A rare rap for Telstra
Submitted: Tuesday, Jun 20, 2006 at 20:54
ThreadID:
35118
Views:
2185
Replies:
9
FollowUps:
3
This Thread has been Archived
Member - Matt M (ACT)
Evening All,
I was very surpised to find a bill from Telstra when I got
home yesterday as they are not our normal carrier. I soon worked out that it was for calls made from a temporary phone that Telstra supplied when we had a problem with the line in the street (a wireless thing that must piggyback on the mobile network, I guess). No problems being billed for the calls, but they were a fair bit more expensive than our normal carrier. So I rang Telstra to explain that their line fault had ended up costing me more money. This is when the trouble began.
First of all, they did not do me the courtesy of leaving me on hold for half an hour so I could get a real head of steam up and brush up on my choice adjectives, they answered straight away. Really angry about this I explained the situation and, after some keyboard clicking sounds the lady announced that they would halve my bill for the period! What? Don't I even get to scream at your manager? And your manager's manager? How dare they give her the delegation to make these decisions and scuttle my carefully thought out invective.
She then asked if there was anything else she could do for me. Completely deflated, I thanked her and hung up. I hope this is not a developing trend. It completely ruined my afternoon as I was keenly anticipating screaming at some faceless organisation on the other end of the phone. Just as
well I don't have a dog or I might have given it a few kicks instead.
Reply By: Member - Stephen M (NSW) - Tuesday, Jun 20, 2006 at 22:02
Tuesday, Jun 20, 2006 at 22:02
Hi there Matt, yeah had the same experiance before where your ready to rip there heads off and expecting to be on hold listening to a door chime for 1/2 hour and they answer straight away and blow all your
well prepared speach out the window sucks eh, but hey we have to remember also that the people on the other end of the phone are most of the time just the messenger and not the real problem specially big companys like NRMA TELSTRA etc its easy to lose our cool with them but in reality it's not there fault there just the poor bastards that cop all the flack from annoyed customers but yes definately know where your coming from, oh
well hope the dogs ok lol Regards Steve M
AnswerID:
179550
Reply By: Barnesy - Tuesday, Jun 20, 2006 at 22:43
Tuesday, Jun 20, 2006 at 22:43
I might try this with my next bill to get it halved. Even though there aren't any damaged lines. Or would this kind of behaviour cut into the $500 million a year net profit they make? Don't worry mat i'm sure telstra will improve their skills at putting customers on hold by the time you phone next time.
AnswerID:
179571
Reply By: Muzzgit (WA) - Tuesday, Jun 20, 2006 at 23:29
Tuesday, Jun 20, 2006 at 23:29
I haven't had the pleasure of having to wait on hold with telstra....ever.
Everything I have is through telstra....
home phone, 2 mobiles & bigpond. I can't fault them. If I phone with a problem, I always get a result. And if I contact them by email they always follow up within days to ensure that everything is A-OK.
Friends of
mine who have internet or mobiles with some of the other carriers are always moaning about something, but not me.
AnswerID:
179584
Follow Up By: Member - MUZBRY VIC) - Wednesday, Jun 21, 2006 at 12:35
Wednesday, Jun 21, 2006 at 12:35
Gday
I'm with you on this one,,,3 phones and 3 mobiles...1 fax....never seams to be to hard for them....
FollowupID:
435856
Reply By: Moggs - Wednesday, Jun 21, 2006 at 06:18
Wednesday, Jun 21, 2006 at 06:18
Hey Matt, I'm becoming a cynical old bugga these days, but I reckon when you called telstra the "prey in kill zone" alarm went off in the call center. See, they know you are not currently a customer and they have started the hunt wth their hypnotic illusion of customer service. Don't be fooled - they will revert to normal service levels when they have you all locked in to a contract for every conceivable communication service available ;-)
AnswerID:
179595
Follow Up By: Member - JohnR (Vic)&Moses - Wednesday, Jun 21, 2006 at 09:56
Wednesday, Jun 21, 2006 at 09:56
G'day Moggs, you are becoming cynical aren't you at that response. Not that you are with a big company. LOL Looks like you know all about the KZ though. That the tenants? I guess not mate.
Hope the family are
well and the GU is going
well too. Know they are pretty good, only normal servicing with
mine every time, so the dealer tells me anyway. If I have to talk with them on anything it is usually done quickly and quietly. Go the GU mate.
Hope to see you this way before too long, not sure if I would like camping in the frost of the High Country just at the moment. We have had a couple here but not too bad that way. Think Crazie and Kir liked the district but better at times other than winter.
FollowupID:
435836
Follow Up By: Moggs - Thursday, Jun 22, 2006 at 21:36
Thursday, Jun 22, 2006 at 21:36
Hi
John, LOL, not the tenants, at the moment its the relationshup managers at th banks that are fully in the KZ - can't wait to 30 June is done and dusted.
amily are all good - trying to see them sometimes inbetween hiding outin the garage working on the new 4wd. The GU is sensational - wish I'd done it years ago! Really wish I did it before summer though - am going crazy not being able to get out in the HC with it. Hopefully I'll get a good run out of the GU like you have.
Would love to catch up down your way. Ads reckons its sensational down that way- actually is a part of Vic we are yet to explore - roll on spring. He did mention it was pretty cold though! LOL
Hope all is
well with you, Heather and the fam. Speak soon
FollowupID:
436141
Reply By: ellmcg - Wednesday, Jun 21, 2006 at 08:03
Wednesday, Jun 21, 2006 at 08:03
Yes, Telstra are definitely a lot nicer to other carrier's customers.
About a month ago my housemate moved out and disconnected the phone, which was with Optus. When I rang Telstra to get it connected again (with them), they waived the reconnection fee!
AnswerID:
179602
Reply By: Member - MrBitchi (QLD) - Wednesday, Jun 21, 2006 at 08:15
Wednesday, Jun 21, 2006 at 08:15
Hijack thread........
Recently switched from iPrimus (a Telstra reseller) to Optus as I had Cable broadband installed. The bundle from Optus includes local loop phone line which runs over their broadband cable.
Got a bill from Telstra the other day;- $8 for the privelidge of being allowed to leave their network with my number intact..... Bastards....
And to top it off, we had to postpone the Optus install for a week as Telstra hadn't got around to processing the changover request, despite having three weeks notice!
Will I ever have a Telstra phone again? Not if I can help it ;-P
AnswerID:
179607
Reply By: Pajman Pete (SA) - Wednesday, Jun 21, 2006 at 08:28
Wednesday, Jun 21, 2006 at 08:28
Wow.
This could be a real problem. I rely on the 10 to 15 minutes on hold to get work done while the elevator music plays on the speaker phone. Do I now have to think out my arguments before I pick up the phone? Thanks for nothing Telstra.
I also really hate the systems that have the local radio station as music on hold. There must be some sensing system that can tell when a song finally comes on that you like so that the operator cut in 10 seconds into the tune!
Pete
AnswerID:
179610
Reply By: bruce - Wednesday, Jun 21, 2006 at 10:47
Wednesday, Jun 21, 2006 at 10:47
When our system goes faulty , which thankfully is not often....I just casually mention that I am an ex employee and know what is wrong and how to fix it ,...seems to work real good...cheers
AnswerID:
179630
Reply By: ellmcg - Wednesday, Jun 21, 2006 at 12:19
Wednesday, Jun 21, 2006 at 12:19
And time for another hijacking...
Is anyone else on Telstra Pre-paid with their mobile? Last time I bought more credit I noticed that they have severely reduced the time one's credit is valid for! It is now only 2 months with $30 credit instead of 6 months etc etc
That almost makes it worthwhile going back on to a plan - which is REALLY annoying since I just got a 2nd phone through work since I can't track call costs on the pre-paid! I could have just gone back to a plan and had 1 decent CDMA phone instead of 1 antique CDMA and 1 some other cruddy network!
Any new ideas on how to wrought the system?
AnswerID:
179647