4th October 2009, near Duck Hole Lake.
A harsh sentiment, but they have easily earned it. I am only speaking from my experience.
I pay bills. Most of them are good; I see what I owe for something that I’ve used and I pay for it. Telstra are the only service (service! We should invent a new term for Telstra – disservice perhaps) that I’ve ever had trouble with. I used to have my land line with them. Some of the problems were:
* Charges for things that weren’t used or didn’t happen, for example, one bill was for disconnection and then reconnection. I had never been disconnected, or asked if I wanted to be reconnected; the first mention of anything relating to disconnection / reconnection was in the bill.
* Higher than normal charges for the month that I was away on holiday – no calls made at all.
* Two times they put me on a different service that I didn’t want or ask for. Of course, it was a more expensive service. It took a lot of effort on my part to get them to change it. They only changed it when I demanded proof that I’d requested it. They did not refund the extra that I had paid in the meantime, for a service I did not use.
The above reasons are just part of the nightmare. Each time I contacted them to find out what was going on, I was passed from person to person with no clear answers and nobody taking responsibility for trying to resolve whatever issue it was at the time (there was always an issue). Something that should have been resolved in five minutes usually took one and a half hours and would end in me being frustrated and angry and simply giving up. Once I was just trying to find out how much I owed on a bill – it wasn’t clear; I was given three different answers from three different departments. I gave up, again, and simply deposited too much money in the account to cover any eventuality. This wasn’t ideal because I didn’t trust them in the least.
Eventually I changed to a different company. It has been eight months of bliss. Even though the line rental is $10 more each month I’m actually paying less! And there is nothing unusual in the bills; all is as it should be. Normal.
But….one month ago, seven months after leaving Telstra, they sent me another bill. $178.00, with no explanation. Dreading any more contact with them, the Satanic company, I contacted the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO). The TIO was created mainly because of Telstra. This leads me to the whole purpose of this post – to divulge this information to any other frustrated Telstra, ummmm, customers? Victims? We’re probably known as “Woodys” within Telstra. They took my complaint, gave me a case number, told me to contact Telstra and mention the case number. To go through the complaint process I had to give Telstra a chance to resolve the issue. As soon as I had the case number I knew things would be resolved quickly. And they were – I talked to just one person. He couldn’t find any reason for the charge. He couldn’t even tell me how it was generated or from what area or person. He wiped everything. I asked several times if this was the end of it, and was assured it was. So, there is my advice.
However, two weeks ago I received another bill from Telstra. This time the bill came with an explanation; the charge was $11.00 for not paying my previous bill of $178.00 
And, if that isn’t insane enough, they even quoted the TIO case number relating to the wrongful bill and the subsequent resolution!
Note: Woodie / Woody - (car sales) one who is easily duped; naive customer; one who gives in easily in the bargaining
Popularity: 16% [?]
