Help, many issues with Telstra Store

I'm needing some help with an recent Telstra new phone order..

At the start of last month I bought an phone outright on the Telstra store, few days later I received the order but the wrong phone ($29 phone that's not even listed on the store anymore). I spoke to a rep on livechat and was ensured that my local Telstra store had the correct phone in stock and I could exchange it in person (I had not opened it etc).. well this did not go well.

After 50min wait in store the manager told me after I will have to wait for a phone call from Telstra that would take 3-5 days to organise it being sent back as it is a different department, despite the correct phone being in store and in stock right in front of me.. Whilst pissed off with this process I had to go with it.. During this whole thing I did not have a working mobile phone hence the original purchase, as an compensation the manager of the store said I could break the seal and use the phone and he said he would organise the use of the phone in a form of compensation for the mix up. This was added to my case in the notes so I didn't run into problems in the process.

I received the phone call from the online store department and they were horrified that the manager allowed me to use the phone however said they would honor it and because it had been such a long process etc and phone would be considered "compensation for the mixup".. 5 days later I had not received any return stachel or the correct phone.

I called online orders and was put through the departments and finally got someone who speaks english well enough to understand. She said because the phone was in use they are unable to process the return process, whilst annoyed at this as I was told otherwise I had to suck it up again. Instead of returning the phone she said they would refund the difference and I would keep the phone. A week later no money was refunded into my credit card so I called again (another 1h phone call) I was told this time that a higher up department had rejected the refund and offering the difference in credit on my account, yet no one bothered to contact me whether to accept it or not. Over this time the crappy phone I was sent originally had begun to play up and would lose network connectivity and I would not receive phone calls.

This is where I'm at the moment, a cheap ZTE phone that turns off and crashes with basic apps like gmail and no money back from them. I have been told to wait another 3-5 working days for another department to contact me.

I can't believe the long list of inconsistent communication and lies told by numerous departments within Telstra.

Do I attempt to do a chargeback via my credit card provider?
Do I contact the Telecommunications Ombudsman and wait months for an outcome
Do I burn the local Telstra store to the ground?

Or all of the above… I'm really at my whits end with this company. Customer for 20+ years, business customer for some 5 years and this is how one is treated.

:(

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Comments

  • +2

    Try going back to the Manager that let you have it for a couple of days?

    Keep your cool, but put up enough of a fuss if you have to. Don't leave without a resolution

    Face-to-face complaints will work a lot better than over the phone, especially if you keep cool, but whilst letting them know how pissed off you are.

    Manager should do what he can to avoid an angry customer in his store. Especially at a peak time ;)

    • That's why I went to the store originally but as per my post it has nothing to do with them as it's an online order. I must admit this "manager" did seem fairly inexperienced to the point where he was googling how to get on live chat infront of me on the computer.

      I only purchased this phone as I'm doing work in the country where 700MHz would be extremely helpful and that my "main" phone shit it self

      I do feel that the fact this wrong phone has started to play up it will help my case in getting a refund or correct phone..

      • +2

        Was the Telstra shop a franchise or Telstra store, if a Franchise you will probably have no luck. If it is a Telstra owned store then stand your ground until you get a resolution,

        • It was an actual store owned by them, their business centre shares the same building etc.

  • +5

    Paging Diji1. Paging Diji1.

  • +1

    do all three

    • The first two are on the cards.. as for the third the first two outcomes will determine how I will proceed :P

      • in all seriousness, do both 1 & 2

      • +2

        Might also be worth getting Fair Trading in, even just to waste more of Telstra's time having to respond.

        That's really poor customer service and they deserve to be stung.

        • this is typical of telstra, when pricepal/cashrewards had sims they didn't send and wouldn't refund or send them, multiple ozbargainers had the same issue.

        • @kima: that sounds like a case study for fraud. Do you know how they tried to justify it?

        • @tomsco: it is fraud, they had no excuses they just play stupid (like they did when they got ozbargained with google play billing). But who is going to take them on? Fair trading and Tio couldn't care less, seems tio actually just stopped answering comlaints about telstra for over a year so they could publish that telstra complaints were down - just because they weren't answering them. its clear telstra have government perks that others don't (vodafone/optus doesn't get to check license is real but telstra does) i even have a supporting letter from the telstra store to back up my claim that they are acting fraudulent. Anyone who questioned them were told they had to provide i.d in store which was a setup to waste your time, then they tried to force you to pay $30 for it again in store.

  • +1

    Customer for 20+ years, business customer for some 5 years and this is how one is treated.

    lol. Treatment is directly proportional to the account value, not how loyal you are.

    • @storyteller

      I don't know what you said (as it got nuked), but let's put it all in perspective.. I've managed $100k - $200k p.a. telco accounts in various organisations over the years. You would think that Telstra would be proactive, willing to listen and act, flexible (within reason), and given the responsibility of being the communications backbone of these organisations, a business partner. In fact, the only time this was ever true was when I was involved with (but not managing) an $8 - 12m p.a account.

      Here are some of the comments their account managers have made to me, during contract re-negotiations of all times:
      - You'll never move away from us, I'll cut your numbers if you try.
      - I'll save you $20k on the mobiles, but the internet services will go up by $40k
      - Don't buy an Audi (lolwot!?)
      - You definitely need an MPLS voice network.. - Sorry, satellite sites with around 3 extensions each? But they were going to sell me a $30k PABX in each location too.. Even Cisco (the manufacturer of the systems they put forward) - the masters of price gouging said that was ridiculous.
      I have so many examples of pure arrogance, inflexibility, and looking for any opportunistic buck.

      If there is one piece of advice I can give to you, loyalty to a simple utility provider is a doorway to being taken advantage of. Every renewal, put your contract to tender and go with whoever gives you the best business value. I'm not talking the cheapest, but if you're running a business then there is going to be something valuable to you… Coverage, data speeds, a dedicated account manager, international roaming costs, flexibility, or maybe pure price. Your loyalty to them is not value to your business, it's value to theirs.

      Anyway in this current situation, reject their offer. Do a charge back, talk to TIO, and make a fuss in their shop. Don't pay for their mistake, but don't think they will be more flexible than a brick wall if you don't push them hard.

      • We spend around $5,500-6,000 per month through Telstra on our business account, this includes 14 mobile phones and two high speed internet services with SLAs (VPNs between two sites etc etc). This mobile purchased was on my personal account for an upcoming holiday to remote areas in the country, I have never really had much trouble with the business account in my time. They probably don't see the connection between the two accounts but I'm in charge of both. I spoke to a lady this afternoon in their Ops team and told her we will be moving everything to another company as a result of this stupid screw up and poor customer service on every level. She tried to convince me that it will be sorted soon and there was no need to move to another provider. Whilst it's going to cost me more time and money to move I feel disgusted this is how they treat people on prepaid/small volume $$ customers. They do not deserve our money.

        My above post was probably removed because I said along the lines of how helpful your comment was…

        • +1

          Bravo. I always get a little glow in my heart when I move services off Telstra, even if it is a hassle to change telco's. You might also find that you can negotiate the next telco to contribute to any ETC's that Telstra hit you with.

          Losing the business may not be material for Telstra (and it never was in my case), but it sure does make your account manager uncomfortable.

          Apologies for being snarky earlier.

        • @airzone:

          All good, being Friday after all we can be a bit tired by now hehe :P

  • +2

    I'd call the online Telstra store, ask to speak to a manager. If a manager can't mail you the correct phone then ask how to raise a complaint. Outline the grievances (wrong phone model was posted, the bricks and mortar store lied to you, online store lied about refund, unhappy about this current managers solution, etc).

    After you have raised a formal complaint then someone from Telstra complaints should call you back. If that person apologises and fixes the problem then great. If they say they read all the notes plus reviewed the recorded calls but everybody at Telstra did their job correctly then its really time for 3rd party arbitration.

    Contact the Ombudsman and describe Telstra's mistakes and the conversations you've had.

    Usually Telstra complaints team (A.K.A. the anti-Ombudsman team) have much more discretion. Its a no brainer, its a $29 issue. It costs Telstra more in dealing with the Ombusdman's phone calls, administration hassles with handing over call logs/recordings, Telstra have to investigate storeroom, courier mistakes, logistics, poor training of the bricks and motar manager, the people that lied, miscommunications, contracts, legal team, consumer rights, etc. The Ombudsman will demand to know everything that went wrong.

    • +1

      Thanks mate, I'll start going through the process .

  • +1

    Go through TIO, quick and easy and no more hassle, once you put through an complaint 1 - 2 weeks Telstra will call you and get everything settled

    • You get a completely different part of Telstra call you back after a TIO complaint.

      Don't bother complaining via Telstra normal processes more than once. Go TIO after that.

      They have the ability to put through fresh orders so you are sorted quickly. Then they can clean up the accounting mess after. Finally expect $10 off per month for 24 months if they've stuffed you around.

      Worked for me. I'd use a company other than Telstra anytime I have a decent alternate option. But sometimes Telstra is what you need.

  • I never understand why people crack it when they buy something online then a store won't replace the item.
    It makes sense that if you buy from the online store then it's the online store that has to deal with the issues

    If you want the convenience of being able to deal with in store staff.. But in store to start with. Simple.

    • +2

      That's why I bought the phone from an Australian website/business not some dropshipping website that is run from someone's shed that is commonly found on this website in the "deals section".

      One would assume Telstra.com and Telstra stores are the same company! ha

      • Yes but like many companies their retail And online divisions are seperate.

        Your assumption is incorrect by the way.
        In fact 84% of Telstra shops are independent franchises (vita group etc) and as such going to a store will always result in being sent back to the online department (Telstra owned)

        The reality is while a Telstra store can offer anything Telstra can they have no obligation to resolve your issues with an online purchase.

        Optus, Vodafone Telstra are all the same. Online is a much cheaper way to do business and as such the staff in stores are not being paid to resolve your issue, the online consultants however are.

        Another example can be found in terms and conditions of Optus and voda's satisfaction guarantees
        "If you are not satisfied simply return the phone to a store and be released from your contract (company owned stores only)"

        • oh well that's news to me.. after checking the Telstra website it appears the store I went is owned by them

        • @storyteller:
          Then i agree the service you got sucked.

  • +3

    Procedure Procedure Procedure, it's all about procedure,
    The proper bureaucratic procedure is
    Ring Telstra,
    Say you want to make a complaint about not getting your phone…
    Say you would like a complaint number for the TIO…
    They will put you back thru to sales…
    Say you would like a complaint number for the TIO…
    At this point they will take some details, they will try to solve the situation and should provide additional remedy for the drama, a free month is typical…
    Accept the solution on the provision you can get TIO complaint number for reference…
    If the complaint number does not eventuate, note the time of your call and ring the tio.
    If the solution does not eventuate you can then online the TIO to complete the procedure.

  • I made a complaint via the TIO and have a complaint open with Telstra's whinge section, only did it yesterday but hopefully it doesn't cause me any more headaches.

  • +1

    We have had numerous issues with Telstra and similar to your description.
    I would also post on their Facebook page the whole issue.
    You will get a quick response.
    I did that recently.
    I would contact the ACCC as they keep a close watch on Telstra.
    And write to Current Affairs and Today Tonight.
    We did contact the Ombudsman initially (for yet another problem) instead of waiting for their outcome.
    Well, it went on for 6 weeks even so but that's another story.
    They stuffed up our bill when we switched to NBN last year and no-one there could work it out so they gave us $100 credit.
    Telstra is hopeless and it is costing them a large fortune dealing with all the complaints, giving freebies and deals to keep the customer happy.
    It tells me they are making too much money and don't give a damn.

  • Yea, fair trading or Ombudsman….
    Either way you need to tell them you need it for work and will need to be compensated for your troubles too.

  • Telstra has been hopeless for me too. Signed up to two cable bundle plans.
    One needed a number change, the other I didn't mind. They changed both my numbers. Took me 5 months to get it sorted, during the process, they cut both my phone lines, changed my number about twice each and I had a down time of about 1-2 months per address of no phone line.

    After that (during that??), they cancelled one of my bundle plans for some strange reason with the Australia department (and US team) saying my address cannot have cable so it probably auto-updated on their system and cancelled my plan. I initially got cable by signing up through the Philippines team? and they got someone to update on their side that the address can have cable. Apparently, the update only occured for the philippines team and then they left me with just internet at one location.

    And this took me another 2 months to get myself back on the bundle plan. Then they charged me for another period of the sign up fee $59. Spoke with one guy, got the bill and charge waived and then the same period is billed in the next billing period.

    Now both my cable services address are for the same one address (i was advised this by all the different teams) and that my cable service shouldn't be working. But I honestly cbb dealing with them anymore. Atleast it's working and F*** Telstra.

    Forgot to mention, I initially signed up for both plans in the same month, one address took one week to get it up and running. The other took two months, had to wait for an engineer to bring pipes in and he would set another technician to come up and set up the internet ( which never happened until I contacted them again).

    Telstra really needs to pick up their act. It was an absolute joke dealing with them.

  • Got a call from the TIO today, bloke said I have a strong case and should be resolved within 12 days..

    Let's see how long it takes Telstra to call me.. ha ha

    • nahhh, your not doing it right… You should have a complaint number. Ring telstra, quote the number and get it sorted

      • I have already, it was included with my complaint

  • well then there shouldn''t be a 12 day delay to sort the issue, it's sortable once you have the reference number….hmmm, unless you've fashioned the complaint to include the kerfussel re online vs instore entities… I had a very similar complaint, will be interesting to see how your goes..

  • +1

    Received refund today after Telstra complaints department called me yesterday asking for BSB/Acc No..

    Why does this process have to be so difficult :(

    • +1

      you are right about it being difficult… the telco industry is utter bs…. I have a three second TIO fuse when dealing with telstra… At the beginning of my calls I usually state I am familiar with the legislation and will not hesitate to make a complaint. I usually finsh that sentance by saying they may as well as give me a complaint number now…

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