Just wondering as I've had issues with my internet and phone for a week~ now with TPG's technicians after taking a week to confirm that the issue is on telstra's line end. Im asking because would Telstra or TPG be the ones liable to compensate me (I work from home)/provide a faster repair option . I've been informed it will take over a week for a Telstra technician to come and fix the problem in the line but that is a long time.
Are 3rd Party Internet Providers E.g TPG Liable for Line Faults or The Line Providers E.g Telstra?
LJamesrulez1 on 08/11/2014 - 19:02
Comments
Personal plan, I did read on some laws but after contacting telstra they have said multiple times they cannot do anything to help me even though the fault is through their line and I can only contact TPG.
From TPG Website:
SERVICE FAULTS
6.1. While we will endeavour to make the Service available to customers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, the Service is not fault free and we cannot guarantee uninterrupted service, or the speed, performance or quality of the service. There are many factors outside of our control which affect the Services, such as the performance of third party suppliers and equipment, force majeure events and quality of the copper pair. We accept no liability for interruptions to the Service or for any resulting damage or loss suffered by you or any third party.
6.2. We reserve the right to perform maintenance work from time to time, which may temporarily interrupt your access to the Service. Where possible, we will perform this work during non-peak times.
6.3. You must direct all queries regarding faults/outages of the Service to our technical support Help Desk (see contact details online at http://www.tpg.com.au/about/contact.php ). You must not direct inquiries to third party service providers, including Telstra. We will invoice you for costs incurred by us if you engage a third party for assistance with your service.
6.4. If TPG determines on reasonable grounds that the fault is not related to the TPG infrastructure (for example faulty socket, modem, internal wiring) an Incorrect Callout fee of $89 may apply. For more information please see http://www.tpg.com.au/support
it depends on who supplies what services. is it telstra phone + tpg adsl or is tpg adsl + phone? if you signed up with tpg you would have been required to sign a csg waiver.
Telstra owns the copper and is required to provide a working phone to all who have a home line service. Tell TPG that you intend to lodge a complaint with the TIO. TIO will then give Telstra a timeframe to rectify the problem and fine them if they don't meet the deadlines. They can also advise as to compensation. After seeing what TPG has to say I'd give the TIO a call and discuss your problem, even if you don't lodge a formal complaint.
Telstra owns the copper and is required to provide a working phone to all who have a home line service.
that is correct if the OP is a retail customer of telstra, but it is not clear from the post. if the local loop is controlled by tpg then it is completely a tpg issue.
Tell TPG that you intend to lodge a complaint with the TIO.
the OP has stated that it is already due for repair in a week. the wheels are in motion. no need for that nonsense
Your ignorance is profound. I'll leave you to investigate why your first comment is wrong as I presume you're well beyond the spoonfeeding stage.
In regard to the second, he works from home, his service has already been out for a week and he has no guarantees of a fix, just a vague statement. Having been through a similar situation for just personal home use of our phone I can assure you that contacting the TIO and having them take action is far from "nonsense" as the thousands of people who have had to go down that route can all testify.
my statement is correct. as i pointed out earlier, the OP has not stated what sort of phone service he has. whoever he pays his bills to is responsible for handling faults with a service. in the case where the OP has tpg "bundled" phone + internet, telstra has no direct responsiblity to the OP as the OP is not a retail customer.
if the phone and internet are critical to the OP's business then he should not have signed up for budget residential services. it is that simple. if you waive your csg rights then the best he can hope for is that the issue is resolved in a timely manner.
@mattgal: We can assume with pretty good confidence that the OP is talking about a fixed line service to his home in which case Telstra is the responsible party, as you would have discovered had you bothered to do some basic fact finding. Try searching on universal service obligation. The TPG/Telstra interface is a complication but it does not release Telstra from its obligation in any way.
The OP doesn't need to "hope" about anything, that's why the TIO exists, and I can assure you from experience that Telstra takes its USO, as required by Commonwealth legislation, far more seriously when given notice by that body.
@Possumbly:
You said it…that's exactly why the TIO exists. Not enough people know about it. Most telcos do take it seriously. I think they get fined if they don't response within the 10 business days!!@billybob1978: the timeframe the TIO sets depends on many things. The fines increase with time AND when the provider reaches a specified number of unresolved problems. They can be very large amounts but that's not the point of contacting the TIO of course. Worked a treat for us after months of being given the runaround by various parts of the Telstra organisation. Problem resolved within 3 days. Took the linesman about an hour.
We can assume with pretty good confidence that the OP is talking about a fixed line service to his home in which case Telstra is the responsible party
that is not necessarily a good assumption given that tpg heavily market their bundled internet + phone service, which is a ULL service. the OP asked who is accountable for his problems. the first thing i asked was exactly services the he had to establish some basic facts. he still hasn't bothered to clarify the situation. i won't be wasting anymore time on the matter.
The TPG/Telstra interface is a complication but it does not release Telstra from its obligation in any way.
you are ignoring the difference between telstra wholesale and retail divisions. for a ULL service, telstra is a wholesaler and not the retailer.
In regard to the second, he works from home, his service has already been out for a week and he has no guarantees of a fix, just a vague statement.
a week's down-time to investigate and resolve a fault for a budget residental service is not unreasonable and tio involvement is unnecessary. a month of downtime, on the otherhand, would be unreasonable and tio involvement is appropriate.
if he is only willing to pay for budget services then the trade-off is that he should be prepared to accept occasional down-time.
@mattgal: I'm not ignoring anything pal. The provision of a working phone service has nothing at all to do with Telstra's structure. The simple fact is that Telstra is required by regulation to provide telephony (and data) support for its network of copper. I've spoonfed you adequately that you should by now have acquainted yourself with that elementary fact.
I take your last point though. If you're not the one whose service is compromised then "occasional down time" is no doubt not a big issue. Fortunately for telephony consumers in this country far wiser people have determined that no-one should be without a phone service and therefore implemented service standards, complaint mechanisms and escalating fines to ensure that's the case. A wet behind the ears teenager would probably know why it's important that people have such a basic service even without the additional driver of a work from home situation. The government (we) have paid big dollars to Telstra for maintenance of their infrastructure so it seems reasonable that they provide the services required in return. The TIO (and other organisations) makes sure they meet their obligations and no-one should be reticent about contacting them for advice and/or action - despite your rather "interesting" view about what is reasonable.
Everything your end is 100%?
Done an isolation test as per your isp help pages?The lines from the exchange to your first connection point are telstra's responsibility.
And you're not a Telstra customer, so good luck seeking any sort of compensation, as you don't have a contract with them.
Ah well I was planning on switching ISP's soon as TPG have terrible upload rates without Annex-m so I guess this is a good chance
Yes, multiple tests done by TPG and Telstra, at first Telstra kept on insisting the problem was not on their end with their line tests and a TPG technician had to come out and isolate the issue to confirm it was a Telstra issues.
Yep if you want to run a business from home go direct with telstra.
and sure it costs more but i had a storm come thru my area- falling trees took out my phone cables.
Telstra routed all my calls to my Mobile till they could fix it.(no extra charge)(and now i don't run my business from home i have Optus as well (cheaper))
I have the same problem…
They are still looking for line interference. It has been weeks.
I spoke to the Telstra tech and they believe it is one of the satellite dishes installed on my neighbour's roof, but they need access to his house…
The last time this happened, it was someone who was running a dodgy old television that was causing noise on my line.
It has more to do with the technology, and most importantly your neighbours rather than the copper line usually. I was told as long as I can sync, then the copper line isn't broken.
We are all waiting on the FTTH NBN. I think FTTN also has this noise issue as it still uses copper.
I work for an ISP so this is what you need to know.
1) The physical lines are owned and operated by Telstra or in some rare cases Optus etc.
2) If there is a line issue then you will need to have Telstra come out and look at the lines, unfortunately this means that you are waiting on a Telstra tech for your area to be available.
3) Sometimes you can expedite the issue if you have a phone number attached to the line and can test the line with a phone call, no dial tone or static on the lines unusually means that there is a line issue present.
4) TPG just put a code on the line to send the internet down it, they are responsible for the internet service and not the lines, equipment at your site, phone jacks etc.
5) It is an ADSL service without any SLA attached to it more than likely, the chance of you being compensated for the outage time is between nil and buckleys. Although you may get a discount on your invoice if you manage to arc up enough.To squash any possibility that the issue is on your end, see if you can grab a spare router from somewhere and test it out, also swap out any phone line filters that you may be using. Check you cables for any problems as well.
possible issue , do you have a business or personal plan ?
and telstra are responsible for fixing the fault in a timely manner, pretty sure there are laws about how long they can take to fix a fault , cant tell you how long. but tpg would organise it.
the only compensation you are entitled to is a refund/reduction for that billing cycle.