[LINK] Yet More Strange DNS Behaviour

[Jan Whitaker]

At 09:06 AM 21/11/02 +1100, Roger Clarke wrote:
>(Hello?  Telstra?  Is anyone listening?  We can't find email-addresses to 
>write to - do you monitor lists like link?  Do you have *any* interest in 
>customer-feedback that doesn't have direct impacts on Howard & Costello??).

Why should their net services be any different from their phone 
service?  [local ABC radio is taking computer calls at the moment - pop3 
server problems with the caller - it's BigPond!  Surprise! will be 
interesting to see if they get a 'right' answer to her] - but I digress.

I just spent about 20 minutes on the phone with Telstra Customer "Service" 
sorting out my voice line for the 3rd time.  The guy was very nice and I 
*think* we got it fixed -- this time.  I spent a long time expressing the 
problem with their complex service interactions [they call it compatible 
and uncompatible ] with HomeLine services. Not all 'feature' programs, e.g. 
longer distances for STD charge caps, etc. are compatible with the range of 
homeline service options.  So therefore, the customer "service" staff don't 
always seem to be able to inform customers of the combinations that work 
and don't work and the last one blithely made changes to my service 
contract without any mention to me.  Well, I hit the roof [again - 3rd 
time] when I got my bill yesterday and the charges were for a program that 
I had NOT ordered.

Telstra doesn't listen.  They don't care. They are NOT customer aware, let 
alone friendly, and the poor call centre staff cop it.  The other tragedy 
is that it is so complicated, it's even too difficult to put in a letter of 
complaint.  When you write to TIO, it's not my job, man.  I haven't tried 
ACCC but now that Fels is leaving, it's a wonder if much of anything will 
be done there anyway on these types of BAD, not poor, BAD procedures in 
customer sales.

I also managed to get a comment into the supposedly monitored call about 
their sucky VR call management system.  I told the guy I learned to hit as 
many phone buttons as possible then scream HELP very loud to get to a real 
human being.  Worked this morning and didn't have me fiddling with waiting 
for the 'kindly voiced female' read me my options and then mis'understand' 
my commands input, and then waiting in the queue in addition.

Gawd, if this is the level of technology expertise that Telstra has on 
offer, it's a wonder we get dial tone!

Oh, one last parting shot.  The service I was interested in was Regional 
STD pricing caps so I could call a business colleague in Geelong more 
regularly.  Short story is that the program they put me on originally 
wasn't compatible with my selected homeline service, then that the wide 
area plan they evidently did put me on didn't capture Geelong, and then 
they took that away without any advice to me which ended up in a LARGE std 
charge.

The REAL kicker was when the guy today told me that even if they did check 
their computer program for the customer "service" centre to see if it fit 
of the Geelong distance to the regional charge plan, they couldn't 
guarantee that the call would fall within the plan distances.  Evidently 
that calculation program isn't the same one the billing system uses!!  his 
advice:  make a call, then ring them back and ask for a pre-billing view of 
my account 24 hours later to see what I was charged!

Telcos --- is it any wonder the industry is a basket case?

Jan


JLWhitaker Associates
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jwhit@primenet.com  --  http://www.primenet.com/~jwhit/whitentr.htm