Linz-n-Graham

Unfortunately in a bit of a mad rush before we moved into our rental, we agreed to get Telstra (they phoned us). They assured us there would be no contract (we move again in 6 weeks) and we could take the package with us and that the connection fee would only be $59. So we agreed.

Well.... you can probably guess whats coming next.... got our first bill through with a $299 connection fee and there is a contract with and early termination fee if we move within 3 months!!!

Phoned them last night only to speak to a guy who didn't have a clue what I was talking about and kept saying the connection fee was for new cabling, the property didn't need new cabling I said, oh its actually for a fax machine line, we don't have a fax machine, then it must be for your internet connection, he advised.... would that be the internet connection where I plugged the modem into the phone socket my self!!!????

This went on for 30 minutes, while constantly putting me on hold. He then said he would transfer me to a colleague to help. When a lady answered she said she was from the credit management department and asked why I didn't want to pay my bill!!! Aaaaaargh!! DO NOT USE TELSTRA!!!

When I explained to the lady that I don't mind paying a bill that is correct however I should not have been charged the $299 she advised she could not help me and I had to call the original department again!!

By this time I couldn't think of anything worse than having to go through it all again with someone who didn't have a clue! I called again only to have to explain it all again, be put on hold several times and finally the guy said that we should never have been charged this amount and that he would sort it out, he also assured me that we would not be charged to move house. When I asked him to e-mail me confirmation he 'conveniently' didn't have access to e-mail!!

Sorry about the long winded rant..... have never experienced this level of bad customer experience before even though I worked in the banking industry for over 12 years!

Right, rant definitely over... phew... feel better now.

Linz.x

LINZI

I just phone straight through to Complaints now and its alot easier to get things done (make sure you get names/ref num)

Hope you get it sorted

Pollyana

They aren't called Hellstra for nothing.

LINZI

I know Christmas was a right nightmare when we moved into a new rental with Telstra but in the end it was all sorted but i spoke to some right plonkers on the phone

Linz-n-Graham

That name makes complete sense!

4500 Times

First and only dealings with Telstra were shocking.....eventually i went into a store, instead of phoning and was sorted pretty sharpish.

Although they could probably tell i was at the point of inflicting some pain onto someone, so maybe it helped to get angry..

NEVER NEVER use them again.....i went with Optus and have never had any issues.

Good Luck...

Scotty1

I have also just had a dreadful moving house experience with Telstra where we were going to be expected to wait until August with no phone line because they were busy. A complaint letter faxed through to the CEO soon resulted in a much better service. Their standard call centre is beyond dire - on a par with Sky in the uk in direness.
Put it in a letter and fax it to the CEO office in Melbourne

CrunchieFrog

Alternatively, many internet providers will also provide you with a phone connection, which usues Telstras copper, but you never have to deal with Telstra themselves, you only have to deal with your internet provider.

Individual companies may vary but im almost certain they're all a damn site nicer to deal with than Telstra. You may well get a better deal as well, depending on your usage patterns. I use Westnet at the moment but there are plenty of options.

Beoz

Yep - avoided Telstra. Went with TPG. Internet and Line Rental $40 per month. We accept incoming calls on landline. Use mobile for outgoing. Use Skype for overseas calls.

deb68

Buy some pigeons

HelenTD

Use the magic words "Telecoms Ombudsman" http://www.tio.com.au/default.asp.

NedKelly

Why do they do that? Whenever I ring a call centre, about every two minutes they put you on hold and come back and say "thank you for waiting". ask you another dopey question and then put you back on hold.

al_and_lucy

I would presume they have a lot of less than fully trained casual staff, those hold times are were they ask someone what to do next.

Alan Collett

Having encountered similar issues with another telco (no names mentioned) as well as Telstra I am firmly of the belief that if you can use a mobile/wireless connection - where you can usually deal with people face to face in a retail outlet - it is far better to do so.

Good luck!

Japonica

Just going through the same thing here. Moved from our rental to our house and we were billed for cabling even though there was no additional work to be done...we watched the installer and he did nothing of the sort.

So, we called about the extra $230 tacked onto our bill (it's amazing how these charges add up, we also got an "internet self connection" fee of $50), and we were told (after they checked with the installer, talked to higher ups etc.) that yes, the $230 charge was a mistake and they would credit us on the next bill.

That was two bills ago. Every month we get a new statement saying we have $230 past due and owing and every month we dutilfy phone Telstra to tell them that this is the same $230 that they agreed was an error three months ago and it keeps going from there.

Apparently when they say, "Yes, I can the problem, I'm entering the changes now," it doesn't actually mean they're hitting any computer keys.

The last guy we spoke with said he's putting an incidence report in for the last employee who served us. I think all of Telstra deserves an incidence report.