Why your Home Services bill may be higher than you expected

It’s likely because you’ve been charged with partial charges, also known as prorated charges or proration.

To help explain partial charges, we’ll need to start with an explanation of how billing cycles work.

A billing cycle is a 1 month period for which you are charged for your services. You typically pay for your month of service at the start of the billing cycle.

: Let’s use your favourite video streaming service as an example. They have a billing cycle that starts on the very day you signed up, and that ends exactly 1 month later. For that month of video streaming, you pay the monthly fee at the start of the billing cycle for the month of service you’re about to use. You then pay it again when the cycle renews, at the start of the next 1 month cycle.

TELUS and other telecoms also use 1-month billing cycles, but we operate a little bit differently. TELUS does not start your billing cycle on the day you signed up for service, or on the day the technician installed the service. Instead, we have a few select days in a month when a billing cycle can start. For example, you may have activated your new TELUS service on June 11, but our closest billing cycle start date may not be until June 15.

So you may ask, what happens between the 11th and the 15th? Well, that is where the partial charges come in.

If your service plan is $90 a month, you will pay that $90 on June 15 for the service used up to July 14. That’s your billing cycle in this example. Then, for the days between your start date (June 11 and the start of the billing cycle (June 15) you will pay a partial charge for those 4 extra days (June 11 + 12 + 13 + 14).

To calculate this charge, you would need to take the monthly amount of $90 and divide it by 30 days to get your daily charge. In this example, it’s $3. Then you would take the $3 daily charge and multiply it by the number of partial days. In this example, it’s 4 days. That gives you a partial charge of $12.

Add that onto your monthly charge, and you would be paying $102 for your first bill. For all the bills after your first bill, assuming there are no changes or additional usage charges, you would pay the $90 per month for each bill. Please note that these examples exclude any tax.

Check out this video to learn more about partial charges on your first bill.

It’s likely because you’ve been charged with partial charges, also known as prorated charges or proration.

To help explain partial charges, we’ll need to start with an explanation of how billing cycles work.

A billing cycle is a 1 month period for which you are charged for your services. You typically pay for your month of service at the start of the billing cycle.

: Let’s use your favourite video streaming service as an example. They have a billing cycle that starts on the very day you signed up, and that ends exactly 1 month later. For that month of video streaming, you pay the monthly fee at the start of the billing cycle for the month of service you’re about to use. You then pay it again when the cycle renews, at the start of the next 1-month cycle.

TELUS and other telecoms also use 1-month billing cycles, but we operate a little bit differently. TELUS does not start your billing cycle on the day you signed up for your additional service, or on the day the technician installed the service. Instead, we have a few select days in a month when a billing cycle can start.

Given that you're an existing TELUS customer, you already have a billing cycle date assigned to you that you’re likely familiar with. It shows up on all of your bills. For example, you may notice that your billing cycle starts on the 15th of every month like clockwork.

Now when you renew your service, you’ll likely do so on a day that doesn’t line up with your billing cycle date. For example, let’s say you renewed your Internet service on June 11, but your billing cycle starts on June 15. You may ask, what happens between the 11th and the 15th?

Well, you’ll be charged a partial amount those 4 days (the 11th, 12th, 13th and 14th) at your new rate, along with the new monthly amount starting June 15. You’ll also be given a credit (essentially a refund) for the same 4 days at your old rate.

Continuing with this example, let’s say that the new monthly amount for your Internet is $90 a month. If we divide that by 30 days, the daily amount is $3 a day. For the 4 days before your billing cycle starts, you’ll pay $12 in partial charges to cover those days, plus the $90 you would have paid anyway for the billing cycle that starts on June 15.

Now for the credit, let’s say that your old monthly amount is $80. Similarly, if we divide that by 30 days, the daily amount is $2.67 a day. For those 4 days, you’ve already paid for them and a credit is in order for the daily amount multiplied by 4 days, $10.68.

In the end, you would pay $102 for your first bill after renewal plus the partial charges, and then subtract $10.68 for the credit. This brings the total to $91.32 for the first month after a renewal, and then $90 per month after that. Please note that these examples exclude any tax.

It’s likely because you’ve been charged partial charges, also known as prorated charges or proration.

To help explain partial charges, we’ll need to start with an explanation of how billing cycles work.

A billing cycle is a 1 month period for which you are charged for your services. You typically pay for your month of service at the start of the billing cycle.

: Let’s use your favourite video streaming service as an example. They have a billing cycle that starts on the very day you signed up, and that ends exactly 1 month later. For that month of video streaming, you pay the monthly fee at the start of the billing cycle for the month of service you’re about to use. You then pay it again when the cycle renews, at the start of the next 1 month cycle.

TELUS and other telecoms also use 1-month billing cycles, but we operate a little bit differently. TELUS does not start your billing cycle on the day you signed up for your additional service, or on the day the technician installed the service. Instead, we have a few select days in a month when a billing cycle can start.

Given that you're an existing TELUS customer, you already have a billing cycle date assigned to you that you’re likely familiar with. It shows up on all of your bills. For example, you may notice that your billing cycle starts on the 15th of every month like clockwork.

Now when you add a new product to your roster of services, you’ll likely do so on a day that doesn’t line up with your billing cycle date. For example, let’s say you added SmartHome Security and it’s activated on June 11, but your billing cycle starts on June 15. You may ask, what happens between the 11th and the 15th?

Well, you’ll be charged a partial amount those 4 days (the 11th, 12th, 13th and 14th), along with the normal monthly amount starting June 15.

Continuing with this example, let’s say that the normal monthly amount for your SmartHome Security services is $90 a month. If we divide that by 30 days, the daily amount is $3 a day. For the 4 days before your billing cycle starts, you’ll pay $12 in partial charges to cover those days, plus the $90 you would have paid anyway for the billing cycle that starts on June 15. In total, you would pay $102 for your first bill after adding SmartHome Security, and then the normal $90 every month after that.

If you got a great deal when you signed up for your service, it’s important to keep in mind that these discounts are applied in the form of a monthly credit that has an expiry date.

On your bill, it may look like you’re paying the full amount, but then you’ll see a credit applied.

If your bill has gone up suddenly after being a customer for a while, it’s very possible that the credit may have expired. This is common around 2 years after your initial activation as your original contract likely ended along with the promotional credit.

Not to worry, we have other promotions that you’re likely eligible for, that you can lock in when renewing your contract. To view them, you can visit the

offers section of your My TELUS profile

.

: If you have a Bundle Discount or free rental equipment discount, these are separate discounts from promotional credits, and will not expire.

When you are given a bill credit that is discretionary, either one time or recurring on a temporary basis, it includes taxes based on the applicable taxes levied in the province of supply. This means it is displayed on your bill as the before tax value.

For example, let's say you are in Ontario and were offered a $10 credit for activating a new subscriber with TELUS Mobility. Here is how it breaks down on your bill:

Another example is a BC customer who was offered a $10 credit for renewing their Home phone service. Here is how it breaks down on your bill:

Another example is a BC customer receiving a $10 credit for renewing their Internet service. Here is how it breaks down on your bill:

Your immediate bill after cancelling will include:

Since you pay 1 month in advance for monthly recurring charges, you will see a credit for the period from the cancellation date to the bill date. For example, if your bill date is April 30 and you cancel on April 15, you will see a credit from April 15 to April 30.

You may receive up to 4 bills after cancellation for any outstanding charges and/or credits.

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, please reach out to us anytime by visiting

telus.com/ContactUs

.

There may be some one-time charges applied to your bill. We’ve put together a separate article that helps explain one-time charges including:

Learn more about

one-time charges

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