Telstra & Telstra Dealers

[Green Team 2]

Got to keep on them even though we shouldn't have too. My first bill was for $352.00 when it should have been for under $100. After being transferred to 3 people it was reduced to $31. This month it is $46. I cannot follow it. I am not complaining this month though.

[Shael6636]

Ahhh this sounds like just another day at the office for me......

Bigpond devices not working, bills not processed correctly, bills going to wrong address and then customers having services disconnected, faulty phones......sigh

if it wasnt for that fact that we are an "evil emipire" dealer, my great job would be perfect....but then you cant have everything........

[Damo.]

Having twice recieved a Suspension notice for non payment, I have previously decided to go to a Hellstra shop to sort it out, only to be told by staff there they couldnt help, as it was Bigpond. I had the computer and modem with me. I pointed to the big Hellstra T on the modem, and the big Hellstra T on the walls of their shop, and told them they WILL help me, and that as far as I was concerned, Hellstra was one organisation, and if their shop was doing business for Hellstra, then they did business for ALL of Hellstra.

Oh yeah. I used to love dealing with people like you when I once worked for a bank. The ones that were having trouble with the online share trading they had set up online, through online banking.
Instead of ringing the phone number given to them on the website which would connect them to someone who could likely fix the problem, they would stomp into the branch and expect me to fix it.

[Bundyrumandcoke]

Damo

My travels into Hellstra shops were in desperation after spending numerous hours and calls to the appropriate numbers. My nearest Hellstra shop is 2 hrs away from work, 10 mins from home. As I spend more time living at work than at home, any trip to a Hellstra shop takes away precious time I get to spend with my family. All my phone calls are made on my mobile, and EVERY time I get duckshoved from one part of Hellstra to another, I have to waste precious time listening to crappy computer recordings, privacy statements, and press this or that number messages.

And regardless, whether its landline, mobile, or internet, they are ALL Hellstra products, and a Hellstra shop is a public gateway to the company, and should be able to handle any and all customer queries. They rarely, if ever turn you away if you are going to spend money there. They deserve every bit of critisism they get.

Cheers
Bundy

[jyetara]

Well, so far so good. Took the phones back to a shop today and changed to new phones. Mrs was happy that she actually got to Choose Her Own this time too.

Will await the next bill to see what got screwed up next...

[Boagsratz]

I am visiting South Korea. Before leaving, I checked that I was on global roaming (check). I checked the frequencies 2100 mHz (check) I checked via the website that my Nokia N95 used this frequency (check). However when I landed, my phone would not work. Grrrrrrr!
I called Hellstra and spent quite some time while they ran me through phone settings, and checks.
Eventually, they took my Korean mobile number, and said that someone would call me within 3 working days.
yesterday someone did call me and informed me that the N95s that Hellstra bought and supplied did not have 2100 mHz capability!

OK so should not be too difficult to find a mobile phone that I could slip my sim card into, heck I was in the land of dirt cheap electronics, after all! So I went by bus and subway to a department store which has 8 floors of shiney things, and was directed to floor 7, hundreds of square metres of mobile phones. After speaking to a salesperson, was told to go to "T" which is the phone network provider. I was given a number, and tried to explain my situation, despite the language barrier...
The lady there put me on to an English speaking lady on the phone, and I explained myself once more...
Now it turns out that in Korea, they do not use simcards, and the only thing I could do would be to go to the airport, and rent a mobile that would take a sim card. So guess when I get back, I will be going to see the retailer and having a wee chat to them about why my phone does not have the capability to do what it is supposed to, and the amount of business I lost while I discovered this the hard way...

[grahamf72]

And regardless, whether its landline, mobile, or internet, they are ALL Hellstra products, and a Hellstra shop is a public gateway to the company, and should be able to handle any and all customer queries.

Not wanting to defend either Telstra or Telstra shops, but most of the "Telstra shops" are actually "Telstra Licensed Shops". They are separately franchised, not owned by Telstra. Except for the name above the door, they are exactly the same as any other Telstra dealer. They are no different to Leading Edge, Harvey Norman, Allphones, etc. As such, they have no special abilities to liase with Telstra than any other dealer has - ie basically no input whatsoever. Similarly, if you have bought a product elsewhere they will pretty much always tell you that you have to see your dealer - just like (for example) Leading Edge would tell you to go to Harvey Norman if you bought it from HN.
There are actual Telstra shops which are part of Telstra, but they are few and far between.

[jyetara]

From what I was told after things were sorted out (by Telstra, not Leading Edge) was that the phones could only be returned to a Telstra Dealer? and not Dealers like Leading Edge...what's up with that?

[Bundyrumandcoke]

Well, the Gladstone Qld Hellstra shop is where I bought and paid up front for my Bigpong account and modem, and that was one of the 2 Hellstra shops that attempted to refuse to help me.

[stealth_ninja_penguin]

Telstra smelstra! If you you want a real challenge try dealing with Centrelink! A friend of mine tried to register with them over the phone and internet but after a week or so of engaged tone and no one replying to his online enquiries he went down to the local office to register. When he got there he was told that they didn't do that at their offices and all he had to do was call them or send an online enquiry He politely explained that is exactly what he'd been doing but they refused to even consider providing the service. This was the time of the Rudd stimulus and because he was finally 'processed' 4 weeks later he missed out on the low income payment which he would have been entitled to if he had been registered promptly by them.
Peace out

[blossom*]

Am I allowed to say that I found the guys on the Bigpond techincal help line were fabulous? My wireless connection went kaput and the guy spent over an hour stepping through all sorts of things to help me get it back and working. Successfully

[Shael6636]

Am I allowed to say that I found the guys on the Bigpond techincal help line were fabulous? My wireless connection went kaput and the guy spent over an hour stepping through all sorts of things to help me get it back and working. Successfully

Yes you are. While the majority of the time you get nowhere with "Hellstra" or 'the Evile Empire" being a telstra dealer I can confirm that there are very good people on the end of the phone lines and even occasionaly at the shops themeselves.

Unfortunatley they are far and few between and that is the problem, especially when majority of the people on the end of the phone are Casual workers...thus there training involves reading from a script........

[PesceVerde]

I too got a good result from a cluey Telstra tech. guy recently.
Pity it was only after many frustrating phone calls and time consuming dead ends.