Boost Mobile Applies Incorrect Expiry Date upon Recharge

I purchased a 12-month recharge two month before my existing prepaid plan expires, only to notice after the recharge kicks in, the expiry date was set to 12-months from the time or recharge, instead of 12-months from the existing plan expiry.

Upon contacting Boost, they responded that this is working as intended. Their “12-months recharge” does not extend the existing plan expiry, but start taking effect as soon as it was purchased.

Has this happened to anyone else? I’m planning to take this to ombudsman. As this is clearly double charging the customer and false advertising.

Having been with a number of telco, none of the providers would structure a prepaid “recharge” like this. The new expiry date was not being shown at any point during the recharge process.

Boost is effectively selling two plans for the same number for 2 months.

Edit: their rep threw me a link to their T&C and ended the conversation https://www.telstra.com.au/content/dam/tcom/personal/consume….

Edit2: adding an update in response to the ppl claiming this is expected and nothing is wrong.

Just to reiterate I was with a different Prepaid provider, and recharged exactly once BEFORE the expiry of my existing plan and the expiry date was not set based on the recharge date, but extended accordingly.

I had a look around various forums, a number of people had mixed experiences from various providers.

How is it fair to the customers when the interpretation of the word “recharge” is completely different for each provider, and the burden is laid on each individual to go through every single sentence in terms and conditions to make sure they didn’t get it wrong?

Boost, in this case, did not make it clear to the customers what the expiry terms are. I did the recharge in the app, and was not given easy access to the terms and conditions.

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Comments

  • +1

    Just take to the ombudsman! /thread

  • +2

    Yes it's happened to me. It's ridiculous.

  • +2

    I expect it from new sim but not a recharge. It should be a top up not a reset.

  • +3

    Seems normal, that's how I would expect it to work
    It's not a 12 month recharge. It's a data recharge with 12 months expiry

  • +2

    Kogan mobile does this too

    • +2

      as does just about everyone…

  • +3

    the expiry date was set to 12-months from the time or recharge, instead of 12-months from the existing plan expiry.

    That's how it always works… Is this the first time you've ever recharged???

    Read the T&C's

    • Obviously other telcos I’ve been with doesn’t do this, why else would I start this thread, did you read my initial post at all. Bolding “always” and “first” doesn’t make your response more authoritative.

      • +1

        Obviously other telcos I’ve been with doesn’t do this

        All the ones I've been with do…

  • +5

    I’m planning to take this to ombudsman.

    They won't do anything as that is how a recharge works… Read the T&Cs…

    • -1

      Can you point to the relevant paragraph in their T&C please? This particular case is not clear - nothing specific in their CIS

      • point to the relevant paragraph in their T&C please?
        nothing specific in their CIS

        Very specific

        PRE-PAID MOBILE SERVICE TERMS This section sets out specific terms that apply to Telstra and Boost Pre-Paid Mobile Services. These terms are in addition to the General Terms and relevant Critical Information Summary.

        Term 2.10

        • Telstra web site?

          I am buying from Boost, so I would have a look here:
          https://boost.com.au/pages/prepaid-plans

          and here (Critical Information Summary)

          https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0490/0896/7844/files/CIS_M…

          How the hell would I know go and check something on Telstra's web site as well? This is what I call "misleading and confusing".

          • @ElderyMan:

            Telstra web site?
            How the hell would I know go and check something on Telstra's web site as well?

            It clearly says Telstra and Boost.

            Telstra owns Boost.

            • @jv: Why is it so hard to add that link to the CIS page then?

              • -1

                @ElderyMan:

                Why is it so hard to add that link to the CIS page then?

                Ask them…

          • -1

            @ElderyMan:

            This is what I call "misleading and confusing".

            It is common knowledge…

            • @jv: I am (and other customers) are idiots then

              • -1

                @ElderyMan:

                I am (and other customers) are idiots then

                Most people know it works this way…

                If you don't know, read the T&Cs…

                • @jv: "Most people" is a very vague term you know. I know that I have to read T&C but it should be made very clear to me where to find them so I can make an informed decision prior to the purchase.

                  • -2

                    @ElderyMan:

                    "Most people" is a very vague term you know

                    How so?

                    • @jv:

                      How so?

                      "most people" from your circle? from this forum? In Australia or in the world in total?

                      • @ElderyMan:

                        "most people" from your circle? from this forum? In Australia or in the world in total?

                        …that use prepaid mobile plans.

                        https://forums.whirlpool.net.au/thread/9z4y166j

                        • @jv:

                          …that use prepaid mobile plans.

                          I read that as a lot people got confused despite of reading T&Cs on Boost web site…

                          • -2

                            @ElderyMan:

                            I read that as a lot people got confused

                            Most people read that as being clear…

  • +5

    You should use it on the expiry day of the current plan.

    • +5

      Unless you run out of data earlier…

    • Yep, that's what I always do

  • Happened to me in the past, I think it's great you're taking this to the ombudsman. You've paid for an initial year and a recharge should take effect on the expiry date.

    T&C are not the holy grail in consumer rights, they've been written by a company to benefit that company. I don't understand why so many people on this site accept bad or potentially illegal customer service just because it's been formalised in the T&C.

    • NAL, however I'm not sure what part of basic contract law you don't understand.
      Company offer 'product or service' under certain conditions (ie: in accordance with their Terms and Conditions) in return for certain remuneration.
      You either accept, counter or reject said offer.
      If you pay, that is taken as accepting the offer, and the terms under which they were offered and the contract becomes legally binding.
      Now if they put something ridiculous in the contract that is unenforceable, that section becomes invalid however this does not fall into that category.

      • +1

        Now if they put something ridiculous in the contract that is unenforceable, that section becomes invalid however this does not fall into that category.

        Interested to know why this doesn’t fall into the category. Maybe it just hasn’t been tested in court, but it seems dodgy af. I am aware of how this works, and I think most people are too, but it doesn’t make it right.

    • -2

      I don't understand why so many people on this site accept bad or potentially illegal customer service just because it's been formalised in the T&C.

      Because they chose to agree to it…

      If you don't agree, then don't use that service…. simple.

  • Unfortunately this is one of the tricks that mobile telcos do for prepaid. I agree that it is wrong. In future, the only way around it, AFAIK : set a reminder in your calendar for when you want to apply the recharge. You could alternatively enable auto-recharge, but that also favours the telco because you then get placed on the pricing decided by the telco, which is often unfavourable to the consumer.

  • +1

    It might be nice to extend the original expiry when you run out of data, but it's not the way a recharge works, and it's not a big deal.
    If you run out of data and need to recharge, you'd likely consume within the 12 months again anyway.

    I guess it would be convenient to recharge at anytime rather than wait till last day, but since that's not the way it works, don't do that.

    • Yes, data is combined after recharge is applied.

      There are other reasons for the setting, for example:
      Boost $26 recharge doesn't include international calls, but when the customer applies a $39 recharge, it is immediately included. The customer generally doesn't want to wait till the end of the current plan.

  • +1

    This is exactly what happened to me. I had a chat with their support and they agreed to refund the part of it but claimed that was my fault as I "misunderstood" their terms. As I paid by Paypal I noticed that my payment is still pending and asked support if it's ok to revert it via Paypal as I want to cancel the recharge completely and they agreed!
    I raised a dispute with Paypal, most importantly, provided them the case number where their staff agreed to refund the full amount and got all money back within 2 weeks.
    The funny thing is that my new recharge is still active and I pretty much going to have 4 months extra for free as they probably do not care or just lazy to cancel it :)

    • but claimed that was my fault as I "misunderstood" their terms.

      The terms are clear, it is not rocket science…

      your new recharge expiry date will be the later of either:
      (a) the expiry date for your existing recharge amount (before you recharged); or
      (b) the expiry date for your new recharge amount; and
      (c) any benefit associated with a recharge amount, will expire after a set amount of time (depending on your plan and recharge amount), no matter whether you recharge again before the expiry date.

      • +1

        I replied above - these terms ARE NOT on the Boost web site and not in the CIS for the plan I purchased. This is misleading because these terms are not referenced anywhere on the Boost web site. Yes, I know that Boost is operated on Telstra's network but I buy from Boost and they are not disclosing full T&C for their service at the time I make a purchase.

      • +1

        btw, the Boost support rep did not send me even that link you referenced above and AGREED to initiate a full chargeback process via PayPal.

        • the Boost support rep did not send me even that link you referenced above

          I guess that can happen if you are paying someone $2 per hour in an offshore call centre…

        • -3

          and AGREED to initiate a full chargeback process

          probably got tired of all your whinging…

          • @jv:

            probably got tired of all your whinging…

            When there is nothing left to say on the matter, the discussion shifts to personal attacks.

            • @ElderyMan:

              the discussion shifts to personal attacks.

              where exactly is the 'personal attack' ?

              • @jv:

                where exactly is the 'personal attack' ?

                I'll let you to reflect on that, so tired of your ignorance.

  • The only plan that has ever operated the way you describe was the optus epic data plan. https://smb.optus.com.au/opfiles/Shop/All/cis/Cis%20Document…

    Was called expiry extension.

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