[Questor]

...A word I can't say on here!

We've just bought a house (I know I've not told everyone about it, sorry!) and I phoned Telecom to let them know when we were moving so we could get things up and running in the new place.
Went through the details of the new house, to then be told "You will need an engineer to come out at a cost of $62 and a connection fee of $250". I almost had 4 simultaneous heart attacks! This is apparently because the previous owners didn't have a Telecom line, only Telstra.

We paid a similar "connection" fee when we got our line in the rental, so I'm refusing to pay this one - I'm currently trying to make my point via email to the customer services people, who keep giving me the stock answer of "We charge the fee as a contribution to the investment we have made in our network". The thing that gets me is that we have some friends who were with Telstra, and the house had never had a Telecom line, and when they moved to Telecom because the Telstra internet was never right, they were charged guess how much....$0? Yes, that's right!! So as far as I'm concerned Telecom can go shove their fee down their proverbials :)

(Must count to ten...;))

Rant over!
Jon

[Trigirl]

so why dont you tell them to stick their service charge and their "service" and go with telstra? (who, by the way, provide a much better service)

[Questor]

Cos I've had cable internet before, and I prefer ADSL and I really don't want to have to completely replace all my network hardware (router etc.)
That and the 5 people I know at work with Telstra up here all say they're rubbish! :)

[MarkS]

You should SERIOUSLY consider sticking with TelstraClear. The internet service is orders of magnitude better with them than with Telecom. I've also found it a lot cheaper - you'll get back the $100 cost of needing to buy a new router very quickly (especially with those installation costs!)

Our internet service has been very reliable and very fast. I get upload speeds here at home about 20 times faster (no exaggeration) than I do in the office which is Telecom ADSL. Download speeds are probably five times faster. Plus you get a static IP with TelstraClear.

AFAIK, there's no connection fee and no minimum period with TelstraClear right now, so it could be worth at least trying them out?

[katandbob]

I rang and changed to that $45 overseas phone plan - got a bill for $118....you guessed it - double charge - one mth of the orginal plan and the $45 for changing to other plan, a service charge and an admin fee!

CHEEK.... was going to ring up and give them some stick - but I have just finished housework and they will have gone home...

Tomorrow....first thing!

Kat

[Cardy]

They tried to charge us a connection fee for the phone and internet when we moved and i told them i would close my account !! they waived the fee, i also got a months free rental as they didnt connect it when they said they would.:nice1

[speckythecky]

It pays to complain and threaten to move to alternative providers, as long as you can.

[Questor]

They tried to charge us a connection fee for the phone and internet when we moved and i told them i would close my account !! they waived the fee, i also got a months free rental as they didnt connect it when they said they would.:nice1

oooo more ammo - would you mind if it comes to it me using you as another example? :)

[eternalkiwi]

Like Trigirl & Mark suggested, I strongly recommend staying with TelstraClear.
While Telstra definitely could improve their service (especially billing) they are still streets ahead of Telecom in almost all areas and they actually know what fast internet means!

While your past experience of Cable may not meet what ADSL is capable of, when you experience what Telecom consider to be ADSL you will see why so many NZers still have dial up.

Also Telstra packages tend to be cheaper than Telecoms equivalent, and if you use the Sky TV service, you avoid the weather related interference and faster transition between channels.

Unfortunately the way Telecoms call centre staff operate usually does not improve, though sometimes you might win one battle, you can almost guarantee your next one will not be far away.

Whichever option you go, I hope it works our well for you

Shawn

[Questor]

I think people have the wrong end of the stick - We're with Telecom at the minute, and I'm entirely happy with Maxnet ADSL - it's the new house that has telstra.