Need help on which authorities to contact regarding terrible Internet services

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Telstra

• 

  scrimshaw on 28/10/2014 - 09:44

  +2

  You're looking for the TIO.

  http://www.tio.com.au/

  • 

    ProjectZero on 28/10/2014 - 09:57

    Thanks mate, was thinking of TIO and ACCC… wasn't too sure which one was more appropriate.

  • 

    ESEMCE on 28/10/2014 - 09:59

    But you need to have complained to BigPong first.

    • 

      ProjectZero on 28/10/2014 - 10:05

      Will be doing that tonight, I kind of feel sorry for the CS person that answers my call tonight because I've complained to them about my speed before and they didn't do anything.

      • 

        Baysew on 28/10/2014 - 10:36

        Don't phone - If you have a serious complaint then put it in writing.

        Go to the Telstra Website, check for an annual report, download it and find the name of the executive that is responsible, and write to them. You need to create a paper trail.

        Consider bringing it to the attention of your local Federal MP.

      • 

        NosDan on 29/10/2014 - 09:34

        +1

        @Baysew: bull. i had to get the TIO in on my issue with my fone line and all i needed to do was call. you dont need any paper trail as you state caus everything is logged by the TIO

      • 

        Baysew on 29/10/2014 - 21:30

        scubacoles

        But you need to have complained to BigPong first.

        ProjectZero

        Will be doing that tonight

        Baysew

        Don't phone

        The OP is ringing BigPond - I am suggesting he writes. He is not contacting the TIO (as you did)

        A phone call to a Telstra customer service somewhere in the world, may be a waste.
        By writing, a real person will have to read and respond in writing. Otherwise proplem may be fobbed off IE The mirror Treatment - we are looking into it.

        Perhaps you could share your experience with your problem and how it was resolved by the TIO.

      • 

        ProjectZero on 30/10/2014 - 09:03

        @Baysew:

        I've since contacted them via FB, whom told me to contact their tech support department. Ran some diagnostic and they've since escalated the claim. Now too sure when they will get back to me though.

        I've also checked with internode and iinet and they told me that as I'm on an Telstra equipment only sub exchange, my options for plans are very limited… only difference is that internode and iinet has more support for gamers so I don't personally use as much of the quota giving most of it back to my brother and step father. Both plans (easy reach and the off-net home turbo 3 from respective ISP) are around the same price as Telstra though.

      • 

        ESEMCE on 30/10/2014 - 14:53

        @ProjectZero:
        If you can accept the poor service, Exetel do dirt cheap resold Telstra.
        Or you could look at the Telstra subsidiary ISP Belong.

      • 

        NosDan on 30/10/2014 - 16:06

        @Baysew:

        A phone call to a Telstra customer service somewhere in the world, may be a waste.

        yes it generally is, you then call the TIO and inform them of the issue (you have called telstra and they did not fix it), they then give you a case number and another number to call with local/helpful support, at that point they either fix it or TIO gets involved

        i have had to do this 3 or 4 times now, the first few times (regarding mobile fone issues) were quickly resolved once i had my case number and called the aussie help desks. the last time it was escalated to a full TIO investigation (costing tpg a lot of money by the way) but was never resolved (was a dodgy fone line which they refused to repair and i was cut off permanently and ended up getting my internet through much cheaper and more suited wirelessly)

        not once would anything have happened by writing a letter that didnt happened via fone calls.

        tl;dr these days writing of letters to companies is a thing of the past :)

      • 

        ProjectZero on 01/11/2014 - 23:02

        @scubacoles:

        Going to move to Internode, need decent CS since I'm not sure how to fix Internet stuff should the need arises

        Not too sure what to say at this point… Telstra said that the recent drop in d/l speed is most likely on my end, and if they send a tech out to check, I'd be charged…

        Not too sure how that works since my setup was d/ling at 5-6mbps before their "upgrade".

• 

  raffaharley on 28/10/2014 - 11:25

  Maybe give the Telstra 24x7 Facebook page a try. https://www.facebook.com/Telstra24x7
  Keep it polite short and sweet saying ever since the upgrade the speed has dropped and wondering what may have happened and if there is a solution.
  Then see what kind of response you get.
  You never know.

• 

  ProjectZero on 28/10/2014 - 11:30

  Was planning on writing to the Crowdsupport page I linked in the OP alongside an email to the CS department and a followup call. Might give FB a try as well.

  I understand Baysew's comment on having something that can be traced back easily, but would contacting the local Federal MP amount to anything productive by Telstra? I do believe my local Federal MP is Michelle Rowland so I don't mind giving them a bit of fodder for the crappy Telstra monopoly in my area.

• 

  Cheeper on 28/10/2014 - 11:56

  We had a similar rip off situation here but repeated written complaints to the local federal member eventually got it sorted.
  You may have to wait until it is a couple of months before the next federal election for best results as they are usually off swanning around overseas.

• 

  ozhunter on 28/10/2014 - 13:30

  With Point 3, I'm sure they have a clause or something in their T&C that unmetered services may be withdrawn at anytime.

  • 

    ProjectZero on 28/10/2014 - 16:01

    Yeah I would believe so too, but I was not notified of the withdrawal of this service. It was not until I purchased Shadow of Mordor for steam that I realised this.

• 

  ProjectZero on 28/10/2014 - 19:37

  So I have just sent Telstra 24x7 FB a msg

  Hi,

  After a recent (a few months ago) scheduled upgrade to my area (Glenwood NSW 2768), my internet has been slower than what it used to be. I was getting 5-6Mbps in speedtests but recently the max i can get is around 3.5 Mbps. I have also been getting frequent dropouts (at the very least once per day). Could you please advise if there is anything that you can do to help fix my issues?

  Also, I noticed that you recently got rid of the unmetered servers for steam. Could you please advise if there is an altenative to that?

  Thank you.

  The 3.5Mbps that i stated is actually the peak speed, and is not sustainable like the 6Mbps that i had before.

• 

  [Deactivated] on 29/10/2014 - 09:05

  I was under the impression Telstra only had to guarantee a 1.5Mbps connection….

  • 

    ProjectZero on 29/10/2014 - 11:39

    I was on a call with the Telstra techs before and they said the minimum was 3Mbps. At least for ADSL2+… perhaps they got that wrong?

• 

  srhardy on 29/10/2014 - 09:45

  +1

  You need to lodge a faults complain on the phine line with telstra on 13 2203. This may result in a little bit better connection speed but should resolve dropouts.

  No point complaining about the deal with bigpond, the TIO cant help

  But you can get a better deal, on any telstra exchange you can go logitel for instance, they have unlimited + calls and line rental deal thats perfect for you.

  Use http://bc.whirlpool.net.au/ to see whats avaialble and change providers

  • 

    ProjectZero on 29/10/2014 - 12:01

    Cheers just had a quick look and it says that i might be able to use Optus… though it also says i can use TPG and i know that didn't happen.

• 

  mattyman on 29/10/2014 - 10:44

  You're going to need to make sure that the issue isn't on your end. If you speak to your ISP they'll run through some troubleshooting with you to try and exclude your home equipment. If they send a tech out on a fault and find the issue is with your equipment and not theirs they can charge you a call out fee and your problem still won't be fixed.

  Check that anything connected to your phone line has an ADSL filter on it - except for the modem. This includes phones, faxes, foxtel external ringers, etc. If you have an alarm then this will probably also be connected to the phoneline. You'll need to get check that and possibly install a central splitter.

  Make sure that your modem ISN'T filtered. It may hay have a filter/splitter connected to it, just make sure it's plugged into the correct socket (one socket will say ADSL the other PHONE).

  Having said all of that if it's rained recently it's probably water in the pit.

• 

  mattyman on 29/10/2014 - 10:46

  +1

  I should add lso point out that changing to another provider will not help. It there is an issue with your connection it's going to be physical. When you change providers none of that hardware changes.

  • 

    NosDan on 29/10/2014 - 11:08

    I should add lso point out that changing to another provider will not help

    not only that but you will lose telstras service guarantee that they dont give you with any other ISP.

    basically only telstra needs to guarantee you a working fone line, if your "pair" (your line) has a fault and there is no spare pairs telstra are not obliged to repair your line and could simply disconnect you….. unfortunately this is exactly what happened to me when i went from telstra to TPG.

• 

  mattyman on 29/10/2014 - 10:53

  Oh. They'll also probably get you to borrow a modem of a friend to test as well to ensure that it hasn't been partially fried by a power surge. Happens more often than you think.

  Source: Ex Westnet Technical Support and Team Leader.

• 

  ProjectZero on 29/10/2014 - 11:49

  Cheers mattyman,

  Regarding the filters, I've checked them to make sure they are properly installed/connected so I'm sure that wouldn't be an issue.

  The modem and router setup that I'm using now is the same as the one I've used prior to the recent slow downs and drop outs. I've gotten surge protecting power boards for all my electronic equipments, can that still be affected by the power surge? We haven't had to reset the breakers outside of the house as well so I'm almost certain we didn't have any electrical issues.

  Too be perfectly honest with you, I'm actually just really fed up with being forced into using Telstra at $99 a month for sub par internet. I've tried Internode, iinet and TPG and none of them could provide a service to us.