Okay. This is a rant.
Telstra are bastards.
I have a long standing dislike of Telstra. In my experiecne they have an extremely aggressive corporate culture in the upper echelons, and a lazy culture in the lower echelons typified by their ‘1980’s government worker’ stereotype, even though they are no longer a government entity.
Today’s outburst comes from my most recent brush with the bastards from Telstra.
All my telecommunications accounts — mobile, home phone, broadband (we don’t have cable TV) are with Optus. However, I wanted to get a new business phone line put into my house. Unfortunately Optus only has a single line into each house, so to get a second line, Optus had to rent another line from Telstra — and this meant that the bastards from Telstra had to be involved. The problems started when I received confirmation that the phone had been connected, but obviously wasn’t — there was no dial tone.
I returned from work today to find a card in my letter box saying that someone — let’s call him Steve because that was what was written on the card — from Telstra had come regarding the line. Firstly, Steve had not phoned in advance to say that he was coming. Secondly, someone WAS home at the time and did not hear any knock at the door. If Steve had approached the door, our dogs would have barked. Obviously Steve did not even enter our property.
This situation only confirms my extremely low opinion of Telstra. This is why I do not have my phone accounts with Telstra and I am disappointed that I am having to deal with them.
The card left in the letter box identified a Telstra phone number to ring (13 2203). However, because no phone number had yet been allocated for the new line, and the connection was through Optus, they were unable to help me.
Another phone call to Optus (Denis was getting to know me now) and Telstra were again set with the task of identifying the fault. Again they called unannounced at the home, and this time no one was there so again they left their calling card.
A third phone call to my friendly guy at Optus and again Telstra were sent out to investigate. This time I made sure that they would call me before coming to test the line. The Telstra guy finally identified that their line had been cut at the property boundry. To make matters worse, their line had been laid along the surface of the ground and had been damaged. It needs replacing and apparently it is my responsibility because any lines on a property are the owner’s responsibility.
Three tries, numerous phone calls and wasted time, and the problem has now been identified, but not yet resolved. Wouldn’t it have been much easier if Steve had knocked on the door the first time around?
As I said, Telstra are bastards.
Did you know this article is the top link for Google when you search for “Telstra bastards”? 🙂
And I totally agree…
I HAVE TO PUT UP WITH THESE ASSHOLES FOR THE NEXT TWO YEARS BECAUSE OF A TABLET THEY SENT ME
Telstra are scamming bastards
I had to phone Telstra today and while in que the frustration of just getting to the que from the animated operator was too much. Finally after waiting 10 minutes I eventually got to a ‘real’ operator by the name of Sky – She repeated her name 3 times “Hello this is Sky how can I help you?†I tried to answer then she repeated herself. What raised the frustrations to the Google level was she hung up! Now I have to go through the animated operator procedure again, constantly repeating myself as ‘it’ won’t recognise my accent.
I can’t even spell out what my inquire is about using the Phonetic Alphabet (www.goarmy.com/life/basic/army_alphabet.html)
I have to get some steam out. so I Googled. Telstra are bastards and Michael is right. 1st Hit in Google!
It would be interesting to know how many hits you get just on this Telstra rant?
Thanks, I feel much better now ïŠ
Telstra cut my 2 land lines off because I didn’t pay the bill;;TELSTRA had up graded their system and sent my accounts to GOD ONLY KNOWS WHERE,certainly not to my address of 8years. THATS WHY I HADN’T PAID !!I have an impeccable payment history. (or did have).
Rang them and told them I didn’t had not recieved a bill for months. They reconnected, charged me reconnection fee plus late payment fee, even after I was assured that would not happen.
Rang again and complained (very very long distant phone call this one) Have been assured AGAIN,the overcharge has been deducted. hahaha we will see.
I’m staying with them because they need bastards like me to keep them on their toes,I’m not giving in to them.I feel sorry for the workers having to look forward to a job full of complaints.
Telstra constantly break anti competitive laws and don’t give two shits about aussies taking years to switch on adsl 2 not sharing it
making life a nightmare for everyone who just want to get on the net AND IS WILLING TO PAY FOR IT.
Well I think it’s time this attitude was turned around fuck you telstra as soon as other options are available if the government ever forces the monopoly form your dieing hands I’m sure every Aussie would switch services overnight destroying the cynical piece of shit you think is a company a move that would be positive clearing the way for another company to have a go, could they be any worse? unlikely
Brilliant!!!!!! But a Pity!! They Will Just Toss It In The Bin Like Every Other Complaint!!!!
problem after problem after problem with telstra. Takes ages to fix a problem that should NOT be there in the first place.
I agree fully that TELSTRA are absolutely useless when it comes to customer satisfaction. I wish there was some way that they could be made accountable. Many different people complaining about their experiences are a perfect indication of dissatisfaction. FIX THE PROBLEM TELSTRA!!!!!