Recently Telstra decided to stop offering the mobile phone plan we had both phones on since, well, it was too good and making too many people happy therefore it had to end.  Looking around for alternatives we soon realised we were not the right target audience for telephone companies - we don’t need to send 200 text messages per night, nor do we want to surf the net for cute animated kitten images to send to our friends as picture messages.

However, they offered basically the same deal as the others (Virgin, Optus, etc) when it came to the lower end of the market and since many of my family use Telstra it would advantage them if we were also with Telstra.  So we signed up despite:

• We dislike Telstra’s generally crap service.
• We have to query incorrect charges about every third bill.  When they credit the account back, they don’t do it immediately so the next bill is wrong also.
• The Telstra billing system is such that if multiple calls are made on the same day, those calls may be listed over three separate monthly bills - the net effect of which is to cause some months to exceed the included call amount and therefore increase their income through duplicitous means.
• Telstra forced us onto plans that cost more and offer less.
• When signing up online, their website crashed right after entering my credit card details, forcing me to then contact their call centre to sort it out
• When I contacted the call centre, they transferred me to the wrong department.
• The first wrong department transferred me to a different wrong department.

In all, it took quite some time to work through all the plans and we’ll probably have to go through this all over again in a year’s time when the contract expires.  So the SPOTD goes to us for signing on with a company we despise.

Categories: SPOTD
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On a rather extended trip to work today (due to a 21-minute tram breakdown at our stop), a rather derelict-looking young female druggie boarded the tram about halfway to work.  Weaving erratically through all the people on the packed tram, she abruptly stopped in front of us, stared me in the eye and declared:

SPOTD: “Thank the Lord for the rabbits!”

She immediately wandered off down the back of the tram where she continued to get high, chroming spray paint into a plastic bag.  Evidently SPOTDs just want to talk to me more than any other person on a packed tram…

Categories: SPOTD
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In a rather frustrating move Telstra has decided it will no longer offer the mobile plan we’re signed on for and are removing it from their options. Evidently it was making too many customers happy and, since that appears to be the antithesis of Telstra’s goals, they’re forcing us onto another plan. Bastards.

When searching around to find out what’s available on the market we’ve encountered a wide range of salespeople. Okay, not such a wide range - the vast majority of them are clueless nits but even among the chaff there are bits of rubbish not as good as the chaff.

At the Crazy John’s phone shop in Bourke St we were treated to one salesman asking us what we wanted then offering something completely useless.

SPOTD: Do you have an Australian Business Number?

Me: No.

SPOTD: Okay, let’s assume you do.

Me: But we don’t.

SPOTD: Because on this business plan you could get this deal.

Me: But we don’t have an ABN.

SPOTD: Let’s assume you do.

We promptly left the shop and wondered where our next SPOTD would come from.

Categories: SPOTD
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