Telstra : You Suck!

Lest there be the slightest degree of confusion, this is an open complaint to Telstra which is circulated throughout cyberspace in the hope that they get the message.  I've been a loyal customer for many years but it seems that loyalty is only a one-way street.

For 2 years, I used a post-paid plan on an iPhone 3.  About 2 months after the contract expired (i.e. I then owned the old-technology phone), I chose to buy a new, unbanded phone and insert and activate a Telstra SIM card.  At the same time, I opted to change from post-paid to a prepaid plan, all of which had to be arranged via your call centre in The Philippines.

After activating the SIM through the call centre, I was told to buy a recharge so that I can use the phone as soon as possible, though I should wait about half an hour for the change of payment plan to be recorded.  I duly bought a recharge voucher and, after a wait of about half an hour, tried to use Telstra's 1258888 number to record the payment.  This is where all my problems began because I was unable to effect the recharge - I heard a recorded message that accused me of not using a Telstra mobile to make the call!  WTF?

Rang your Filipino call centre and was told that my plan changeover might be delayed by all the extra phone connections that have happened since Christmas Day. Accordingly, I should wait 4 hours, from the time of my first call to them, before making a further attempt to record the recharge payment.

When I called them, some 4.5 hours later, the story had changed to 24 hours and, as this is inconveniencing me, they would record the recharge voucher for me.  They duly noted the voucher number and said that the payment was now recorded but, as the plan changeover hadn't occurred yet, I was still on the post-paid plan so would have all the facilities that I'd enjoyed with the previous phone.

After a further 25 hours had elapsed and I was still not on the new plan, I rang the Filipino call centre yet again.  On this occasion I was told that it can take up to FOUR WORKING DAYS to change the payment plan!  This time I exploded because it was then clear to me that nobody in that call centre has the slightest clue about what they're supposed to be telling your customer!  It'd be really nice if Telstra actually provided them with some training and standardisation but, of course, you might only contemplate that if you had any regard at all for your loyal customers!

So then, on the basis that I'd been further inconvenienced, they offered to credit my account with an extra $30.  I didn't really need it but it was offered so I took it though I doubted that it would make any difference to my plan change.

The cynic within me is forced to conclude that, because I didn't buy a phone from Telstra, you now have the right to stuff me around for as long as you like.  This would not be a good move for an organisation that seems to need good public relations.  Indeed, this blog might tell you that you're already on the receiving end of some very bad publicity but, then, I'm sure you have a great deal of experience with that sort of publicity.

I continue to await your pleasure in changing over my plan though it needs to be said that my phone enjoys NONE of the data privileges of my post-paid plan, so it would seem that you have already been stuffing me around for too long.  Will it require me to lodge a complaint with the ACCC, or perhaps "A Current Affair", before you give me some service?  For now, Telstra, you suck.