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How does mobile payment works?

  • 5 September 2020
  • 7 Antworten
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A

Dear A1 community,

Can somebody explain me how mobile payment works in Austria? I bought a B.Free 40 plan at 5 August. I had 36 euros in my account. Today 5 September this money was debited but the Internet and mobile connection does not work and in the mobile app I only see the inscription “Derzeit konnen wir leider nicht alle informationen anzeigen. Bitte versuchen Sie es spater erneut”. What does this mean? I wrote to the A1 chat but they said to call to B.Free???

Please help!

Best regards,

Alexander

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Beste Antwort von NerdTech 5 September 2020, 16:59

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7 Antworten

NerdTech
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Benutzerebene 7
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Did you buy a new B.Free Sim on August 5th and topped it up with some credit? Or is it and older sim card?

 

A1 handles B.Free as a separate division in some instances and B.Free has its own service line number.

A

Dear NerdTech,

Thank you for your answer!

This is a new SIM. I bought it in the A1 store on August 5 and paid 49 euros for it. 15 euros for a sim card, a tariff of 30 euros and a service tax of 4 euros. And then I added another 36 euros to my account via the mobile app. And today my 36 euros (that I had on the account) were debited, but I did not get a new portion of minutes and gigabytes of Internet. Then I added another 76 euros to my account again, because I wasn't sure that 36 was enough.

Then I wrote to the chat at A1.net and they asked me-do I want to re-enable this tariff plan? I replied in the affirmative. They turned this rate back on, and the minutes and gigabytes appeared on the “Ihre Freienheiten” mobile app page, but again they charged 30 euros from my account.

I asked in the chat why the tariff is not renewed automatically and whether it is possible to enable automatic prolongation. They said no! And that the next time my tariff ends on October 3, I will need to write to them again.

And this is in such a strange way for me. Maybe I'll change the operator. Because for such money they have such a terrible service.

 

Best regards,

Alexander

NerdTech
Rang
Benutzerebene 7
Abzeichen +8

A new sim card should have 5000 units pre-loaded usable as minutes, texts, and megabytes within the first 28 days (and cost only 10€, but it seems to be common that they charge 50% more if you are a tourist or the like).

 

The thing is the B.Free 40 plan is a usage-based plan. This means credit will be deducted from you B.Free account depending on what you use. With B.Free 40 a minute*, a text* or a megabyte would cost 0.40€. So, for context 36€ = 90 minutes or texts or megabytes on the B.Free 40 plan. You would be better of choosing another plan that is non-usage-based (B.Free plan overview). You can activate them by texting (Anmelden mit SMS) or with the MeinA1 App/Web-Portal. Automatic renewal every 28 days of your plan should be on by default for any non-usage-based plans (like B.Free XS, S, M or L)

*for calls and texts to Austrian numbers and not to numbers that cost extra

 

So, what you probably weren’t told is, that there should be 5000 units (minutes, texts, or megabytes) on the sim (usable within 28 days after activation) and the default plan if you go over or after that is B.Free 40 which is an rather expensive usage-based plan. You can (and should) choose another plan to get more for money (you have now spent 161€ for a pre-paid sim, registration, and two months of service).

 

Since you now seemingly have a plan with included minutes, texts, and data which one is it?

I would guess the B.Free L (30€ per 28 days) since 30€ were taken from your account after your interaction with one of their service reps.

A

Dear NerdTech,

Thank you so much for explanations! Your help is irreplaceable!

Yes. After I chatted with A1 service they activated my plan and now it is B.free L (I just noticed this now). And the amount of minutes and other units looks like on picture. So now will it be renewed automatically every month by default? Or do i need to choose another plan as you recommended?
 

Best regards,

Alexander

NerdTech
Rang
Benutzerebene 7
Abzeichen +8

Yes the B.Free L should renew automatically if you have at least 30€ on your B.Free account when the renewal is due.

You can choose another plan if you want. It depends on what you use your sim for. There are cheaper plans starting at 10€ per 28 days.

 

The only thing that doesn’t look quite right is the “Daten National” 3072 MB at the top. The B.Free L has 30GB (15 GB usable in Austria & for EU Roaming and another 15 GB usable just in Austria) represented with the last two entries in this list (“Daten National” 15360MB and “Daten National & EU+” 15360MB). But there is a 3GB add-on (7€ per 28 days with auto renewal). Did you get an SMS that a Data 3 GB option was enabled?

A

Dear NerdTech,

 

Ok. I will left current plan because i need a lot of internet.

SMS that i received you can see at the pic

I didn’t get any other messages.

 

Best regards,

Alexander

J

The same thing has just happened to me with a Be-free S plan, I hope this information will help someone so that it doesn't happen again. 

They don't make it clear on the official website, not even if you go to the "see plan details" section, but if you call them by phone they just inform you: if you run out of GB on the plan, the agreement is deactivated automatically and you have to call to activate it again. If you don't call to activate it, no matter how many euros you charge to the account, the plan offer doesn't run and you will be charged for each minute/text message/GB as a separate, much higher cost. In only three days he has consumed 30 euros. 

And as someone said above, be-free is a different customer service line than A1, and unfortunately they don't have English customer service. It took a while but luckily a girl from A1 got someone from be-free to call us back in English, after telling her that it was the third time we had this problem and that if we didn't find an answer we would change company. 

In the end I am changing company. If you are not fluent in German and don't have the time or patience to be calling to understand specifically how their plans work, I don't recommend them. 

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