When we arrived in Aus in Jan 2009 we took out Foxtel and ADSL with Telstra (big mistake!!) we moved house in January of this year and were told that because we were moving to a more remote (only 15km out of a regional town) that they could not provide the Foxtel and we would have to get it direct from Foxtel - no problem with that and we got Foxtel installed via Foxtel direct. Every month since January we are billed through Telstra for Foxtel (not for our new account but the one we cancelled) every month I phone and tell them and every month they tell me that yes we do not have the account anymore and it is an IT billing issue and they say they will refund the $116. Guess what the $116 is never refunded and they have charged us twice for unreturned equipment (one of these has been refunded though) which we have returned and they have a record of it. Each month I just pay the amount that the phone and ADSL has cost us, not the Foxtel charges and I then get charged a late payment fee for not paying the whole bill. I have spent over 100 minutes on the phone to them in the past months at 30C a call (12 calls) and the problem is still not sorted. I even went into the local Telstra shop and left it with them to sort out and 7 days later they have told me they are struggling to get it resolved. I have spoken to their complaints department numerous times and it is still not sorted.
What do I do? I can't leave them as we are tied in for another 9 months for ADSL but they are really p*****g me off and they owe me over $700.

You wont find many (if any) one on here who has a good thing to say about Telstra. I am just waiting for my two year period to be up to change - cant wait. I too, have had lots of trouble with them along with many of my work colleagues. I did start a thread on here recently and the following was some info that I got from someone about contacting Telstra higher up, hope it helps.


TIO first step is to contact high level complaints group at Telstra - as below.

As a first step, please call Telstra's Customer Referral Centre about your complaint - on 1800 001 398. This department is a high level complaints group at Telstra which receives referrals from the TIO.

Telstra's Customer Referral Centre will have 10 working days to resolve your complaint directly with you.

We ditched Telstra as soon as we could, but when it's a line problem, or something similar, and you have to deal with them, you realise why you left them.

Our internet connection went down in about Jan/Feb and we left without a connection for about 3 weeks, due to Telstra not doing their job sorting out the line. You then get caught between your telecomms company and Telstra and Telstra won't even talk to you because you're not one of their customers.

I had an issue with Virgin Mobile a few months ago, when they tried to charge me for 3rd party-supplied ring tones (my son subscribing without my consent = grounding). I found that the words "Telecomms Ombudsman" seemed to work like magic and I got the fees credited - might be worth a try.

Thanks for the advice, I don't think I can bare another moment on the phone to them so I think I will use the ombudsman online complaint form and see where that gets me.

Apparently, Telstra have a "Complex Complaints" team that have the ability to understand simple english as well as resolve problems instead of just grunting at you.

I don't think that the number is published anywhere easy to find, but if you go into your local telstra shop they should be able to give it to you. The team apparently tries to resolve complaints before you report Telstra to the ombudsman for being a bunch of pr|cks.

Good luck!

Steve

Telstra, probably the worst thing about Australia...cannot wait to be able to get rid of them, DONT USE THEIR SERVICES

Why not? Their services are generally pretty good. It's just a shame that their customer service is sh!t.

Cheers

Steve

I believe thats the number that I quoted up above. 1800 001 398

Hellstra!

Feeling your pain!

We have had so much hassle with them that I was near to killing someone last year, after spending so much time on the phone in a queue, to finally get through to someone who then promised they would transfer me to someone else to then get cut off and have to queue all over again and explain to another new person and they would transfer me and I'd get cut off.......................

We went through the TIO twice to get issues resolved, in my opinion they are as usless as Telstra, although to give them some credit they are probably snowed up by complaints against Telstra!

We ended up with a large credit on our account, which at least meant I could stop phoning them every day, however they still charge us incorrectly every single month.

As soon as our 2 years is up in July, we're changing, we don't have a huge choice here in Tassie but anything has to be better than Hellstra

When all the Telstra employees get stressed out by our complaints, this is where they retreat!

A distinct space within Telstra’s new headquarters in Brisbane, provides a tranquil and invigorating urban getaway for employees.


http://www.australiandesignreview.co...PDT-Architects

threaten them with 'Today Tonight' or 'A Current Affair'

I did have a funny run-in with Telstra a few years ago. We'd had our telephone with them and then switched to someone else. They kept phoning to try and get us back. 5 times in 8 weeks was a bit much so the last time they phoned I asked to speak to a manager - after explaining that I was busy, I then proceeded to say that I didn't enjoy dealing with a telesales company. He said, rather put out, that they weren't a telesales company, they were Telstra. I said, you're trying to sell me something over the phone, you're telesales! He got off the phone quickly and I haven't heard from them since. He did try and get off the phone before that by saying he was busy, which was what set me off in the first place - what did he think I was?