Virgin Mobile Accounts Access: Rebooting - A Panacea

Had some hassles accessing my virgin mobile online account. I could log in, but couldn't actually read or download any of my invoices, past or present.

I tried this on 2 pc's and a mac with IE and Firefox... I reckon I've covered my bases.

So I ring Virgin to see what the problem is and they go through it with me. I explain that I've tried it on a couple different machines and browsers, so they try to log in and do it from their end. They can!

So, he tells me to reboot my system. I explained again that I've tried it on 2pc's and a mac with no luck, so asked what he thought rebooting would do? He says that "sometimes a reboot helps".

I asked him whether he thought I should reboot PC1, PC2 or my Mac? Dead silence - after which he said try the PC... I explained again that this would not work, but asked him whether if he could access my account and save the file as a pdf (which he'd already said he could do) he could email it to me. "Sure," he says.

Awesome!!!

"That will take 14 days."

I shit you not! I went through the palava with him and his supervisor. They both had the actual file, right there, on their systems, and in less time than it took to explain to me why they couldn't do it, they could have done it but no...

The supervisor told me to try rebooting the system as well. I explained again about multiple pc's/browsers and he said he knew that, but I should just try it... I asked him if he felt I should give reinstalling Windows a try too!

Suffice to say, I don't have my bill and after getting off the phone I had to reboot a little later in the day. Just for shits and giggles, I tried getting my invoice again. No joy!

Maybe I should try reinstalling Windows... Naaaaaaaaaaaaah!

Encounter with Rosesonly.com.au and Spam!!!

Hey All,

I had an encounter with rosesonly.com.au recently that I thought I'd share.

For some background, many moons ago (years) I bought some flowers through their site. It would have literally been a few years ago. A few months ago I started getting spam. It eventually annoyed me so I unsub'd.

I got another spam mail.

I unsub'd again.

Got more spam mail.

So, realising that the "Unsubscribe here" link was useless I went to their website and sent a polite email (no, really) to their customer service asking them to unsub me. I did state that I'd tried twice before and didn't want to have to do this again. I was firm, but polite. I got an email back very quickly apoligising and assuring me that I was removed from their list. Great!

Until yesterday.

Up and atom early in the morning, I get another spam email. So, I shot off another email to customer service, which I will print below.

It begins as follows:

"
What is it with morons???

I have unsubscribed from you(sic) service several times. After this not working twice, I have sent an email to your customer service explaining that when I want to order something, I’ll contact you. I do not want to receive your spam. I also explained that if I get something again, it would actually ensure that I never, ever purchase anything from you again. I’m assured “IT will fix the problem”.

Lo and frikkin’ behold, if not 2 weeks later another spam mail. Did you fuckknuckles think I was kidding? If I take the time to actually send you a frikkin email telling you I don’t want your shit and you send me more, do you think I’m actually gonna go:

“Well, yeah, they completely and utterly ignored me their past and potentially future customer, but whatever, I’ll buy up big”

Or

“Fuck Off, you’ve been told. And now, instead of just me not buying stuff from you, I’m gonna tell everyone I know, not to do the same, because if you make that mistake, they’ll never leave you alone.”

Take a guess.

If I get another spam from you, I won’t bother sending you an email, I think I’ll start a blog. Done it before. Very successful. Go on send me a spam.

Sincerely,
XXX

"

I stand by the sentiment 100%. If you have an unsub button, make sure it works and if you then tell the customer they're unsub'd, frikkin' do it. However, it did lack the more subtle nature of most of my work and just went in fairly hard and with fruity language, which I tend to try and avoid if I can.

What can I say? 6:30am, bit of a nob, I should just get over it. Yeah I get that.

I very quickly received an email apologising and assuring me that I had been removed. Fine!

Today however, I received this:

"
(Name), personal apology for not having unsubscribed you before you have had to send your last email.

Not sure why this happened. Not our nature to spam anyone.

I know that you have been unsubscribed now.

Best of luck with your business.

James Stevens
Roses Only: Founder & CEO
"

Well, blow me down! I can't say whether I'll use roses only again or not, but this very quick email from the ceo at least gets them back to even ground. Shows at least someone there cares about what is going on. I still say, get the unsub thing button working 100%, but nice clawback.

Why else am I saying they're back on even ground?

I sent my email from a work address. The ceo sent an email to my work company's public email, addressed to me. So he (or someone at least) took the 30 seconds or so to check the website from my email's domain name and use a public address as opposed to sending me more "spam". Intentional or not, nice touch!

I call out dodgy customer service all the time. I praise good attempts too.

Cheers

The Telstra Story - Coda

Aaah, if only it were so simple as for Telstra to do what they actually say they're going to do.

It's not over.

I'll update in a few days!

FTV

The Telstra Story: Part 10 - The Finale?

Hi All,

I present to you what is possibly the last (and you'll see why I use the term "possibly" at the end) post on Telstra. Also, I quote from the conversation. I was making notes at the time and fleshed them all out immediately after my conversation finished so it'd be pretty close to word for word.

So, without further adieu.

On the 20th of June I received a call from Senior Complaints handler at Telstra. She informed me that she had personally reviewed all the material and the letters from the myself and the TIO and that "While we stand by all the charges, we are making a commercial decision that it's not in our best interests to pursue the matter."

ME: "OK, that's great, but just out of curiosity, if you've read all my documentation, do you think what I've had to put up with from your company is acceptable?"

TELSTRA: "Well no sir, it's clear that you've unfortunately had to deal with people who really didn't know what they were talking about and as such it has made things more difficult. But I think there's been some miscommunication from both sides."

Ruh Roh! That's gonna get me started!

ME: "Really? Well I can understand that after months of being stuffed around I documented everything in a unique manner, but how can wanting to get an accurate bill be confusing?"

TELSTRA: "Well as I say we stand by all the charges. We're making a commercial decision that it's not in our best interests to pursue the matter."

Yes, it was exactly the same sentence.

ME: "Well if you stand by the charges, I realize it may be academic, but can you please tell me what they are?

TELSTRA: "Certainly. Aah, when you were originally put on to a different plan, your call usage did go up and you also had some roamin..."

ME: "Hang on. that issue is resolved."

TELSTRA: "Ah, no. In the letter from the TIO it states that the plan change resulted in higher charges."

ME: "No it doesn't. After you ignored the first letter from the TIO, they asked me for some more specific information on the history of the relationship and that's where that becomes relevant. The current issue is that for about 3-4 weeks of usage, you've charged me $1800 odd dollars."

Incidentally, I never brought it up, but I was not travelling (roaming charges) at that time either.

TELSTRA: "Well there are some early contract termination fees as well sir."

ME: "If you're completely familiar with this as you say, can you please tell me when I signed a new contract that's now been terminated? I was off contract."

TELSTRA: "Well as I say sir we stand by all the charges and we are making a commercial decision that it's not in our best interests to pursue the matter, as long as both parties agree to release the other from further action. I'm happy to confirm that in writing."

Now, this last one threw me a little. You'll agree to write off the amount you reckon I owe you, if I agree not to take action against you? What, for the invoice I sent you? For being a bunch of dicks?

ME: "I notice you're using very specific words like commercial decision and not in our best interests, but I find it amusing that you would just write off this amount when if you could actually prove these charges are legit as you say, Telstra would just sell the debt to a 3rd party company. So frankly to me it seems as if you actually can't prove these charges and that as a result it really is in your best interests not to pursue it. Fine, you put it in writing and I'll have a look and make a decision from there."

We made our goodbyes and hung up.

That was 2 weeks ago.

I'm still waiting!

*
*
*

So what does this mean for Telstra Woes? Well whether this is the final installment or not, it's become apparent that other people have their own hellish customer service stories and as such, I'll eventually be migrating this blog to a new "generic" blog which will deal with a number of different companies and also draw upon stories from you, our gentle readers.


Regards,
FTC

The Telstra Story: Part 9

OK, so I receive a letter from Telstra (dated 7/4/08) from Jai. You remember Jai? She was the lovely lady at Telstra who helped me out last time and made the "goodwill gesture" on Telstra's behalf.

Now, by this stage I have already gone to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) and detailed my complaint. They not only wanted details about the current problem (the $1,800 charge) but also the historical problems. So I gave them copies of all the correspondence.

The lovely Jai in the meantime has sent me a letter informing me that they've received the letter I sent them dated 25/2, but that as per their correspondence dated 4/9/07, the matter is closed.

For those not keeping up:

Unable to distinguish between a historical problem and a new one, the newly minted High Priestess of Muppeteering has decided simply that as they've "dealt' with one matter, they've dealt with them all (that'd be nice!). Now had she bothered to actually, I don't know, umm, frikkin' read the new documentation I'd sent her, she would have instantly realized that this is a completely new issue. No such luck.

So as action had already been taken with the TIO, I didn't respond to this letter. It did say however, that if I was unhappy I could got to the TIO or the Office of the Federal Privacy Commissioner and (although it didn't specifically state as much, I'm sure it was meant) I could go and penetrate my ass with a rather large, blunt object.

As appealing as that last option is, I've already taken the TIO option, but thanks.

.
.
.

Tracking back a little now, I've sent all the info to the TIO, they've logged the complaint, written up a letter detailing my complaint (which is approved by me for accuracy) to be sent to Telstra and we await their response. They've got four weeks to respond or the TIO escalates the issue. The letter is very impartial and states that a claim has been made to the TIO and they've heard one side of the story. They want to hear Telstra's side before forming a view.

As it does, time passes and Telstra sleeps. The TIO contacts me again several weeks later to ask if I've heard from Telstra. "Not a thing," I respond. So, the TIO escalate the issue.

This time the same letter goes out with some additions. Not only does the TIO now want answers to Telstra's conduct regarding the historical issues I had (which were "resolved") they also now ask for answers to very specific questions about the case, as opposed to a general response. Telstra have to (among other things):

1) Detail why they recommended a change of plan (twice) that resulted in bills going up. Provide full system notes and voice recordings.
2) Provide all records of customer complaints and responses regarding billing disputes since late 2006.
3) Provide copies of all responses to written complaints from the customer.
4) Provide an explanation as to why late fees were applied to bills that were in dispute.

They also ask Telstra to confirm that they have complied with the ACIF Code and to supply the information confirming same. They also note that as part of the investigation now, regardless of the outcome with the customer, the TIO requires confirmation that the Code has been complied with.

They give Telstra another four week to reply. Stick around, we'll see what happens...

The Telstra Story: Part 8

Long time, no update. Sorry. Let's press on.

So, after sending the fax to Telstra Specialised Recoveries I called them an hour or so later to make sure they got it. I was told that as all faxes go to a central server, they would not get the fax for review until the end of the day. I should call back tomorrow if I wanted to check, but the number I'd sent it to was the right one.

Good-o

The next day, I get a call from Myra. She's ringing to find out when I'm going to pay the outstanding amounts. I ask her if she's received the fax that I sent yesterday? She says she has no record of it. I told her that I specifically called up yesterday to get the fax number to respond to, recited it back to her and told her that I'd sent it through.

She responded by telling me that I had to send the fax through to another number. I explained that I had done this yesterday and that if she wanted to get a hold of the fax, she could chase the relevant department for a copy. "I can't do that," was the response.

I told her that I had responded to Specialised Recoveries via fax on a fax number given to me by them and that I had made my position clear. It was up to her whether she wanted to chase the other department, but that I would not be resending the fax. I also informed her that in my fax I had said that if Telstra issued a default in any manner that would affect my credit rating, I would take immediate legal action. Again, I said she had all the information she needed and she could either chase it up or not.

I said goodbye and hung up. This was on the 25/2/08.

On the 27/2/08 I called Telstra Specialised Recoveries to make sure they got the fax. I spoke to a lady who told me that they have no record of a fax and the notes they have say that Myra tried to give me a fax number, but that I refused to take it!!!

No doubt you can guess my response. But just in case...

I fucking' well flipped! I retold her the discussion I'd had with Myra and said that it was a disgrace that she had plainly lied in the notes. She interrupted me and said that she'd go see if they had the fax.

Lo and Behold, they had it! Problem solved, the other department will get back to me...

I asked her to amend the note regrading the fax and the garbage story Myra had put in there. She told me that this was unnecessary for 2 reasons. Both are bullshit reasons, but the 2nd is an absolute kicker.

The first was that they now had the fax. Aaah, big frikkin' deal. I want a note made that your staff member lied.

Secondly... Well, this was an absolute beauty, and I quote: "We can see you have a good history with us." You dirty, lying, maggot ridden whore! How, with the history that you dear reader can see in this blog is it possible that Telstra can have the view that I have a good history with them?

It's impossible!

These people just lie through their teeth to cover up there incompetence, that of their colleagues and that of their piss poor systems. Absolutely incredible.


I'll look to give another update shortly.

Cheers,
FTC

The Telstra Story: Part 7

Hey Again,

So I find myself in a situation where no amount of calling, writing, faxing anything is helping me resolve my outstanding issues.


To: Complaints Department
Fax: 1800 642 425
From: XXX XXXXX Date: 25/2/08
Re: Account Number XXX XXXX XXX
Pages: 17
CC:


Dear Sir/Madam,

As per my discussion with one of your staff earlier today, I have been asked to send a copy of all documentation to you in this matter.

Flabbergasted by the fact that I would be asked to do this again, though told my original complaint was dealt with by a different department, I got a fax number from your staff member and duly set about putting this all together. I then realized that it’s exactly the same fax that I’ve already sent all this documentation to in the past.

Naturally, hopes are high!!!

After receiving a call from Specialised Recoveries today in which they were chasing payment, I originally assumed that it was in response to a fax I sent to them earlier in the day. I was told this was not the case and that I should send my fax to another number. Understandably, after actually taking the time from my busy schedule earlier in the day to contact Specialised Recoveries just to specifically get their fax number to address this issue, I was flummoxed that I was being told I had to resend it “to the right area”. I declined and told the lovely Myra that she could contact the right dept. and get it herself. She said she could not do that, to which I replied that my position has been made clear in my fax. She could either get hold of it or not.

I have now logged a complaint with the TIO. The reference number is XXXXXXXX.

The Ombudsman put me onto a Telstra Complaints area (which I was told it was unlikely I’d already dealt with this area) and after being hung up on not twice but three times due to the volume of calls, I was told that I would need to resend all my documentation.

Please find the following documentation:

25/2/08: Fax to Specialised Recoveries
5/11/07: Fax to Telstra Complaints
8/10/07: Fax to Telstra Complaints
24/7/07: Fax to Telstra Complaints
23/7/07: Email to contactus@online.telstra.com.au

I was told by the nice chap on the phone that part of the claim for funds is for early contract termination. Read the documentation and then come back to me with a straight face and tell me that I owe Telstra funds for early termination. Look at the history of all this documentation and tell me that Telstra has dealt with this appropriately.

It is safe to say, that I am at my wits end. I’ve had enough of this. Look how many frikkin’ pages are on this fax. 17!!! Granted, I can go on, but you people bring it out of me. You’re killing me. Literally! You are bloody well killing me. I now have a “Telstra” Folder on my computer just to keep track of all this documentation, so that when the next person I speak to tries to give me a different version of events, I can call them on it!

Sort out your crap. I’m not interested in your bullshit anymore. You have wasted too much of my time.

Organize yourselves, review the docs, conduct your reviews, review the reviews, review the conduct of those that originally did the reviews and those that reviewed the reviewers, take a pause and then review again. Consult your consultants, get the consultants to review the whole review process, the reviewers, themselves and get your facts straight. Get all your department heads to sign off on a version of events and then get back to me.

I’m not resending anything, you’ve got it all.

Regards,
XXX XXXXX

.
.
.
Now, since this letter I have had some contact from Telstra Complaints (which forms part of the basis for next weeks amusing installment), but also again from Telstra Recoveries.

It appear that this is far from over.

Regards,
FTC