[LINK] Seeking Advice: Now I'm an Optus Blackspot

[George Bray]

I'm pleased to report that I'm a happy telco customer again.

I lodged a complaint with the TIO via their very explanatory website
<http://www.tio.com.au/>, and got a followup email that the matter had
been handed to Optus.  The next day a very helpful and understanding
Optus chap called to investigate the issues, and after a friendly
conversation he came back with a much reduced fee ($300) to quit the
contract and keep the phone.

Porting to the new carrier happened straight away, even the operator
was surprised how fast it went.

Credit to Optus for recognising the importance of the problem for me,
and letting me quit the contract (rather than wanting me to hang
around for the local blackspot issue to be resolved in the future
sometime).

And credit to the TIO for clear communication of the expected process,
and what the expectations are for all parties involved. With their
help, the problem was resolved inside a week.

Thanks also to Linkers for suggestions on- and off-list.

George




On Thu, Apr 29, 2010 at 1:29 PM, George Bray <georgebray at gmail.com> wrote:
> Dear Link Brains Trust,
>
> I've been an Optus customer since they started, maybe 20 years.  I've
> been living in Canberra for ten of them and using the service quite
> happily.
>
> But over the last year, possibly since they got a swag of new iPhone
> customers, the network where I live (and in Canberra generally) has
> become very poor. Constant dropouts, inaudible voice quality, just
> like how bad the early analogue cellphone services in Australia were.
>
> I called Optus to see about porting my number to a different carrier,
> but as I'm still "in contract" they want more than $1000 to leave.
> The operator kindly looked up my address and confirmed that I'm in a
> "black spot", and in this circumstance they can give me a credit on my
> bill of $15/m for the cost of diverting my mobile to another one.
>
> I tried this diversion, and the result was even worse than the
> standard Optus service.  There are long delays moving voice through
> the networks like this - it's not a viable solution.
>
> So I'm interested in any technological or legal solutions to this.
>
> Will the ACMA/Ombudsman be able to help my plight, perhaps forcing
> Optus to release me from the contract for a more reasonable fee? I'm
> sure I'm not the only one to be in this situation where I must
> continue paying for a business phone service that has deteriorated to
> the point of being unusable.
>
> Are there any femtocell or microcell devices available in AU?  With a
> bigger antenna I think the service may improve.
>
> George
>
> --
> George Bray, Canberra, Australia. http://geobray.com
>



-- 
George Bray, Canberra, Australia. http://geobray.com