

thanx heaps

robbo

[Unkit]

Just kidding with the title. Okay, you log into optus zoo, then you select the last option i think its called me2u or something. The other person has to be on prepaid also. I am not sure wheather we are allowed to post links here. Otherwise, go to the optus site and after .com.au type "/me2u". You might wanna search on ebay for my credit sale thing aswell, i will tell u step by step how to do it.

[robbo55]

ok thanx again, ill get back to u about ebay if i decide to go with it

[robbo55]

hey i was about to do it and noticed my friend is on the turbo charge plan thingy and cant send me credit.

i also noticed this:

The Credit Transfer cannot be reversed once it has been sent and expires after 30 days

is that just the transferred credit that lasts 30 days, and do u say the rest of the credit should last for 6 months?

robbo

actually just to add to this, my friend says she has rung up optus so that the next time she recharges she will change to the turbo plan, does that mean she is still able to send me the credit. i dont wanna stuff up her calls or something.

[Unkit]

They say call credits will only last 30 days, but i have tried transferring and it says my call credits last for 6 months. I am not sure how they would distinguish between the transferred credit or non transferred.
Transferring should have no effect on her new rateplan, but i would try transferring from her phone first. (You can definately send credit TO turbocharge). If u are still confused, let me know

[robbo55]

hey

last time i just ended up recharging so i ended up with $40ish and when i got down to the expiry date (this saturday) i managed to find another friend who had optus prepaid but not the turbo charge thing. i got him to send me $5 and then i sent it straight back and now i have an extra 60 days to use my credit!

thanx for all the help from everyone, i think im gonna change my rate back to the free calls anytime after this though, coz my free text and free mins will still expire in 2 days time.

i had fun with 100 free txts though, especially the last few days just sending random msgs, i figured i may as well use them up.

thanx again

robbo

[Unkit]

No use, the free minutes will still only last 2 months.

[robbo55]

No use, the free minutes will still only last 2 months.

when i was the free time anytime rate thingo i had 6 months to use my credit as well as my minutes. if it becomes 60 days, prepaid is getting very close to a plan where u basically have to pay $30 every 2 months, or pretty much a $15 a month plan.

i know u dont lose ur credit when u recharge, but still...

robbo

[Unkit]

when i was the free time anytime rate thingo i had 6 months to use my credit as well as my minutes. if it becomes 60 days, prepaid is getting very close to a plan where u basically have to pay $30 every 2 months, or pretty much a $15 a month plan.

i know u dont lose ur credit when u recharge, but still...

robbo

Hi again...

I guess thats One way of looking but I think we can blame Telstra again.

First of all, let me make it very clear, on the New Free Calls Anytime Offer (all the people on the old Free Cals Anytime offer got changed to this in June anyway) when you recharge, you get 6 months to use credit, and 2 months to use your free calls minutes. Theoretically, you are actually on a $5 a month plan still, but the "free" things they give you are now limited to 2 months.

That is fair enough when you consider that Telstra gives you squat when you are on their plans. (They do give you better coverage, but I mean money wise) & also Vodafone charges you $0.20 every time you want to use your "free" minutes.

The other thing to note is that when you buy a recharge card, your free minutes validity increases by 2 months also. With the method I have outlined above, you can extend validity of the actual credit, not the free minutes.

If I have confused you, here is what I was actually trying to say:
If you were to shift to the Free calls anytime offer, you would still get 6 months to use the actual credit you pay for. It is only the "FREE" calls that expire in 2 months.

Hope that helps.