Monday, April 16, 2012

Apology Letter (Or Rather lack there of)

Feb 16 2012 we were promised an apology letter (again. Seeing the one from August last year never showed up.)

It's now April 16 2012.

Still no apology letter. No "customer resolutions" letter either.

We may no longer be customers but we still want that apology, Telstra. Not too much to ask for after what you've put us through surely. My voice is getting heard - word of mouth is a powerful tool.

There is something wrong with your systems. Fix it. Don't tell me "I'll pass that feedback on." Don't give me that fake"I apologise." You need to take the 2 or 3 CSRs I spoke to who cared and actually did mean it when they apologised and get them to train the rest of them who liked to tell me "It's impossible."

If it was so impossible then why was I on the phone with the packaging in my hands addressed to a dead man?

But, I guess I am expecting too much waiting for an apology letter to come from a company who never could actually remove a dead man from an account. Despite the account being closed and opened with a completely new account number.

But, I think I'll just let the ombudsman know that we still don't have the apology letter. I'm sure you'll appreciate that. You can't really send a 'customer resolutions letter' as we're no longer customers. Adam Internet have treated us far far better than you ever did.

Sunday, April 8, 2012

Broken Promises

My housemate lost her partner to a battle with cancer on Sept 2nd 2010.

Telstra were notified of his loss very soon after it happened and the account was closed. Lee opened a new account in her name.

This is where the hell with Telstra began. We trusted them, and it wasn't until Feb we started keeping a record of each and every call.  You'll be horrified at how long it took them to fix our issues, which were numerous.

  • Took 12 months to remove "Welcome Kevin" from the homepage. 
  • Took 2 replacement modems to fix the technical problems (6 months and at least 12 or more hours of my time on the phone.)
  • Took 2 tboxes to get one that worked
  • Gave up on the thub after the 3rd replacement failed as well
  • SIX packages out of 9 were sent in Kevins name - the last one being on March 2nd 2012. (Despite me calling every single time and being promised it would never happen again)
  • Lost a $200 payment (partly my fault on that one) and sent a cheque to an address I haven't lived at for over 4 years.

On March 2 2011 Telstra finally agreed to let us out of the contract without fees. I am very grateful to that CSR for actually listening to me instead of the patronising 'I apologise. It shouldn't have happened. It will never happen again.' (I wish I had just $1 for every time I heard that from them.)

It's a good thing we have Yogi Da Cavachon to help with the stress relief. We'd be insane by now if not for that gorgeous puppy.

Saturday, April 7, 2012

Life After Telstra

So, I rang Adam and told them that we wanted to start a new account.

It was so great to be talking to someone in my state. I made him laugh because I said "I'm coming home. I've MISSSSED you guys!!"

Told him about Telstra and what they'd done. He was mortified. He said how he used to be a team leader for them and it was shocking some of the things they do. It's one of the reasons he left.

Asked my name and I said actually it's going to be in Lee's name but she hates talking to you guys after what Telstra has put her through. So, I handed her the phone and said 'be nice.'

I listend to their one sided conversation for a while and smiled because she was laughing and joking around with him. Which was SO damn good to see instead of her going white and getting more and more annoyed.

After she hangs up she tells me he felt so bad about what Telstra did he knocked $50 off the connection fee. Hear that Telstra? You offered 1 month free and I had to ASK for it.

Adam gave it to us because they wanted to! We didn't ask - we never would have even thought of asking.

But, I tell you what it made Lee happy. Our service is so much better. SO much better! It's quicker, and when I do have to call tech support I don't have any trouble understanding people who are a 15 minute drive from where I am. (Had to call them to figure out how to set up the voip).

So, after all this time it's finally over.

Oh, no apology letter ever arrived. We got the bill for the $300 owing to Telstra though - which isn't showing the goodwill gesture of one month. I am waiting to get the termination notice saying we owe $900 though. I look forward sending that to the ombudsman. I did ring them one last time to tell them that we never recieved the apology letter and to update them on the situation.

I really really want that apology letter. Not a resolutions letter. An apology letter. For the rotten hell they have put us all through the past several months. It's nice that they've wanted Kev to live on and never be forgotten. The thing is Kev will never be forgotten. He was loved and cherished by too many for that to ever happen.

However, I tense up and get so annoyed when Telstra is mentioned - even just in passing. I just feel this ball of rage building. It's funny they say you give good customer service and the customer will tell 3 people. You give bad customer service and they'll tell 10. I think you give horrific service that goes on for months and don't do anything about fixing the situation - and they'll tell everyone they meet AND write a blog on the internet.

So there you go. We are free of Telstra now service wise but they're still upsetting me. However, knowing that we are with such a great caring company makes me very happy. We love you Adam. Never change!