I signed up with the VSP (Virtual Service Provider) VoipBuster. It's actually one of the many VOIP websites run by BetaMax, a German company. After paying €11.90 (€10 + 19% VAT) I can now make calls freely or cheaply to many countries for 120 days or until I run out of credit. From home, where I have a VOIP adapter, I can call Australia or Dutch numbers gratis. With my mobile, I can call a landline number in the Netherlands (relatively cheap, plus it's a work mobile) and then use the VoipBuster service to dial to Australia or Germany for 1¢/minute (OK, 1.19¢ with VAT). German mobiles cost just 20¢/minute, thereby undercutting the new EU roaming tariffs, if you ignore the local phonecall required from my mobile (as I do).
VoipBuster and the similar websites do occasionally switch which countries are free to call to, and rates do vary between the websites (smsdiscount.com has 1¢ SMS', whereas VoiceBuster has 5¢), but overall it is (they are?) still one of the cheaper VSPs that exist. The multiple websites and the requirement to register using the Windows client turned me off at first (and the client requirement still does) but I can accept that the multiple websites are largely just a marketing game to generate buzz, differentiate themselves from the competition, and get around the one-size-fits-all model to exploit niches.
— by Robert Thomson, created 24th May, 2007, last modified 18th Jun, 2009 | Tags: Tech
From Wednesday evening until Monday afternoon I was once again in Passau. It was a brilliant long weekend. I got to meet up with a few old friends and ran into a few acquaintances in the streets and while out. I stayed in Sophia's tiny student apartment, but we managed OK. The Maibaumkraxeln went ahead on Sunday and it was a perfect day for it - perhaps even a little too warm and sunny, even, as I am now sporting a visibly red face and arms.
I recommend to anyone who wants to experience some real Bavarian/Austrian traditions that they should go along to the Maibaumkraxeln one year. I don't know where else in Germany or Austria this goes on - it may only be this one city, actually. The fastest person took just under 8 seconds to climb the 15 meter high pole (the pole's still higher, but decorated on top), which means he broke the world record.
In smaller villages in Germany and Austria, it's traditional for the people of one village to try to steal the Maibaum of the neighbouring village, and if successfully stolen, it costs one crate of beer per meter to buy the pole back. It's also a common tactic to leave a crate of beer by the pole the night before, so the guardians-of-the-pole get drunk and fall asleep on the job, at which point the pole is easy-pickings.
The downside of going back to Passau is that Den Haag once again feels foreign and a bit depressing. Hrmph! Photos soon!
— by Robert Thomson, created 22nd May, 2007, last modified 18th Jun, 2009 | Tags: World
Let me clarify the title. All Telcos are bastards, but E-Plus is the bastard of the moment in my life. I found the choice of mobile plans in Germany particularly limited. I feel that the german government is not encouraging enough competition and looking after its people, in the hope that the German monopoly (Deutsche Telekom) will have enough capital to invest in other EU countries - and one of the trickle down effects of their lax approach to competition is that the price of telco services in Germany is one of the highest in the EU, despite having the single largest population.
But that's not my primary rant. Before signing up for a mobile plan, I did a lot of research and calculations. It worked out that if I were in Germany for 6 months over a 2 year period, it would be cheaper to sign up to a plan and get a mobile than use pre-paid and purchase a mobile. Unfortunately, 3 months after that, I got this contract in Holland. So - I lived with the loss, but still used my German mobile for SMS' back to Germany as I don't want to carry around a dutch phone in addition to my German and work phones. I've been paying €0.39 for every SMS I send, which is quite phenomenal, but I accept the cost every time I send one. But last month I decided to phone home.. There were some problems with some of the calls - I don't know why - but there was no connection, so I tried a few times, and either succeeded, or gave up trying. I also rang once or twice, but hung up before anyone (or voicemail) picked up. I was very surprised to see that these calls appeared on my phone bill at €0.79/call, because that's not normally what happens. I assumed it was a problem in the way that calls are billed between countries - so I complained, and told them that they were in error. Sure, billing errors happen - but the reason *why E-Plus is a bastard of a telco* is their off-hand response to my complaint. They came back simply saying, "We have reviewed your bill and it was correctly billed." (in German, of course). I have complained again, telling them that it is not correct, and that charging for services that weren't provided is actually illegal, and I await their response. I dislike that I have to bring the law into complaints - I would hope they would be already aware of it.
It also appears that Germany does not have a telecommunications ombudsman like Australia (or the Netherlands or in fact most civilised countries) so the consumer's only option is legal action. I wonder how many other telcos are similarly charging for non-service. Hopefully this will be resolved, and they will fix their billing issue - I intend to test it again.
If they give me a hard time (or fail to point me to a section of their contract which states they can bill me for uncompleted calls, which I'm fairly confident doesn't exist and would be illegal if it did) then I think my next step is to accuse them of breaching the terms of the contract and instruct them not to direct debit any more money from my account, and ask for the address to which I should ship the phone and SIM card. If they then withdraw money, I will have an additional basis for a legal case. I can also complain to the EU regarding deceptive billing practices.
Update: E-Plus, while not admitting any billing errors, has given me credit for the phone calls. I think I'll contact the EU anyway. I realise it's most likely the Dutch telcos' fault for charging for the uncompleted calls, but I'm not a customer of the Dutch Telco, so it's up to E-Plus to keep them honest.
— by Robert Thomson, created 6th May, 2007, last modified 8th May, 2007 | Tags: Private
