Back in November, I blogged about the upcoming blacklist that “RoBellUS” will collectively maintain, in an effort to eliminate the market for stolen smart phones. I questioned whether phone theft is high on the priority list for Canadians when it comes to mobility service.
As a Telecom Expense Manager at Nielsen IT Consulting, I audit our clients’ mobility bills every month. This means that in addition to reviewing analysis reports, I examine the individual charges for all of our clients’ users. Without fail, there are billing errors of varying size almost every month.
Confirming my suspicion that billing frustrations trump theft concerns, the Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services (CCTS) reports that mobility billing errors generate the most complaints in telecom services.
What are the most common billing errors that we come across?
- Ad Hoc Billing Errors – whether it’s a hardware charge or a roaming package, I frequently see ad hoc charges billed incorrectly. Quick Tip: keep track of orders that will impact the bill and reconcile each order to the invoice. For example: if you order a cost-saving travel bundle for a user, ensure the correct bundle is billed – if the wrong bundle was added to the account, this can have a serious impact on costly roaming usage.
- Missing Feature Codes – every corporate contract will be filled with $0 features like Call Display, Voicemail, and Call Waiting. Depending on your contract negotiating skills, you should also have $0 features that are customized to your organization’s usage (stay tuned to my next blog for contract tips!). For example, we have a client whose contracted features require 16 different billing codes for the average smart phone user – it’s very easy in this case for the carrier to accidentally miss a feature code when setting up a new user! Omitted the Call Display feature won’t impact the billing, however, if the carrier neglects to add the “500 free text messages” that is in your contract, that will impact your billing. Carefully monitor the feature codes, especially for new users!
- Activation Credits – your contract will specify the credit amount that is given for every new user added to the account. If your contract offers a multi-month credit (example: $100 total credit, applied as $20/month for the first 5 months of the user’s billing), carefully monitor and track these credits. Ensure that your organization is receiving the full amount!
What do you do once you have identified a billing error?
It is important to deal with billing errors properly, to ensure a resolution with the first contact – back-and-forth communication only costs you time and money. Submit all billing disputes via email: keeping a paper trail is the key to success! Include as much information as possible to guarantee a swift and successful resolution.
Here’s exactly what you should include in your email:
- The corporate account number
- The user name and phone number that has the billing error
- Summarize the billing dispute in the body of the email and state the dollar amount you believe should be credited
- Attach a PDF version of the user’s invoice and highlight the disputed charges
- Attach your original email with the order request (if you have the reply from your representative confirming the order, include this as well) – again, a paper trail is the key!
Use this 1 trick to resolve a billing error A.S.A.P
In my experience, when a billing dispute is submitted this way, the dispute is always resolved quickly and my requested credit amount is given without argument. The trick is to offer as much information and supporting documentation as possible – don’t make the representative hunt through their billing system for information!
It is imperative to be vigilant in reviewing your mobility invoices every single month. Not all billing errors are obvious – sometimes it takes a little work. If you don’t have the manpower or the expertise to conduct a thorough monthly audit, I highly recommend engaging a firm that has experience with Expense Management (like Nielsen IT Consulting!).
If you could use some help reviewing your mobility invoices, give me a call!
Contact me at: 519-474-4333 x234.
In our clients’ experience, Telecom Expense Management services pays for itself very quickly!
