Does Telstra give you The Pips?
Telstra gives many people The Pips! You know - the pips that you get when you answer a long distance phone call made from a land line.
Once upon a time long distance phone calls had to be connected manually with the assistance of a telephone operator. When long distance phone calls began to be made automatically, and the operator assisted service was withdrawn, Tetstra added The Pips such that callers would know that the call would incur higher charges.
No more.
During June 2009 Telstra will remove this service and such calls will be connected silently thereafter.
So, Telstra won’t give you The Pips ever again. Well, …, at least not the long distance phone call Pips.
February 25th, 2009 at 1:17 pm
Telstra will still give me the pips! They sell phones that they can’t help you to use! They need to do more than removing the sound of the pips to stop giving me the pips!
March 1st, 2009 at 10:50 am
Telstra is the only broadband provider in my remote location but it seems that the service is just as slow as dial up and I tend to get bumped during peak periods from 7 to 10 am and 3pm to 5pm. I need it for uni I pay top dollar and get poor service and I can’t go else where as they are the only service provider. I find this highly unfair!!
March 2nd, 2009 at 7:25 pm
Telstra told me they could “make my internet 4 times faster for half the cost of my current plan” (a plan that expires in 6 months). They proceeded to send me a new modem, sign me up to another 2 year contract (without actually telling me there was a new committment, i simply thought I was being upgraded under my existing plan) and commenced charging my account. When the modem arrived it was not compatible with my PC (because it was a modem for a laptop). This was before Christmas and my telstra account is now in a huge mess and after a 1 1/2 hr call which involved being transferred to 5 different people, and being put on hold then hung up on after demanding to speak to a supervisor, my account woes are still not fixed. Ah, Telstra… I am sure there are years of metaphorical pips to come…
March 4th, 2009 at 11:10 pm
I was in the same position as Erin. After 4 1/2 hours I finally got Telstra to listen to me, i.e., that the wireless modem does NOT work at Ebor!
If the operator hangs up - call back and get the employment number. Then report the matter to your local Fed MP. Telstra can do a search on who was the original operator.
Telstra just gave me 12 months discount on my ‘Bigpond’ account, to stick with them!
regards,
Phill
March 6th, 2009 at 11:12 am
This is the reason why we don’t (and never will) have Telstra landline or internet. A friend of ours spent six months trying to get telstra to make their internet work. One phone call to Internode, and 3 days later, a reliable, working connection with a simple, $-per-month net plan.
March 6th, 2009 at 4:06 pm
Ahh Telstra - I must admit the story did get me in because I, like about 99% of regional Australians, will still get totally pipped by Telstra. You could start a blog and you would get pages and pages and pages of woeful stories about Telstra. Having said that the pipping the story is about has been a mainstay for so long - you always knew it was long distance….progress I guess.
March 17th, 2009 at 10:48 am
Telstra - They have to be the worst phone company I have ever dealt with I too have had account problems after which I spend hours on the phone to be called a ‘liar’.. Then refused the right to be able to speak to a supervisor!!!! Hung up on, transfered through to a hundred different people every opne of which wanting to start the story from the beginning!!! It took me THREE months to finally get my account fixed - good luck to those still in trouble. Unfortunatley I still have 1 year left on my plan & I am OVER Telstra & will never again deal with them & I will let everyone know how bad they are as they not only make mistakes but leave the customer to chase them & they are hopeless at resolutions to problems that THEY cause!!!
March 18th, 2009 at 8:27 am
I have had about a million problems with telstra, from phone to mobile to internet. I rent and move house often, and it always takes about 2 weeks to get internet connected again, along with a lot of additional fees. Finally my contract is finished. Internode works did you say? I might give them a go.
March 20th, 2009 at 2:24 pm
I too am with Telstra and have had moe issues than I care to discuss. Sometimes, you just don’t have choice, as they often end up being the only service provider for certain areas. Having said that - all those who don’t fall into this category - I have both friends and family who use Internode and they rave about it. And whenever they have a problem, their tech services will bend over backwards to get it fixed. They also offer that if the queue is long when you ring, to leave your details & they will call you back. My friends have never waited more than 15 mins for their call back. So for some of us, there is hope - and it doesn’t cost a lot either. Good Luck everyone.
March 21st, 2009 at 1:07 pm
Hallelujah!!!! I stupidly joined Telstra almost 12 months ago - after being convinced that I would save money by bundling my services (home/internet/Pay TV) - with the promise of a 5% discount for a single bill option - well some 9 months in - still no single bill - I can’t imagine it is that difficult to do - and as you can expect, they are not honouring my 5% discount either as I don’t have a single bill. I have been hung up on, transferred umpteen times, lied to and over billed a couple of times now. I AM SO OVER TELSTRA IT’S NOT FUNNY. I wrote them a rather rude email last month coz the prospect of another 2 hour phone call just didn’t grab me - only to receive a reply - this is not our department - contact Big Pond. No apology, no explantion just not interested. I would NEVER NEVER NEVER recommend Telstra to ANYONE (unless you have no other option - and if that’s the case I feel for you!!!) But I’m so glad I have had the chance to vent this and wish those that are with Telstra luck and patience - you’ll need both.
I’ve also been told TPG are pretty good too - I think that’s who I’ll be looking at once this stupid contract is finished - although I still have 15 months to go
March 22nd, 2009 at 10:05 am
Oh my goodness, I can’t believe so many people are having the same frustrating and rude service from Telstra as I am. I have empathy for each and everyone of you.
I’m so tired of the same old excuses, the being put on hold for so long your ears become sore and red, (hmmm! do we have a case here???), then to have the system hang-up on you.
I experienced a unauthorised and as yet unexplained disconnection a few weeks back. Took me 20 mins to get it sorted. I then decided that I was not going to pay my bill on time, so I rang again for an extension. That phone call turned into a 1 hour marathon, ( which continued over the next 3 days via email) - I was given limited information on an internet deal, and only because I was hung up on and then I rang back and managed to get more info on this “saving on internet costs deal” that I learnt it was no cheaper at all, in fact I would be locked into a 36 month contract which would end up costing me $30/mnth more than what I pay now!! GO FIGURE!
But wait thats not all…when I gave my personal id details (as you do for “security reasons”), APPARENTLY they were coming up with another address in another state, and can you believe it the Telstra employee whom I was dealing with ACTUALLY ARGUED THAT THE ADDRESS SHE HAD JUST HAD TO MINE BECAUSE THE SYSTEM WAS TELLING HER THAT. I’m 41 , I think I know where I live :-#
Great customer service? I dont think so! My time is valuable to them? Hardly!
Telstra #!%*@% Something needs to be done about the complacent, shoddy and deceiptful service they give to customers, and as a collective I think we should start thinking about what it is we can do. In what ways can we make them accountable??
March 24th, 2009 at 7:52 pm
Ah Telstra, Id rather shoot myself through the foot than use any of there services again. They defaulted me in court on an account that was in the previous house owners name (no joke). Despite the contract being terminated. I contacted the ombudsman and got some money back but the black mark on the CRA stayed put, once its there it cannot be removed for 7 years. They are the most pathetic and useless organization in this country!!
March 25th, 2009 at 7:26 pm
OMG, I’ve been trying to reason with them (I know, smack upside the head) for a month now, about call charges that are rediculous ($1000 bill for 1 month, instead of the usual $50). Now I’m hearing of others who are having similar grief with Telstra’s billing/faults/credit/backofhouse/wherever you get transferred to next. I used to swear by them but now I’ll swear off them. Any other business person would have a little empathy and try to work with the customer rather than lose them (mostly), but Telstra well, have they got tickets on themselves. It’s not ‘Customer Service’; it’s ‘Shareholder Service’.
Mine’s in the hands of the Ombudsman.
March 25th, 2009 at 7:39 pm
Oh, and if they do play nice, I will come back and say so. But I don’t have great expectations for them.
March 26th, 2009 at 8:59 am
I used to work for Telstra back in the days before they were privatised (ie when they were still Telecom), at which time they tended to do an adequate job of providing services, for the most part. Being a loyal ex-employee, I got a mobile phone service with them a couple of years after I left — this is in the middle to late 90’s. At the time I lived alone and no-one else ever had access to my phone. After two years of complaints about bills that were inflated by calls I KNOW were never made, to numbers I had never heard of, I finally called one day and asked them how long I had left on my contract. “It’s already run out, two months ago”, I was told, so I asked them to disconnect the number immediately and send me a final bill, which they did. Three months later, I received another bill for almost $300 for allegedly breaching my contract by terminating it early! They denied that I had ever called or that I had been told my contract had run its course. I naturally refused to pay the bill, so surprise surprise, my credit rating ended up screwed. You can probably guess that I’ll never deal with them again, and take every available opportunity to warn people of my experiences with them. I’m very sorry to see that they’re still doing such a “wonderful” job — Sol Trujillo really earned that $20 million bonus didn’t he?
March 30th, 2009 at 12:49 pm
I have all the same kind of complaints as every one here, problems that were never solved, even after a week long marathon of calls, each lastly up to a few hours. What frustrates me the absolute most is: THEY HAVE NO COMPLAINT SYSTEM! not that is’t a surprise, they know what they are doing is wrong- how dare we tell them so!
March 30th, 2009 at 12:50 pm
I just checked their email servise for feedback, no complaint email, but they do have a compliment address! HA!
April 7th, 2009 at 1:40 pm
After reading Bruce’s comment above, I used the ‘My Account’ billing enquiry facility to ask for written confirmation that my credit rating will not be affected while the particular amount is in dispute (as per Telecommunication Industry Ombudsman’s advice). Nearly two weeks later, and about 6 emails through their ‘Customer Service’ section I’ve just been told they can’t and I need to call ‘Billing’. That’s who I contacted in the first place!!
The last thing I want to do is have another fight about credit rating.
From the TIO “While your complaint is being investigated, you do not have to pay the charges that you are disputing. Telstra should not ask you to pay these disputed charges until your complaint is resolved. Please contact us if the company continues credit management action on these charges during this time.
However, please remember to pay all the charges that you are NOT disputing, e.g. for services that you have used. Telstra can take action to recover such charges.”
I don’t know whether the TIOs reference number is anything to go by but mine’s above 50000 for 2009.
April 27th, 2009 at 11:13 am
I think that it is relevant that a contract is binding according to the terms which we agreed upon. IN telstras case this is done over the phone. When you have a dispute ask to be provided with the terms of contract which you agreed to when they asked you for permission to record the agreement.
They record this verbal contract when we sign up. Ask for this and refuse to pay any more until you have recieved a copy of this, detailing the date of commencement and the full terms and condtions of the contract which you agreed to. this could be the difference of a default or a major company flexing their power and overriding consumer protection laws.
April 29th, 2009 at 4:48 pm
We just moved from overseas. Trying to get a Telstra phone connection has been one of the most frustrating experiences I have had; I could not believe it could be so difficult and expensive, specially considering the ease in which we did it, in Hong Kong. Over the phone they say it costs $299 becuase there has been no connection in our rented premises in the previous year; but in the Telstra shop they say it can be connected for $125. Whom do we believe — I guess we have to wait for the bill. Then after being promised to be notified when the connection will be made, we wait for almost 1 week but we hear nothing. So we make a trip to the shop, only to be told the technician will be arriving that afternoon and our presence in required. So hey we don’t go to work or nothing — just stay at home until they arrive!!! Now thanks to the information you have afforded above, Telstra will NOT get my account. I will rather stay without a mobile or land phone.
May 6th, 2009 at 10:55 pm
Telstra has yet to learn the ABCs of basic business and customer service practices in Australia. It is quite simply the worst company I have ever dealt with. I can honestly say I have never had one single positive dealing with it. I stopped using Telstra about 5 years ago and will never go back. I am now with Optus, which for the past 5 years, has provided me with good service and together with a good attitude, about 90% of the time. I keep getting phone calls from Telstra asking me to go back - too late mate! Once the QE2 stops - she’s very hard to get going again!
July 13th, 2009 at 1:12 pm
Sorry to go against the flow but I actually like the ‘pips’ as you call it - I think of it as a kind of courtesy on the part of Telstra that tells you that the person on the other end of the line are paying for a long-distance call, and are hence paying extra money. I am therefore a bit peeved to hear they are phasing is out.