Vaya Mobile 4G Plan?

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Vaya

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  hoju83 on 07/08/2013 - 08:31

  I recently just signed up to Vaya on the same plan myself and have had my first hiccup. I'll copy and paste what I posted on their Facebook page.

  ---

  I placed an order for the Power Plan 22 service on Aug 4th online and specifically chose the option that I was porting an existing service over. I remember this clearly because it asked for what my current provider is (TPG) and my account number for my service with them (took me about 10 minutes to find the bloody thing!).

  I received the new SIM today with a letter instructing that I could activate it on the website and that if doing so online I'd have the option to choose to port my existing number during the activation process.

  On the activation page there's no check box to select, indicating that a port is required so when it asked for my mobile service number and the SIM # I assumed I could enter my existing mobile number.
  When this gave me an error I then figured that the site required the mobile number given to me on the invoice first before the next step would allow me to port my current number over.

  Apparently not. It activated my new SIM with the new mobile service number that was given to me immediately.

  So I called the customer service number to clarify and after explaining exactly what I've outlined above, the support rep told me that if I wanted to port my existing number to Vaya I would need to pay a $30 disconnection fee to cancel my current service that was just activated and then place an order for a new SIM. After I tried to argue the ridiculousness of this situation, he apologised and said there was nothing he could do before the line inexplicably "cut out" and then the call was terminated on their end.

  Are you please able to tell me if there's any way I can port my current number to the new SIM (that's now been activated) without me having to pay the disconnection fee and re-order a new SIM?

  Because if the only option I have is to pay $30 just to cancel a service (that I actually want to keep) due to no fault of my own then there's no way I'll be re-ordering a new service with Vaya, I may as well just stick with TPG.

  ---

  They've responded and are looking into the issue for me so I'll keep you updated when I hear back from them.
  Their SIM mail out time was really fast though. Since I haven't been able to use the new SIM yet I obviously can't comment on the quality of their mobile service (hopefully someone else can chip in with some feedback).

  Just reading the other posts on the Vaya facebook page seems to suggest that they have some issues with their billing system causing minor inconveniences to some of their customers but the FB support seems to respond/resolve these issues fairly quickly.

  So yeah just a word of warning if you are planning to port an existing number to Vaya. Safest option may be to just call them to activate the new SIM instead of doing what I did.

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    hoju83 on 07/08/2013 - 13:49

    Well looks like Vaya are claiming they can't do anything about the problem I've experienced.

    They're saying that I chose the "New connection" option when sending in my online application instead of porting an existing service.

    Now I know exactly what I did when I applied online and seeing as I'm not the only one who's had this happen to them I'm extremely disappointed that I have to pay the $30 disconnection fee for something that is clearly wrong with their website application form.

    Posts on Whirlpool with the same issue as me:

    http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=2135163&p…

    and

    http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=2135163&p…

    I've opted instead to just stick with TPG for now and highly recommend you don't go with Vaya.

    • 

      anicca on 07/08/2013 - 21:35

      Ooh wow that's pretty bad
      Thanks a lot for the information and the forewarning! I really appreciate it

      • 

        hoju83 on 08/08/2013 - 09:24

        No worries! Just trying to prevent others from having to go through the same thing I have :)

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      bickel72 on 09/08/2013 - 00:42

      I was considering going back to TPG as I currently have my ASDL2+ connection with them on the bundled 3G Plenty Plan for $17.99 p/m ($500 of included calls and 1GB of Data) before I eventually decided to go with Vaya. However upon reading TPG's new T & C's policy of keeping your $20 prepaid deposit upon leaving them and the $20 sim pack for initial total setup costs of $40 changed my mind. Also they charge you an $11.00 porting out fee when you leave.

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        hoju83 on 09/08/2013 - 09:39

        I'm in the same situation with the TPG ADSL2+/Mobile bundle and the new T&C's is exactly why I was looking to switch carriers.

        I was originally quite keen about switching to Vaya since it's the cheapest 4G mobile service available right now but having read comments on Whirlpool about the data being calculated by MB sessions and people who previously never got close to using a 1.5GB data limit suddenly getting notifications from Vaya that they're already at 50% 2 weeks into a month has me a little concerned.

        Not to mention my experience trying to port over has left a slightly bitter taste in my mouth.

        I may eventually re-consider Vaya again in the future if things seem to improve with them (especially with the data usage issue) but I agree with your comment below about their customer service. The call centre is terrible and Facebook is definitely the way to go with contacting them for a quick response.

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        bickel72 on 09/08/2013 - 10:33

        Out of curiousity, when you activated your sim card online did you use the "activate" button on the main website on the right hand side OR did you first login to "My Account" and then activated your sim using the same "Activate" sim button within there? I say this as I did the latter and it had a "Modify" button next to it where it gives you the chance to edit all the porting number details which were asked when initially setting up the account.

        I don't know if anyone has mentioned this to you already, but in order to avoid the Vaya $30 disconnection fee, you can buy a $2 sim card and port the unwanted mobile number to that sim saving you at least $28 with Vaya as there is no fee for mobile number porting out with them.

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        hoju83 on 09/08/2013 - 14:38

        That's interesting actually. I used the main activate button on the website, not the one in "my account". You'd think that both ways would give you the option of selecting the modify button?

        But I would have overlooked that and accepted blame for not being more thorough if they hadn't tried to tell me that I hadn't chosen the port option when making my initial application when it's quite obvious when you're choosing the port option as it asks you about your current service and account number.

        I wasn't aware about the porting option to avoid the disconnection fee. I've already asked them to go ahead with the service disconnection so I'm not sure if it's too late to try what you suggested instead

  • 

    ozzybee on 28/06/2014 - 15:14

    If you want your $30 back call the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman. They'll sort this out for you and get you a refund.

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  BuyoTheCat on 07/08/2013 - 10:26

  Do not like how they calculate their data. 1 mb session. I get a sms that I have reach 50% of my data 2 weeks into a new month. I have never exceeded my data when I was with telstra for 4 yrs.

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  bickel72 on 09/08/2013 - 00:16

  +1

  I just recently signed up with Vaya on the Power Plan 22 (with 20% discount) on a month by month basis. I took this option, as I too read all the negative comments on FB and whirlpool, and if they did have any truth I didn't want to be locked into a 2 year contact for the sake of saving $20. Also, when I joined they had a promo where the first month was for free, so effectively it only cost me $2.40 for the sim pack (ie. $20 - $17.60) to try them out.

  My experience so far with them has been OK as I was not expecting too much service to begin with especially considering that this is a budget telco service.

  The only slight problem I had is that when I activated my sim online, it can take a day or two before the data and sms functions become enabled. I was however able to make calls within 30 minutes after online activation. I did send them an email regarding this (ie. after 24 hours of initial sim activation) and it was promptly fixed within a few hours. I do think however my email had been given priority as I included in the email subject title "Sim Activation Problem", as I have seen on FB and whirlpool where people have commented that their emails have remained unanswered for several weeks.

  Also earlier that same month they called me once over the phone as I didn't immediately activate my sim upon receipt and the call centre phone reception was horrible and due to this I could hardly understand them at all, so I suggest that you try contacting them via this method as a last resort. There also have been many FB comments where you are on hold waiting for over 30 minutes, only to be hung up upon when you finally get through. FB appears to be the most efficient way in order to get things done.

  As for the MB rounding problem, I just came off a $19 p/m Optus plan with only $70 of included calls and 100MB of data allowance. I will never even come close to the 1.5 GB of data and if I do, you have the option of buying one or more additional 1GB Data Bolt-on Packs for that month. Also you can avoid this problem by turning the data function "on" for your phone only when you actually need to use it and "off" immediately after you have finished for the rest of the time.

  Oh, most importantly, if you do actually decide to sign up with Vaya they do charge one month IN ADVANCE and they pro-rata your call and data allowances in the first and last month that you are with them.

  I read the entire website and the CIS before I joined and I was not expecting this one month "in advance" charge on the day of account activation. Not a "deal breaker" for me but it is something to consider as I was not expecting this to occur. You will however get refunded the pro-rata difference in the month that you leave them.

  Overall, Vaya for me has been so far so good, but OP you will have to decide carefully which plan suits you the best as Vaya do not allow the changing of plans, and if they do, it is not free (ie. without fees involved).

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  akd on 09/08/2013 - 13:51

  I will recommend you to stay away from them. I signed $9.00 plan with them in in 1 month and 7 days end up paying $36.00. Worst company ever.
  Main cons:
  * Very poor in Communication - Activated sim without permission, took bill money from credit card without direct debit set up 3 days prior to payment date, cancel or activate the service without informing.
  * Dodgy billing system - Their usage service is lagging by 48 hours. This means by 30th of month, you are looking the usage on website of 28th of the month and even their staff cannot tell you the exact usage. so for last 2 days you have no idea whether to call or wait. Their data usage calculation is quite high as compared to apps (MyDataManager or Onovo) on mobile. These apps are quite good with Telstra or Optus or Virgin.
  * Extra fees for know before - $1 for Bpay, $10 for late fees. For more check http://www.vaya.net.au/?option=Additional Fees and Charges
  * Switch on and off direct debit without any paper work
  * No reference for any phone call
  * Charged $20 for sim but no receipt/invoice ever.
  * Customer service team motto - Customer is always wrong
  * Calculate first and last bill on pro-rate base, but even then the bill is more that the plan. e.g. I had $9 plan with $50 credit. I spend $22 in 7 days. The bill I received $20. Reply by Customer service- $7 prorata in 7 days = $1.68, so excess usage $20.32. When I said, I am happy to pay for whole month ($9), I was told that it is not possible. It is how the computer has done and it cannot be changed.

  Dear friend, please stay away from them. You don't want extra stress in your life.

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  spiffycashew on 27/08/2015 - 09:24

  Was with them for a year and overcharged us a few times for random security fees, my partner on the other than was charged almost every month for going over on her bill (which they sent her no reminder or warning about) on top of the security fees. For us, it ended up seeming cheap but with the fees added it wasn't much cheaper than say, Optus. We're now trying Lebara sim since its prepaid and can't be overcharged :)

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  daver on 27/08/2015 - 12:03

  VodafoneAU 3G, Lebara .
  4gb unlimited against 1gb 10 hours??? too easy!