LiveConnected FAIL

camelgrass on 09/08/2011 - 18:01
Last edited 09/08/2011 - 20:24

OK, so I've been with LiveConnected for about 4-5 months now. It started off promising but they have not lived up to my expectations. There have been several issues that have arisen over that time, and I'm beginning to wonder if all the effort and time wasted on my part is worth the few dollars saved.

The call and data usage meter portal is the most unreliable system that I have EVER used. I have extensive experience using 3 Mobile, Vodafone, amaysim and PennyTel and in comparison LiveConnected is just not up to scratch. There has been one issue after the other. Usage records are often much more than the promised 48 hrs behind. Sometimes the system is down completely. Eg, the system was just rectified today after being down for more than a week.

On my last bill I was charged a massive excess (debited automatically from my credit card mind you). LiveConnected finally admitted there was a mistake with the billing and said they will credit my account. But the amount they promised to credit is not the full excess amount, and there is still the issue of an excess charge that has not been resolved.

I believe the issue stems from when they migrated my plan during the last billing cycle and somehow I am being charged excess based on the pro-rata system. I have emailed them about the problem but have still not received a reply.

This issue wouldn't have occurred if they had migrated my plan at the beginning of the billing cycle as I had requested and as they had promised to do. But the migration didn't occur as promised and I had to request it a second time.

The worst thing is now they are calling their customers COMPLAINERS (see screenshot) http://bayimg.com/hAjapaADI. I find this completely unacceptable and very unprofessional. I also do not buy their worn out excuses and blame shifting. Whenever there is an issue they ALWAYS point the finger to Optus.

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Comments

  • cloudy on 09/08/2011 - 18:09
    +1

    I signed my dad up to them around 6 months ago, he doesn't use his mobile much so it was prefect, and ur right about the pathetic portals, but I got him a plan he cant exceed so I'm happy about that, still cheaper than most other carriers. Budget is budget, don't expect too much I say

    • camelgrass on 09/08/2011 - 18:15
      +1

      I agree, but I don't expect to be called a COMPLAINER by my telecommunications provider when they are the ones that have been responsible for a multitude of stuff-ups. No system is perfect, but I believe they have to take more responsibility for the delivery of their service rather than simply shifting blame to their wholesale provider and even their very own customers.

      • stumo on 09/08/2011 - 21:16
        +1

        If they want to know what a complainer really is, just go to the TIO with your story above CG.

        You lodge it online in like 5 minutes. And then these turkeys will have to resolve it properly, or they will get fined. You should find that you get a grovelling phone call within a few days of the TIO reviewing it.

        I've had to sick the TIO onto Virgin before, and they are really great, couldn't be easier.

        In my case it was because virgin refused to give me my 6 moths half price discount, saying some BS about me not clicking on the correct link when I signed up. I was totally in the right, but I didn't have any physical evidence. Anyway, got the grovelling call, and I told them to cancel the contract right there, which they did. They will basically do anything to get the TIO off their backs.

        http://www.tio.com.au/ComplaintForm/ComplaintFormS1.asp

        • camelgrass on 09/08/2011 - 21:17

          Thanks for the timely advice, mate. If I don't get a resolution in the next 2 days then that is what I will do.

  • lwinstan on 09/08/2011 - 18:58
    +1

    I have not had a problem with them so far and I have been with them ~1.5 years. Granted their portals may be a bit under par, but they are continuously making changes and trying to improve things for themselves and more importantly their customers. I have made many requests with them inwhich resolutions where achieved in less than 12 hours on every occasion.

    "COMPLAINERS"… well that is just a part of their light humor. I interpreted it as nothing but jest. They would never call a customer a complainer directly, so your statement "I don't expect to be called a COMPLAINER…" is plain superfluous.

    Perhaps a cheap budget and jovial mobile provider isn't for you. Stop being so sensitive. Personally it's nice to see companies not be so PC.

    Also bear in mind, they are simply a re-seller of OPTUS. I have more faith in these guys than their/our provider.

    • camelgrass on 09/08/2011 - 20:14

      Our experiences are clearly very different.

      I've been with them for 5 months and I have not seen the reliablity of the usage portal improve in that time. In fact the last couple weeks have been worse than ever.

      Maybe I am just being "sensitive" as you say, I can accept that. But I don't consider being billed massive excess usage charges as "superfluous", especially when the charge is automatically billed to my credit card before I even have a chance to review the statement. And I know my usage was nowhere near the cap limit.

      It's now been about a week and my issue has still not been resolved. That's a lot longer than 12 hrs.

      I'd like too see how "jovial" your mood is after your credit card has been incorrectly charged and the company responsible is not addressing the problem in a timely manner.

      Also bear in mind, they are simply a re-seller of OPTUS.

      amaysim is also a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (Optus) and they have no such problems. Their usage records are updated within hours if not much sooner.

      • [Deactivated] on 09/08/2011 - 21:03

        Not taking a dig at you CG, but i always thought they allowed around 2 weeks from the time they send the bill and when they debit your card? or has this changed?

        • camelgrass on 09/08/2011 - 21:13

          The date on my LC statement is 04/08 and that same day I notice a miscellaneous debit on my credit card (not cleared yet). Cleared date of payment on my credit card statement is 07/08.

          So they charge your credit card the same day they issue you the statement.

  • May4th on 09/08/2011 - 21:13

    according to my dad there was a massive outage today on LC, couldn't take or make calls during business hours. too bad i just migrated over too.. called him just then and voice is unstable and drops out for significant periods. very bad signals.. will give it a week and see whether or not to stick with them. is it worth going to the TIO for $60 for 3 sims? i realise this is ozb :P

    • [Deactivated] on 09/08/2011 - 21:26

      I've heard people on optus complaining about this drop out so i'm not sure if todays problem was isolated to LC or was a general optus thing? having said that my phone was working fine for all the different times i used it today.

    • leonheart1 on 09/08/2011 - 21:49

      Yes, shit that's probably what happened to me.
      I'm sure it's not all of Optus coz my friend's SIM works fine.
      I couldn't make any calls or send any SMS (and I think the 3G is screwed too) since this morning.
      Even now I can't do jack with it. Still waiting for them to reply to my support ticket.

      • pao2x on 10/08/2011 - 07:49

        Happened to me in TPG too.

      • leonheart1 on 12/08/2011 - 12:14

        Forgot to update this post but it wasn't a network problem.
        Instead they tried to charge me about 10 days earlier than the normal bill date and since I didn't have that amount on my credit card, the transaction didn't go through and I got barred.

        What I don't like is how I didn't get any notifications whatsoever. I only found out by contacting them. They did respond pretty quickly though.
        Solved the issue by adding the amount to my credit card then re-adding it to the site.

        • Doey21 on 16/08/2011 - 20:09

          Yeah same here and I'm tpg (optus)…sometimes when i make calls, I get this buzzing sound that sounds like static from one of the decepticons…does anyone else get that?…After a few tries it eventually works

  • massari on 10/08/2011 - 11:18

    Have been with them over 1 year now.. no problems :) So not sure haha

  • Ughhh on 11/08/2011 - 23:52

    According to LC facebook 10/8

    Optus Outage: There's an outage on the Optus systems at present that are affecting service modifications and porting. Your service & coverage are not affected.

    I didnt even notice anything :s

  • Cheap Steve on 16/08/2011 - 12:37

    I'm with you Camelgrass..IMO the "complainers" is very unprofessional whether meant to be a joke or not.

  • martian_rob on 28/05/2012 - 15:06

    Any updates on LiveConnected billing? The above comments put me off porting. They have an amazing $10.99/month Tribe 11 cap plan at present and still interested in cutting over to them. I have 3 mobiles in the family, so stand to save a lot by cutting over, however the call-connection, billing and usage meter issues listed above with LC turn me off (thanks for posting these CamelGrass and others). I have had 3 mobiles with TPG for 2 years now and had no issues at all (but paying $17.99/month currently on Mobile Super Saver medium cap plan). The LiveConnected and TPG cap plans I have mentioned are virtually identical in terms of what you get for talk/text/data. Talk/text Cap is $50/month more on TPG but I figure $500 cap is enough for us.
    One key thing missing on the webpage where LiveConnected show you a billing record example is that the call duration is not shown. So, you have to take their word on the dollar amount they are charging you for that call. The makes me wonder if their business model is all about pushing you over your cap as soon as possible and they make their money from excess charges? Isn't fair dinkum to me?

    • besmirched on 29/05/2012 - 19:24

      In the members usage meter page it does display call lengths.

      Mobile to National Landline 4:18 mm:ss  04/5/2012 @ 11:58:10    02*******   $4.85 inc   $4.85 inc

      Been with liveconnected for 2 months but so far so good. Im only a light user on the $16 plan, I don't think I will go over my cap. To be on the safe side I have a voip account with mynetfone just in case i have to spend ages on hold calling a land line.

      With 2gb of data I feel considerably less constricted than when I was on my previous optus $19 plan. So happy I'm off that optus contract.

      • martian_rob on 07/06/2012 - 15:27

        besmirched - thanks for your reply, looks like LC have made some good updates on their billing displays. Sounds like they are fair dinkum after all.
        I have a mynetfone account like you do - isn't it great - last bill was $4.95 line rental plus 87c call costs!! I am on the whirlpool user plan. (https://www.mynetfone.com.au/whirlpool/VoIP/Plans)

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