[TelstraClear] Shocking Customer Service

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kaczor47

95 posts

Master Geek

#89806 8-Sep-2011 12:05

I am sorry, but there comes a point where potential customers need to be warned...

Since moving 2 months ago I had multiple appointments scheduled to get the various services hooked up. There were a few speedbumps, such as a 'missing cable up the street' and attenuation losses. However what has absolutely frustrated me is complete lack of reliability and communication from this company. On *three* occasions I took time off work to be home for an appointment, only to have nobody show up. Each time it was up to me to call, speak to 3+ people, before finally 45 minutes later finding out a reason for the no-show.

Like most people here I value my time - and not just due to the lost income. When I asked why was I not notified about the change in appointment date, the person I spoke to hung up on me. I would think this is a coincidence, however it happened on two occasions!

I admit that my patience is running thin. How can a company operate with such utter disregard for their customers, and then have the nerve to email asking for votes in some survey for best providers.

(And don't get me started on the usage meter).

ps I apologize for the long message.

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843 posts

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#518494 8-Sep-2011 12:17

When the technician failed to turn up on the day they were going to install our system I complained (nicely) how I had taken time off work and they compensated us with 3 months free internet on my plan. It's a way of turning a negative into a positive.

I have also asked them to text people if they can't come at the right time which they thought was a great idea but obviously nothing has happened to implement this.

TelstraClear

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TelstraClear

#518495 8-Sep-2011 12:20

Hi kaczor47,
can you please email me your Account Number and best contact number to:

tim.newman@telstraclear.co.nz

I will have this looked into for you.
Thanks
Tim.

DonGould

3892 posts

Uber Geek

#518506 8-Sep-2011 12:36

kaczor47:

I admit that my patience is running thin. How can a company operate with such utter disregard for their customers, and then have the nerve to email asking for votes in some survey for best providers.

(And don't get me started on the usage meter).

I love TelstraClear. Their customer service inspired me to attempt to start my own ISP.

The problem is, from personal experience, it's a very very complex business.

Getting away with very very poor service is easy. You just need to be one step ahead of the competition.

In my cause, Telstra Clear's cable network is competing with 60 year old damaged cables in the ground.

My closest fibre is $55,000 dollars way (yes I measure distance in dollar terms now).

So while they don't actually give credits for service interruptions when they say they will, and while I have no choice but to deal with an over seas helpdesk, that I have to explain problems to 4 times before giving up, I simply can't argue with the 15/2 mbit's of speed which I just can't get anywhere else at anywhere near the price.

Promote New Zealand - Get yourself a .kiwi.nz domain name!!!

Check out mine - i.am.a.can.do.kiwi.nz - don@i.am.a.can.do.kiwi.nz

Morph

190 posts

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Inactive user

#518593 8-Sep-2011 15:03

DonGould:
kaczor47:

I admit that my patience is running thin. How can a company operate with such utter disregard for their customers, and then have the nerve to email asking for votes in some survey for best providers.

(And don't get me started on the usage meter).

I love TelstraClear. Their customer service inspired me to attempt to start my own ISP.

The problem is, from personal experience, it's a very very complex business.

Getting away with very very poor service is easy. You just need to be one step ahead of the competition.

In my cause, Telstra Clear's cable network is competing with 60 year old damaged cables in the ground.

My closest fibre is $55,000 dollars way (yes I measure distance in dollar terms now).

So while they don't actually give credits for service interruptions when they say they will, and while I have no choice but to deal with an over seas helpdesk, that I have to explain problems to 4 times before giving up, I simply can't argue with the 15/2 mbit's of speed which I just can't get anywhere else at anywhere near the price.

Can i has unlimited 1gbit fiber plz? :D

DonGould

3892 posts

Uber Geek

#518648 8-Sep-2011 15:56

Morph: Can i has unlimited 1gbit fiber plz? :D

From TelstraClear? I asked them for 100mbit fibre on the link that runs past my front door... 12 emails it took before I found someone who even knew what fibre is.

But I wish you luck. :)

Promote New Zealand - Get yourself a .kiwi.nz domain name!!!

Check out mine - i.am.a.can.do.kiwi.nz - don@i.am.a.can.do.kiwi.nz

graemeh

2078 posts

Uber Geek

#518661 8-Sep-2011 16:18

Morph:
DonGould:
kaczor47:

I admit that my patience is running thin. How can a company operate with such utter disregard for their customers, and then have the nerve to email asking for votes in some survey for best providers.

(And don't get me started on the usage meter).

I love TelstraClear. Their customer service inspired me to attempt to start my own ISP.

The problem is, from personal experience, it's a very very complex business.

Getting away with very very poor service is easy. You just need to be one step ahead of the competition.

In my cause, Telstra Clear's cable network is competing with 60 year old damaged cables in the ground.

My closest fibre is $55,000 dollars way (yes I measure distance in dollar terms now).

So while they don't actually give credits for service interruptions when they say they will, and while I have no choice but to deal with an over seas helpdesk, that I have to explain problems to 4 times before giving up, I simply can't argue with the 15/2 mbit's of speed which I just can't get anywhere else at anywhere near the price.

Can i has unlimited 1gbit fiber plz? :D

No problem, that will be $5000 to install and $1500 a month, now if you want it connected somewhere at the other end then that is extra.

DonGould

3892 posts

Uber Geek

#518665 8-Sep-2011 16:21

graemeh: No problem, that will be $5000 to install and $1500 a month, now if you want it connected somewhere at the other end then that is extra.

Cool. That's more information that I was able to get directly from the company the last time I asked.

I got 12 emails about how they can deliver a range of copper based services.

Promote New Zealand - Get yourself a .kiwi.nz domain name!!!

Check out mine - i.am.a.can.do.kiwi.nz - don@i.am.a.can.do.kiwi.nz

Quic Broadband

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networkn

Networkn
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#518666 8-Sep-2011 16:24

DonGould:
kaczor47:

I admit that my patience is running thin. How can a company operate with such utter disregard for their customers, and then have the nerve to email asking for votes in some survey for best providers.

(And don't get me started on the usage meter).

I love TelstraClear. Their customer service inspired me to attempt to start my own ISP.

The problem is, from personal experience, it's a very very complex business.

Getting away with very very poor service is easy. You just need to be one step ahead of the competition.

In my cause, Telstra Clear's cable network is competing with 60 year old damaged cables in the ground.

My closest fibre is $55,000 dollars way (yes I measure distance in dollar terms now).

So while they don't actually give credits for service interruptions when they say they will, and while I have no choice but to deal with an over seas helpdesk, that I have to explain problems to 4 times before giving up, I simply can't argue with the 15/2 mbit's of speed which I just can't get anywhere else at anywhere near the price.

Actually getting away from bad customer service is sizing your customer service team appropriately and training them, and keeping them communicated with, and having an appropriate escalation process. Orcons issues stem from the stupid rate at which they acquire new companies, with no structure on how to merge companies, and before it's even done properly they are off to another acquisition. They never both to put systems in place BEFORE they expand or launch new services and then scramble to keep up. TCL suffers from a lack of staff, lack of training. It's nothing to do with staying ahead of the competition

I had my services with TCL for 7 years and moved for a better deal. We gave them notice in writing, got it confirmed in writing AND verbally, didn't get a bill from them again, and then got a debt collection notice 7 months on over 7 months of unpaid bills. Took a further 9 weeks of constant communication to resolve the billing issue. I spoke to 8 people before I found one with the authority and common sense to see the issue was beyond ridiculous.

graemeh

2078 posts

Uber Geek

#518669 8-Sep-2011 16:31

DonGould:
graemeh: No problem, that will be $5000 to install and $1500 a month, now if you want it connected somewhere at the other end then that is extra.

Cool. That's more information that I was able to get directly from the company the last time I asked.

I got 12 emails about how they can deliver a range of copper based services.

Sorry that was just my attempt at humour, hopefully the prices are the right order of magnitude but it really depends on your personal situation.

If you look at the TCL Business Internet products it's probably Biznet that you need. I tried to post a link here but my browser locks up every time I do it.

quickymart

13987 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

#518816 8-Sep-2011 23:02

Amazing how bad things have become customer service-wise at this company - and they were pretty appalling when I left working for them several years ago.

DonGould

3892 posts

Uber Geek

#518921 9-Sep-2011 10:36

graemeh: Sorry that was just my attempt at humour

No, please accept my apology. I did see your attempt at humour. :) I am simply suffering from said poor service myself to the point where I just don't find even the humour about the company funny any more.

graemeh: hopefully the prices are the right order of magnitude but it really depends on your personal situation.

If you look at the TCL Business Internet products it's probably Biznet that you need. I tried to post a link here but my browser locks up every time I do it.

A year ago I looked at the web site under business internet products, couldn't find what I wanted, looked at the government broadband web site to see where the fibre is in my area, discovered it's 4 metres from my computer and sent an email to the contact on the companies web site via their annoying web form thing.

I confess, I started out polite and got more abrupt as the emails went on as I got a constant flow of respondents who clearly had no idea what I was asking about.

In the end I got someone who did know about fibre, and offered them $65 a month for 100mbits to run my very very small hosting solution on. They never called back after saying they would.

They didn't even bother to counter my offer with an offer at their current retail costs. They did seem more focused on my just putting a server in their Auckland data center.

My objective at the time was to move my hosting from .us to .nz at a cost that would mean I could continue to offer my customers the value I have been delivering via my .us hosting.

In the past 12 months I have been successful at delivering that value and have got my New Zealand clients hosting back on New Zealand soil.

Promote New Zealand - Get yourself a .kiwi.nz domain name!!!

Check out mine - i.am.a.can.do.kiwi.nz - don@i.am.a.can.do.kiwi.nz

graemeh

2078 posts

Uber Geek

#518927 9-Sep-2011 10:59

DonGould: A year ago I looked at the web site under business internet products, couldn't find what I wanted, looked at the government broadband web site to see where the fibre is in my area, discovered it's 4 metres from my computer and sent an email to the contact on the companies web site via their annoying web form thing.

I wonder if it is possible to just dig up the fibre and splice in to the passing signal?

Something similar to what cannabis growers do to power their hydroponic setup.

DonGould:In the past 12 months I have been successful at delivering that value and have got my New Zealand clients hosting back on New Zealand soil.

Congratulations, I'm glad you found a solution that works for you.

One problem the larger Telcos have to deal with is there is often significant cost for them to design and build a new product (due often to the complexity of their internal systems) and sometimes it's just too hard.

With something like an access network you really are constrained in that it is unlikely to be economic for a company to connect you unless they already have infrastructure nearby.

This should change with UFB, smaller operators will be able to deliver service to your site by UFB and hopefully they will come up with a range of niche products that were not feasible before.

DonGould

3892 posts

Uber Geek

#519014 9-Sep-2011 14:13

graemeh: I wonder if it is possible to just dig up the fibre and splice in to the passing signal? Something similar to what cannabis growers do to power their hydroponic setup

I was kinda hopeful that would be possible, but the cables run over head and those 240v phases scare me just a little so I wasn't keen to try my own manual splice into the fibre, though I do have some old film splicing kit (left over from high school days) that I think would do the trick.

Congratulations, I'm glad you found a solution that works for you

Thank you. I'm fairly pleased with the outcome so far.

One problem the larger Telcos have to deal with is there is often significant cost for them to design and build a new product (due often to the complexity of their internal systems) and sometimes it's just too hard.

With something like an access network you really are constrained in that it is unlikely to be economic for a company to connect you unless they already have infrastructure nearby.

In my view, some times its worth making some less economic investments to protect your profitable business and grow new potential business.

I doubt that they anyone gets people knocking on the door expressing interest in setting up suburban data centers.... interestingly in Christchurch... seems doing business in the suburbs is getting more interest.

This should change with UFB, smaller operators will be able to deliver service to your site by UFB and hopefully they will come up with a range of niche products that were not feasible before.

Yes I agree, you're quite right. UFB will open those doors though it's still going to be some time way - read "years".

Promote New Zealand - Get yourself a .kiwi.nz domain name!!!

Check out mine - i.am.a.can.do.kiwi.nz - don@i.am.a.can.do.kiwi.nz

kaczor47

95 posts

Master Geek

#521148 14-Sep-2011 19:19

TelstraClear: Hi kaczor47,
can you please email me your Account Number and best contact number to:

tim.newman@telstraclear.co.nz

I will have this looked into for you.
Thanks
Tim.

Hi Tim,

I emailed you my account and contact details a week ago, but have not heard back from you. Can you confirm that you did in fact receive my mail?

Just FYI, I have not heard from anyone at TC and my appointments were to take place 2 weeks ago. This lack of information continues to be frustrating.

I appreciate your help.

TelstraClear

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TelstraClear

#521334 15-Sep-2011 09:59

Hi Tim,

I emailed you my account and contact details a week ago, but have not heard back from you. Can you confirm that you did in fact receive my mail?

Just FYI, I have not heard from anyone at TC and my appointments were to take place 2 weeks ago. This lack of information continues to be frustrating.

I appreciate your help.

Hi kaczor47. I've had a chat to Tim (he's busy today so I'm responding). He doesn't recall receiving your account number or a contact phone number. If you email the info to online.marketing@telstraclear.co.nz or private message it here on Geekzone I'll get this looked into for you.

Gary

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