You can depend on Telstra to do the (insert a word) thing

JeffH · February 06, 2017, 09:25:38 AM

Well an NBN man turned up at Mother in Law's place this morning, installed a 'gadget" (her description) and plugged her phone in and she has service again.

Looks like NBN has actually done something ahead of schedule and without being asked. Amazing!

JeffH · August 03, 2021, 01:21:11 PM

Well here is a change. Must try it sometime -if I can find a Telstra public phone that works. There is one, that I know, of in our town but no idea if it works; can't recall ever seeing anyone use it.
Local, national and calls to mobiles will now be free from Telstra payphones

Basilstate · August 03, 2021, 09:15:30 PM

Its surprising how many public phones are out there but they are slowly disappearing.
Nice gesture from Telstra.

JeffH · August 04, 2021, 04:37:41 AM

There are about 15,000 Australia wide. Apparently the number, and locations, is set by a government decree.

Basilstate · August 04, 2021, 09:15:07 AM

Quote from: 'JeffH' pid='125336' dateline='1628017661'There are about 15,000 Australia wide. Apparently the number, and locations, is set by a government decree.

Yes,i think its in the Telecom/Telstra charter otherwise they would all be gone,maintenance costs,mainly vandalism,far outweigh any income from them.

We ran a 24 hour Roadhouse in Northern NSW for 15 years,we had a public phone out the front on the H/way,it was continually vandalised by drunks and finally hit and flattened by a drunk driver trying to turn into our driveway.
Telecom guy came and saw us and offered a special deal on the new Yellow Pay Phones,i think they charged us about half of the call costs,they installed it on the driveway and removed the Public Phone completely.Amazing the money it raked in,had to be emptied every couple of days,Truckies ringing all over Australia,also it had its own number so Truckies could receive calls as there was no reverse charges.

gweidion · August 06, 2021, 11:38:08 PM

The things Telstra was required to do that the competitors were not was and probably still is long. All to level the field. What BS.
The cost of calls was steadily falling when Telecom was a monopoly. Introduction of "competition" actually slowed and then stopped that but the government didn't want you to know that.

Telstra was shit when it came to issuing initial bills, they were nearly always wrong. I know because I used to deal with fixing them for about 3 years. About 30 percent of people in Telstra Billing knew how bad it was and were actively trying to fix things whilst 70 percent wouldn't have been able to tie their shoes, let alone work out how to fix an initial bill.

JeffH · August 26, 2021, 07:43:36 AM

The Telstra bot is polite. Stupid but polite! All I wanted to do was submit my query to be investigated. I thought that would just take a couple of minutes. I haven't kept a record but this is about my fourth attempt to get back in the directory.

Quote• Directory listing
• Telstra Assistant05:52 am
Hi Jeff! I'm Telstra Assistant - a bot here to help.
• Telstra Assistant05:52 am
I can definitely help. Which service are you referring to?
• Customer05:53 am
Home Phone
• Telstra Assistant05:53 am
Can I get the home phone number this is for?
• Customer05:53 am
**********
• Telstra Assistant05:53 am
Are you currently on the nbn™?
• Customer05:53 am
Yes
• Telstra Assistant05:53 am
Sure, can I help you to change your caller ID, or update if your phone number appears in online directories and white pages (directory listing)?
• Customer05:53 am
Directory Listing
• Telstra Assistant05:53 am
Here are the steps: 1. Log in to My Account with your Telstra ID 2. From the dashboard, select your home number 3. Select 'Manage' under 'Privacy Settings' 4. From here, you can enable or disable directory listing. Just so you know, it may take up to 72 hours for your request to be updated in online directories.
• Telstra Assistant05:53 am
Show Rich Content
• Telstra Assistant05:53 am
If you have any questions, I can transfer you to someone who can help.
• Customer05:53 am
Transfer Me
• Telstra Assistant05:53 am
I'll get one of our experts to help you with this shortly.
• Telstra Assistant05:53 am
In the meantime, please provide any other information that will help.
• Agent: Telstra Assistant05:53 am
***Telstra Internal***
Service ID: ********** Product: NBN Enquiry: Customers enquiring about their White Pages Listing and Calling Number Display, and how to change it. Transfer Reason: No self-service exists
• Agent: Expert05:55 am
Hello Jeff, how can I help you with your directory listing query today? Can you tell me more about it?
• Customer05:58 am
I did the suggested procedure weeks ago and my number does not appear in the white pages directory. The number was always listed before and I never requested it to be removed. My account does show that it is listed. Account number: *************, phone number **********, Account name Jeff Henningham, service address 11 Caledonian Street Gulgong NSW ****.
• Agent: Expert06:06 am
No worries Jeff. I can add your number in white pages directory. I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience. Thanks for all the information. I'm going to get this sorted for you. I need a little bit of time to do this but no need to worry as I'll be back after 10-15mins. If you need to step away for a few minutes, it's not a problem. Just have your notifications turned on, you will get one as soon as I reply
• Agent: Expert06:11 am
Thanks for waiting Jeff. I can see here that your landline number is already registered in white pages.
• Customer06:14 am
It does not show in a search, people can't find my number.
• Agent: Expert06:20 am
I see. But I can confirm that the landline number is registered in white pages. It's strange that the number is listed but not showing. May I know if you already tried to search your name yourself?
• Customer06:20 am
Yes, several times in the last few months waiting for it to appear.
• Agent: Expert06:22 am
How about now Jeff?
• Customer06:22 am
Please wait, I will check.
• Agent: Expert06:23 am
Yes please. Thank you. ?
• Customer06:23 am
Same, same. My son's number appears but not mine.
• Agent: Expert06:29 am
Here's what I will do. I will connect you over to our faults team for them to check what's happening. Please stay connected Jeff.
• Customer06:29 am
Thank you
• Agent: Expert06:39 am
Thanks for your kind patience Jeff. Let me look further into this and see what best I can do for you. Stay connected with me.
• Customer06:57 am
Now more than one hour. Can you refer this to a person to investigate and report back to me later
• Agent: Expert06:57 am
Thanks for your kind patience Jeff. I have now made some changes to your phone number. It will be reflecting on your account from 4 to 24 hours from now. Apart from this, Is there anything else that you need help with?
• Customer06:58 am
Thank you. Can I have a copy of this chat please?
• Agent: Expert06:59 am
Yes I can certainly help you with that. Could you please provide me the email address you want to receive this message?
• Customer06:59 am
ulansol@fastmail.com.au

jens coins · August 26, 2021, 04:31:32 PM

Still not on the white pages website Jeff

JeffH · August 26, 2021, 06:12:31 PM

Haven't been since I switched to BigPond to get the 4G backup on my internet. A couple of other providers were said to be offering that, but not available yet at that time, so I will be checking them out.
I will give Telstra their 24 hours first but I have had that false promise before.

Unicorn · August 26, 2021, 07:29:23 PM

On ya Jeff, patience is a virtue ......... but then again, wasn't there something about not tolerating fools?

Unicorn · August 26, 2021, 07:31:01 PM

PS: I resemble that remark :-)

JeffH · August 26, 2021, 07:46:07 PM

Quote from: 'Unicorn' pid='125458' dateline='1629971963'On ya Jeff, patience is a virtue ......... but then again, wasn't there something about not tolerating fools?

Uni,
I am happy to tolerate you anytime.

gweidion · August 28, 2021, 03:05:11 PM

I hate to ask but did your number miraculously "turn up" in the online White Pages?

jens coins · August 28, 2021, 03:48:18 PM

I just checked now and it is not there

JeffH · August 28, 2021, 06:30:46 PM

That is what I expected from previous experience.
I lodged a written complaint yesterday with a brief summary of my attempts to get them to fix it. I now have a case number and my case manager will contact me within five days (that will be business days). Of course their support page says they have a big backlog, due to Covid, and they are working hard to get back to their usual* five day initial contact period.
Isn't Covid such a good excuse for poor performance!

One strange thing; I have asked several times before for them to look me up in the white pages. Sure way of disproving their contention that I am listed but a strong reluctance, verging on refusal, to do so. I would think that is one of the first things they should do to validate my complaint. It is not a big issue but their refusal to take it seriously and keep insisting they have fixed, when they haven't, turns it into a big issue.

*Five days my aunt! Previous occasions eg. waiting for my modem to be dispatched when they had already had my previous provider turn off my service was three weeks -they did give me a credit but that didn't give me connection to the net for the three weeks.