We were sent a letter on the 26th September letting us know that there would be a delay getting our phone connected at our new place. At that stage, our neighbours across the way (KarenB from these forums) had already been moved in for several weeks.
It's now 2 months later, and we STILL do not have a phone connection. Last we heard a technician was supposed to be out here on Tuesday but never arrived. We've been trying repeatedly to get hold of ANYONE at Telstra who can tell us anything at all. It appears that there is only ONE person in all of Telstra who can tell us anything about our situation, and she is perpetually unavailable. We have a direct number to her and yet it doesn't matter when you ring it diverts straight to her voicemail which is always full. How is it possible that a Telstra customer service employee can have LIMITED voicemail capacity?? Worse than that, the last two times I've called the number, an automated message simply says "Goodbye" and hangs up!!
Of course, we have our mobile phones with 3 and have mountains of call cap, so it's not the end of the world as far as the phone goes. However, I run a web development business from home and NEED internet. I'm currently using my mobile for internet, which is ok for email, but not for doing actual work. Telstra's Customer Service Guarantee only applies to landlines, and whilst they offer a temporary service, it is not possible to use it for internet. So I'm kinda stuck not really being able to work! Not that they care!
Speaking of their CSG. They offer compensation if they take beyond 5-20 days to connect your service (depending on where you live)....with a couple of conditions.
1. you are not able to claim compensation if you are offered and accept an "interim telephone service"
2. you are not able to claim compensation if you are offered and refuse an "interim telephone service"
Well, DUH! So basically Telstra can offer $15 a day compensation, but they just add a clause which basically makes it impossible for anyone to ever make a claim....ever.
So now we're stuck waiting... we've emailed, we've called, we've left messages with other reps... and we haven't heard back! What really ticks me off is that Telstra must've known for months and months that there was insufficient capacity on the Tarneit/Hoppers exchange, and yet hadn't started doing anything about it until Septemeber.
GAH!