Ben Boyle lives here!

Big pain in the Pond

Today I got bill shock. Well, not bill shock exactly. More like, quota shock. Here's my email to BigPond's contact us form.

I wish to make a number of complaints.

I am a wireless customer. I have just reached the end of 12 months so the price for all plans has doubled. Due to situations explained in this email, I am set to embark on this second year paying $90 for 2.5 GB for this first month. I am extremely unhappy.

Complaint #1: I wish to complain about the high prices. At half price, the plans were at the high end of broadband pricing. At regular price, now, they are ridiculously high.

I have limited choice in broadband provider. ADSL is unavailable at my residence, due to a technology blocker (pair gain). Telstra have not fixed this in the years I have lived here (since 2000) and BigPond profit as a result by charging a premium for wireless broadband. Complaint #2: pair gain system still limiting my choice in broadband. Complaint #3: BigPond not offering discounts to customers suffering due to technology limitations with Telstra infrastructure

So having just entered the second year as a BigPond customer, knowing this would cost more, I switched down to the 5 GB plan. Someone at your end chose this time to link my BigPond and Telstra mobile accounts, with the result two days were shaved from my last month (ended yesterday, 24 October). Complaint #4: don't merge accounts (for simplicity on your end) at the customer's expense.

Because of this account merge, my usage meter — which I check regularly — was saying the monthly period was September 27 to October 25. I assumed this was inclusive and today (25 October) learned it was not. Thinking today would be my last day before changing to the 5 GB plan, I left Steam to download a new game. This morning I learned that 2.5 GB has already been consumed from my new (5 GB) quota. I hoped it would download the files from the (unmetered) gamearena steam server. Apparently this was not the case. Complaint #5: get the gamearena steam server working so customer's can benefit from unmetered content.

All of this has made me very disappointed with the service. Can you do anything to help me? Here's a summary of those complaints and the actions I would like to see in response.

Complaint #1: I wish to complain about the high prices.
Action: please offer better prices!

Complaint #2: pair gain system still limited my choice in broadband.
Action: remove the pair gain (or please explain to me why I suffer pair gain, and when — if ever — this situation will be resolved!)

Complaint #3: BigPond not offering discounts to customers suffering due to technology limitations with Telstra infrastructure
Action: offer me a discount! Broadband costs me so much more because of this pair gain :(

Complaint #4: don't merge accounts at the customer's expense.
Action: don't shave days off account/quota, add days on. Make this a win:win situation for customers, not an opportunity to steal a few more bucks.
Action: reset my quota for October-November. I lost 2+ GB because of you ended the last billing period prematurely. Don't make it cost me this month's quota.

Complaint #5: get the gamearena steam server working so customer's can benefit from unmetered content
Action: Unmetered content is used as a major selling point on BigPond, start delivering on the promise! I've read gamearena can't control the steam server. I don't care about excuses. Fix it!

In much anticipation of your reply, by which I will judge whether I can remain a BigPond/Telstra customer. Between my wife and I, we have 2 iPhones, a home phone and Internet. We've taken it all away before and can do so again — it's painful though. Here's a prime opportunity to help a customer and win some loyalty.

Hoping you can offer us a reason to stay.

With Left 4 Dead 2 (another big download + gaming time) due out 17 November, I hope something good happens to allow me to enjoy the Internet. $90 a month for 5 GB though, it's just too expensive. Is it time to move house? Somewhere with broadband, like say, California?

Labels: broadband, customer service, tiny rant

•  andrew said:

  That's the pits. I'm sorry to hear it. I hope Telstra take some action to rectify this for you. If not, let me know, I can bring you the files later in the month.

• The chance for comments is gone. Shame, 1 is never enough.

Now a Telstra customer

Luckily I never got that 3 Internet key for mobile broadband, nor the $20 Telstra phone plan, because Christine and I have opted for something much more fun: iPhones!

And yes, they are with Telstra, which let's us get Internet access via NextG when VirginBroadband@Home plays up (due to congestion on Optus 3G according to Whirlpool forums). That makes it our third wireless Internet carrier. Third time lucky?

Proof of identity was still a little troublesome, but a birth certificate, 18+ card and credit card got me through. I avoided the Telstra shop and went to NextByte — the friendly local (next door to work) mac experts!

Labels: broadband, gadgets, iphone

•  Andrew said:

  Hmmmm..... gone over to the "Dark" side I see.
  
  You will have to give us a full report ( and demo) when we catch up in a couple of weeks.
  
  What is the phone bill like?

•  Ben said:

  I haven't received a bill yet.
  
  "Dark side" is an interesting comment. I find the poor coverage on other carriers has left me "in the dark" more often ;)

• The chance for comments is gone. Shame, 2 is never enough.

Customer service disasters

August has been a busy month for us. Yes, in just one month we have enjoyed all this fun!

• I ordered 3 mobile broadband. I waited at home all day for delivery. Nobody turned up. I rang them and was told I had not supplied enough identification (even though I had filled out their arduous online signup form completely). I could scan and email (or fax) further identification, and then wait at home another whole day for delivery. No thanks.

• Our dishwasher played up. We called Electrolux to come and look. They couldn’t make an appointment time any sooner than two weeks later (two weeks washing dishes, ugh). The service guy got sick so they cancelled the appointment and rebooked for a time an additional two weeks later. We tried another company, Drac Services. They didn’t show up and told my wife she hadn’t been home when she rang to query. Turned out they’d gone to the wrong customer. Booked another time. Finally made it to our house a couple of days later. Five minutes to assess the problem ($70): motor burn out. Said it would be an easy fix, like pick it up and return the next day ($370). Didn’t pick it up until after the weekend. Didn’t return it for another two weeks after we rang to complain (twice). Charged more than $370 when additional GST slipped in there, even though we’d been told it was included in quote — which is their legal obligation. Haven’t paid them yet — hey, it has only been one week!

• Last week, twice the go card readers have flashed red when I ‘touched off’. I interpret this as not working, so I swipe the card again. Both times this has resulted in an extra $5 charge, followed by a call to Translink to get the money credited back to my go card. Which takes 10 working days. Too bloody slow, Translink. I’m still watching my go card account, where is my credit?

• Transferred a mobile phone, still under contract, to my wife. Ticked the boxes to transfer the commitment (new owner continues to pay contract). Billed $112 for “phone payout”. Three phone calls to Virgin Mobile to fix this. Standard answer from call centre staff is “We pass it on to the billing department. Call back in 10 days.” Oh, and of course, “No, you can’t talk to the billing department. We’re not allowed to do that.” On third call, ranted a bit. Threatened TIO and backcharging. Have been told it’s fixed. I am watching activity on my bank account very closely…

• The oyster light was not working in one of our four new ceiling fans. Electrician struggled to install them and recommended using a knife to prise off the glass covers. We couldn’t get the cover off to fix the light ourselves. Went back to Beacon Lighting to complain. Said they’d come check it that week. We called them the following week and they finally came around, and couldn’t remove the light cover without a hammer. Waiting on a replacement oyster light. Have light working with cover removed. Looks ugly.

• Decided to give Telstra a go for wireless broadband. After years of resentment that their landline quality is so poor we get substandard dialup and are blocked from ADSL. Worked out the maths and it is cheaper to bundle with a $20/month phone plan than buy BigPond wireless alone. Went into a Telstra shop yesterday to pick up a $20 plan. Seemed so easy until “We don’t accept 18+ cards as primary identification. We need your passport or birth certificate.” Stunned. Tried online signup for a laugh — where I learned they don’t even accept a birth certificate. It is impossible for me to identify myself adequately to Telstra online. However, I did note Telstra do accept a ‘Shooters License’. Tempting…

• Our washing machine was playing up. Still under (extended) warranty. Rang Horizon (Good Guys) and they can’t find our records. Washing machine broke yesterday — it does not turn on. Washing piling up quickly. You try it with a family of 6 (2 adults, 1 teenager, 3 kiddlies). Can’t call them until Monday. This is going to go well…

Labels: broadband, customer service

•  MuzeKez said:

  Oh bro..! So much bad customer service in so little time. :-( Sorry to hear that everything seems to be breaking / not working / not happening at the same time. I hope that it all gets sorted soon without too much more chasing up on your part. If I lived closer I'd come and pick up all your washing and do it for you!!

•  Ben said:

  Virgin mobile have billed me correctly. A good step.
  Telstra have replied to my complaint apologising for inconvenience (nice), wishing to retain me as a customer (nonsensical, I am not a current customer) and asking me to phone them (irritating).
  
  Mixed results there.

•  judygran said:

  My brother's carer rang me at 7.00am last Tuesday to tell me Robert had to have "all of his teeth removed". Took until Thursday afternoon to clarify with dental practice. Wondered why I was ringing. Said no such thing! This poor service is absolutely everywhere.
  Spent one hour in NAB last Tuesday trying to locate our property deeds. Last known place was with them at a branch they closed. Keep you posted.
  Sorry about the washing machine. Best buy a really big capacity, heavy duty one, and install a large Hills Hoist - the clothing ain't going to get any smaller!
  About the internet and phone - can't help you there.
  About Go Card - it's cheaper to buy an off peak ticket from the bus driver than to use the Go Card for off peak travel.
  Don't even start me about my employment!

• The chance for comments is gone. Shame, 3 is never enough.

broadbandy news

This has nothing to do with federal government broadband plans (which I am ignoring for the time being) but my own broadband connection(s) here at home.

I quite like the sound of Virgin Broadband — you get your home phone and Internet bundled for $60/month. Internet runs off the mobile network: 3.5G (HSDPA), 3G (UMTS) or 2.5G (GPRS). We are apparently in the 3G coverage zone so I decided to take advantage of the 30 day trial.

That was Monday. Apparently my existing net connection got wind of this because it up and died that afternoon (it is still down). With anticipation I plugged in my new Virgin modem and got … GPRS. That's the one they say is “slow” like a modem. They aren’t kidding.

Tonight I was in contact with Unisky, my wireless broadband provider. They suspect my radio (modem) is dead and will need replacing as they can’t get a ping from it. However, it’s $110 to have a tech guy come out to confirm this and $550 to replace the equipment — $660. Yikes. I have asked them to outline my options including other technicians, buying my own equipment and/or cancelling the contract.

I like to be eccentric. So I decided to see if we could get a better signal putting the Virgin modem outside. It’s currently sitting outside on the air conditioner fan housing and we’ve had a solid 3–3.5G connection for about an hour. It’s great. And fast!! Now if only we can work out a way to do this and keep the modem inside the house where it belongs … wish me luck, I hope there’s light at the end of this tunnel!

Labels: broadband

• The chance for comments is gone. Shame, 0 is never enough.