The story of Andrew Boughton, a Rose Bay businessman who got a thousand dollar bill for his $30 a month Internet service, is not surprising to any of us who regularly deal with Internet users.
The simple fact is subscribers to these plans are giving a blank cheque to their Internet provider.
In my view, these low limit, high excess use fee plans are immoral: They are designed to separate the least informed consumers from their money.
A relative of mine was told by her school that she needed a broadband connection to do her homework. We'll put aside the fact this is a state high school in a disadvantage area for a future post. Her family's first thought was one of these plans.
Luckily they were put straight very quickly on these plans and signed up with another provider that offers capped plans: Once they go over the monthly limit, the connection is slowed.
These plans are the only ones families and businesses on a budget should consider. Anything else is a recipe for disaster.
Another interesting point in this story is Bigpond reimbursed his account. We see this a lot with Telstra: If you push them, they'll refund your money.
I suspect they know these "cheap" plans are unfair.
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