Telstra refunds Dominic $60 for incorrect roaming charges
When Dominic travelled to the United States for the trip of a lifetime, he used Telstra’s International Day Pass until he was able to buy a local sim card. Upon arriving back to Australia, Dominic noticed that Telstra had charged him for more than what he had actually used. Dominic used Ajust to make a complaint about the excess charges and after just 2 days, he received good news from Telstra that they’d resolved his issue.
International roaming cost surprise
Dominic was excited to be travelling to America - it was the trip of a lifetime. Before travelling, he’d made a detailed list of everything he needed to prepare. Unfortunately the one thing he left off his list was organising a mobile service for his trip.
It was very important to Dominic that he had mobile service while he was overseas. Given that it was his first time travelling, he wanted easy access to maps and directions as well as an easy way to stay in touch with family and friends back home.
When he landed in Los Angeles, he turned on his phone and almost instantly received a message from Telstra; “International Day Pass activated. The United States is an eligible destination. $10 per day includes unlimited calls and texts + 1GB of data.”
Yikes, thought Dominic. At $10 a day, that would cost him $300 that he hadn’t budgeted. Dominic’s entire trip was planned on an excel spreadsheet down to the nearest dollar, so he knew that he had to make alternative plans.
Dominic remembered he had been told by a friend that he should look into getting a local sim card. While it was a bit of a hassle, he knew that taking the time to get a local sim would save a lot of money.
After he had checked into his hotel (which had an awesome view of Venice Beach), Dominic set off to find a sim card. He found a great deal - it’d only cost him about $40 for the duration of his trip.
Now that he had a local SIM, Dominic turned off Telstra's international roaming. He was comfortable knowing that he’d only be charged an extra $10 on his next Telstra bill.
I’ve been charged for something I didn’t use
After a month of travelling, Dominic had arrived back home. He had an amazing trip - he'd been to baseball games, basketball games and hockey games. He’d also eaten enough philly cheesesteaks to put on a few kilos, yet he felt rather refreshed. Dominic was ready to tackle new challenges at work and soak up some Sydney sun.
After he’d been home a few weeks, he was looking over his credit card statement as he usually does each month when he noticed something concerning. Dominic was expecting his Telstra bill to be $120 however he was charged a whopping $170.
When he checked the bill from Telstra, he spotted the issue straight away. Instead of only charging $10 for international roaming on his first day in America, Telstra had charged him for 6 days of international roaming.
Dominic knew this was a mistake given that he’d removed his Telstra sim card for the duration of his trip. Dominic is a reasonable person - he knows mistakes happen but he was frustrated by the time he was going to have to spend on the phone to Telstra to sort the issue out.
Luckily he remembered that a colleague had told him about Ajust. When he first heard about Ajust he was excited by the proposition - an easy way to resolve issues - but until now, he hadn’t needed the help.
Without wasting any time, Dominic used Ajust’s resolution platform to send his complaint to Telstra.
If you’re travelling overseas, there’s a good chance your telco allows you to use your Australian service overseas. This is typically known as ‘international roaming’. Be careful though - the costs and inclusions can vary dramatically between businesses and destinations.
If you’re thinking about using your phone service overseas, make sure you take the time to understand the costs and inclusions, because you might be better off looking for an alternative.
The good news is that it’s easier than ever to find alternatives. In fact, eSim technology means you can buy ‘virtual sims’ online and avoid having to swap out your ordinary sim card.
One business that offers this service is Airalo - they might have just what you need.
Telstra acts quickly to fix the mistake
Dominic was blown away by how fast and easy it was to send his complaint to Telstra using Ajust’s resolution platform. After just two minutes of sharing his story and some simple details, he was done. Ajust then made sure his complaint was clear and sent to the right place.
After just 2 days, Dominic received a call from Telstra - they apologised for the mix up and told Dominic they’d credited his account with $60.
Dominic was impressed by the quick resolution to his complaint and left a 5-star review for Ajust: “A pretty amazing service tbh...I filled out an initial online form where I provided some background to how I had been incorrectly charged by Telstra and then uploaded some screenshots - and then Ajust handled everything else without any further action required from my end. Received cash back in my account within the week. Much better than sitting on hold for hours!”
The team at Ajust are glad to know that everything worked out for Dominic. We’re wondering if he’s started planning his next trip - where might he go next?
Editor’s note: We’re always excited to share the experiences of consumers that have used Ajust. This Consumer Story is based on a real complaint made through our platform. But we’ve changed some details to protect the consumer's personal information and make the story more enjoyable for our readers.
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