Bundled Internet Deals

It seems not a week goes by when we don't hear this one!

Sorry, its hogwash, a myth.

Basically what has happened here is that a representative of whatever big company you have your phones with rings you up and says "We have a deal on our broadband at the moment that if you bundle it with your phone bill will save you lots of money"

They then go on to basically tell you what you want to hear, they commonly use aggressive sales techniques to baffle and confuse people into signing up.

They give you an inflated figure to provide broadband access, then discount it to the amount it should be in the first place and say its because they have bundled it with the phone bill.

The Fine Print
This is quite ironic because the ISP that most new customers to broadband trust and ultimately go with is Telstra broadband (because of the rabbits!!)

Guess which one has the most hidden clauses and has the type of marketing that makes you think you are paying for something other than what you ultimately get.

Read about the excess download limits ordinary Australians are faced with every day, their only crime? Not being technically literate and trusting the telemarketers that represent Bigpond.

An example I hear you ask? Telstra broadband is the only ISP we know of to charge for uploads, this means your download limit that is advertised as part of your package (and probably a primary reason for choosing the plan) is not a true indication of your entitlement when compared to the other ISP numbers.

Well I never upload I hear you say!! Yes you do, all communication on the internet is two way and some traffic goes the other way which is counted as an upload. Another thing and its a major one, get one of Bigpond's super cheap 200mb plans and just say you get a virus or trojan on your PC that you don't know about.

That virus or trojan may well be uploading merrily for an entire month up to 24 hours a day if you leave your PC on all the time. This could quite conceivably upload gigabytes and gigabytes of data. Because Bigpond charge for uploads, guess who gets to foot the bill? You will and it could be thousands of dollars, quite scary actually.

But They Gave Me A Real Cheap Deal
Yep no doubt! Read the fine print, that super deal you've got for a substandard service (when compared to other ISP's) will probably be valid for a whole 12 months of a 24 or 36 month contract after which you will be paying much higher than normal rates. It will not work out a bargain in the long term.

But I got free stuff!!
Nothing is free, companies make their money back one way or another. A good way to measure this is to look at the widget or gadget you have been given "for free" The better the quality of the free item and the more expensive it is, the more of a ride you are going to be taken for.