Another reason to leave Bigpond.

stephenb (Stephen) · #1 28-06-2009, 10:23 PM

Another reason to ditch Bigpond at the end of my worthless contract. It can't come soon enough.

I moved into a new home, to be assured for several weeks prior to the move, that ADSL is available. When we moved, I was then informed "sorry sir, it not available to you now. There are no ports available at your local exchange".

After 2 weeks of my own leg work to the Telecommunications Industry Obudsman and through multiple Telstra/Bigpond departments, I accidentally stumbled upon an internal Telstra Department, who remotely views most of the larger Telstra exchanges via their computer system (someone please confirm if this actually happens!).

This great staff member, spent 2 hours on the phone with my "reassigning" a port to our house, against company policy (he was not allowed to speak directly to a member of the public). He then said that a tech would need to attend to confirm a fault on the line, BUT I did have a port at my local exchange assigned to me!

When the techo arrived 3 days later there was no signal at my house. It turns out Telstra had cancelled my contract. I lost all my built up emails - everything. They just blew my account away and, get this, they could not even tell me who authorised the cancellation. No name, no time, no date.

Another week of ringing finally got my "Bigpond Case Manager" to call me, My account was re-instated and they gave me one months free rental for compensation. Either that or cancel my contract and go elsewhere. They didn't care that I was going to leave them?

And to insult me further, they send me this pro-forma letter, glowingly telling me how they went above and beyond the call of duty to fix the problem for me!!

Anyway, when the contract expires in 2 months time, it's off to another provider for landline, mobiles and internet.

Wavytone · #2 28-06-2009, 10:45 PM

Sad to hear that - though I left hellstra years ago.

I never rely on any ISP to store my email because sooner or later you will want to switch which means cancelling a contract - I've switched 4 times in 5 years. For this reason I signed up long ago to Apple's .Mac (now MobileMe - I also carry an iPhone) on the basis that Apple is likely to be around longer than most of the telcos here. You could say much the same for MSN or GMail.

Take a gander at http://bc.whirlpool.net.au/ before you sign up with any ISP.
I've been on Internode for 2.5 years and they have been perfect.

stephenb (Stephen) · #3 28-06-2009, 10:50 PM

The emails stored (which I lost) were all my communication I received after disconnection from the old house and attempted connection to the new house (about a week). I was assured by Bigpond that the move would be almost seemless.

Anyway, have used the Whirlpools forums for other reasons in the past, so thanks! I have begun to check there also for a new ISP. I actually use my hotmail account more and more these days. I trust them more than BP.

wasyoungonce (Brendan) · #4 28-06-2009, 11:00 PM

A list of DSL ports available (ADSL capacity) is located here..as well as lots of other intersecting stuff:

http://telstrawholesale.com/products...orts-plans.htm

It is updated regularly by Telstra but this list is not widely circulated & known to the public.

Other obstacles are:...for example in my Estate we are on a RIM & I had to canvass for years to get Telstra to upgrade it to DSL capable (unfortunately not all RIMs can be upgraded).

The RIM has about 72 DSL available ports (in an estate of 300+ houses) which quickly went & there is a waiting list for ports.

Situations like this are outlandish given the amount amount of public ownership of Telstra in past decades & their monopoly in Australia.

GrahamL · #5 28-06-2009, 11:28 PM

I gave up on them back in the dial up days.. by the second week I'd had enough.. outside of peak times it was usable ..just .. come 3 oclock
it just wouldn't work .. when I rang to enquire why.. remembering well what the sales staff told me a short while back .. was told oh no the dial up speed mentioned was a maximum you could get .. to do better you will need to choose our premium service

...you know they rang back a month later to ask why I had left

... I politely told the girl that the service you sold me dosn't work most of the time .. to which she replied would you be interrested in our premium service

Glenhuon (Bill) · #6 29-06-2009, 02:20 AM

I am with telstra for the first, and last, time. At the moment my only access is via their wireless broadband. I've had faster and more reliable dialup services. Roll on the day when I have a new home of my own and can go back to Westnet. Premium prices with abysmal service.

Bill

iceman (Mike) · #7 29-06-2009, 04:45 AM

I was with bigpond when I first got ADSL.. they were so much more expensive than everyone else. I also couldn't wait for the contract to end.

Kevnool (Kev) · #8 29-06-2009, 05:30 AM

My Home internet is with Internode for which ive been with them for 5 years with no probs at all.

My wireless 7.2 card is with telstra only because they only transmit on the towers way out west(to my knowledge).

Not a fan of Telstra.

Cheers Kev.

Enchilada · #9 29-06-2009, 06:48 AM

Anyone getting an ADSL/ADSL2 account with Telstra, based solely on my own experiences would absolutely need rocks in their head. Bigpond is fast running out of water, IMO!

They were much better when they were the PMG (Post Master General) - and nicer and easier to deal with too.

Oh. When you cancel the account make sure you insist that you no longer wished to be contacted from them, and include that you will not be interested in coming back to Telstra Bigpond (and/or phone) because of their poor customer service.

This will make the point about poor service you received - hopefully helping them to improve service. Furthermore, it will stop Telstra bugging you to come back to them once you have left.

jjjnettie (Jeanette) · #10 29-06-2009, 07:55 AM

I won't have anything to do with them. Heartless they are.
They didn't want to cancel my dead brothers mobile phone contract. Wanting instead to transfer it over to another family member.

matt · #11 29-06-2009, 08:37 AM

We're ditching Telstra and going over to Naked DSL this Friday. We're going with iinet

Woohooo!!!!!!!!!!!

stephenb (Stephen) · #12 29-06-2009, 08:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jjjnettie

I won't have anything to do with them. Heartless they are.
They didn't want to cancel my dead brothers mobile phone contract. Wanting instead to transfer it over to another family member.

Fair dinkum, that is the lowest of acts for a service provider!

I rang AAPT today. Anyone with them?

RB (Andrew) · #13 29-06-2009, 09:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jjjnettie

I won't have anything to do with them. Heartless they are.
They didn't want to cancel my dead brothers mobile phone contract. Wanting instead to transfer it over to another family member.

Jeanette I just can't believe what I'm reading !!
That is such a low act.

I'm so glad I left them years ago, best thing I did, (and I used to work for Telecom in the exchanges before they became Telstra).

lacad01 (Adam) · #14 29-06-2009, 09:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by glenluceskies

I rang AAPT today. Anyone with them?

I was with AAPT for about four months but ditched them because they had stuffed up the account severely.
- Mispelled my name and hadn't rectified after several calls
- Mispelled the suburb on the address, how hard is it to confirm via the post-code
- I kept getting billed by my previous carrier even though I was assured by AAPT that everything had been transferred over.
- Wasn't until the fourth bill and numerous calls to AAPT that on closer inspection of the account number which lists the phone number, that it was out by 1 digit

. Aargh, I couldn't believe it. Who knows whose account I was paying.
Took about 3 steps up the customer non-service food chain to convey the issue and during the last conversation I warned them I'd be taking my complaint to the telecommunications ombudsman if a resolution wasn't forthcoming. Luckily, I was able to get it sorted on that last call and was reimbursed for all the bills I'd paid.

multiweb (Marc) · #15 29-06-2009, 09:29 AM

All TELCO are the same. They're like banks. IMO you just have to work your way around them. Technically Telstra's ok. Never had any problem with lanlines or mobiles. I'm with Telstra Business. Yeah they're expensive but you get what you pay for. I have used a lot of other suppliers over the years but went back to Telstra. Their customer service is inexistant. You keep ringing and eventually find one good egg who fixes you on the spot. They have no competition so they do and treat people as they see fit. May change in the future hopefully if some real competition is introduced but don't kid yourself thinking you're not using their services by going to another supplier. At the end of the day they control all the lines regardless of the reseller.

Omaroo (Chris Malikoff) · #16 29-06-2009, 09:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by multiweb

All TELCO are the same. They're like banks. IMO you just have to work your way around them. Technically Telstra's ok. Never had any problem with lanlines or mobiles. I'm with Telstra Business. Yeah they're expensive but you get what you pay for. I have used a lot of other suppliers over the years but went back to Telstra. Their customer service is inexistant. You keep ringing and eventually find one good egg who fixes you on the spot. They have no competition so they do and treat people as they see fit. May change in the future hopefully if some real competition is introduced but don't kid yourself you're not using their servicesby going to another supplier. At the end of the day they control all the lines regardless of the reseller.

Spot on Marc.

I run several business accounts and have ALWAYS come back to Telstra - after AAPT, iiNet, Optus and Virgin seriously dropped the ball. Their coverage (mobiles) was hopeless, and Telstra give you the best whether you like to think so or not. Their business division has been very good to and for our company - the others don't rate when it comes to high-speed and reliable internet backbone communications supply and support. Sad, isn't it.

There will always be a lot of people with bad experiences (Jeanette - yours tops the bill - that's a pathetic way to treat your family), but at ther end of the day there are NO GOOD CARRIERS in this country - only those that are happy to let you think that you've made the right decision to go to them.... for a while. If our lot here went into the USA with their current business practices, they'd be broke in no time at all considering the competition over there.

Robert9 (Robert) · #17 29-06-2009, 09:35 AM

That's terrible Stephen. I've been with Optus for many years and have all services with them. Cable internet service is excellent. Would recommend seeing if you can get a package deal.
Robert

BerrieK · #18 29-06-2009, 09:37 AM

We have been having trouble with incorrect telstra mobile bills of late. Frank went into the telstradealer (yes I know its just a franchise) where he set the phone up...had witnesses of the conversation the girl had with the 'big' customer service plods on the end of the line, and we were still overbilled by almost 500 bucks.

I have also been disgusted with their customer service plods who ring you to ask you to change your plan - there was a bushfire in the valley just below our house a few years ago when the kids and I got home from a day out; the RFS were attending; I politely told the bloke on the phone it was not convenient for me to use the phone when he rang and why, and the idiot suggested that it would only take 5 minutes of my time and that our phone plans were of great importance. I (not very politely) explained what a plod he was and hung up. Sheesh, I know these people are just doing what they are trained to for their jobs but fair dinkum a bit of common sense wouldnt hurt anybody ervery now and again.

Jeanette what they suggested to your family is truly disgusting.

[end rant]

BerrieK · #19 29-06-2009, 09:43 AM

Hmmn despite my grievences we are still with Telstra for internet, mobiles and home. I have to (admit that I) agree with Marc and Chris - the carriers are all the same when it comes to customer service. You may be lucky and get someone whe cares and with common sense one day, and a robot the next.

Kerrie

multiweb (Marc) · #20 29-06-2009, 09:49 AM

Last week I had a hell of a week trying to fix my bills as they've over billed me when I rolled over three mobiles plans. It went nowhere for 4 days ringing straight but I eventually got to someone who fixed me on the spot. They back tracked all the bills, re-credited and are now giving me 50% off mobile to any mobile rate. So if you're consistent, persistent, stay polite and yes, at times bite your tongue it can go a long way.