We have a formal process in place to ensure that billing disputes are handled promptly and professionally.
The billing dispute process is described in each customer agreement. A billing dispute may involve an alleged inaccuracy, omission or error in relation to a charge on a bill, and may fall into one or several billing dispute categories.
Billing disputes need to be lodged in accordance with the process in each customer’s agreement. Typically a customer's agreement will require billing disputes to be lodged within 65 business days after the bill issue date if the billing dispute relates to a rebill service, or six months after the bill issue date if the billing dispute relates to any other service. These issues are addressed in detail in customer agreements with Telstra Wholesale and customers should review their agreement to understand how the provisions apply to them.
Customer agreements set out timeframes for resolving billing enquiries and we provide key performance statistics (PDF, 58kb) in this area.
If you lodge a billing dispute prior to the due date for payment of the disputed bill, and depending on your agreement with Telstra Wholesale, you may be able to withhold the amount disputed from payment until resolution (often in this situation interest is payable on the withheld amount if the dispute is ultimately resolved in Telstra Wholesale’s favour). Depending on your agreement with Telstra Wholesale you may not be able to lodge a billing dispute on or after the due date for payment unless the bill has been paid in full. These issues are addressed in detail in your agreement with Telstra Wholesale and you will need to review your own agreement to understand how the provisions apply to you.
Our billing dispute management process is set out in full in our Billing Dispute Management Policy (PDF, 154kb).
A billing dispute can be lodged by submitting a billing dispute form (XLS, 30kb). Our billing dispute team, an account manager or business operations manager can be contacted for any questions about the process.
Telstra Wholesale is committed to eliminating disputes with our customers and we have a continuous improvement program in place. We analyse the causes of disputes in an effort to raise our performance and serve our customers better.
