Why some Spark customers face two to three times their usual bill this month

A Spark plan change has meant some customers are being billed two to three times their usual amount this month. Photo / 123rf

Some Spark customers are angry about a plan change that’s seen them billed two to three times their usual amount this month.

The telco is moving customers on its “Unplan” limited data broadband plans, which are being discontinued, and on to unlimited data plans.

Many customers will pay the same or less, Spark says. An email to an Auckland customer said her Unplan ($80 to $100 per month, depending on the amount of data used) would be replaced by a $91 per month Essential Fibre plan.

The bill shock stems from the fact that Unplan was paid in arrears, while the new plans are billed in advance - making October a transition month where their bill includes their final month on Unplan and their first month in advance on their new plan.

Customers who approached the Herald were angry they had to pay twice in the same month - and confused, given the new plans cost the same or less - that their transitional October bills were actually more than the double-hit they were expecting. In one case, it was close to triple.

“Customers shouldn’t be expected to eat the costs associated with Spark’s administration changes while receiving the same internet service,” said an Eastern Suburbs customer affected by the change.

And an Auckland woman whose October bill ballooned to $294.93, said: “I’m only just through paying the big winter power bills. This is the last thing I need.”

A North Shore customer, who said his recent bills had never topped $100, forwarded the Herald a copy of his October bill, which totalled $275.93.

He queried Spark and received a response by email that included the line: “Your first bill with the new plan will look a little different. It will be higher than normal – in most cases it will be two to three times higher depending on when it was switched because there is a pro-rata and month-in-advance charge.”

Another customer who received a $234.76 October bill from Spark got a more comprehensive breakdown when he queried the bill - which was 2.34 times his usual amount.

It turned out to be a six-week bill, thanks Uplan kill date falling in the middle of his monthly cycle.

$100 was for the final full month of his Unplan Fibre 100 120GB+ plan (from September 5 to October 5), plus the first full month (October 20 - November 19) of the $91.00 Essential Fibre unlimited data plan that Spark had shifted him to.

The balance of the bill came from “pro rata” or part-of-month charges for two further weeks that were also covered by the jumbo October bill - $23.22 for a week of Unplan (October 5 - 13) before the transition, and $20.54 for his first seven days of Essential Fibre (October 13 to October 19).

Rival telco One NZ (formerly Vodafone) recently told the Herald that all of its billing is in advance. 2degrees says all its monthly plan billing is in arrears.

Consumer NZ weighs in

“Under Spark’s terms and conditions, if it stops providing a plan or service it is entitled to migrate customers to a new plan,” Consumer NZ campaigns manager Jessica Walker told the Herald.

“However, if moving a customer to a new plan disadvantages a customer, it has to provide 30 days’ advance notice and allow customers on fixed-term contracts to cancel without having to pay an early termination fee.”

Spark did provide a month’s notice and says customers who want to quit its service rather than transition to a new plan won’t be charged an exit fee.

“For those who wish to stay with Spark but who will have difficulty paying their bill, we recommend they get in touch with Spark and ask for a payment extension,” Walker said.

The Commerce Commission had received four complaints about migration to an unlimited data plan, which all alluded to Unplan, a spokeswoman for the regulator said.

Spark responds

“We have an ambition to simplify our services and deliver more personalised and intuitive experiences for our customers. A key part of this is simplifying our product offering by reducing the number of different legacy mobile and broadband plans our customers are on,” a Spark spokeswoman said.

“We have recently begun proactively migrating customers off our Unplan broadband plans, which are no longer in market, and on to our newer broadband plans. While these plans cost less and provide more value than the vast majority of our legacy plans, the transition from paying in arrears with Unplan, to paying in advance with our new plans, means customers will experience a higher first bill.

“A customer’s transition bill can sometimes be up to three times higher than their usual bill.

“While this is fairly rare, it is a result of the timing of the date the customer signed up to Unplan, compared to their standard rental period and the date they receive their bill.

“While these changes will result in a better long-term outcome for our customers, we recognise that the higher transition bill will be significant for some, so we have taken measures to help minimise the impact on them, [including] waiving late payment fees for six months and offering a six-month payment plan which gives them the option of paying in monthly instalments.”

Chris Keall is an Auckland-based member of the Herald’s business team. He joined the Herald in 2018 and is the technology editor and a senior business writer.