Hey guys,
Today we released a new range of 4G Data Only plans. The plans range from 5GB for $15/mth and go all the way up to 70GB for $65/mth. We're super proud to be able to say that all our data only plans are now the cheapest in market at those inclusion levels (current 1/2/17). Perfect for those that have a tablet or dongle - see the full range below or head over to the Vaya site https://www.vaya.net.au/?option=Data
$15/mth - 5GB
$35/mth - 15GB
$55/mth - 50GB
$65/mth - 70GB
Cheers, Ian
Hey, these plans are run on calendar month - let me know if you are after any other info on these plans :)
Does any unused data rollover to the following month, and how long are you locked into this plan for?
Please add this to the description.
Hi again,
No, unused data does not rollover and they are all no lock-in, so you can leave whenever you please. If you leave half way through the month, you will not be refunded the difference though, so we do recommend waiting till end of the month if you are going to leave.
@WatchNerd: If you are porting, you would just port across to your new provider. If you are just wanting to cancel the service, you can contact our call centre.
Step 1: Cry
@WatchNerd: Google "leave Vaya" for many fun stories about unexpected hassles, bills, unanswered support tickets, people being cut off after being on hold for 30 minutes etc. YMMV
This really hurt me last time I tried to port out. The porting took over 5 business days and it put me into next month. I had to pay for the next month even though I never used the service and my new Telco told me that Vaya was the reason porting took so long. I will never get anything with Vaya again.
@All Blacks NZ: My port out took 10 minutes to switch to Kogan, though my wife's took 10 hours.
Based on others stories, I was also expecting to be charged for the next month but that hasn't happened.
That said, I have had PLENTY of issues with them in the past. Excessive charges, service disruptions and some other issues too. But same issues with other providers too. I think they are much better than before though.
"Total Min Payable in first month" - So it's per month?
Can we have a long expiry one?
That is correct. I have added that to the description. All our data only plans are run on calendar month.
Hi again, apologies for the confusion, all our data only plans run on calendar month and we don't offer longer expiry ones. Nope, that is not our intention at all. We recommend getting an understanding of your regular monthly data usage before choosing a plan, to ensure you get the most out of it. If you have any further feedback, let me know!
Cheers, Ian
How many days does each plan last? Please add this to the description.
Thanks for this! I have added that.
A SIM with 70gb for $65 would be good if it had 12mth expiration ……
Does Vaya use Optus voda Telstra ?
Hi there, we use Optus 4G Plus Network.
Would instantly buy if it had 12 month or 6 month expiration. Seems as though the only data plans you can get for 6+ months are either non-existent or incredibly overpriced (looking at you Telstra)
Atrocious service but cheap and almost tolerable. I think this is their business philosophy.
The core of risk and reward I guess ^_^
what are the speeds of the service?
Is it the full 4G or a cut back version?
Hi there,
All our plans are powered by the Optus 4G Plus Network. You’ll get identical coverage/speed to an Optus customer. Feel free to check out the coverage map for more on this https://www.vaya.net.au/?option=Coverage-Maps
But even optus home wireless broadband (via sim card) is like 10/1 speeds. But I assume your answer doesn't suggest this. So it's theres no throttling of speeds right?
That's correct, most definitely no throttling of speeds :)
So this is not a 12 month contract but pre-paid service?
Hi Speedz,
They are post-paid monthly plans.
So how does Vaya refund the $20 security deposits? I've closed 3 separate accounts and want my money back.
Hi there, you can contact our contact centre by shooting through an email or giving us a call and we will refund you in credit if you are still with us, or money back if you are no longer with us. https://www.vaya.net.au/?option=Contact-Us
I did this but you guys told me you guys did not have any record of my security deposits!
Please PM me your account details and I will look into this for you :)
Haha, this is typical of my previous experience with Vaya.
Phantom fees and charges, unannounced and abrupt changes to the T&Cs, continued charges after leaving and a ton of time wasted trying to correct it with customer support.
I don't know if it has improved since I left, but I'm super wary of them no matter how good the deals sound.
EDIT: Reading some more comments, it sounds like many of the issues still persist. The free month that is meant to be applied to the first month being claimed to be applied on the last. And then when you leave, they still don't credit you for it until you get really angry at them.
That has to be deliberate, right? If it isn't, how bad is your customer service department if that still hasn't been corrected when people have complained about it for years?
Vaya did not refund security deposit from my two accounts I have closed. Also there was an offer of free month, which they said it will be last month free. Which they said in a chat that they will credit one month when you port out. But I have not received any free months. Have contacted the customer care and been long time. It is a good deal, but would not buy only because it is Vaya.
Hi there, sorry to hear about this. Please PM me your account details and I will look into this.
Ian
@Vaya Ian Fagan: mate, I may not have account details anymore. I followed up enough times and then left hope. It was in 2015.
They ask you for a security deposit for a sim card?
How many days is a month with you guys, 28 or 30?
It is calendar month, so if the month is 31 days, it will be 31 days, if the month is 30, then it will be 30 days. We feel this is the fairest way :)
Respect.
so…that means the first month charge should be pro rata then? do i still get the full amount of data i signed up for during first month?
The first month is pro rated but you still get full inclusions, however, this will be reflected on your 2nd bill. The first month commences when you activate your service. So for example, if you purchase the Unlimited S $16 plan and activate exactly halfway through February, you will get full inclusions for February and pay $16 when you sign up, however, for March, you will only pay $8 and still get full inclusions for the month of March. Hope that makes sense, if not, just let me know.
This is a good deal. Thanks Ian.
Cue comments on 'Vaya service sux' and replies of 'I've never had a problem, its cheap and awesome!'
Summary: Vaya is awesome value for money but if you're one of the few who run into problems, it can be a PITA to fix
"few"?? You're joking right? Add me to the LONG list of former customers that will never go near them again no matter how cheap.
Should be new customers only. Existing customers are suckers and underserving.
Looks like a great deal, only reason I'm hesitating is because of the excess data fee if you go over… is there an app or anything to monitor usage?
Hey, thanks for the feedback. We send you usage notifications via Email and SMS at 50%, 85% and 100% data usage. You can also check in My Account your current usage at anytime. This will help you stay on top of things and if you wish, you can disable data usage in My Account. For example, if you receive a usage notification for 85% usage early on in the month, you may choose to disable data for a while until it resets on the first of the next month. You can disable and enable data as you please. Let me know if you have any other questions!
Is there a way to preset disable of data usage once it reaches a nominal % like 99 or 100% ? Problem with the notification is that it can take up to 48 hours to update?
Hi Yotis, there isn't and yes that is correct, whilst we do our best to notify you as quickly as possible, it can be delayed by up to 48 hours. The vast majority of the time it is much sooner than this, usually within 15 minutes for data usage notifications.
You can probably do this on your device. E.g. for Android
Device data management might not match exactly, but you can set it so you have a buffer if need be.
My Android phone does similar to this - you set it in your phone. If you have android, touch settings, then more, then data usage at the top.
Thank you for the suggestion guys, unfortunately I am on IOS this time round.
Thanks for the quick response! Is there the option to add in extra notifications? I know the $10/GB excess for mobiles is normal but for a data only SIM it seems risky (for me at least) in case an update downloads without me knowing or something similar. Is there any sort of credit limit etc. where it would cut off?
You're welcome! As our plans are postpaid, we don't cut you off immediately. However, if you go over your data by 10GB, we will put a bar on data usage to check that everything is okay with your account and this can be unbarred at anytime. We do this to help you avoid overspend. We are also in the process of building out notifications on excess data blocks, so you are notified each time you use another data block. The notifications usually come through within 15 minutes of data usage, however, there are times when it can be delayed up to 48 hours. If you are concerned, I would suggest having a look at your current monthly usage to get a gauge of what you use before choosing your plan.
The usage notifications are not in real time. Nor is the information in the "My Account" settings. Always a thrill when a 50% usage notification comes through and then a 100% notification a short moment thereafter comes through. And Vaya refuse to simply disable data once you hit your limit.
is data counted in kb or per mb?
Per KB :)
From critical information summary pdf for the 5GB plan
All Critical Information Summary's can be found here
INFORMATION ABOUT PRICING
Excess Data $10 per 1GB
Included Data Increment Per KB
Min. Monthly Cost $15 per month
It's KB.
Not going to check all of the variants but would expect the rest to be in KB as well.
Can we use this in the mobile phone?
Hi there, you can, however you won't be able to use it to make phone calls and SMS' as they are data only SIMs.
Is the data sim capable of receiving incoming calls and sms'?
So a data only sim can only be used for data?! That's uncalled for mate!
Why you don't have the prepaid data plan for 180 days or 365 days?
This. I need a long life plan
The answer is probably that they are a privately owned business and can decide which products or services they offer.
I go to the site, cant find any contract details….
https://www.vaya.net.au/?option=Mobile
Loads a blank site, same with the data only one… not a good start
Hi there, thanks for the feedback. We are working on this and will let you know ASAP when it is back up and running. Apologies for any inconvenience!
Ian
https://www.vaya.net.au/?option=Critical-Information-Summari…
Critical Information Summary - not quite the contract but gives a good overview
Thanks for that. Below are the critical information summary links for each product
$15/mth - 5GB https://www.vaya.net.au/downloads/VAYA-DataOnly5GB-310117-11…
$35/mth - 15GB https://www.vaya.net.au/downloads/VAYA-DataOnly15GB-310117-1…
$55/mth - 50GB https://www.vaya.net.au/downloads/VAYA-DataOnly50GB-310117-1…
$65/mth - 70GB https://www.vaya.net.au/downloads/VAYA-DataOnly70GB-310117-1…
Cheers, Ian
Hi there, we are up working again. See this link for the plan info https://www.vaya.net.au/?option=Data
Is it true that if I use 10% over the limit on the $65 plan, I will then be charged an extra 108% of the plan cost?
Hi there, that is not true. For excess data, you are charged $10/1GB (or part thereof). For all the info, check out our critical information summary https://www.vaya.net.au/downloads/VAYA-DataOnly70GB-310117-1….
I think it is true. 7gb over would be $70 or 108% extra cost
Apologies, John Spencer 147, you are correct. I had not previously looked at it this way. I do want to add though that you are notified of your data usage at 50%, 85% and 100%, plus you can keep check of this in My Account and disable your data on and off as you please, so this will help you avoid any overspend.
@Vaya Ian Fagan:
Don't sweat it, that just highlights you have to be careful if you are a heavy user.
Still much better than the bad old days, 2010 Virgin Mobile charged 2c per kb. Didn't sound like much until you go about 90mb over and owe 180 bucks.
That's why u should try to buy a plan that suits you. If u occasionally use 80 GBs find a more appropriate plan.
Definitely - it's important to understand your current monthly usage patterns, so you can select a plan that suits your needs.
I did not find information about the plans on vaya website and also there is no information on how to buy?
How long before I have to notify about the cancellation of plan?
Hi there,
We are currently fixing an issue with the plans table, in the meantime, you can check out all the information in the critical information summaries below
$15/mth - https://www.vaya.net.au/downloads/VAYA-DataOnly5GB-310117-11…
$35/mth - https://www.vaya.net.au/downloads/VAYA-DataOnly15GB-310117-1…
$55/mth - https://www.vaya.net.au/downloads/VAYA-DataOnly50GB-310117-1…
$65/mth - https://www.vaya.net.au/downloads/VAYA-DataOnly70GB-310117-1…
Re the notification about cancelling the plan, we will cancel the plan immediately upon your request.
Cheers, Ian
Hi there, we are up working again. See this link for the plan info https://www.vaya.net.au/?option=Data
Just a word of warning - I was with Vaya last year until I had to switch to Optus because of their customer service. They hire indians in call centres to handle the calls and some do not know what they are even doing. For example, one person says I can, and the other does not.
emailing vaya will take ages (4-5 days) for them to respond with a message that would probably hassle you further than what you expected. They also have a terrible live chat system, they claim to have one but every single time I look on their page there was no pop up asking if I needed any assistance. I ended up switching to Optus and got a better plan overall, $30 for 8GB and unltd call/txt + free music streaming and 200 min intl minutes because of my home broadband bundling. Optus customer support is much better and they really do care about you.
Vaya also has A LOT of fees that can be found here that other providers do not have, this is one of the reasons why I had enough of Vaya and decided to quit.
hey hire indians in call centres
Is that a problem. Optus's technical team is in India as well and yes they dont hire Australians in their offices to do tech support.
Most telco's customer service now is in Philippines I think. I dont get your point of stating hiring Indians? If I remember most of our banks and big businesses are outsourcing to Indian tech companies as well.
I never had an issue with vaya's online tech support via chat. Never called them.
If so, then Optus technical team is far better than Vaya's who are well trained and are doing their job just fine.
hey hire indians in call centres to handle the calls
That can be true. Companies wont get quality if they pay peanuts to employees and Vaya might be cutting corners.
I was asking your comment on hiring Indians. Which was not required….
Beware one of the hidden cost when you upgrade, you will be charged $5 change plan fee which I found it really surprising. "I'd like to give you more money by upgrading".. "Yea no worries, it's going to cost you $5, thanks for coming"
I was terribly bothered by this change of plan fee, they try to vacuum as much money as they can tbh.
Hate to have to ask, but So just usual prices then?
Post seems like blatant advertising, esp coming from a rep.
Hi there, these are the new plan prices for our data-only plans. Given they are the cheapest data only plans in the market, I felt the OzBargain community would like to know about them.
Thats great, should be a forum post then.
If they are Jeenee will soon match (or better) them.
Hey Greg, you should check out our Price Beat Guarantee, which applies to existing customers as well. It means if there is a comparable plan at a better price, we will match it and give you your first month free if you are not a current customer or your next month free if you are an existing customer. See here for more info https://www.vaya.net.au/?option=Vaya-Price-Beat-Guarantee
@Vaya Ian Fagan: During my research, there were three choices that had very similar (or identical) plans. (Vaya is currently beating those others.)
I would have gone with Vaya, if Vaya would only put the effort into resolving the ongoing billing problems, such as pointed out and discussed (for years) on Whirlpool.
e.g. Vaya attempts to debit your account; the money is sitting there waiting; but something goes wrong with Vaya's billing system (not the customer's bank)… and Vaya then rewards them for Vaya's mistake, with a 'transaction denied' fee!
Sure you can phone them and correct it. But why should that be necessary? A very simple way to overcome this, is to allow direct debit. email a bill, customers pays the bill via BPAY. Stop chasing away customers that DO pay by adding $10 denied transaction fees, and chase the ones that don't instead.
VAYA:
Add a few $ to your plans if necessary and use that money to improve your billing systems (and other issues). And if other companies cannot match those plans, you'll have cornered the market. Until then, Vaya can't be trusted.
Put a rep back in the Whirlpool forum - and instead of just talking up the company, actually READ the forum, and FIX the problems. They're simple and repetitive, so they're easy to pinpoint and fix.
Work out how pro-rata works and educate the reps on the phones about it. It would take less than 15 minutes to create an Excel spreadsheet for your reps to use, that will even work on mobile phones.
Speed up the sending of the 'over-data warning SMS', so people find out AS they go over - not after they've gone way over.
Stop billing people that have left Vaya, and then sending bill collectors to chase them. All of this is simple stuff that needs to be fixed.
No-one gets on forums and mentions their bad experience because they WANT a company to gain a bad reputation. Why not do point #2, fix these simple things, and earn a good reputation instead!? I just don't get it.
Op. Yesterday your sim only mobile plans were much cheaper than they are today.
I was looking at the yearly plan which worked out to $17 for 3gb. Today it's $24 for the same plan.
Will prices go back or was that an error?
Hi there,
That was a promotion we were running on our 12 month mobile plans, which ended yesterday. I will update the OzB community whenever we run promotions in the future.
Cheers, Ian
I am contemplating to change my data plan from Optus (50gb) to either Jeenee mobile (70gb) or Vaya (70gb).
Any recommendations?
Jeenee are brilliant - easily the best telecommunications company I've dealt with. Check the Whirlpool forums for any company you're considering, and you'll see many similar comments. (And many negative ones about the others.)
Thanks!
Hi rep,
Good deal.
With your Data SIMs do you get a number on which you can receive calls?
You've hidden all the important information like expiration dates.