My father passed away a few months ago. He love finding old jazz music on Youtube. My parents changed from a dial-up service to a Broadband plan, continuing with TelstraClear having been customers for over a decade.

My mother makes little use of the Internet and, now with a reduced single-personpension, would like a lower cost way to connect to the Internet.

When she contacted TelstraClear all they ended up doing (after the usual, long  phone delays) was posting out a lengthy form to have the name of the account holder changed.

I rang again on her behalf to explain the situation. I was advised that they don't have a lower cost plan than the 40GB 'special'. When I suggested that it might be better for my mother to change to a different provider I was advised that Telstra would chase my mother, as beneficiary in the will, for a $199 cancellation fee.

The contracted year is more than three quarters finished so it would seem that seeing it out is something my mother will have to endure.

But, is this something that others may have experienced with Telecommunications providers?