Exetel Just Increased Their Prices, Reduced Data and Changed The Plan to Something Very Expensive. What Would You Do?

[Deactivated] on 08/06/2015 - 18:58
Last edited 11/06/2015 - 03:13

Have you been affected?
What are other internet+line-rental providers in range? (around 50-100GB or more4less!, No calls needed, same speed, no charge if go over)
maybe "Expeltel" just want to get rid of some customers?
You can also vote, Thanks.
.
.
here is the full story;
So Exetel just changed their plans to something really crap, now they reduced the data and also split the leftover between peek and off-peek, which means half of the data is actually unreachable and not useful so it is basically less data which you can use half of it!
Then it was not just that, they also increased the price of that little bit of data ridiculously!
Now they send emails and tell customers they have been put to the next upper plan in hope I guess to force you think at least its better to get back to a lower plan even if you pay more than before for not much of data provided.
.
Update 1;
Looks like not everybody got their Exetel End of financial year special offer just yet! let us know, if you got it later!
Update 2;
Looks like longtime customers are also being kicked out from "Expeltel" for no reason, so good luck everybody, Spend your money somewhere they respect you.
Update 3;
I also do not think providing you say a few GBs of data, would cost these companies more than $10/month per customer, that's a shame, maybe more IT companies are needed for a bit of FAIR competition? or we need some MORE investment on our infrastructures! (hint hint Government)

Poll Options

  • 1
    Leave Exetel later but choose similar but expensive plan until finding an alternative
  • 2
    Don't bother, Exetel is the best
  • 2
    Other
  • 8
    Leave Exetel but choose a lower plan until a deal comes up
  • 167
    Leave Exetel immediately
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Comments

  • tumsum on 08/06/2015 - 19:20

    yet to receive email, could someone please recommend another ADSL2+ 120GB plan?

    • scrimshaw on 08/06/2015 - 20:01
      +2

      Spintel has a 200GB plan, with no bullcrap peak/offpeak timing.

      It's only $50 bucks and that includes line rental (you can't remove the line rental option) and no contract.

      • Diji1 on 08/06/2015 - 20:31
        +1

        Just pray to God you never have any technical issues with Spintel :|

        • [Deactivated] on 08/06/2015 - 20:37

          well they are all the same in that realm!

        • Diji1 on 08/06/2015 - 20:41
          +1

          @pal: Well Exetel at least uses people that have a command of English sufficient that you don't have to ask them to repeat everything 2 or 3 times and repeatedly say the same thing to them only to have them ask you if you want what you just specifically stated you did not want etc. :p

          I guess I should say that I've only had the awful, awful displeasureable experience of speaking to Spintel regarding a mobile service, maybe their internet-related support are better ;)

        • [Deactivated] on 08/06/2015 - 20:52
          -1

          @Diji1: Well I would love to see they have their customer service in Essex, Nashville or Melbourne but well, meh!

        • onlyletters on 09/06/2015 - 14:29

          @pal: not really, exetel is pretty good when comes to support.

      • [Deactivated] on 08/06/2015 - 20:31

        Thanks, looks good but still expensive as I never used more than 100GB normally around 50GB

      • paloverde88 on 10/06/2015 - 06:30

        Line rental is never free on spintel and they do not offer naked dsl

    • [Deactivated] on 08/06/2015 - 20:29

      have you finished your contract yet?

      • tumsum on 08/06/2015 - 21:21

        yep - im planning on going to Spintel's 200 GB for $49.95 with the free setup promotion, once i get notice of the change.

        • tumsum on 16/06/2015 - 11:45

          I am on the Telstra DSLAM, and my plan is not affected. I will continue on my $50 500GB plan

  • stargalaxy on 08/06/2015 - 19:25

    I am on exetel as well and yet to receive any notification yet.

    • [Deactivated] on 08/06/2015 - 20:34

      Well if you are still in a contract, don't bother, otherwise keep us updated

  • spackbace on 08/06/2015 - 19:29
    +3

    You haven't mentioned what plan, what cost etc you're on now…

    • [Deactivated] on 08/06/2015 - 20:41

      I mentioned I use 50-100GB, No matter what you are on, look at their prices, if you are a new customer
      http://www.exetel.com.au/broadband/adsl#bundled
      otherwise you get something like what @adamadam said just below.

  • [Deactivated] on 08/06/2015 - 20:27
    +4

    Dear Adam

    In order to ensure that each of our customers are operating on the most up-to-date data plans Exetel regularly review and simplify our suite of available >broadband bundle plans.

    We do this to ensure all customer services keep pace with the rapidly growing demand for data usage and the increasing cost of network bandwidth.

    As a result of this latest review, and based on your usage patterns, Exetel will be changing your current broadband bundle plan on 28 June 2015 to the following plan:
    Service Number:
    New Monthly Data Allowance: 1 TB
    Peak / Off Peak Allowance: Anytime
    Excess Usage: Speed shaping to 128/64 kbps
    Broadband Plan Charge: $33/mth
    Phone Line Rental: $25/mth
    Total Monthly Minimum Cost: $58/mth
    Contract Term: Month-to-month
    You do not need to do anything for this change to take place. Your new monthly data allowance, monthly phone line rental and data costs will automatically be applied to your account from 28 June 2015.

    If you are unhappy with the details of broadband bundle plan above, you can visit the My Exetel area of the Exetel website and select a plan before 28 June 2015 that more closely suits your needs or budget.

    I was on the 100gb plan, and I never used it up, so my usage pattern suggests that I need 1TB instead?
    I don't want to pay more, but if I want to get something similar to what I had before, I would have to pay $5 more a month :(

    • [Deactivated] on 08/06/2015 - 20:33
      +1

      No its not just $5 more per month, it is 50GB now instead of 100, the other 50 is when you are sleeping.

    • Diji1 on 08/06/2015 - 20:34

      I haven't been keeping tabs on Exetel's prices lately but that is basically exactly the plan I'm on now except I'm outof contract by I dunno … 4 years maybe?

      My speed is so roonet that's I'd be lucky to get 750GB if I continuously downloaded but I'd definitely change provider if I could utilise more transfer speed for the same price or less, no question.

    • ESEMCE on 08/06/2015 - 21:25
      +1

      Sounds like Optus ports are no longer making money for Exetel on the old prices.
      I'm in the same situation as you, 100Gb plan, don't use 100Gb and out of contract, but I've not (yet) received such an email, but I'm on a Telstra port (paying $10 more per month than you are/were and would have to pay $77/month if I was forced to a 1Tb plan today.
      Exetel's prices were insanely good. Now they're middling at best. You probably can switch to another provider reselling Optus ports pretty easily and for similar money to now, but performance as you are likely aware can be poor on Optus ADSL ports.

      • [Deactivated] on 08/06/2015 - 22:07

        You guys are lucky, that was the last thing I would be waiting for right now!

    • ESEMCE on 09/06/2015 - 11:17
      +1

      I was on the 100gb plan, and I never used it up, so my usage pattern suggests that I need 1TB instead?

      You probably use or have used more than 50Gb in "peak" time and therefore your usage pattern is unsuitable for the "100"Gb(50/50) plan. Since there's nothing in-between the 100Gb and 1000Gb plans, your usage pattern fits into the 1000Gb plan.

      • [Deactivated] on 09/06/2015 - 16:32

        Thanks for helping me understand this better! :)

      • Jackson on 13/06/2015 - 22:45

        I haven't used more than 50 Gb in 5 months, and only gone over the 100Gb limit 3 times in the last year and by small margins, and for some reason they think I should be on the 1tb plan. Obviously will be changing, if I get shaped for a few days a year I can cope

    • kat123 on 09/06/2015 - 18:00

      got the same email, mine was previously:

      Monthly charge: $49.50
      Peak download limit: 75 GB
      Off peak download limit: Unlimited
      Peak period: 09:00am to 01:00am

      This worked well for us as we have 4 adults, and all downloads can be scheduled for overnight.

      We've now been told we'll be moved to

      1 TB Broadband Any time for $58.00

      We'd rather stay with what we've got, but apparently that's not an option & the next plan down is

      100GB 50GB Peak/50 GB Off Peak for $45.00

      However we normally use at least 70GB on peak and much more off peak, seems we'll be stuck with paying more, and with pretty short notice too, not very happy with them at the moment!

  • victorwilson on 09/06/2015 - 02:04
    +1

    I'm on the 500 GB plan, $50/month. Contract expires next month.

    Getting double the quota for only $8 more per month sounds like a pretty good deal
    ….but I have never gone anywhere near using 500 GB per month. And 100 GB isn't enough. Thanks Exetel.

    • kat123 on 09/06/2015 - 18:05

      Exactly our problem, we definitely need more than 100GB but not up-to the 1TB!

      Maybe we should look into sharing with neighbours with wifi band extenders, the unlimited plan is only $59 a month ($1 more than 1TB)

      anyone have any experience with this?
      Were in residential neighbourhood, not apartments…

      • Steptoe on 09/06/2015 - 19:45

        Should be easy to set up a router to equally share bandwidth. Depends how far apart you are. can you see their current WiFi?

        • kat123 on 09/06/2015 - 20:15

          Yeah, we can see neighbour on either side, so I guess we could approach either…

          Unlimited for $30 each a month would be awesome, but we probably use more bandwidth then they'd like, from what I know both sets of neighbours are paying more than us with optus on low GB plans, but they're both family's so probably have bundles & all the whistles rather than our approach.

          probably harder than its worth with current neighbours, but would consider with the right neighbours!

        • FirstNameLastName on 11/06/2015 - 07:51

          Once letters start flying for illegal downloads it will probably kill neighbour-sharing.. possibly even flatmate-sharing.

      • [Deactivated] on 10/06/2015 - 07:22

        Exetels speed are already bad and with most customers who are staying being forced onto 1TB plans to cover the amount of usage they need it is only going to get worse. Couple that with Wireless extenders being notoriously slow/unreliable, not to mention over a reasonable distance (one house to another), both neighbours are going to have a really bad time.

        • paloverde88 on 10/06/2015 - 10:17

          Speed with chatel is no better.

  • BobD on 09/06/2015 - 07:40

    I was on Exetel, via a Telstra port, for a while but got sick of their tricks like this plus their general weirdness. I jumped ship to Internode fibre NBN. Pricing is not as good but at least the surprises are much less. I can live with that. No congestion in afternoon peaks either. I downloaded the Win 10 ISO yesterday (about 6:00 pm) in 15 minutes.

  • shaybisc on 09/06/2015 - 07:51
    +1

    Be thankful you're getting city prices and not the regional price on a Telstra exchange like me.

    As for Exetel, I was with them until one day out of the blue they dropped me an email saying they were going to increase my (regional) price by an astonishing amount- 48% from memory- something in that region- I left.

    • OldBugger on 09/06/2015 - 21:58

      Where did you go? On regional also and since we need the phone line, the telstra 100GB (which will be upgraded to 200GB soon) + line rental (free national calls) for $80/m isn't too shabby I thought.

      • shaybisc on 10/06/2015 - 09:18

        I went to Veetel, but if they start charging me the price they are now charging for regional plans- I've just looked- I will leave. They are charging me $44.85 for 100GB unbundled and it hasn't changed since I started with them years ago- 3 or 4- losing track of time. They are now charging $59.95. So if I was you now I'd take that Telstra deal.

        The city broadband prices seem to be getting cheaper all the time- grrrrrrrrrrrr- and the regional prices are getting much more expensive, apart from Telstra. I assume that's because Telstra is screwing the other ISPs in the regions in some unscrupulous way.

  • MaxTravels on 09/06/2015 - 09:05

    I've been with Exetel for about 6 years now I think on an unlimited plan (no shaping, no peek/off peek). The plan isn't offered anymore and I have never been able to find a better deal. Hope I don't get one of these emails!

    Had a great run with exetel in that time, only had 3-4 outages with the longest caused by the idiot installing the NbN and cutting to many wires to our street.

    I am waiting for the NBN to be completed in the area and then was going to swap to their $89 unlimited plan when it does.

  • r2160 on 09/06/2015 - 12:10

    These companies display no loyalty, so they dont deserve any.

    • ESEMCE on 09/06/2015 - 12:17
      +2

      You pay for a dirt cheap service, you get dirt cheap service…
      I'd be more upset if they went broke cause they continued to supply service to customers below their costs.

  • newozbargainermelb on 09/06/2015 - 13:09
    +2

    It looks like dodo would suit your requirements at $29.90 per month for unlimited data without any peak off-peak dance without telephone line rental and without any contract with oz call centre if I remember correctly.

    • infinite on 09/06/2015 - 13:59

      You get locked into a 24mth contract with them though, which is a complete deal breaker. Their help desk is also based in the Philippines, going off the experience I had in helping out a few family members formerly with them.

      I still think for cheap unlimited, you cant go past the contract-free Club Telco, for $40 a month.

      • [Deactivated] on 09/06/2015 - 21:35

        They (Club Telco) are part of the same wholesale conglomerate as Dodo. Last time I looked into it ~2years ago exetel were the only cheap internet service that weren't. The new pricing is an extra $8 for me as I'm currently on the 500gb plan. I would get the 1tb isn't worrying for me. I got this price 2 years ago, just seems like inflation.

        Apparently Australia's bandwidth just got an extra 30% load on it from the release of Netflix in Australia as well, maybe bandwidth costs more per GB now that people want more of it. I'm not sure how much is actually available or anything like that but the price rise doesn't worry me.

        BTW I'm not on a metro exchange, I currently pay $50 for 500GB and an extra $20 line rental/month.

      • fruit on 09/06/2015 - 21:51

        You don't need a 24 month contract, I just signed up for 12 months but you can also do month to month for $29 setup

    • paloverde88 on 10/06/2015 - 10:19

      But the name sounds dufus.

  • squeeb on 09/06/2015 - 14:19
    +1

    Try Spintel.

    $39.95 - 40GB
    $49.95 - 200GB

    This price is for urban areas and includes phone line rental. You can check with your phone number here:

    https://www.spintel.net.au/products/broadband

    I have been with them a number of years and they have been good.

    Happy to refer you and we both get account credits.

    See https://www.ozbargain.com.au/wiki/spintel_referral_links

    • seanbaussie on 09/06/2015 - 20:24

      Who do Spintel resell? I'm interested, but getting poor speeds on exetel who are reselling Optus, looking at TPG to attempt better speeds. Could be sold on Spintel if I thought there was any chance of bettering speed.

      • squeeb on 09/06/2015 - 21:59

        I'm on a Telstra dslam. I believe that they can do both but it depends on availability at your exchange.

      • paloverde88 on 10/06/2015 - 10:20

        Spintel on sell both optarse and hellstra depending on which exchange.

    • FirstNameLastName on 11/06/2015 - 08:04

      So with spintel:

      "Reached your broadband data limit? This is where auto data blocks come in. So if you go over your data limit from time to time, we will automatically top it up by 10GB at nominal rate of $3"

      I hate surprises.
      Still, doesn't look like a bad deal, I just don't know if I could contain myself under 40gb.
      I'd hate having to check my usage all the time.

      • squeeb on 11/06/2015 - 18:08
        +1

        I'm on an old shaped plan but you do get notifications at 50%, 85% and 100% of your included data allowance.

        You can also turn the auto top up off online.

  • onlyletters on 09/06/2015 - 14:32

    If NBN is due to be turned on in your area, try and downgrade to a cheaper plan and hold out, then switch.. Its a pain in the ass switching ADSL providers.

    • fruit on 09/06/2015 - 21:54

      It's just a churn… wait upto 10 days with like 5-15 mins downtime.

      • onlyletters on 10/06/2015 - 15:11
        +1

        if its a churn, but if its not, then good luck, only works if your moving from a optus line to a optus line.. better off just negotiating with the cancellation department.

    • jackofspade on 10/06/2015 - 19:52
      +2

      Good idea. Just found out NBN is available in my area so I might as well switch to NBN 100GB for $39/mth + free activation + free modem.

      • onlyletters on 11/06/2015 - 07:53

        not sure if that deal is for everyone, most likely new customers only perhaps??

        • jackofspade on 11/06/2015 - 17:36

          Existing customers can also get the deal as long as it's a new connection.

  • Berigood on 09/06/2015 - 15:42
    +1

    Try Eftel $50 p/m unlimited downloads

  • Janko on 09/06/2015 - 15:45

    Been with Exetel since the year they started, liked them for the first few years, hated them since. Not prepared to suffer downtime to churn or the unknown.

    My belief is that when GST came in on used cars from dealers, all the salesman flocked to open up ISPs.

  • [Deactivated] on 09/06/2015 - 16:21

    I have been with Exetel for many years, as well as being a small-time 'agent' making many recommendations for them. Usually, Exetel Jack up prices when their costs go up, but then they offer a cheaper price again when they can, it's just what comes with the territory with Exetel, I don't have a problem with this.

    Unfortunately, in the last year in particular the service quality as really dropped (I'm on a VIC/Telstra port), and it is extremely congested during Peak times. I think it's because they now offer cheap Unlimited/High Quota plans which encourages the leaches to join their network.

    If you don't care about speed just cheap and Exetel speeds are acceptable for you, stick with Exetel. When you factor in setup costs they probably are still the cheapest.

    But if you want the speed levels they used to offer, it might be worth paying a few bucks extra to get a better quality ISP.

  • [Deactivated] on 09/06/2015 - 19:06

    Exetel are terrible anyway regardles of their plans? I'd move away asap. So many other providers out there why waste your time with them.

  • Steptoe on 09/06/2015 - 19:51

    Where does the notification date fit with you billing cycle?

  • seanbaussie on 09/06/2015 - 20:06
    +1

    I got this email too - but be aware, they're trying to scam you (or me in my case) to believing that the plan that's best for you is what makes them more money. Shock horror.

    When they say
    'If you are unhappy with the details of broadband bundle plan above, you can visit the My Exetel area of the Exetel website and select a plan before 28 June 2015 that more closely suits your needs or budget.'
    then make sure you do! Like @adamadam above I never use their allowance and yet they wanted me to get 1Tb/month for about $20 more than I'm paying. At least I checked and if I want to stay with them I'll only choose the one that's $5/month more.

    Looking into TPG but setup costs are a killer, anyone know a reseller who'd like my business?

    • fruit on 09/06/2015 - 21:52

      Check to make sure you are looking at the "churn"/transfer setup. That's usually much cheaper.

  • plasmapuff on 10/06/2015 - 01:10
    +4

    Just called up Exetel sales and have confirmed no fee for porting out despite not giving 30 days notice for users who have received the forced plan change notice.

    Like many others I'm also on the $40/mth for $100GB in Metro brisbane.

    I'm looking to port out to potentially TPG or Netcube at the moment for a number of reasons:
    1) New $45 Exetel plan for 50GB/50GB Peak/Offpeak is not enough. With congestion these days, 1/3 of the day to use half your quota will most likely result in me being capped for breaching the 50GB peak and having this quota of off peak left unused.
    2) $1TB $58 plan is the same price as other providers like TPG ($59.99 unlimited). Price is the main reason most people have stuck it out for so long. Take that away and imo Exetel have nothing…

    Doesn't help congestion when 6/10 people in my unit complex are using Optus lines when the sparkie checked the MDF the other day.

    Netcube is the other option at $69.95 for unlimited. Telstra DSLAMs which in theory is good but my concern is they only have 1 POP in Australia and that's in Melbourne so all traffic gets routed through there.

    For the price and the local POPs, I think TPG might win out.

    Other cheaper options include:
    Mynetphone
    Spintel
    Dodo

    But if you look at Google Youtube statistics as a guide:
    https://www.google.com/get/videoqualityreport/
    Spintel and Dodo are pretty dire. All 3 have horrendous reputations for speed and service.

    Interested to hear where other people are moving to? Seems like the days of the low cost ISP are over (much the same with mobile). GG Exetel after 12 years…

    • [Deactivated] on 10/06/2015 - 01:22
      +3

      Seems like the days of the low cost ISP are over (much the same with mobile). GG Exetel after 12 years…

      I agree with that sentiment. It seems that they have served us well, but with the consolidation of the ISP market and them trying to become more profitable in the last few years with an eye to be bought out, their glory days are over. They are going for Quantity over Quality by pushing customers onto huge download limits, and attracting those who actually use it that much, so they have as many customers as possible, and the service is suffering. You knew things were bad when they pulled down the network monitoring graphs from public view. They used to be a thing of beauty. I appreciate the years of service they have given me and others in the past

      • Jackson on 13/06/2015 - 22:59
        +1

        They have been going down hill since John Linton went. It's picked up in pace lately though

  • ProjectZero on 10/06/2015 - 09:36

    I'd say leave exetel, but keep the connection alive until you find another company or a deal…

    Recently moved over to AusBBS from internode, their ADSL2+ monthly fee is really cheap if you can get onto their on-net plans, else they're similar to dodo and TPG. I've had a few issues (dropouts and the fact that I didn't have connection for a weekend due to them having connected me but gave me a wrong pw to sign in) and their customer service is not 24/7 (Monday to Friday kind of deal), but you can be sure that you will be talking to someone from Aus as I was told that their CS and company is based in Sydney pretty much.

    I would also like to warn of hidden charges that may be applicable to you.

    I've rarely need to call CS so I didn't mind joining up with them, plus if you have ever talked to Telstra CS… they're nice people but… almost as useless as tits on a bull as they aren't really able to fix any of the speed issues I've had in the past.

    Side note:
    I'm pretty sure the dropouts are due to the Telstra owned hardware as I've been having dropouts as far back as when I had Telstra as the ISP, they couldn't of done anything about it either…)

    TL:DR

    Read the bolded parts

  • spackbace on 10/06/2015 - 17:01
    +2

    This thread kinda makes me ok with paying a higher price from iinet (off-net)

  • Popid on 10/06/2015 - 17:17
    +2

    was waiting to see if I'd get this email, but nope instead I just received a 'Notice Of Termination Of Service' email, disconnection occurring on 10 July, with no reason given, just quoting their fine-print right to do it. Been with them for years, no idea why I'd get this instead of the 'upgrade' notice. Maybe as Op states, they just need to get rid of some people and they're doing some more directly. Great; is a pain because have my landline, net and mobile bundled up together with them, guess I'd better start figuring out where I'll go…

    edit they do actually outright state that it's a 'commercial decision':

    Exetel has made a commercial decision to cease supplying services to your address, and is giving you the 30 days contractually required notice of the termination of your service(s).

    blah

    • Jackson on 13/06/2015 - 23:04

      I think it's amazing they are just cutting 400 odd people loose. Even if they are heavy users, they can only use what their plan allows before getting shaped. Does that then mean that they are relying on people to buy plans they actually don't utilise to turn a profit? That can't be a business model can it? Surely they should just offer you something appropriate at the very least

  • inherentchoice on 10/06/2015 - 17:38

    I am facing a 45% increase too. Very disappointed.

    I am hoping they will wake up to the mass exodus and come up with some better offerings.

    Might also consider contacting the telcos Ombudsman?

  • merill on 10/06/2015 - 18:14
    +3

    Just got this 'commercial reason' disconnect mail. I'll most probably go for the Optus $90 plan while they have it.

    In which world is it a commercial reason to fire customers? I was on 500GB plan for $49 but they currently advertise a 1TB plan for $58. Just doesn't add up.

    • [Deactivated] on 10/06/2015 - 18:23
      +1

      wtf are they doing!? Pushing low-use customers onto 1TB plans and sacking any customers who use approx 500GB+?

      • merill on 10/06/2015 - 18:28
        +1

        My monthly average is about 220GB with the maximum I've used hitting 300GB.

        • Steptoe on 10/06/2015 - 19:11

          Maybe they are bailing out of some exchanges?

        • [Deactivated] on 11/06/2015 - 04:37

          @Steptoe: They don't have any exchanges, they lease from Telstra/Optus/AAPT(TPG)

  • iSamurai on 10/06/2015 - 18:38

    I was on their grandfathered plan that had no connection/setup fees, 500 GB a month for $50 only! Can't get that anywhere else now.

    My internet has been slow and even broken (as well as the phone line) over the last two weeks, so we were fed up and wanted to ask if they can repair it. They said it for an incorrect call out fee it would cost us $220 ish, but this is highly likely a problem with the wiring between the exchange and our house (which they've installed it at a 10+km exchange while there is one just 1.5km down the road — only just found out about this recently. Asked them to swap us over to the closer exchange but they refused). We felt that they could say it was something wrong with our house and charge us the fee so we said we want to think about it first (while we look for other potential ISPs). The following day we received the price increase email (to $58pm) and that was the last straw.

    We boiled the list down to DoDo, TPG and iiNet. Dodo and TPG both are $60pm, except the latter has a $120 install fee for unlimited, which makes it $70pm over 12 months). DoDo uses Telstra infrastructure and TPG has their own stuff from my place. iiNet is $70 (naked) for $300GB. There's a Google YouTube bandwidth ISP chart that shows you whether the ISP end users are streaming SD/HD content and it shows DoDo suffering the worst congestion at around the evenings.

    I rang up all three of them and the first two had such crazy sales tactics they want you to sign up on the spot. They even talk over you. I really disliked their method of getting hold of customers and didn't make a good impression. TPG won't waive the install fee for whatever reasons (one of them being they want to provide the best customer service experience). In the end we went with iiNet because of their friendly staff and efficient call centre. They also helped us port our line from Exetel (who leased it from Optus, which actually belongs to Telstra wholesale) — apparently this is a tedious process and other ISPs wouldn't touch this porting process or would charge a fee.

    We got a free modem and an iiNet Fetch TV setup box as well. The line is getting installed at the end of the month so we're looking forward to see what the speed is like using a closer exchange. I hope iiNet doesn't get bought by TPG :P

  • slix_88 on 10/06/2015 - 18:40
    +2

    Just got the boot from Exetel too due to some "commercial reason".

    Was on the 1TB plan using about 20% of my quota on average. Been with them for about 10 years too… what is loyalty? Don't torrent as well. Called up and they couldn't give a reason; only that they have given me a 30 day notice.

    Perhaps this thread should also develop into a PR motion to boycott their services.

    • bragains on 10/06/2015 - 20:55

      Someone's DSLAM is costing a lot more recently is my guess. Nothing to do with your usage. More per-port costs for Exetel.

      • [Deactivated] on 11/06/2015 - 04:41
        +1

        If that was the case, they would raise prices, not boot the customer completely. Seems that 200GB+ is the boot-off point. I admire that they seem to want to get the contention back under control, but 200GB isn't really that much, especially considering the customers were allowed to be on 500GB, 1TB or Unlimited plans to begin with… now it doesn't suit them "commercially" for those who actually used it (even without even going close to the limit) while simultaneously offering existing customers 1TB plans. It doesn't make any sense other than greed this time.

        They are basically saying to existing customers "If you want more than 50GB, you have to go to a 1TB plan, and if you try to use even 20% of your 1TB plan, we will boot you for 'commercial reasons'". Exetel have always done the right thing by their customers in the past when they have stopped grandfathered plans, but this time something is rotten.

        • ESEMCE on 11/06/2015 - 07:38
          +2

          It makes total sense.. Kick off the high usage customers, bump up prices but offer a sweetener in the form of higher data that the remaining customers wont use.
          Definitely seems to be exclusively Optus port customers that are getting booted/"upgraded" which indicates to me that Optus have increased their prices, probably as a result of the congestion issues they have seen since Netflix. Hopefully they're going to use the extra money to improve their network rather than just pocket the profit.

        • Jackson on 13/06/2015 - 23:16
          +1

          Really this means that for anyone who knows what they use, is consistent month to month and purchases accordingly they only offer a 200Gb plan, and the other 800Gb is for people who occasionally go over. Hardly a 1tb plan.

          I can understand if they aren't making money something has to give, but jettisoning customers in this way could be verging on illegal advertising. What I mean is that advertising. 1Tb plan but never having the intention to provide people the 1tb as a service is misleading (even if they have the right to get rid of unprofitable customers).

  • ScaryZombie on 10/06/2015 - 22:09
    +1

    Disappointed that I received the email too. Been with Exetel for almost 10 years now. For the last few years I've been on the Unlimited plan for $58, even though I always use less than 500GB, which would have been the next plan down back then and for the past few years, although now the next plan down is 1TB. Usage has not been excessive or restricted to peak periods. Bills always paid automatically via credit card and their $1.10 fee.

    The current Unlimited plan costs $59, so $1 more than what I am currently paying, though the email doesn't offer this. I've only had nice things to say about Exetel on Ozbargain. Very disappointed that I've been shown the door with very little courtesy.

  • Diji1 on 11/06/2015 - 09:14

    Further discussion .. apparently they're kicking people off for beig heavy downloaders now lel

    http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=2411057

    • slix_88 on 11/06/2015 - 09:43

      Not true; read-on in the forum.

      I suspect it may have something to do with those who have a line rental combo and don't make as many fixed line calls in the month (I for one am one of them)

      • Diji1 on 11/06/2015 - 10:19

        Ahk … that'd be me as well (not booted as of now though)

      • Jackson on 13/06/2015 - 23:18

        I think there must be a formula. I never use my phone but I don't download as much as these people and I got the option to upgrade

      • inherentchoice on 17/06/2015 - 09:23

        Interesting. I have made about 2 fixed line calls in a year. Have an old corded phone which gets a bit dusty.

  • [Deactivated] on 11/06/2015 - 09:51

    @slix_88 Either you have an unlimited pack or you don't use it at all, that's how it works these days, call rates are so expensive. Then they will say you are using unlimited call pack too much.

    • slix_88 on 11/06/2015 - 12:07

      1TB plan (500GB offpeak / 500GB peak). Average about 200GB total usage a month which is probably average nowadays.

      The phone bundle isn't unlimited. I pay about $58 for line rental + internet. Phone calls are charged on top and I only made about $6 worth of calls in the last month.

      • [Deactivated] on 11/06/2015 - 13:06

        Well clearly I don't think it's the phone then. $6 of home phone usage on a non-unlimited service is $6 more than most people!

        • Fappo on 11/06/2015 - 14:26

          I agree. I'm guessing it's to do with the data amount used and has nothing to do with the phone line. Most people commenting on WP are saying that they've been under their monthly quotas, but the data talked about is still relatively high compared to (I assume) what many people use.

          I just got one of their ingracious termination of service notifications yesterday too.

  • frostee on 11/06/2015 - 09:57

    I am still on my existing plan $39.99 a month for 100GB anytime. I recently looked at upgrading (I got Netflix - lots of data) and saw that. 100GB now split between on and off peak and $5 more a month. Not sure I am willing to pay another $18 per month.

  • [Deactivated] on 11/06/2015 - 14:30

    I think you'll find, predominately, the people having their accounts terminated are ones excessively downloading / torrenting / video streaming.
    Netflix has brought the optus network to a crawl during peak and I'm guessing has left exetel in a precarious position, giving them no choice but to remove the worst offending customers. I'm not sticking up for them, but it's really optus to blame here for not providing better infrastructure that can handle the increased load.

    • Fappo on 11/06/2015 - 15:40
      +1

      I am (was) on a 500GB plan and download ~200GB a month on average. Is using under half of your allowance excessive? Many people on WP are telling a similar story.

      I agree that data use is likely the reason for this Exetel BS, but using under half of what you're supposedly allowed is hardly excessive.

      • [Deactivated] on 11/06/2015 - 16:26
        +1

        You honestly would not believe it, this afternoon have just received the email from exetel…. I'm still under contract and never hit my 100GB allowance, yet I'm being forced to a 1TB plan and $58 per month instead of $39.. I could understand this if I was out of contract but what the, I didn't sign up for this.

        • Fappo on 11/06/2015 - 16:53
          +1

          Use the opportunity to get out (who knows though, if you stick with them you may well get a nice surprise email as they boot you out in the future). Screw Exetel and their shoddy business practices and crappy service. If they don't have the best price going for them anymore, what do they have?

          I know it's easier said than done though, and changing ISPs is a bit of a pain in the arse. I'm actually kinda glad that they have forced my hand and made me switch ISPs though as I've been sick of their crap for quite a while now.

        • [Deactivated] on 11/06/2015 - 17:20
          +2

          @Fappo: Just scheduled the connection to be terminated, explained I was already unhappy with the service and the speed during peak times, she then had the nerve to say they'd give me a free month if I stay. NO THANKS, cya Exetel.

        • ESEMCE on 11/06/2015 - 18:20

          @andiw: Dunno if you're the same bloke, but another guy on Whirlpool has the same issue.. He's considering asking for a setup fee refund (at least Pro Rata) as it was factored into the overall cost of the plan that Exetel have now broken.

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