Admin fee increase

[plovegro]

Hi there,

Just voicing my disappointment with the latest email i received from Exetel regarding an increase of the Admin fee that is charged for payment of invoices. I am currently on Direct Debit and dont pay any fees. To increase this to $3 each transaction from ZERO i think is a significant and disappointing jump. Given that Extel do NOT offer any other way to pay your bill, other than automatic deductions, i feel this is a FORCED fee, with no other alternative. This amount should be included in your PLAN rates, as this is the amount we all have to pay for the service.

It was only today i was saying how happy i was with my Exetel service...

[James]

Hi,

This increase has/will have nothing to do with the costs of processing credit cards or direct debits - it is based on the significantly increased risks of running the business plus the additional costs of collecting money plus the additional losses from payment defaults and the charges made to Exetel for contracts that are canceled early.

And i'm sure you would prefer that it isn't done on a per plan basis, but instead on a per account basis, this way if you have multiple accounts with us (DSL, mobile, voice, hspa, etc), you are only charged one.

James

[peterh_oz]

And i'm sure you would prefer that it isn't done on a per plan basis, but instead on a per account basis, this way if you have multiple accounts with us (DSL, mobile, voice, hspa, etc), you are only charged one.

Agree. But I still think there should be an incentive to use bank debit rather than credit card. Now there is none, which surely will hit your margins, even if only in a minor way.

As plans vary, maybe you should think about an additional % surcharge for credit cards (in addition to the $3). As a cash customer, I don't want to be subsidising other customers' rewards, and the Reserve Bank agrees hence the surcharges were made legal a few years ago (against the VERY strong wishes of the banks and card companies).

[xxx]

I currently have both an Exetel 1500/256 plan plus Voip and a HSPA 3G plan and at present they are billed on separate invoices.

** Can both these accounts HSPA & ADSL 1500/256 appear on one monthly invoice so I am not charged $6-00 administration charge per month. **

The ADSL and Voip are billed on one invoice, so can my HSPA also be added to this single invoice from Exetel per month.

Under the new Admin fee system i would be charged for 2 lots of $3-00 - -- $6-00 total of administration fees per month.

[ForumAdmin]

And i'm sure you would prefer that it isn't done on a per plan basis, but instead on a per account basis, this way if you have multiple accounts with us (DSL, mobile, voice, hspa, etc), you are only charged one.

Agree. But I still think there should be an incentive to use bank debit rather than credit card. Now there is none, which surely will hit your margins, even if only in a minor way.

As plans vary, maybe you should think about an additional % surcharge for credit cards (in addition to the $3). As a cash customer, I don't want to be subsidising other customers' rewards, and the Reserve Bank agrees hence the surcharges were made legal a few years ago (against the VERY strong wishes of the banks and card companies).

Maybe that will have to happen in the future.

The objective right now is to preserve our ability to stay in business faced with a great deal of 'bad news' and a lot more risk.

We don't charge more than it takes to cover our costs and make a nominal profit - and we never have.

If any customer believes that we should make a loss to provide them with a service then that is something they are going to have to come to understand that we just can't do.

If any customer believes this charge makes the service we provide uneconomical for them then we have provided a penaltyless exit to a service provider of their choice who will charge them less.

I'm not sure we can do more than charge the absolute minimum consistent with remaining able to provide services to approaching 90,000 customers.

It would be good to charge zero for the services - I would think everyone would understand that isn't possible. As Exetel's prices are the lowest from any other provider (and if they aren't then I would have thought that we would have no customers) it would be reasonable for our customers not to begrudge us the chance of remaining in business to provide the services to them - at the lowest prices in Australia and almost no profit to ourselves.

Exetel remains more like a 'co-operative' than a commercial enterprise - we charge all our customers the very lowest prices for every service - what more do we have to do in terms of charges?

[soaper]

um
as someone who lives on a pension i am concerned.
i am paying by DD currently

i have an account for ADSL with naked VOIP (which normally goes over the allotted free calls one way and the other so they are billed of course ...... and a new mobile account

how many lots of $3 will i be charged?

thanks

[James]

I currently have both an Exetel 1500/256 plan plus Voip and a HSPA 3G plan and at present they are billed on separate invoices.

** Can both these accounts HSPA & ADSL 1500/256 appear on one monthly invoice so I am not charged $6-00 administration charge per month. **

The ADSL and Voip are billed on one invoice, so can my HSPA also be added to this single invoice from Exetel per month.

Under the new Admin fee system i would be charged for 2 lots of $3-00 - -- $6-00 total of administration fees per month.

Please email billing@exetel.com.au with all your account numbers, and ask for them to be put on one account.

[AF35]

just curious why doesn't Exetel just increase the ADSL plan price?
is this due to marketing reasons? :p

[otexe]

"This increase has/will have nothing to do with the costs of processing credit cards or direct debits - it is based on the significantly increased risks of running the business plus the additional costs of collecting money plus the additional losses from payment defaults and the charges made to Exetel for contracts that are canceled early."

I much rather see this increment reflected on the plan charges and not on the Account Administration. This is a hidden charge which is invisible to persons considering using ADSL or checking for other plans. This way it will reflect a true cost to the consumer visible when considering new ISPs.

In my case my monthly cost will rise by $3.00 which is 6% this time. If you continue increasing your risks, having more default payments and having more early cancellations does it mean that the stayers will be recovering future loses? This is not a good move to keep customers doing business with Exetel....

I for one, I am totally dissatisfied with this extra charge for not fault of my own.

Thank you

[James]

um
as someone who lives on a pension i am concerned.
i am paying by DD currently

i have an account for ADSL with naked VOIP (which normally goes over the allotted free calls one way and the other so they are billed of course ...... and a new mobile account

how many lots of $3 will i be charged?

thanks

Hi Soaper,

Please read my post above "i'm sure you would prefer that it isn't done on a per plan basis, but instead on a per account basis, this way if you have multiple accounts with us (DSL, mobile, voice, hspa, etc), you are only charged one."

James

[James]

just curious why doesn't Exetel just increase the ADSL plan price?
is this due to marketing reasons? :p

Hi AF,

Please read my post above "i'm sure you would prefer that it isn't done on a per plan basis, but instead on a per account basis, this way if you have multiple accounts with us (DSL, mobile, voice, hspa, etc), you are only charged one.".

James

[ForumAdmin]

1) I much rather see this increment reflected on the plan charges and not on the Account Administration. This is a hidden charge which is invisible to persons considering using ADSL or checking for other plans. This way it will reflect a true cost to the consumer visible when considering new ISPs.

2) In my case my monthly cost will rise by $3.00 which is 6% this time. If you continue increasing your risks, having more default payments and having more early cancellations does it mean that the stayers will be recovering future loses? This is not a good move to keep customers doing business with Exetel....

3) I for one, I am totally dissatisfied with this extra charge for not fault of my own.

Thank you

1) That would penalise the many customers who have several serivces with us but only one account.

2) It may get worse than we think it will - in that case we will make the decisions required at the time.

3) I think that other customers may well feel the same way. Exetel has given you, and them, a penaltyless exit if you believe that is in your best interests.

I helped found Exetel some almost 5 years ago and now earn less each year than I have ever done in my life before Exetel - I also work approximately 300% more hours in any month than I have ever previously done. Similarly Exetel has reduced every aspect of its costs of operation avaialable to us - we can't do any more. We have to trade above break even and that means we have to charge a small amount more to each one of our customers then that's what we have to do.

If there is any other service provider in Australia who better meets your needs for prices ower than those offered by Exetel then I fully understand that you must make that decision.

[peterh_oz]

Now that this ison ALL users, and not just credit card users, the cost needs to be on the plan costs page, not on the application form. It also needs to be shown, not half-hidden in a "click here for other fees" link.

It could be worded as such:

Both the 12 midnight to 12 noon and the 12 noon to 12 midnight period can, at the customers choice, be shaped to 64 kbps once the included download has been reached – either or both periods can be selected as shaped or charged for excess on a month by month basis. This option is provided in the Exetel User Facilities once the service is active. Shaping is capped at a maximum of 2Gb after which $6.00 per Gb will be charged. All times are Sydney local time. A $3.00 per month administration charge will be added per account. Note that this is per account, not per service, so multiple services (eg HSPA, VoIP, Mobile, ADSL) in a single account will only attract this charge once.

[vk3xem]

Sure none of us like price rises but let's face it that's life! I regularly review my expenditure being on a pension also, with the occasional bit of work to help me along and last month I decided to drop to a lower plan. With the couple of quota increases since I joined up with Exetel I wasn't getting anywhere up to near my quota and was able to change the plan without penalty even though I am still in contract and saving myself $10 a month.

My phone calls used to cost me about $100 a month, since I have set up Exetel VoIP and ported my mobile to Exetel's Vodafone deal I have pretty much halved that.

All the Exetel staff are so enthusiastic about improving services like the latest on the go, ExeSMS for mobile phones making it so much easier to send 5 cent text messages I can see even more savings!!

With Kevin Rudd's Christmas present I plan to purchase an Acer Aspire One laptop and an Exetel HSPA plan for when I am away from home. So really, I don't think we have too much to complain about.

So really is a $3 account fee such a big issue?

[caterina]

I don't like the new increase either, I hate it when the price of anything goes up, as we all must.

That said, Exetel gives me such fantastic service. I have been with three different internet companies, Exetel has been the best in terms of price, downloads and customer service. For the price I am paying, even adding the three dollars, I'm happy to stick with this company.