Challenges in Customer Service: A Decade of Navigating Telstra's Support and Billing Issues
Telstra, once Australia's sole telecommunications provider, has experienced significant changes since its partial privatization. While the company was initially customer-oriented, the outsourcing of support staff in the last 15 years has led to a decline in service quality. Over the past decade, I have faced multiple challenges when dealing with Telstra for my landline, broadband, and mobile services.
I want to share a few of the major issues I have encountered.
Ordering a new iPhone: When I ordered a new iPhone 6s, Telstra mistakenly cancelled my mobile service instead of processing the order. This led to the loss of my phone number, and they cancelled the iPhone order because they couldn't reach me. It took a week of effort and over 100 hours of communication to resolve the situation.
Moving into a new house: When I requested a new landline and cable internet service for my new home, Telstra sent an ADSL modem instead of a cable modem. After spending hours resolving the issue, they sent the correct modem. However, when I returned the ADSL modem, they interpreted it as a request to cancel my account, requiring further effort to undo the mistake.
Unexpected free iPhones: On two occasions, I received iPhones on contract, but due to Telstra's errors, the contracts were lost, and I ended up with free iPhones.
Billing issues: For 18 months, I struggled to determine the correct amount of my bill, as it was consistently inaccurate. Telstra was unable to provide an accurate bill during that time.
Unwanted contract: When my Bigpond cable was out of service, Telstra offered me 10 GB of free data on my 4G device. However, they also signed me up for a 12-month contract without my consent, which took considerable time to resolve.
Purchasing a cordless phone: After spending hours convincing Telstra staff that they sold a specific cordless phone model, I finally purchased one. When I encountered an issue with the phone, it took even more time to receive support and eventually get a refund.
Over the years, I have had around 30 instances where I needed to interact with Telstra, and they have made significant errors on 45 occasions.
It is worth noting that Telstra's technical quality is excellent. The issues I have faced are mostly related to support, billing, and account management. In these areas, my experience has been consistently negative.
