More than 150,000 Telstra customers entitled to refund
More than 150,000 Telstra mobile broadband customers may be eligible for a refund as the telco admitted that it failed to send them data usage warnings.
The issue, which was addressed by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), said that warning messages were sent by SMS to accounts that were not connected to a mobile phone number to receive them.
This resulted in customers going over their monthly data limit and paying extra usage charges as they had no idea they were over their limit.
The problem shockingly occurred for almost six years, between September 2013 and May this year.
Telstra self-reported to ACMA that it failed to send warnings over email so that all customers could see them.
"Consumers have a right to make informed decisions about their broadband use, and by failing to send these notifications in the correct format people have had to pay excess usage charges without sufficient warning," said ACMA chair Nerida O'Loughlin to Yahoo!.
"The [Telecommunications Consumer Protections Code] requires suppliers to send notifications within 48 hours of customers reaching specified data usage quotas on post-paid internet plans."
Telstra has automatically refunded customers who complained about excess charges or were hit with excess fees of $5 or less.
The company has also reached out to other customers who may claim a refund via an online form.
"We encourage current or former Telstra mobile broadband customers to contact Telstra for a refund if they believe they incurred excess usage charges as a result of not receiving a usage notification," said O'Loughlin.