This is a pretty appealing deal for low data users for a few reasons:
Note: No roaming allowed on this plan.
Referral for Belong mobile only. Referrer will receive $20 credit. Referee will receive $20 off next (2nd) payment.
Referral for Belong Broadband only: Referrer will receive $20 credit. Referee will receive $20 off next (2nd) payment.
I just cancelled my account with them through online request. It was completed within 10mins.
cool, just check out their reviews I'm not the only one with the issues. but of course everyone will come here and say oh i never had issues u must be lying it was easy for me lalala
No complaints closing my account a while ago, always port out from any provider before cancelling to avoid issues.
I put in a request to cancel the sim card 1 week before payment was needed, cut the sim card up and thought that was that. Next thing I find out is I owe them $40 for a month of service even though the sim card wasn't even in my account I couldn't access it at all it was 'deleted' but they still asked for money.
I guess you just didn't belong.
Are you ravatron?
Thanks for sharing your experience. My pure coincidence, I am going through a very similar situation with MyRepublic, and the frustration of such a powerless time-consuming situation is not worth the savings, so I will avoid. You do not deserve to be negged for telling us about the problems you had - this is what comments are actually for.
Same, I just commenced a credit card charge back with MyRepublic. After getting an email from them confirming my service was to be cancelled, they have continued to bill me. They’re pathetic.
For me, they supposedly closed my account, and would phone the next day to confirm. Didn't happen. Went on chat, was assured all was fine. Then got a new invoice the next week. First they argued it was for the previous period. When I said it clearly stated it was for the next, they said they would waive it. But still no confirmation of cancellation. Been chasing them for days, threatening with TIO, then today they said they closed my account, that I will be invoiced for early cancellation (despite being out of contract!), but that I won't actually be charged for it (go figure!).
I am half expecting them to still be debiting my credit card this month.
I have been with Belong for internet, and it was not very good. If they cut cost on the quality of service of their mobile service as they do for their internet, then it can't be very good. When I signed up for internet, they said "it is the Telstra network", whereas Belong actually used a budget wholesaler called "telcoinabox".
Wow this turned around I forgot about this thread but I had a bunch of negs and pissed me off because I was just trying to help people avoid the BS I had to go through, glad my post wasn't hidden so people can see now. Make sure you speak to TIO they were so helpful I ended up getting my money back quick smart once I got them involved.
In fairness I think people were reasonably happy with you stating your experience. The reason you initially got downvoted was because you neg'd the deal when this is one of the most competitively priced deals on the market. There is certainly value here but yes, Belong may not have the best customer service.
Yes they do have a phone number 1300 BELONG (1300 235 664).
I think that number is only for broadband support, not mobile support. If you have a look at their Contact Us page and scroll down you'll see different sections for mobile and broadband. That number is under Broadband but it's not there in the Mobile section.
https://www.belong.com.au/contact-us
Most cheap plans have poor customer service, you have to pay more if you want a company with better service you can always pay more to go with a larger company
Sounds like Vaya, these services are cheap for a reason, costs must be cut somewhere and customer service is an easy one.
Vaya took a $20 "security deposit" automatically from my account and then about a year later when I left my $19.50 a month plan I was not refunded the $20 deposit and I was billed for an extra month of service I did not use as I had already ported my number out before the billing period commenced. I didn't pay it and tried to tell them it was for a month I was not even with the company but they sent me to collections for it so I ended up just paying it to stop them harassing me. Vaya is pretty shady.
they sent me to collections for it
Those collections get the debt pennies on the dollar. Never pay them unless the original creditor can 100% prove it.
I called Vaya support once (2013ish) and literally just got a guy breathing into the phone. That was about where I drew the line on them.
I called them up, but waited 45 mins to get through to cancel my internet. Was painful but they do have a contact number mate !
I think that number is only for broadband support, not mobile support. If you have a look at their Contact Us page and scroll down you'll see different sections for mobile and broadband. That number is under Broadband but it's not there in the Mobile section.
https://www.belong.com.au/contact-us
If they are anything like their ISP then they will be terrible. They rely on the poor customer service to get away with overcharging and failure to provide services.
I had to get the TIO involved
That's basically every telco: they have their staff follow scripts which are designed to continuously waste your time until you give up or go to TIO.
The solution is get 1 refusal and then TIO them, don't play the script like a dummy.
Does this use the full retail Telstra network?
It uses Telstra Wholesale, only Boost and Telstra use Telstra Retail. (Telstra Wholesale is parts of the 3G + 4G network, basically not 4GX which might give you 300mbps but you can easily get 80-100mbps)
Does this limitation impact on coverage, especially in rural areas?
Yes it does.
I think you will only get service if another carrier has service.
So if there is only Telstra coverage you will not get anything.
The best way to check it would be to pick up an Aldi $5 sim and go to the areas you frequent as both Aldi and Belong use Telstra Wholesale.
@spaceflight:
Good generic rule…
It wont apply 100% (ie sometimes you'll get Telstra Wholesale coverage where there is no Optus or Voda coverage, sometimes you will get no TW coverage where you do get Optus/Voda coverage), but the TW network is specifically designed to compete against the Optus and Vodafone coverage areas.
Source?
Let me rephrase my question.
I don't care about not being able to access 300mbps, 5mbps will be adequate.
I do care that if I port from Telstra to Belong that coverage in rural areas for making a phone call will be the same.
Will I notice a difference in being able to make a call between Telstra & Boost?
Quite possibly if you go to the desert or use rural highways a lot. If you need Telstra retail your best bet would be to use Boost as it has a cheaper plan but still has full coverage.
I regularly travel 50-60km out of Brisbane into semi-remote suburbs with no difference between belong and Telstra coverage
@MountFranklin: check coverage map. Brisbane is fine, but in north qld coverage is limited to big towns
Why. Telstra isn't removing old infrastructure they are just add nextG to current infrastructure so if you had reception years ago it's not going away for a while
@tomkun01:
I probably should've said Telstra wholesale coverage is far superior to Optus/Vodafone in my travels on 50-60km west of Brisbane.
Building penetratration is another thing I have noticed between carriers. I regularly get more Telstra service inside car parks/department stores as apposed to my wife who is on optus
Yes, you will notice a difference in coverage.
TW network is significantly smaller in land area coverage than Telstra Retail.
In the vicinity of 50% the land area coverage I believe.
Only Telstra and Boost have access to the full Telstra Retail coverage area. (and even Boost does not have access to some mining community towers I believe)
Unless you have a large data block speed isn't an issue it's coverage
As a comparison…
Telstra Wholesale
https://www.telstrawholesale.com.au/products/mobiles/coverag…
Telstra Retail
https://www.telstra.com.au/coverage-networks/our-coverage
Noticeable difference when you consider central QLD and NSW and the highways across WA, NT, and SA
No roaming rules it out for me.
You are ruling out most plans
Maybe you should post some roaming plans which won't be in low level plans anyway.
Amaysim and Ovo are both low level plans that support roaming.
Both require you to add on additional credit prior to doing so.
Aldi and Catch Connect (both prepaid) also support roaming but adding a credit to your account (min $5). Aldi even has 365 day expiry. I am thinking of using it as a 2nd SIM just for 2 factor auth and roaming.
Incorrect. If you have pay as you go with Amaysim then you can just activate it under your account anytime you head overseas. Then only pay for whatever calls or data you use. This is the best deal with an Australian SIM with roaming that I have found.
Exetel cheap plans do Roaming too.
If you really need roaming but want to be on Belong, try looking into renting a Skype number (as I used to live in the UK it's showing £5 per month for me) and set-up call forwarding to this Australian Skype number? That way if you're online overseas you can accept calls from Australian numbers without having to pay roaming charges…
I've never tried it but it seems feasible (and this way you can cap your costs as well).
A Skype number won't help with 2FA text messages, the main reason for roaming requirement for most people. Also at £5 ($8) per month extra there are many other services that offer better value.
If 2FA text is the only thing needed, wouldn't a Telstra or Vodafone prepaid SIM do it? Both can be set to enable roaming and, as receiving SMS is free even when overseas, theoretically you just need a $2 starter SIM.
I would change from using 2FA text messages to using Google Authenticator as you don't need any internet or phone service to get your codes.
Are you offering to give it away?
Its bit weird how they run a promotion. I ended up in similar data in the first month when around Jan they were offering some Welcome Bonus
+ Recharge bonus + some random bonus.
Around Last Dec / Jan they were offering unlimited FREE belong $40 kits. Came handy for me :)
It's nice and all that you can keep the unused data, but then if you haven't used it, are you ever going to? I like the idea of have a bit of wiggle room but I think most of the data banking is a marketing trick, kind of like 24/7 gyms when you aren't going to work out at 4am. Sure, it's sort of nice to have just in case but if you don't use it then it's just marketing.
It's great if you decide to go away on a holiday and have no wifi at your accommodation. You can burn through the gigs pretty quick watching Netflix with your laptop connected to accomodations TV tethered to your phone.
You could also amass a large data bank and then switch down to a lower plan and if you are going over your monthly data a little each month it won't matter just chip away at your data bank slowly.
Cheaper than's Amaysim's $10/28 days (~$130 per year), which I've got my mum and dad on…Does Belong accept AMEX or Paypal or AusPost Billpay?
PayPal works.
You can choose which account right for paypal?
Does it support direct deposit debit?
Yes to both. You can have a credit card/debit card/bank account attached to PayPal.
@MrEMC: This seems to be the new price. It's not a promotion but it enables people on more expensive plans to downgrade for a few months if they have more than enough data banked.
Is Belong 30 days or a full calendar month?
Full calendar month.
do they charge fees for late payment? Or for replacement SIM?
Been looking for a plan which offers international calls plus better data, was looking at the spintel $25.95 plan. (https://www.spintel.net.au/products/mobile)
But his seems like a better deal as it's on the Telstra network plus got unlimited international calls up to 36 countries.
Is following something you should be concerned of? or is this normal with all mobile operators
Belong mobile doesn't offer calls & text to satellite numbers, premium numbers (e.g. 19xx numbers), 1234, 12 455 & 12 456, or international numbers outside the 36 selected countries.
Just found out there's no roaming at all, rules it out for me too.. sadly
It's pretty standard, if you want to call other countries you can consider Skype/Viber etc to make a data call to other countries.
I was referring to only this part "Belong mobile doesn't offer calls & text to satellite numbers, premium numbers (e.g. 19xx numbers), 1234, 12 455 & 12 456" forgot to cut the rest out.
However not having roaming is a deal breaker for me
One can divert voice calls easily.
You are dependent on incoming SMS?
@manic: Yea, bit of both. And I travel a lot. Plus diverting calls has to be done before you leave the country, so in case you forget u are stuffed.
diverting calls has to be done before you leave the country,
I used to be able to change diversion settings by a web interface.
e.g.if I left my phone at home, I could log in and divert to work.
Does any provider still do that?
Have you looked at Woolworths Mobile? $20 or $18 with discount gives you 2GB and $100 worth of international calls. Pre paid. Credit lasts 30 days.
The rates for woolworths mobile are ridiculous. Even with $100, it's calling somewhere is around $5 a minute
I'm looking at the Spintel $25.95 plan, 10GB UNLIMITED TALK & TXT, plus $300 international call credit. Allows roaming as well.
Also comes with 64kbps data after the 1gb is finished. "unlimited" imessage and google maps for the basic user.
Thanks. I added the point above.
so you get shaped and no excess usage charge ?
Yes, one of the best things about Belong mobile. especially for people with low usage, 64kbps will most probably do them until they can get into wifi.
FB Messager
IMessage
Google maps
waze
will all work
Will it work with public transport apps?
Correct, although you can choose to top up data if you want another gig, or you can probably find someone to gift you some data on Ozbargain.
"If you have no data remaining, your service will be slowed to a
maximum of 64kbps for the rest of that monthly payment cycle, but
we won’t charge you any extra. Your data at the slower speed will
be unlimited."
Currently using Aldi $15 for 1.5gig and don't use it all. Must say this does look good.
Woolworths might update their $15 ($13.50 with discount) offer next week. It's currently only 500MB.
Best deal for international users.
Would it be easy to port over my existing TPG number to these fellas? I think i might want to shift 2 sims over
Pretty easy and you can always port back to TPG. During business hours it should take 15 minutes to port across.
Thanks just one more question, when porting over, do i just sign up with Belong or do i need to sign up with them and also cancel the TPG one? Sorry if n00b Q
Just port, but do it near end of your TPG month, because no pro-rata refund. Also, not sure if they still have $11 port out fee?
So is the only advantage of this over Boost is instead of cutting of internet completely, it slows down to 64kbps? While with Boost you get full access to the entire Telstra network, but with Belong it's a bit crappier?
Boost doesn't allow you to gift data or bank your data month to month and you can always add extra data to Belong if you see fit. (Either by paying Belong or getting someone else to gift you data)
Also Boost has international roaming, but Belong doesn't.
Useful for someone I know.
good deal i guess. As per others said, took AGES to port in and customer service via online helpdesk chasing took >40 hours. No phone to call too
I ported in yesterday.. Took less than an hour. You may have been porting in from the same network (telstra or a telstra reseller) which always takes 24-48 hours.
Nope. I've done multiple Telstra to Woolworths ports and vice versa and they also take less than 1 hour.
It is always safer to avoid porting withing the same network, if time is critical.
Porting took 5 minutes from Telstra today.
AVOID
they have shitty customer service, they don't even have a phone line to ring if you have any issues, when you try to cancel a sim they wont cancel it and charge you another month and won't even give a refund I had to get the TIO involved and soon as I did they were all nice to me and called me within a few days…