The mobile phone and internet are still playing up and the phone company (Optus) are not calling me back like they say they will.
The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) hasn't bothered to call me back either.
I spent 4 hours on the phone to Optus yesterday getting the run around and handed back and forth between departments before being cut off and having to call them back and go round in circles again.
I thought I might have been getting somewhere yesterday afternoon but I ended up in financial services. Fuplie knows how I got there from tech support. None the less, the lady at financial services was Australian, and the second Aussie I have spoken to since this fiasco started. The other being Nathan, back in November. Any way, the lady at financial services said she would email the customer resolution team boss and tell them to contact me because I am about to take legal action against the company. She also told them to call me at an appropriate time in Western Australia where I am located, and not call me at 9am their time, which is 3 hours ahead of us.
I asked her if she had any contact details for legal papers and she said no. She asked her boss who said no as well. After half an hour on the phone to her I hung up with the expectation that someone from the customer resolution team would contact me soon.
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Jumping forward to today and the internet dropped out so I rang Optus again. I spent 20 minutes on the phone to Canada (at least I think it was) before being transferred to Nigel in Australia. Nigel is in the customer resolution team, woo hoo, but he didn't know anything about the case.
Nigel spent a few minutes asking me the usual questions, name, birthday, phone number, how many bottoms I have, am I human. You know the questions. Eventually he was confident I was who I claimed to be and then he went through the records.
Initially he said he wasn't going to compensate me for anything because they don't do that. I said everyone I had spoken to about this matter had said they do compensate customers. We discussed things for a while before he offered me $40 credit for the internet dongle that doesn't work on my computer even tho the Optus store said it works on any computer (first lie). He didn't want to refund me for a sim card I bought from the Optus store when I was told it was a credit for adding to a phone. Another lie from the Optus store.
After more discussions he offered me $50 credit claiming I had used the phone and internet and they shouldn't be offering me anything. I told him 99.9% of the calls I had made were to Optus trying to resolve this issue, and the remaining calls were to consumer protection, the TIO and legal services trying to resolve this issue. He then offered me $70 credit with his company but said it is my fault for continuing to use their service when I knew it had problems. I said I was told the problems would be fixed by certain dates and read them out for him. He checked his system and agreed there were faults at those times. He then said it was still my fault because I knew they had bad coverage. I said I knew no such thing and this was the first I had heard about coverage. He went on to explain how some areas have bad coverage and it will probably never be fixed.
I told him I had been mislead and lied to by Optus staff at the Optus shop. I mentioned there wasn't even an instruction book with the phone and I had no idea how to use it. He said if I chose to buy a phone, that is up to me and I should learn how to use it. He said if I have an issue with a product I should take it back to the vendor and ask them for help. I said I did take it back to the store and they couldn't / wouldn't help. Neither would the Optus help online or the people I spoke to when I called them asking for help. He then said Optus doesn't make phones or USB internet dongles. I said the phone I have has Optus on it and when the screen loads up it says "Optus, Yes". That is the same logo on their website and on any written correspondence they send out to people.
While we were discussing things, I could no longer hear Nigel and the phone started making some awful noises. It was like something burning in hell fire and screaming and squealing in a high pitch. It was fuplie awful. After about a minute of these noises the phone disconnected and I was cut off. I waited a few minutes and then called Optus again and was about to go through the rigmarole when Nigel called back. I mentioned the noises and he said he heard them too. I asked what it was and he said he had no idea but it wasn't very pleasant.
After more discussions and we started going round in circles so I asked for an address and contact name to send legal papers to because I was going to sue Optus. He claimed he did not have that information and suggested I contact a lawyer. I said I have contacted a lawyer and they said to ask you. Nigel said he does not have that information. I said everyone I have spoken to at Optus during the last 4 months this has been going on, has said the customer resolution team member will provide me with that information. I want the information.
Nigel wouldn't provide the information to me but bumped up his offer to $100 credit with their company. I said why would I take a credit with your company when the service and coverage may never be fixed? I said I want a refund for the dongle, the phone, the sim card I was sold as prepaid data, and half the credit I have bought. He said no chance so I asked for the address to send legal papers to, again, and I asked to speak to his boss or supervisor. Nigel put me on hold and contacted his boss who was on another call. After a few minutes Nigel said he has spoken to his boss who is just finishing up a call and will phone me back in 5-10 minutes. That was an hour and a half ago and nobody has called me back.
So the Optus staff have been telling me the customer resolution team member will provide me with the address and contact details to send legal documents to, but they won't.
Their full contact details are not on the ASIC website. ASIC is a federal government department that every company in Australia, or any company that wants to do business in Australia, must register with. The company must provide full contact details and contact addresses for legal purposes, as well as other information. But Optus has not done that and are in breach of federal laws. Nigel didn't want to talk about that.
They tried to blame me for buying the phone, then told me to take it back to the vendor (an Optus store). Then blamed me for using their service when it has issues that I was told would be fixed by certain dates.
They are unwilling to provide me with a refund for the USB dongle, phone, sim card or data and want me to take a credit with their company, which I don't plan on using ever again after this is resolved.
What a terrible phone and internet company. They are meant to be one of the best and the second biggest in Australia, but OMG, what the fuplie. I'm going to eat some chocolate that has been in my car during the 44C temperatures. I'm not sure what it will taste like or even if I can eat it. It might be a matter of drinking it and licking the packet.
I am laughing and crying at the same time. fuplie phone company
The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) hasn't bothered to call me back either.
I spent 4 hours on the phone to Optus yesterday getting the run around and handed back and forth between departments before being cut off and having to call them back and go round in circles again.
I thought I might have been getting somewhere yesterday afternoon but I ended up in financial services. Fuplie knows how I got there from tech support. None the less, the lady at financial services was Australian, and the second Aussie I have spoken to since this fiasco started. The other being Nathan, back in November. Any way, the lady at financial services said she would email the customer resolution team boss and tell them to contact me because I am about to take legal action against the company. She also told them to call me at an appropriate time in Western Australia where I am located, and not call me at 9am their time, which is 3 hours ahead of us.
I asked her if she had any contact details for legal papers and she said no. She asked her boss who said no as well. After half an hour on the phone to her I hung up with the expectation that someone from the customer resolution team would contact me soon.
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Jumping forward to today and the internet dropped out so I rang Optus again. I spent 20 minutes on the phone to Canada (at least I think it was) before being transferred to Nigel in Australia. Nigel is in the customer resolution team, woo hoo, but he didn't know anything about the case.
Nigel spent a few minutes asking me the usual questions, name, birthday, phone number, how many bottoms I have, am I human. You know the questions. Eventually he was confident I was who I claimed to be and then he went through the records.
Initially he said he wasn't going to compensate me for anything because they don't do that. I said everyone I had spoken to about this matter had said they do compensate customers. We discussed things for a while before he offered me $40 credit for the internet dongle that doesn't work on my computer even tho the Optus store said it works on any computer (first lie). He didn't want to refund me for a sim card I bought from the Optus store when I was told it was a credit for adding to a phone. Another lie from the Optus store.
After more discussions he offered me $50 credit claiming I had used the phone and internet and they shouldn't be offering me anything. I told him 99.9% of the calls I had made were to Optus trying to resolve this issue, and the remaining calls were to consumer protection, the TIO and legal services trying to resolve this issue. He then offered me $70 credit with his company but said it is my fault for continuing to use their service when I knew it had problems. I said I was told the problems would be fixed by certain dates and read them out for him. He checked his system and agreed there were faults at those times. He then said it was still my fault because I knew they had bad coverage. I said I knew no such thing and this was the first I had heard about coverage. He went on to explain how some areas have bad coverage and it will probably never be fixed.
I told him I had been mislead and lied to by Optus staff at the Optus shop. I mentioned there wasn't even an instruction book with the phone and I had no idea how to use it. He said if I chose to buy a phone, that is up to me and I should learn how to use it. He said if I have an issue with a product I should take it back to the vendor and ask them for help. I said I did take it back to the store and they couldn't / wouldn't help. Neither would the Optus help online or the people I spoke to when I called them asking for help. He then said Optus doesn't make phones or USB internet dongles. I said the phone I have has Optus on it and when the screen loads up it says "Optus, Yes". That is the same logo on their website and on any written correspondence they send out to people.
While we were discussing things, I could no longer hear Nigel and the phone started making some awful noises. It was like something burning in hell fire and screaming and squealing in a high pitch. It was fuplie awful. After about a minute of these noises the phone disconnected and I was cut off. I waited a few minutes and then called Optus again and was about to go through the rigmarole when Nigel called back. I mentioned the noises and he said he heard them too. I asked what it was and he said he had no idea but it wasn't very pleasant.
After more discussions and we started going round in circles so I asked for an address and contact name to send legal papers to because I was going to sue Optus. He claimed he did not have that information and suggested I contact a lawyer. I said I have contacted a lawyer and they said to ask you. Nigel said he does not have that information. I said everyone I have spoken to at Optus during the last 4 months this has been going on, has said the customer resolution team member will provide me with that information. I want the information.
Nigel wouldn't provide the information to me but bumped up his offer to $100 credit with their company. I said why would I take a credit with your company when the service and coverage may never be fixed? I said I want a refund for the dongle, the phone, the sim card I was sold as prepaid data, and half the credit I have bought. He said no chance so I asked for the address to send legal papers to, again, and I asked to speak to his boss or supervisor. Nigel put me on hold and contacted his boss who was on another call. After a few minutes Nigel said he has spoken to his boss who is just finishing up a call and will phone me back in 5-10 minutes. That was an hour and a half ago and nobody has called me back.
So the Optus staff have been telling me the customer resolution team member will provide me with the address and contact details to send legal documents to, but they won't.
Their full contact details are not on the ASIC website. ASIC is a federal government department that every company in Australia, or any company that wants to do business in Australia, must register with. The company must provide full contact details and contact addresses for legal purposes, as well as other information. But Optus has not done that and are in breach of federal laws. Nigel didn't want to talk about that.
They tried to blame me for buying the phone, then told me to take it back to the vendor (an Optus store). Then blamed me for using their service when it has issues that I was told would be fixed by certain dates.
They are unwilling to provide me with a refund for the USB dongle, phone, sim card or data and want me to take a credit with their company, which I don't plan on using ever again after this is resolved.
What a terrible phone and internet company. They are meant to be one of the best and the second biggest in Australia, but OMG, what the fuplie. I'm going to eat some chocolate that has been in my car during the 44C temperatures. I'm not sure what it will taste like or even if I can eat it. It might be a matter of drinking it and licking the packet.
I am laughing and crying at the same time. fuplie phone company
