Auracall - AVOID

[mutley11]

Has anyone had a problem with this phone company? I recently signed up to a 12 months landline contract with them and found them to be terrible. They started to charge me even before the landline was switched over. Their billing system is (Edit) as it charges you for calls that should be within your talk allowance and calls that you have not made.

 

They also have misleading advertising, comparing their product with BT and TalkTalk, but their anytime call plan only allows 700 minutes of talk time a month, which is not much when this is for landline calls, including those made in the evenings and weekends. BT and TalkTalk do not have a limit on talk time for evening and weekends.

 

They hide this 700 minutes of talk time in their small print under excessive use. I do not agree that 700 minutes a month is excessive use for landline calls (as this only equates to 23 minutes of talk a day, especially when it claims to be an anytime call plan) and so should not be hidden away under the small print in the terms & conditions. Like mobile contracts, where a plan has a call alowance restriction, it should spell this out in the main advert as this is one of the most important feature of the plan.

Edited May 8, 2011 by maroondevo52
Removed inappropriate word.

[maroondevo52]

Hello and Welcome,

 

I've moved this thread to the appropriate Forum.

 

Regards.

 

Scott.

[morsy]

I believe BT have 1,000 minutes per month talk time on there any time plan ...

 

I too am an Auracall customer...

 

I do agree that there customer service is non existent ... BT Wholesale messed up my line transfer in Dec 2010... that took 3 months to resolve, line was OK just no line services (i.e. caller id etc).

 

This was resolved then everything was OK till last month.

 

I also note that they have issues with BT wholesale billing systems this is causing major billing problems ... they just not very good at communicating with customers that are affected....

 

They have credit me back any over charges (charge twice for line services and charged for inclusive calls) after a few e-mails ... But I have had to go through each bill work it out and tell them what to do ... time consuming on my part ....

 

I've asked for compensation - they say that's not part of the contract and the billing is done by BT wholesale and it BT wholesale error.

 

I agree the 700 minutes is rather hidden and not a lot of time but so is BT 1,000 minutes hidden too ... Most have a fair usage policy and the exact minutes you get is always hidden in the T&C

 

Considering they are cheap (£15 a month compared to BT £30) for the same thing. I had major problems with BT far worse then the odd billing issues ... I think I can live with it. They should have the BT wholesale billing sorted out soon.

 

I hoping things will be OK then ...

Edited May 8, 2011 by morsy

[sir_gilmour]

Hi

Welcome to The Consumer Action Group.

 

 

I am just letting you know that as you haven't had any replies to your post yet, it might be better if you post your message again in an appropriate sub-forum. You will get lots of help there.

 

Also take some time to read around the forum and get used to the layout. It is a big forum and takes a lot of getting used to.

 

 

Once you start to find your way, you will soon realise that it is fairly easy to get round and to get the help you need.

 

It can be bit confusing at first.

[mutley11]

Update.

 

So I have been with auracall for about 1.5 years and they have now increased their inclusive minutes to 1500 minutes a month which is better than the rediculous 700 minutes a month landline to landline call allowance.

 

I have emailed their customer service several times and they have always responded the next day which is fairly good. They are ok with regard to value for money if you make a lot of foreign calls but they are not great value if you only call UK landlines mainly.

[mutley11]

@mike91collins

 

that was the basis of my complaint. i had transferred my landline from talk talk to auracall because they had a anytime plan which for £5pm allowed you to call any UK landline and international number at any time without charge subject to the standard limit of each call being no longer than 60 minutes in length.

 

no where in the advert did it state that this plan came with 700 minutes a month. the likes of t-mobile, o2 etc always state how many minutes their plan came with and as far as i am aware bt landline and talk talk landline did not come with montlhy minute allowance cap.

 

i had planned to report them to ofcom for misadvertising as their advert is very misleading and you are correct that this 700 inclusive minutes should actually be the first thing you see in their plan advert, not hidden away in the fair use terms & condition as it is the most important fact about this plan.