John Tennock's Blog

I'm still recovering from the trauma of changing Internet service provider (in this case from Optus to Telstra). "Why would you do that?", some asked. It's simple. We used to be able to get close to the end of the month before being throttled to 64kb, but our internet usage has increased significantly, and we were often running out of bandwidth after only 10 days or so. The upgrade plan from Telstra suited our needs better than the Optus plan so, in the spirit of open market competition, we signed up on 13 September. That was the beginning of a miserable and frustrating 36 days until the Steve, the Telstra technician, turned up on 18 October to finish the job. The end result is excellent, but the transition experience was horrendous.

Without going through a blow-by-blow account the ultimate frustration was the impossibility of talking to anybody who could provide accurate information, anybody who could influence outcomes, or anybody who could receive, let alone act on a complaint. Call centre operators (off-shore if the accent is any indicator) seemed to be trained in pacifying angry customers rather than solving problems. I was unable to find an email or postal address that would provide access to useful information, or a complaints desk, and the staff at the nearest Telstra shop are trained to sell products, not to solve problems, process complaints, or provide reliable information.

What a contrast when Telstra technician Steve arrived. He also encountered several problems but overcame them quickly and efficiently. For example, the only way to pull the new coaxial cable from the roadside cable pit to our house was to connect a pull-thru rope to the existing telephone cable and pull it through the buried conduit. So, we now had a length of rope through the conduit, but no telephone cable. Steve then connected the new coaxial cable and the old telephone cable to the pull-thru, sought my help in feeding it through from the far end, lubricated everything thoroughly, and proceeded to pull both cables through.

So simple! Except that when this area was developed 30 odd years ago nobody anticipated the need for multiple electronic connections to a residential property. The conduit was a bit small for two cables, had an excessively sharp bend, and was buried under brick pavers. Everything went fine until the join between the pull-thru met the sharp bend and stuck. No amount of pulling at Steve's end or pushing at my end could budge it. Eventually the pull-thru snapped leaving us with the two cables stuck in the conduit, and no pull-thru.

Of course problem solver Steve had a shovel in his ute, proceeded to lift the required pavers, chop off the offending section and replace it with a new conduit of larger diameter and a larger radius bend. The cables now pulled through easily and the installation was completed. Steve was also a mine of useful information. If only I had been able to talk to someone like him from the beginning, rather than at the end of the process, I would now have no complaint.

So, I now have the internet connection I required but the traumatic experience has left me very unwilling to stay with Telstra for a day longer than necessary. From conversations with others, I am not alone. But Telstra does not seem to be listening.

What if Telstra had offered a more expensive 'first class' option with a personal adviser, a local call centre, or even a nearby shop where I could receive personal attention. Would have paid extra it? No! I was looking for the cheapest deal that provided the service level I needed. Telstra management knows that. They have to balance the interest of their various stakeholders including me, the customer; Steve the technician; the outsourced call-centre contractor and their staff; and their investors.

I think this experience is instructive in understanding the discussion about the proposed National Broadband Network, a discussion that will keep for another day.