'Scammed by StarHub': Woman complains about being billed for November when it's still October

Getting a bill is no fun, but for one StarHub customer, it was especially so.

A woman felt scammed by StarHub after she received a bill from the telco in October charging her for November.

In her bill dated Oct 11, she was charged a total of $334.95

Sharing a photo of her bill, Stomp contributor Elly said: "It is not even the end of the month. How come from Oct 8 to Nov 7, it is calculated as $300 plus already?"

When she contacted StarHub, the reply was: "In regards to the new bill, kindly be advised that you are billed in advance, which is why you got $334.95 for the billing cycle (Oct 8 to Nov 7) which will be due around Oct 25."

Elly told Stomp: "They can know how much I will use until Nov 7? I asked them. StarHub said they followed the monthly billing cycle.

"August and September was $300 plus. So October is not even over and they charged me $300 plus. I strongly suspect they must be estimated and follow the previous monthly cycle.

"I feel scammed by StarHub and decided to terminate my account with StarHub. Paying $300 monthly is ridiculous and unacceptable."

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In response to a Stomp query, a StarHub spokesman said: "You may like to refer to StarHub's General Bill Overview page on our website for advanced subscription charges — this happens one month in advance and the billing model is not unique in our industry. The advance billing practice applies only to the monthly subscription charge which is fixed."

The bill that the Stomp contributor shared shows that the amount she was billed in advance was $90.6448. This was the same amount that she was billed in previous months — also in advance.

The rest of the amount was $222.40 for local data usage from Sept 8 to Oct 7, which was not part of the advance billing.

After including GST, the total amount was $334.95.

Asked whether she still felt like she was scammed, the Stomp contributor said yes because she had "never used" so much data to be charged over $200 for it and had asked StarHub to send "proof".

This article was first published in Stomp. Permission required for reproduction.