A member named xero at DancingMokey aired his frustrations about Telstra today...
A letter I'm sending to Australian Telstra Monday by registered mail. If anyone can make this more ridiculous, please do.
To Accounts Payable
Invoice for inconvenience and frustration on December 12 2008.
Seventy Five minutes on phone to Telstra 132200 4:30pm 5:45pm @ $10 per minute $750
Warning $1000 with disconnection on next redirection starting at 5:10pm December 12 2008 2 x $1000 $2000
Total phone calls to 132200 on December 12 2008 @ $40 per call 5 x $40 $200
Typing letter to Telstra and sending by Registered Mail $1000 1 x $1000
Total amount due $3950
This invoice is due immediately.
To avoid late fees of $4000 per day (Four Thousand dollars per day) please pay by 20/12/2008
Please be warned that any future calls to and regarding the matter of phone number xxxxxxxxxx by xxxxxxxxxx to Telstra on 132200 will be charged at $50,000,(Fifty Thousand Dollars) per call.
Further Charges relating to said call
Answering a voice robot $20,000 (Twenty Thousand Dollars) per answer
Waiting time $5000 (Five Thousand Dollars) per minute
Speaking to human, $1000 (One Thousand Dollars) per minute.
Getting redirected to an office closed, we are not available blah blah blah or disconnected $100,000. (One Hundred Thousand Dollars)
Typing letters to Telstra $5000 (Five Thousand Dollars) per Keystroke.
These charges become effective 12pm on 20/12/2008
On December 12 2008 at approximately 4:30pm I called 132200 to cancel a mobile phone when I noticed the bill had risen from a $20plan to a $30 plan.
In all 5 calls were made between 4:30pm and 5:30pm
First three calls I was redirected to office closed or disconnected.
Fourth call I get a joker who said don’t disconnect the phone we’ll refund the money and change to $10 plan or some such nonsense. This was not to my satisfaction as I had explained to him that these calls to Telstra were being charged at $10 per minute and at that time, they owed me $400 but if he were to give me that as a credit I might accept his offer. He rejected on this saying he could not do that. He redirected me somewhere else and low and behold I was cut off again.
My last call at 5:30pm gets an operator on the Gold Coast whom I explained to in great detail the situation and that I would not be redirected again as I would get Office closed or cut off and she would have to deal with it.
I was put on hold for an eternity and when she finally came back she informed me it would cost me $720+ to cancel as I was on a contract. I was totally shocked by this and explained that Telstra had changed my plan. Did they have a voice recording of me changing the plan or a signature? Her reply to this was, only you can change this with a pin number or your name and birthday.
I explained that I don’t think I have a pin number and then realized, WTF, anyone knowing your name and birth date can ring up Telstra and change your details.
I then said to operator that the system has a major flaw in that anyone knowing this information can call Telstra and change your plan.
She then said I need the fraud squad and would redirect me, and low and behold I get an answering machine with a please leave your name and number as Office closed at approximately 5:45pm.
Now here is the F%^&*()g deal. I have had this phone for approximately 10 years on a twenty dollar plan and as you can see (Check my records) I have hardly ever used said phone (Check my records).
In the past year I would have used it maybe a handful of times, if that. (Check my records).
I live in an area where there is no F%^&*!g reception unless you are on the Next G Network, (Allora Queensland, Check it out,) They don’t work here so why would I change my plan to anything different especially up.
Wouldn’t you go the other way if there were one.
I want this b/s finished with forthwith and will not pay another cent referring to said phone.
You can shove your Telstra were the sun does not shine. Also cancel my broadband connection as I do not use it either. It is on a contract and as you have a very flawed system which starts at the very lowest level 132200 (which should be a free call. Must make Telstra millions a year as it just cost me $2.50) and then we have your useless site Bigpond.com which is impossible to get onto once your broadband connection is shaped to 64k because the first page is so F$%^&*g large. (Check it out at 64k) It’s pathetic.
Please feel free to deduct any monies owing by me from above Invoice.
Signed
I replied with the following...
I had similar problems with Telstra recently, with a mobile phone & plan that i've had for around 15 years. They've been having problems with the new computer system they've installed apparently. I received a $1000 mobile phone bill 2 weeks ago, and nobody could explain what the 'service' charges were for. Apparently they've now reversed it after i threatened to change companies. I went to a Telstra shop & abused them in front of other Customers - that's the only way i got it sorted out. That 132200 number kept dropping out on me too. I'm now anxiously waiting for the updated phone bill otherwise i'll send a similar invoice to Telstra for wasting my time.
You're right though, Xero - Telstra OWN the whole show, so everyone gets raped by them !!
