Bill Breaker

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A $2500 per year saving is what Raelee and Tony Kregor can pocket by switching both their mobile phone plans.

“There are literally thousands of plans out there and more plans coming onto the market every day, so for a consumer to find the best deal would take a lot of time”, said Tony Simmons.

So Tony devised Billbreaker — a computer analysis program which uses your own mobile phone bill data to pinpoint your mobile needs and it then finds the cheapest, most appropriate phone plan available.

Its software also scans your phone bills for mistakes and there are usually plenty. “I'd say 98% of bills have errors in them. Most people don't know and they just assume the telcos are billing them correctly”, Tony said.

Tired of increasing call costs, Samantha Bell had Billbreaker assess her options. “I could save over $1200 a year by changing plans and even going to a different plan on my current carrier, I could still save a lot of money”, Samantha said.

She may even be owed a refund. “We found some internet sessions or data sessions on her bill that were charged at 22c for less amount of time than other charges that were free”, Tony explained.

Tony found errors on the Kregor's phone bills, but believes business is being hardest hit.

Last month one business, spending $300,000 on telecommunications over two years, clawed back an $86,000 refund. Billbreakers discovering not only errors but a negotiated discount call rate which was never applied. “The telcos have made it very hard for people to sit down and understand their rates. There is a lot of data to work through”, Tony said.

“I think if you believe there’s billing errors you should definitely take it up with the ombudsman”, Tony said.

Ryan Geoffrey and Jo Leachman never thought to question their mobile bills or their existing deal — a Billbreaker analysis suggests Jo can save $260 a year, Ryan $850.

As far as the Kregor's are concerned, the only catch is that Tony is still locked in to a 24 month contract — he'll have to see if the exit fees are less than his predicted $1500 annual saving, or he could try to switch to another plan with his own carrier, saving him $700 a year. Raelee is out of contract, relieved she's been spared the legwork of traipsing round phone dealerships and planning to enjoy her $1000 savings with a new provider.

Billbreaker is independent, unbiased advice for a small fee. “For an individual consumer its $14.95 and that will give them unlimited amount of comparisons and plans in the system”, Tony said.

For further information phone (03) 8527 7000 or visit the website at: www.billbreaker.com.au

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