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.
:(
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 ;)