No, that's not some lonely chap looking for a girlfriend it's Telstra's attempt to reduce paperwork and simplify its accounting, seemingly at the expense of customer satisfaction.
A couple of months back they sent me a fancy deed of novation by which I could sign over responsibility for the Bigpond broadband account to the Dear Handbrake who was already the account holder for our land-line phone and our two mobiles. It obviously wasn't enough for us both to talk to a customer service operator and just tell them to do it, no, we had to fill in a three page form and get witnessed signatures. If we didn't do this they indicated that we would no longer be eligible for our rewards option(s) which include us phoning each other for 20 minutes at cheap rates between 7 and 8 at night. The form was duly signed and off it went.
A few days ago we receieved a letter redirected from a few houses up the road with the new Broadband bill in the Dear Handbrake's name but with the wrong address. I may have an overly simplistic view of some things but how on earth can it be a single bill if one part of it goes to a different address ? Telstra never ceases to amaze me. If it's OK to send part of a single bill to a different address, I'm left wondering if they'd be equally happy to send part of it to a different person at the same address. Hang on, isn't that where this all started ?
"[O]ur rewards option(s) which include us phoning each other for 20 minutes at cheap rates between 7 and 8 at night."
Was this meant seriously? Is that all they offer? I've heard that mobile operators in Australia screw their customers, but that's ridiculous. Do none of the other companies offer more than that?
Not wanting to rub it in, but just by way of comparison: in Europe it's common to have free evening and weekend calls. I have them, but hardly use my mobile as a phone, so they're wasted on me. In Germany a lot of people also have a mobile flatrate, which can be for voice calls, text messages, or both.
Oh, and paper bills are becoming a thing of the past. I get all of mine electronically. I could get paper ones, too; but what's the point? I don't have the operator e-mail them to me, though. Instead I can view them - and download them if I want - through the company's website. In that way, they can't mess up my house address or my e-mail address. It's just up to me to remember my username and password. Does Telstra not offer that as an option?
Posted by: Mr D | Saturday, 09 August 2008 at 09:18 PM
Hello Mr D, it's not as bad as I painted. I can phone the Handbrake for 20 minutes free, hang up and ring her again (which shows how silly the system is). We get some other benefits but I use those benefits so rarely I couldn't tell you what they are.
We can also download bills in various formats but if you want pdf format you can only get the front page summary, no details. Telstra fairly gives me the willies sometimes.
Posted by: IanH | Sunday, 10 August 2008 at 10:38 PM
I feel your pain - that is truly amazing that they got the right street but the wrong number - I mean, if you are going to screw up, Telstra, do it in another town!!
Posted by: jeanie | Tuesday, 12 August 2008 at 10:10 AM