Telstra scamming their clients.

[Alienteaparty]

Howdy.

If anybody works for the telecommunications industry, the ombudsman or assisting with legal issues of this sort please let me know.

So this is the third time Telstra have ripped me off! I have been on a two year contract with them and its allmost over. Throughout that time telstra charged me for two unusually huge bills, each over $1000 bucks. I used the omburdsman to help me get off one and the other bill i discussed with telstra management over the phone. They aknowledged the fact that they were in the wrong for both of them and they credited my account so i didnt have to pay for them.

So today i went to the ATM to get some money out and i couldnt, my account was $600 overdrawn! i checked my internet banking and sure enough it was TELSTRA! I called them up when i got home and we came to the conclusion there was a fault with my phone, thing is....they have dissabled any crediting of my account because of the previous two bills. To top it all off they also told me that my current bill is over $1100 and i have 7 more days on my cycle.

I cant afford to pay these bills, but unless the omburdsman pulls through again, or i take some sort of legal action i might have too.

If anybody has any advice on this matter or has a friend who works for telstra, i would love to know!

Much love people and thanks

Edited November 12, 2013 by Alienteaparty

[Francois le Danque]

That sucks mr tea party, i hope it all works out for you. For comparison, how much are your bills usually?

[Alienteaparty]

Cheers man.

Every other bill has been under $80.

[Leaves]

Can you get a copy of the numbers called or the data used? When I was with Telstra my partner or myself would have to call them for every single bill to get it corrected. You should be able to work something out with them if you are not causing the high bills. You don't have a dialing program/virus on your computer that is calling a 1900 number or something? As they exist. From experience I never give any company the right to bill my credit card, so they have to chase me if they want to keep a customer.

Edited November 12, 2013 by Leaves

[Alienteaparty]

Thanks guys

They reveal the numbers called but not the websites the data used.

I think i do have something wrong with my phone, but dont worry peeps. I just received a message from a Telstra employee who gave me some great advice.

[theuserformallyknownasd00d]

If its an iPhone, from the 3GS to 4GS there were data chewing issues. If you've updated the software recently this could be an issue. Also check your location services is off and iCloud is disabled, this will help with the data issue. Also roaming to certain areas will mean some charges won't be included in your cap.

That's about all I can add, goodluck with it

[quarterflesh]

Just to be safe, i always turn off my data when im not using the internet on my phone.

[Alienteaparty]

Thanks Guys.

Iv taken up the issue with the Telecommunications Ombudsman and they have sent out a complaint email on my behalf.

It could have been an application that used GPS and location services that i was unaware of. Either way I refuse to pay such an excess on data.

[Shamanistic]

Telstra aren't the only ones, Optus are just as bad. While I've only had to ring up a handful of times every single bill for about a year - year and a half my sister got was around $600, so Mum rang Optus on a near monthly basis for another several hour conversation which always results in the bill being made proper ($90). My friend is in the same boat, just about every bill he has to call up and saves himself several hundred by arguing. It really shits me to be honest and because it happens all the time to a lot of people I am going to assume it's done on purpose. All those cunts should be thrown in gaol, sorry about the french but there is no other word for them. You don't go down to coles to buy your nights dinner and they say that will be $1,638.95 when it really should only be $10.

[IndianDreaming]

I fought with Telstra for years, $600 bills reduced to the capped $60 - time and time again, in the end, I played back a recording of them saying "We're sorry sir, this will never happen again", then asked them the next time it happened - "Why was I lied to by your customer service representative?" I told them I'd take this to court and plaster it all over the media, the internet, 60 minutes, today tonight, youtube etc... if they didn't fix it once and for all. For the past 5-6 years, I haven't had an issue with them at all, and they'll even ring me if there's a better deal on than what I'm currently on. The power of negative advertising is huge - use it if you can.

If you think Telstra is bad - wait till you get a $1,200+ bill from Lumo/Origin etc... and see how you go fighting it... no chance in hell - the energy companies have got you stitched...

[vegetarium]

Agreed about Origin...ugh... just hearing their name makes me cringe.

[Halif]

Is it just Australia that has this absurd situation whereby the communications and utilities providers are powerful AND incompetent, while the customers are guilty till proven innocent?

It's hard to find a person who hasn't had some ridiculous run ins with a telcom. I've had a few and it shits me to tears because fixing up their mistakes takes ages. It's OK to waste my time apparently - I'm only a paying customer. How the fuck did we end up with a system like this?!

I'm sure other developed countries have all kinds of issues, but friends of mine who visit from England or North America are shocked at a lot of stuff that I realise I've come to take for granted: transport being expensive but not good, awful service in a variety of situations, blatant rip off merchants passing themselves off as corporations...wait... that last one kind of contradicts itself, but anyway.

I hate the feeling that being alive and trying to live a 'normal' life in the mainstream in Australia means that you must play by all the rules laid down by real estate agents, service providers, banks, etc. It's pretty hard to live any kind of life without a bank account and electricity let alone a mobile phone, and the attitude on behalf of the companies seems to be "You need our shit, so just pay and do what we tell you to. What else are you gonna do?"