Telstra @#$%

[nissannewby]

Im not sure on the ruling of this but I will post anyway. Mods feel free to do whatever.

I will try and keep and short. The missus and I went to Telstra to get our accounts combined and a better deal (I know they don't go together). So prior to the change I had a wireless device and my mobile with an added data pack, Sharee had her phone also with an added data pack. Now this was a little costly, so leaving Telstra (this was nearly 3 months ago by the way) we had our accounts combined and a 50gb ADSL connection for the house, since we now had 50gb to use at home the additional data packs on our mobiles were removed and once the internet connected the wireless device would be cutoff.

Now Telstra has been unable to supply us with an internet service and with no extra data we are now having issues exceeding our data limit and we all know what charges are like once the limit is exceeded. So excessive phone bills are now being received and Telstra have basically said they have done everything, its like I live to close to the city to be covered by "the best network in the country" and to be honest there current tv ad campaign spruiking on about how they cover 1 million more square km than their nearest provider does not fit with what they tell me lol.

So after all that Im just wondering if anyone has had any experience or advise on who to talk to, where to go etc etc. It really does annoy me that these big companies which are only made because of us little people start to push their weight around and try to get you to buckle and pay their fees.

Thanks guys

[MEGOMONSTER]

I know this won't help your cause, but I had this very problem, exceeding my data last month With the excess data side of the bill being $578 Luckily for me it is capped at $160. Rang up my service provider and said since I've been a good boy they will give me a maximum credit allowable by the company of $140 and I pay the remainder on the proviso that I purchase a $20 data pack to cover the remainder of the month. I said fine, so my bill was suppose to equate to about $90-100 total. I get the bill today and says I owe $228. Slight steam escaping from ears and another phone call to fix their f##k up of my f##k up. Lol

[kevin07]

keep pushing up the ladder don't get off the phone till your satisfied you will get there.

[Stropp]

Call and ask to speak to a supervisor it's called escalation or you will put in a formal complaint with the communications ombudsman (I worked for Telstra) so this will definitely help, if you don't get satisfaction go ahead with the call to the ombudsman, things will move quickly once you do.

[Cuppa]

I can’t help but just want to commiserate Matt. I’m having a fight with our water company at the moment over our first bill at our new house..... for almost $700 when it should have been under $60. What really pisses me off about these companies when they stuff up is that it us, the bunnies, the customers who have to do all the ‘running around’ to sort out their mistakes. There is something fundamentally wrong when they stuff up & place no value whatsoever on my time AND they treat the issue only as one of ‘loss of income’ for them rather than having any sense of fairness & justice to their customers. Prior to involving the ombudsman today the best the company have been prepared to ‘offer’ is a ‘rebated’ bill of $400, with a ‘rebate’ being allowed once in 5 years. ie. continuing to treat us as though the fault is ours, not theirs! I see no reason why we should pay almost $350 more than what we should owe because they failed to take a meter reading after being informed of the property sale settlement date. Grrrrrrr.

[PMC]

Im not sure on the ruling of this but I will post anyway. Mods feel free to do whatever.

I will try and keep and short. The missus and I went to Telstra to get our accounts combined and a better deal (I know they don't go together). So prior to the change I had a wireless device and my mobile with an added data pack, Sharee had her phone also with an added data pack. Now this was a little costly, so leaving Telstra (this was nearly 3 months ago by the way) we had our accounts combined and a 50gb ADSL connection for the house, since we now had 50gb to use at home the additional data packs on our mobiles were removed and once the internet connected the wireless device would be cutoff.

Now Telstra has been unable to supply us with an internet service and with no extra data we are now having issues exceeding our data limit and we all know what charges are like once the limit is exceeded. So excessive phone bills are now being received and Telstra have basically said they have done everything, its like I live to close to the city to be covered by "the best network in the country" and to be honest there current tv ad campaign spruiking on about how they cover 1 million more square km than their nearest provider does not fit with what they tell me lol.

So after all that Im just wondering if anyone has had any experience or advise on who to talk to, where to go etc etc. It really does annoy me that these big companies which are only made because of us little people start to push their weight around and try to get you to buckle and pay their fees.

Thanks guys

G'day Matt,

As per Stropps advice, file a formal complaint with the telecommunications ombudsman's office, they will ask you for the following;

"If you have made a complaint to your telecommunications service provider and it is unresolved, you can lodge a complaint with us online. Have any relevant information handy when you lodge your complaint, for example, dates of important events and names of people you have spoken to."

Hours
Our office hours are 9am to 5.30pm Monday to Friday, Australian Eastern Standard Time (Australian Eastern Daylight Time when daylight savings is in effect)

Complaints and enquiries
Phone 1800 062 058 (Free from landlines, standard rates apply for calls from mobiles). If you call from a mobile you can ask us to call you back.

Use our online complaint form
You can also use this form to update us about your complaint. tio@tio.com.au

Regards,

Paul

[04OFF]

Telstra played the same game here, sending me a text message to say id used 68% of my mobile data allowance, id stop using the ph straight away (manually turn data OFF) then 20 min later id get another text saying id used 106% of my data !(of course then im getting charged penalty rates)


This happened a couple of times, it took a few calls asking why they even bother to me a text, sounds like a deliberate trap, and I cant understand how it can be legal to conduct themselves in such manner, ended up getting a refund for all extra charges.



So yeh, don't give up Mat, they are pro's at scamming you into extra charges, its complete BS, I used to wonder how teenagers could rack up $1000 bills without knowing, after being with Telstra less than 12 months myself, I can now fully understand how it happens.



Soon as my plan is over im switching back to pre-paid, at least when you've used your credit, they tell you straight away, and no extra/penalty charges ever, and you can top up credit over the phone, its sooooo much less hassle.IMO

[nissannewby]

Call and ask to speak to a supervisor it's called escalation or you will put in a formal complaint with the communications ombudsman (I worked for Telstra) so this will definitely help, if you don't get satisfaction go ahead with the call to the ombudsman, things will move quickly once you do.

Yeah I have already escalated it and was even assigned a case manager and still no resolve it's like they think "oh he's in a contract so he has to pay anyway" and the really don't give a fark if I get what I want. I think I will contact the ombudsman and see what my best option is in regards to canceling it all so I can actually go elsewhere and get a better deal.

[Hodge]

Had a fight with hellstra many times. Every time their stuff up. In the end everything was resolved, refund was given but at a cost of me ringing around and a lot of frustration.
Largest issue is a language barrier.

Sent from my SM-G900I using Forum Runner

[nissannewby]

keep pushing up the ladder don't get off the phone till your satisfied you will get there.

I really do not have that much time to sit on the phone, I have spent hours on hold to basically take 2 steps forward and 3 steps back not to mention you can't seem to talk to anyone remotely of English speaking back ground.

[megatexture]

Once you sort it out mate and your plan ends it may be worth changing suppliers.
My whole family are with optus and have never had any issues like this but it just depends if your area gets optus...

[04OFF]

I really do not have that much time to sit on the phone, I have spent hours on hold to basically take 2 steps forward and 3 steps back not to mention you can't seem to talk to anyone remotely of English speaking back ground.


Yes agree, that is often a annoying problem that adds to your frustration, still better than my dealings with frigging "lara" from vodafail, she would almost make you wanna shoot yourself to easy the pain (haha)

[nissannewby]

Once you sort it out mate and your plan ends it may be worth changing suppliers.
My whole family are with optus and have never had any issues like this but it just depends if your area gets optus...

Yes a provider change is certainly going to happen but I need to sort this out as not paying isn't really an option as phone companies can easily black list you and there goes my so called "credit rating". I have also sent an email complaint via their website so I can keep a paper trail from now on.

[Winnie]

The worst part about Telstra is I am forced to be with them. Being in a regional area, unless I am in a main town I will not get service with Optus or any of the others, but I get heaps of Telstra service anywhere.
I am lucky to have not had any issues with them as of yet but I'm sure it will come... lol
I know my mum had big dramas with them and hours on the phone to no avail, she went into the Telstra store and the problem was sorted within 15 minutes because she could actually go in and speak face to face with an Aussie.

[rusty_nail]

The worst part about Telstra is I am forced to be with them. Being in a regional area, unless I am in a main town I will not get service with Optus or any of the others, but I get heaps of Telstra service anywhere.
I am lucky to have not had any issues with them as of yet but I'm sure it will come... lol
I know my mum had big dramas with them and hours on the phone to no avail, she went into the Telstra store and the problem was sorted within 15 minutes because she could actually go in and speak face to face with an Aussie.

Hey Matt, not sure if your aware but aldi mobile use Telstra towers. I have a camping number and we use a pre paid Sim from them. Gets reception just as good as Telstra. Also for home internet i use TPG, they are by far the CHEAPEST ISP on the market with a good level of customer service. other ISP such as Club Telco & Dodo cost similar or the same BUT their customer service sucks. Most times having different accounts with different service providers will cost you less than say bundling with Telstra.

For example I currently pay $106.97 for 2 mobile services and internet. it consists of:
Unlimited internet with TPG - $59.99
Heavy Mobile user with TPG - $29.99 ($1000 call credit, 2GB data) with unlimited calls between us.
Medium Mobile User with TPG - $16.99 ($550 call credit, 1GB data) with unlimited calls between us.

Aldi phone costs bugger all but we only ever keep it topped up with limited credit but i know their credit prices are reasonable.

Also, i have dealt with the Telecomms Ombudsman before. Its a convaluted system but eventually it will get you somewhere. most of the time even the threat of the Ombudsman will get you somewhere. One thing that i cannot stress enough is to write EVERYTHING down. Date and time your phone calls, note what was discussed and what was promised in each call and if you can do as much correspondance via email, this way your wording cannot be misconstrued and you have time to form your responses and requests.

Cheers,

Nic

[Hodge]

Hey Matt, not sure if your aware but aldi mobile use Telstra towers. I have a camping number and we use a pre paid Sim from them. Gets reception just as good as Telstra.



They don't utilize the 4G though.

Sent from my SM-G900I using Forum Runner

[DX grunt]

If I know I'm going to be ringing a big company with the probability of being put on hold for a long time, I use a public phone box.

It's not the ideal situation, but a damn sight cheaper than racking up the dollars on my mobile.

Rossco

[rusty_nail]

They don't utilize the 4G though.

Sent from my SM-G900I using Forum Runner

4G which is mainly available in metropolitan centers only? why is 4G so important? so you can look up porn or update your facebook status while your on the loo quicker?

[BigRAWesty]

We had the same sorta issue with a different telco.
Signed up our phones and a wireless modem.
Told yep you won't believe the difference yarda yarda..
Turns out we were in a dead spot and after going back and forth it finally come to
"were terribly sorry but we can supply the expected services and seeing your I'm a dead zone you won't have any cancellation fees"

I put a formal complaint in to the Telco obmaimsman about the shear volume of people they were signing up without coverage and that sales bloke is no longer there..

So keep pushing mate, get angry, put in a report.. As soon as you file the report mate the ball will be running, not rolling..

[Hodge]

4G which is mainly available in metropolitan centers only? why is 4G so important? so you can look up porn or update your facebook status while your on the loo quicker?

I don't know mate. Maybe thats the sort of thing Matt is into?? I just thought I'd mention it.
What's so good about it? In a lot of areas it's way quicker than your general adsl2 etc...

My 2c.

Sent from my SM-G900I using Forum Runner

[lucus30]

4G which is mainly available in metropolitan centers only? why is 4G so important? so you can look up porn or update your facebook status while your on the loo quicker?

Not for much longer. Will be available a lot more places soon

[rusty_nail]

I don't know mate. Maybe thats the sort of thing Matt is into?? I just thought I'd mention it.
What's so good about it? In a lot of areas it's way quicker than your general adsl2 etc...

My 2c.

Sent from my SM-G900I using Forum Runner

yeah definitely worth mentioning. i guess im old school and dont subscribe as much to that new technology(although i definitely appreciate it)

[clubbyr8]

Hey Matt, not sure if your aware but aldi mobile use Telstra towers. I have a camping number and we use a pre paid Sim from them. Gets reception just as good as Telstra. Also for home internet i use TPG, they are by far the CHEAPEST ISP on the market with a good level of customer service. other ISP such as Club Telco & Dodo cost similar or the same BUT their customer service sucks. Most times having different accounts with different service providers will cost you less than say bundling with Telstra.

For example I currently pay $106.97 for 2 mobile services and internet. it consists of:
Unlimited internet with TPG - $59.99
Heavy Mobile user with TPG - $29.99 ($1000 call credit, 2GB data) with unlimited calls between us.
Medium Mobile User with TPG - $16.99 ($550 call credit, 1GB data) with unlimited calls between us.

Aldi phone costs bugger all but we only ever keep it topped up with limited credit but i know their credit prices are reasonable.

Also, i have dealt with the Telecomms Ombudsman before. Its a convaluted system but eventually it will get you somewhere. most of the time even the threat of the Ombudsman will get you somewhere. One thing that i cannot stress enough is to write EVERYTHING down. Date and time your phone calls, note what was discussed and what was promised in each call and if you can do as much correspondance via email, this way your wording cannot be misconstrued and you have time to form your responses and requests.

Cheers,

Nic

I was with TPG for a few years, found their customer service to be the worst of any ISP I've been with. Not that I've been with many. Westnet were by far the best, but you paid a premium for their customer service. TPG was good, as long as everything was working, but as soon as you had a problem, it took ages to fix. Thankfully I'm now on the NBN at 100Mb connect speed. Gone are the inherent issues with copper (water, noise etc). It's been very stable and throughput is over 90Mb download. Such a shame politics have killed the project.....

[rusty_nail]

I was with TPG for a few years, found their customer service to be the worst of any ISP I've been with. Not that I've been with many. Westnet were by far the best, but you paid a premium for their customer service. TPG was good, as long as everything was working, but as soon as you had a problem, it took ages to fix. Thankfully I'm now on the NBN at 100Mb connect speed. Gone are the inherent issues with copper (water, noise etc). It's been very stable and throughput is over 90Mb download. Such a shame politics have killed the project.....

yeah im not saying they are the best, but its definitely bearable. ive been with them for 8 years now, i have gone to other ISP, but have always had a mobile account in that time. have some horror stories with club telco Dodo and Telstra though i wont go into too much detail.

[Stropp]

Matt as much as everyone says change companies, if anyone has cable there it will be telstra and the others just piggyback on it, i would not do this as it will still rely on telstra to repair and fix anything, i know it can be frustrating but i would persevere

[rusty_nail]

Matt as much as everyone says change companies, if anyone has cable there it will be telstra and the others just piggyback on it, i would not do this.

telstra make money either way is what your saying? I just find it ridiculous they can wholesale it to companies and those companies sell it cheaper than telstra and still make money... thats what gets me. if they are just using telstra infrastructure why would the product quality be any less? and therefore why not go with a cheaper competitor?

[nissannewby]

Matt as much as everyone says change companies, if anyone has cable there it will be telstra and the others just piggyback on it, i would not do this as it will still rely on telstra to repair and fix anything, i know it can be frustrating but i would persevere

This is one of our problems stropp. Our Neighbour has Adsl2 and is further from the exchange than we are and he is with a different provider (father in law lives next door). Now I posed this statement to Telstra as you have above that they own the lines and still can't supply us with an internet connection.

[rusty_nail]

This is one of our problems stropp. Our Neighbour has Adsl2 and is further from the exchange than we are and he is with a different provider (father in law lives next door). Now I posed this statement to Telstra as you have above that they own the lines and still can't supply us with an internet connection.

are they saying they dont have any ports available? unfortunately they have you over a barrel there mate.

[mudski]

don't know where you live Matt but is fibre an option? I have been with iiNet for nearly 10 years now and won't use anyone else. Like Westnet, which is iiNet I believe, you do pay a premium but atleast their service is a gazzillion times better than Hell$tra.
Check here to see if you can get it or not.
http://www.iinet.net.au/internet/broadband/nbn/
and here
http://www.nbnco.com.au/when-do-i-get-it.html

Having said all that i do have a Telstra mobile as I won't use any other service as their coverage is better. Tried Optpus, Vodafail and others and they don't compare.

As for TPG, steer clear of those blokes. The ADSL slows to a crawl during the evenings when everyone else is on. When I had ADSL2 with iiNet there was no difference. Until they decided to run the fibre in the pits up our street and stuffed the old copper line and our speeds went to 1/4 of its usual pace.

Hows this for stupidity.
When we closed our account with Telstra 10 years ago we had a $21 credit owing to us. They wouldn't send out a cheque or refund us and to this day, once a month, we still get a invoice for $21 credit from them.
One good thing about it though is we still have our Telstra Bigpond email account working and we use that account for the stuff where you know you will get spammed with shit emails all the time. Not clogging up our daily home email account.

[nissannewby]

are they saying they dont have any ports available? unfortunately they have you over a barrel there mate.

Nope they are saying we are to far from the exchange. They wouldn't even send a tech out to check the connection in the house the tech would only try from the exchange.

[rusty_nail]

Nope they are saying we are to far from the exchange. They wouldn't even send a tech out to check the connection in the house the tech would only try from the exchange.

what a load of rubbish mate. so there is no line into the house? if there is no line then that is a problem. other than that, its just a matter of putting some codes on the port allocated to your line, so i think the phone rep is having you on. only other thing i can suggest is you ring up and play dumb, ask if you can get it connected for your neighbours and when they say its already connected you would say oh wait 23 the street not 21 the street etc. i know it sounds stupid but it works.

[nissannewby]

don't know where you live Matt but is fibre an option? I have been with iiNet for nearly 10 years now and won't use anyone else. Like Westnet, which is iiNet I believe, you do pay a premium but atleast their service is a gazzillion times better than Hell$tra.
Check here to see if you can get it or not.
http://www.iinet.net.au/internet/broadband/nbn/
and here
http://www.nbnco.com.au/when-do-i-get-it.html

Having said all that i do have a Telstra mobile as I won't use any other service as their coverage is better. Tried Optpus, Vodafail and others and they don't compare.

As for TPG, steer clear of those blokes. The ADSL slows to a crawl during the evenings when everyone else is on. When I had ADSL2 with iiNet there was no difference. Until they decided to run the fibre in the pits up our street and stuffed the old copper line and our speeds went to 1/4 of its usual pace.

Hows this for stupidity.
When we closed our account with Telstra 10 years ago we had a $21 credit owing to us. They wouldn't send out a cheque or refund us and to this day, once a month, we still get a invoice for $21 credit from them.
One good thing about it though is we still have our Telstra Bigpond email account working and we use that account for the stuff where you know you will get spammed with shit emails all the time. Not clogging up our daily home email account.

Yes we originally signed on with Telstra due to the coverage in remote areas when I was working up north and Sharee was going to some rural towns with her horses. However I don't think we really require this anymore as with bub on the way the horse stuff has eased up and I'm now working 5 min from home.

It's really quite unfortunate.

[nissannewby]

what a load of rubbish mate. so there is no line into the house? if there is no line then that is a problem. other than that, its just a matter of putting some codes on the port allocated to your line, so i think the phone rep is having you on. only other thing i can suggest is you ring up and play dumb, ask if you can get it connected for your neighbours and when they say its already connected you would say oh wait 23 the street not 21 the street etc. i know it sounds stupid but it works.

There is a line in the house. Apparently the signal the send through the exchange didn't return a satisfactory one to connect it. The line in the house is old and I asked them to check it but they wouldn't budge on their original info from the tech.

[rusty_nail]

Yes we originally signed on with Telstra due to the coverage in remote areas when I was working up north and Sharee was going to some rural towns with her horses. However I don't think we really require this anymore as with bub on the way the horse stuff has eased up and I'm now working 5 min from home.

It's really quite unfortunate.

well might be an easy out for you, if they cant provide you with the coverage they promised you may be able to get out of contract and move to someone who can provide you with service?

[nissannewby]

well might be an easy out for you, if they cant provide you with the coverage they promised you may be able to get out of contract and move to someone who can provide you with service?

Yeah mate that is what I'm hoping and I will be searching long and hard before signing on that line again.

[clubbyr8]

Nope they are saying we are to far from the exchange. They wouldn't even send a tech out to check the connection in the house the tech would only try from the exchange.

Try this site, it will give you an indication on what's available in your area, just put your address or phone number in where they ask for it. Bear in mind, it's not how far you are physically from the exchange, it's how far you are in cable length from the exchange, which could be considerably further. Also, it is possible your neighbour is on a different cable to the exchange than you are, so they're within the specified distance for ADSL whereas you might not be. Anyway try the link and see what it tell you.....

http://www.adsl2exchanges.com.au/

[nissannewby]

We can get in my area mate the Neighbour has it. As for the distance thing we are closer as there is a junction for the 2 properties and the father in law is further from that than we are. Not that it's far as only a carport separates the houses. This is whats so aggravating about this. I'm not just having a whine for the sake of it aye.

[Stropp]

if they have promised a date to start the contract they have a certain number of days to provide it or they are in breach and must give you reparation in way of free coverage for everyday that they cannot provide the service, get onto the ombudsman sooner rather than later

[Avo]

There is a line in the house. Apparently the signal the send through the exchange didn't return a satisfactory one to connect it. The line in the house is old and I asked them to check it but they wouldn't budge on their original info from the tech.

hey mate,can you try with another provider,we live in the country WA and nothing but crap from Telstra..even when we shifted into new house they told us there was no line there so I was up for putting a line in..not true,there was a line in.they could not do anything for us..rang Westnet(Iinet) gave them the last phone number for the house and had it on the next day.
Also what Telstra may nopt be telling you is that they only allocate a certain number of internet users per area.i know of people that have had to wait until someone disconnects so they could be connected to Adsl...but as Stropp said.get onto the ombudsman I would also chase my local member of parliament that's what they are there for..good luck...I gave up on Telstra years ago..same thing I refused to pay a bill as they could no longer provide what they said in the contract....They threatened legal action,every time I told them I would love to be heard in court,eventually they dropped the lawyers letters and let it go..

[Stropp]

another thing that comes to mind from the dim dark recesses of the memory is that they also use a pair gain system which they can allocate 16 phone numbers to BUT only 6 lines feed it and one of them is a information line so in reality there is only 5 real phone lines which means that if 5 lines are being used the other 11 customers will get a busy signal but in reality the number they are ringing is not busy but the unit itself has no available lines to go out so it gives a busy signal, you may not be on a 6/16 but could well be on some other pair gain system which wont allow you to have adsl and then it wont matter who you try you physically will not be able to get adsl. Just a thought, i would ask next time you speak to them if you are on a pair gain system!!! it means you pay for something you dont really have a great way for the comms companies to save putting in extra cable and of course cheaper for them.

[NP99]

Call and ask to speak to a supervisor it's called escalation or you will put in a formal complaint with the communications ombudsman (I worked for Telstra) so this will definitely help, if you don't get satisfaction go ahead with the call to the ombudsman, things will move quickly once you do.

Agree 100%. We did many years back with a provider called Reachnet.