Hi,

I had applied for a UFB 30/10 plan with Telecom on 16/07/2013.



Heard nothing from Telecom's end,so thought of cancelling my contract.


After this post contacted @plambrechtsen and someone from Telecomm called me.He told about the consent approvals and that he can't give me any time frame about the installation of UFB.He gave me an offer that he can provide me an ADSL connection until Chorus installs the Fibre infrastructure.Got the ADSL running in 3rd week of August and in September was greeted with a little surprise.



They charged me a reconnection fee and wire maintenance fee for home phone line.Called them up and they told me that because I wanted a home phone line and ADSL,I have to pay for the reconnection fee.

Umm!I never wanted a home phone line or ADSL and it's not my fault that Telecom does voice over a copper line and I wasn't told about this cost even after asking "Do I have to pay for anything?".Cancelling the contract and going with another provider was the obvious and rational approach taking into consideration they had no time frame for UFB and the backup and only plan would cost me another 70 bucks extra.

Finally,I got my fibre broadband in March and they changed my plan to 100/50 (without my approval) but I was getting a discount and the cost was less than $130 (no issues there). But last month I got a letter saying my discount will end and I would have to pay around $159 after this December.

So I called Telecom in the 3rd or 4th week of September.The lady on the other end told me that my contract ended up in August 2014.I created a thread on 7th to look for other options.



The best option was Bigpipe and they are unavailable in Wellington.So called up Telecom on 9th October and was told again that I'm out of contract .They could provide Home+Broadband for a certain amount but the contract will have to be renewed for another 12 months.I told her to leave a note about the offer on my account because I wanted to think about it and give them a call after a day or two.

Moved to MyRepublic on 15/16th October and contacted Telecom today to get my broadband disconnected.The lady told me I'm still in contract and have to pay disconnection fee.When I told her that I have been specifically told on two counts by your colleagues that I'm not in a contract,instead of listening to what I have to say she kept stressing on the disconnection fee.Apparently according to her I had asked for an ADSL connection and was then upgraded to a Fibre one. 

I told her the whole story about the deal I was offered with ADSL to begin with and how one of her colleagues offered  Home+Broadband for $XXX if I renewed my contract.

She told me that the contract term's were given in the bill when I was moved to fibre.Yes they are there and because I don't go through my bills was the precise reasons I called the guys at Telecom to know the status of my contract.I wasn't aware (read after she told me) of it as it was my 7th bill and you mostly stop reading them after a few months because the email tells you the amount and dates.


 
How hard is it for guys at Telecom to send a seperate email or a hard copy for contract's with dates.They can spam you with regular mails for their name change but somehow they feel that's the most important information should be printed in an electronic bill,preferably on the last page which most of us will not read.

I gave here the dates and told her that the other lady was giving me an offer a week back and even left a note.
Maybe they have the recordings or call logs and she can trace who gave me that information.She didn't really wanted to go through the trouble of looking for it because she wasn't paying the fee.

So providing wrong information isn't a big deal for Telecom Customer Representatives.Telecom made such a hue and cry about fraudulent calls.I thought they were worried about their customer but it looks like they were just worried about someone copying their business model and eating into their share 

Can anyone advise me whether I can go to the Consumer Watchdog or should I contact some higher ups in Telecom.





PS:Apologies for writing an essay.