According to a recent study, nearly half of Australian mobile phone users have experienced bill shock, which has become increasingly common amongst users.
In the past, mobile phones were such simple devices that monitoring your spend was simple. However, over recent years these devices have become capable of all sorts of things, which means that users have been engaging with them far more, using them far more, and spending on them far more than they used to. This has led to an increase in overspending and a rise in the number of mobile phone users who experience bill shock.
In fact, the term bill shock is only a relatively recent one that seems to have come in since the plethora of smart phones led to more and more people spending more than the realised on their phone usage. With voice, texts and data usage to monitor, it has become all too easy for users to exceed their specified allocations – particularly in terms of data – and end up being charged a fortune.
According to a recent report, around 45 percent of Australian mobile phone users experienced bill shock last year, with the average overspend coming in at $40. It is said to be costing the country more than $557 million a year. The data comes from the State of the Mobile Nation report by Macquarie University.
David Gray, senior lecturer at Macquarie University, said: “The research shows that bill shock is consistently experienced by consumers signing up to traditional plans. They are being offered lots of choice but it’s not translating into value. Households are now wasting hundreds of dollars a year.”
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