[TelstraClear] One more customer that won't ever use TelstraClear again......

Forums › One New Zealand (including Vodafone, WxC, Farmside) › [TelstraClear] One more customer that won't ever use TelstraClear again......

Philbert

58 posts

Master Geek

#76530 3-Feb-2011 13:42

Just a vent.......

I am in the military and am therefore moving around quite often, usually at short notice but have been in Wellington for the last 5 years (with the exception of a year overseas in 2009) and during that time have been a 'high value' telstra customer (premium TV package and the 100GB cable internet plan). I don't have a home phone as telstra does not provide PSTN to my address, just cable.

When I came back from overseas at the start of 2010 and was considering MkSkyHDi, I was assured that T-box was just around the corner and persuaded to wait. I patiently waited for 12months and had it installed a few months ago. As I move around a lot I was not willing to pay the 'buy now' price and instead got the pay per month option. I was advised of a 12 month contract but wasn't too concerned about this as intended to keep the service if I remained in Wellington and any other posting would be to a non "inhome" location and as TV could not be provided I assumed that there would be no disconnection fee.

I have just been posted to Auckland at short notice and have had to disconnect. Wanting to keep a link to telstra (and my e-mail account) I asked to move to the 'cheapest possible' paradise plan and terminate all other services as they could not provide TV in Auckland, the non-cable internet offering in Auckland did not suit my needs, and I had no phone account to transfer.

Imagine my disgust today when the disconnections people rang me and stated that they would 'reserve' my e-mail account for $120 per year but that I was also faced with a $150 disconnection fee unless I signed up to Telstra internet/phone services in Auckland.

I politely explained that I did not have a phone now and did not intend getting one in Auckland plus I would be getting MySkyHDi (due to no T-box service) and therefore wanted a naked ADSL ISP that could give me unmetered access to isky (telstra does not provide either of these things).

"Too bad" was the response. Either you sign up for 12 months worth of services you don't want/don't use (and in the case of the phone - never had!) or you get whacked $150 for cancelling a TV plan that they can not provide in my new location.

Hmmm - to add insult to injury of course, if Telstra had delivered the T-box when they had promised it (over 12 months ago) then I would be off contract by now and there would be no disconnection fee at all.

I have generally supported Telstra but they have now lost a (previously) loyal customer.........

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58 posts

Master Geek

#434816 3-Feb-2011 13:43

I guess I should have just been dishonest and told them I was moving offshore - seems a shame that dishonesty is the only way to get treated fairly.....

Philbert

58 posts

Master Geek

#434828 3-Feb-2011 14:07

Wow - facebook seems to be the way to talk to telstra customer service!

After months of hours on hold whenever I wanted to talk to them, an abridged version of the above posted to their facebook wall got a reply within 30 secs......just asking for more detail at this stage but still a million times better than the telstra 'norm'.

Is this their chance to keep a customer?????

goatboy

33 posts

Geek

#434830 3-Feb-2011 14:10

I'm not usually one to stick up for any telco, but seriously, most of the problems you've vented are partly your own. It was totally your decision to choose a service with a 12 month contract knowing that a short notice move out of Wellington might be on the cards but you didn't bother to ask about disconnection fees. That's a bit silly. If other posts on this forum are anything to go by then dozens of Telstra customers got sick of waiting for their Tbox and just went straight to sky. Don't really see how you can blame Telstra's late delivery of their service to market for your issues when all of the decisions were with you.

Not meaning to have a go or anything bro, but this just sounds you're having a whinge because you made some bad decisions that have ended up costing you. If you're breaking a contract why should the other party lose out?

Agree that $10 a month is steep just for an email address but surely that includes a dialup account or something along with it, not just an email address. You could quite easily just keep that account open for another 3-6 months and set up forwarding to a free service like gmail while you advise all of your contacts that your email address had changed. Bar lack of phone support, these days free services are just as good as paid email services and usually offer way more storage and flexibility around how and where you can access your email.

Philbert

58 posts

Master Geek

#434840 3-Feb-2011 14:21

I generally agree with a lot of your comments however still think it's a bit harsh to tie all services (including some I don't even have!) to a disconnection fee for pay TV?!? I think most reasonable people would equate a 12 month contract upon signing up to T-box to relate only to that service - not the internet service that had been running along quite happily for 12 months already??

I would have zero issue if I was moving to a location where telstraclear could provide an equivalent service to what I have and I choose not to use them - in this case though they are expecting me to sign up for something that is vastly different to what I currently have.

And finally with respect to your comment re: bad decisions. THe only two choices I had if I wanted HD TV was to either buy the box outright (and therefore be out of pocket by $499) or sign-up to the 12 month contract. There was no other option so from that perspective I probably made the right decision - unless I had chosen to bail on Telstra from the start!

TelstraClear

566 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

TelstraClear

#434848 3-Feb-2011 14:26

Thanks Phil, I received your ail and I have forwarded it onto my contact in the complaints department, you ought to hear from them shortly. Tim.

goatboy

33 posts

Geek

#434882 3-Feb-2011 15:25

I'm not really sure how Telstra work their disconnection fees but if they're trying to charge you to disconnect services that don't have a contract term attached to them and or don't require someone to come out and physically disconnect something then $150 is just ludicrous. Even if someone did have to visit and cut some wires a $150 fee just means that Telstra are getting ripped off by their technicians.

What I'd say is more likely here is that the $150 is an early termination charge, basically: you signed up for tv for 12 months - you broke the contract - Telstra need to recover some of revenue they've missed out on because of that - they charge you a rate relevant to the time left on your contract. As much as that scenario sucks for you financially, I see it as a fair way to do business.

If I were in your situation I'd have never signed up to Telstra for tv in the first place purely for reasons of practicality. Unlike cable, satellite tv is going to follow you around no matter where you go in NZ. That's why I'd also be cautious about signing up to something like IPTV. There's no guarantee that I'm always going to live in an area where the broadband service is going to be good enough to deliver the service properly.

Hindsight's 20/20 though. Hope you get what you want out of them!

nate

6473 posts

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Retired Mod

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Lifetime subscriber

#434897 3-Feb-2011 15:44

Philbert: I was advised of a 12 month contract but wasn't too concerned about this as intended to keep the service if I remained in Wellington ...

Huh?

So you sign up for a 12 month contract, you terminate it early of your own free choice, and you are complaining about it.

How is this TelstraClear's fault?

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Philbert

58 posts

Master Geek

#434926 3-Feb-2011 16:24

The nature of my work has meant that I have signed up to - and broken - many contracts over the years for telecommunications and utilities. In the vast majority of cases, the termination fees are not applied as a matter of policy if contract termination is due to you moving to a location where they can not provide a service. This is particularly the case where the only way to get any service is to sign up for a minimum period (which is sometimes longer than my posting turns out to be).

In the situations where there is a benefit for contract (as opposed to pre-pay/non-contract) such as mobile phones that offer a subsidy or reduced calling costs then I agree entirely that if you break, you pay (although even then I have generally found providers (vodafone in particular) to be supportive of the military posting churn and they often put the contract on hold while I am overseas and continue it on my return).

Where I have an issue is in this case, that:

1. the only non-contract way of getting the PVR was to buy it outright for $499 and given my propensity to move and the very small T-box footprint this was never going to be an option. It is not as if Telstra has lost any money on me - they get the T-box back and there were no price discounts from being on contract.

2. I already had internet/TV and when, being told upon moving to T-box, that this came with a 12 month contract I did not expect that to bind me for all telstra services (including ones I don't have such as home phone). I would have had no problem with a 12 month contract on TV that I would be expected to pay if I cancelled despite being in an area where I could receive it.

To be fair to Telstra - I have had worse experiences with inflexible contract break fees (in Australia) and it now does look as if Telstra is looking to see what they can do for me in this case......

sub

358 posts

Ultimate Geek

#435125 4-Feb-2011 05:15

Personally I dont think TelstraClear has done anything wrong here. I'd prefer they didnt do contracts, but I can understand why they do, and as long as you know up front that this is the case, then its just something you have to live with if you decide to break the contract.

If I were in your position, I would have hoped like hell they didnt charge me the termination fee, but I wouldnt have seen any reason to complain publically about it if I did have to pay.

richms

28168 posts

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Lifetime subscriber

#435127 4-Feb-2011 05:30

I dont understand why a telco would waive the disconnection charge because you are choosing to move to an address they dont serve. That seems bizarre.

You agreed to have a service for a minimum term and are now varying the contract. Be glad it is only a $150 termination price, as some places charge the full value of services they would provide to the end of the contract period.

Richard rich.ms

cyril7

9058 posts

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#435147 4-Feb-2011 08:14

Telecom and Voda have just announced non contract on all plans, hope TCL and other ISPs follow suit soon, essentially they will have no choice in the matter eventually, its the commercial competitive pressure.

Cyril

Morph

190 posts

Master Geek
Inactive user

#435494 4-Feb-2011 19:53

The only thing that TCL does on contract ( On the cable network ) Is T-Box which is actually a 24 month contract not 12 and mobile ( 24 month contract)

Homeplan is alot diff

How can you possibly raise this issue complaining about Cancel fee's .. Did you pay for an install?

Lock this thread.

snnet

1410 posts

Uber Geek

#435546 4-Feb-2011 23:47

Morph: The only thing that TCL does on contract ( On the cable network ) Is T-Box which is actually a 24 month contract not 12 and mobile ( 24 month contract)

Homeplan is alot diff

How can you possibly raise this issue complaining about Cancel fee's .. Did you pay for an install?

Lock this thread.

Yes! Ask some questions and demand the thread be locked! brilliant plan! :)

FWIW I don't think Telstra is in the wrong whatsoever in this case. Unfortunately you agreed to a contract and are terminating it because you are moving (forced or not) to another location where the service cannot be provided... that's still terminating the contract. Just because one company might put the contract on hold doesn't mean anybody else has to.

Morph

190 posts

Master Geek
Inactive user

#435557 5-Feb-2011 01:35

snnet:
Morph: The only thing that TCL does on contract ( On the cable network ) Is T-Box which is actually a 24 month contract not 12 and mobile ( 24 month contract)

Homeplan is alot diff

How can you possibly raise this issue complaining about Cancel fee's .. Did you pay for an install?

Lock this thread.

Yes! Ask some questions and demand the thread be locked! brilliant plan! :)

FWIW I don't think Telstra is in the wrong whatsoever in this case. Unfortunately you agreed to a contract and are terminating it because you are moving (forced or not) to another location where the service cannot be provided... that's still terminating the contract. Just because one company might put the contract on hold doesn't mean anybody else has to.

You can remove the fee if you take homeplan services... Its not Telstras fault they don't provide naked broadband without a phoneline off the cable network... This thread is a waste of time.

Did you start this thread trying to get some people to moan with you?

quickymart

13929 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

#435600 5-Feb-2011 09:38

He didn't start the thread.

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