Phones, Phone Lines, Internet, NBN, Companies, Service, And All THAT!!!!

[katydidthat]

Share your stories, your dramas, your complaints, comments and compliments.  

Recommendations welcome.  

Explanations even more welcome.  

[katydidthat]

This discussion started a while back when I posted a thread about the internet.  A lot of people helped, but I still haven't a clue what to do.  Anyway, in the last day or so the conversation started again in a different and totally unrelated thread and I was asked to move it to a new place 🙂

So ... here it is.  And a bit wider than my needs.  

[cueperkins]

Not because I'm not interested Katy, just because it was getting confusing going from politics to telecommunications....or is that the same thing?  Plenty of politics around telecommunications these days.

They all tell tall stories especially Telltale - aka Telstra - This is how we 'don't connect' Wireless.  Don't get me started on their OS customer services.  Last time it took 4.5 hours and 8 customer service reps to get my account refreshed.  *Engage Primal Scream mode*.

[donnashuggy]

Next time my internet goes down I am going to upgrade to Bigpond Ultimate High Speed Broadband.

My niece is here from Nimbin and she pays $7.95 per month for unlimited internet - I can't remember the name but when she gets back from the zoo I will ask her.

[cueperkins]

Is that wireless or ADSL Donna?  Contract involved? or pay as you go?

[katydidthat]

I know, Cue.  I can't begin to tell you of my dramas with a couple of other phone companies.  I don't know what it is ... I have sensible calm conversations with my gas and electricity providers ... but so many phone and net firms leave me screaming and hanging up.  

I've been with one bank for the last 20 years, and 5 (at least) phone companies.  

[cueperkins]

It's no longer about what the customer wants Katy, or how we wish to purchase a service.  I can't bear the thought of using Telltale if there's any possibility that I can give them the flick. 

[*crikey*mate*]

After 3 years of really dodgy compulsory Wireless Internet with a cap of 15GB a month (It took T 2 years to accept that the actual model of the modem was faulty after someone from here on CS worked out the problem from Interstate, and communicated with T and I via Conference Call before they listened and investigated and then it took them another 6 months and three other modems after that before they recalled it, -  so we used to go through that 15GB in a week max)

(and T then had nothing to replace that modem with, so my Interstate mate supplied me with one of their modems on behalf of T (they sent him a Sierra to simulate an exchange of sorts) to get us through until now - and then we were able to make it last 2 weeks if we were really frugal) 

Every fortnight, it'd take me hours fighting with Telstra, telling me there was something wrong, as I had usage meters on each of our devices, and we simply weren't using what they said we were - but they were adamant that we were. The stuff we did in that 2 years and the money we spent trying to fix it was insane!

 I've finally got ADSL2 - 250GB a month (there's a wire to the modem, but then everything else in the house works wirelessly) for $20 less than we were paying for the wireless system, and we get free local and STD calls as well as free calls between 4 mobiles on the same account as well as between home and the mobiles.

So, no more dongles - and we should never ever run out of internet - and even if we do - for another $20 a month, I can get an additional 250GB!

*happy dance*

[katydidthat]

I hear you, Crikey.  For years I stayed with T despite lousy customer service and incredibly high prices because I felt I was supporting the Australian Public Service and Australian jobs.  Then I had enough ... but I'm finding the opposition is not much better.  

Who are you with now?

[cueperkins]

Telltale BS thru their eye teeth on those USB modems. 

For a start they hit the market with 32 bit firmware, after most computers were operating on 64bit.  Nobody knew this of course and the glitches it caused almost sent me crazy until I googled it and found that thousands of other people were having the same problems as me.  They were selling outdated hardware to the prepaid marketplace with no information at the time that users had to upgrade. 

That's how much contempt they have for prepaid customers they can't con into a contract.  Like who'd sign one with no guarantee of reliability?

On top of that their Broadband Manager program is so flawed you have to ring them every time you refresh your account to get it to charge at the right rate. 8 CS reps later...who wouldn't be wanting blood?  They're HOPELESS.