The balance shows €10 after top-up €40

[jifeng_zhao]

Hi, My prepay plan is €15 per month. I have set a schedule top-up, it works just fine, my balance is always shown €0.

I need to make an oversea call today, but the voice alert that my balance is too low to connect. So I did a top-up for €20, then I noticed the balance was €5, I thought it's supposed to be €20. Then I did another top-up for €20, after that I noticed that the balance was €10.

I don't understander how the balance was calculated, it's really too strange that €15 was deducted for every top-up. Where did the deducted €15 go? Where can I find out? I have already had €15 deducted twice, so is it possible that they won't do the schedule top-up for the next two month? That's really hard to understand!

[Three_Shane1 · Accepted solution]

@jifeng_zhao Hi there, I'll be happy to help with your questions. 

I'll first explain the details of how your balance is calculated: In regards to your prepay account when you top up by your plan amount in one go, your credit balance will be debited from your account. Your new prepay plan benefit will then activate. As a result, your balance could appear as €0.00 on your account but you will have all the features of your new plan. For example, in your case, you're on the 3 Prepay 15 plan and top up €20 in one go. €15 will then be debited to activate your plan allowances & the remaining €5 will be left as a balance on your account. If you log into your My3 account you'll see your plan allowances.

You can view your top-ups via your My3 account this will show you your plan allowances along with your next top-up date, & current balance. 

With both top-ups that you did, they have activated your plan each time so this won't stop your scheduled top-up from being taken on the date it's due. I would suggest logging into your My3 account & checking when your plan is due to expire & change the date of the scheduled top-up to match this. 

[jifeng_zhao]

Well this is a quite strange logic. My plan was still valid and has more than 10 days to expire, so at that point I did top-up and I immediately got a new 28 day plan? So where did my original expiry date of 10 days go? Who stole it? And I did two €20 top-ups on the same day, so that means I renewed my 28-day plan twice on the same day? My second top-up wiped out the first one? Because I did top-up twice, the first top-up disappeared? Who stole my money? What is the difference between this logic and a robber?

Translated with DeepL

[Three_Shane1]

@jifeng_zhao Yes, when you topped up a new plan was activated for 28 days & the original 10 days left were removed from your account.

As part of the terms & conditions for our prepay plans it's advised that: if you top up by an amount equal to or greater than your plan charge in one go, this will activate your plan benefits. A top-up by an amount equal to or greater than your plan charge within an existing 28-day plan benefit period will lead to the immediate activation of a new 28-day plan period and any remaining allowances will not be carried over to the new 28-day benefit period.

When you first topped up your original remaining 10 days were overwritten by the new allowance, when you topped up a second time your new allowance was again overwritten by the second allowance. This is how our prepay plans are designed, going forward if you require credit to be added to your account without activating your plan I would suggest topping up by €10. 

[jifeng_zhao]

Well, I have to say, you did not inform consumers of this strange logic and rule either before they joined the plan or before they topped up. The rule of yours is clearly not common sense and is a designed business rule that you have a duty to inform. I am not sure if this is some kind of commercial scam and I think I need to discuss it with my lawyer, sorry!