Thursday, April 26, 2007
Anti-Telstra Rant
In parallel with Google taking 3 weeks to approve access to their Adwords API, despite the fact that my business has spent $1 million with them.... I moved house and needed a new phone connection.
Because I knew it can take up to 10 working days to get ADSL happening, I booked the phone connection for 2 weeks before we took possession of the house (which I guess one probably shouldn't do, but I live and breathe online...)
The Telstra guy phoned me from the property and said the builders had used a non-standard pipe, and the driveway would need to be dug up. I asked if there was any other way to proceed and he said no, HAS to be dug up. So I let him book the contractor for me. A few days later I rang the contractor to find out when it would happen, and he said he had the job noted down, but had not given it a date yet.
A few more days passed, and I woke up in the middle of the night with the realisation that the reputable builders were unlikely to use a non-standard pipe (conduit I think it is called) if they knew it would lead to the driveway being dug up - it's a nice driveway.
So I rang the builder, and they said the pipe is standard. So I cancelled the contractor, and re-booked Telstra. A week later a new Telstra guy arrived and (eventually) conceded that the pipe was fine - but there needs to be a trench dug from the footpath to the Telstra connection - so he would book the contractor for me. Same contractor, same necessity for me to contact him and get him to book the job.
Contractor came out and said "sorry, non-standard pipe, can't do it", even though I told him Telstra had given it the all clear. I then had to get contractor, Telstra & builder all talking... and finally we had a landline connection...
...1 Whole Month After I Booked It!
Then 4 days after ordering ADSL through Internode it was rejected because Telstra had failed to update their database to show that our phone line existed.
So now I expect to get ADSL 6 weeks after booking the phone connection, and 1 month after I took possession of the house. I need ADSL to work, to pay of the mortgage.
NOT HAPPY TELSTRA!
The moral of the story is that while outsourcing might have its advantages, it is terribly inefficient in this instance. I imagine that 30 years ago the entire job would have been handled by one person, and done quickly. Unfortunately the division of responsibility makes it hard for me to point the finger at who is to blame...
Hopefully I will get some money out of Telstra because they took so long.
Because I knew it can take up to 10 working days to get ADSL happening, I booked the phone connection for 2 weeks before we took possession of the house (which I guess one probably shouldn't do, but I live and breathe online...)
The Telstra guy phoned me from the property and said the builders had used a non-standard pipe, and the driveway would need to be dug up. I asked if there was any other way to proceed and he said no, HAS to be dug up. So I let him book the contractor for me. A few days later I rang the contractor to find out when it would happen, and he said he had the job noted down, but had not given it a date yet.
A few more days passed, and I woke up in the middle of the night with the realisation that the reputable builders were unlikely to use a non-standard pipe (conduit I think it is called) if they knew it would lead to the driveway being dug up - it's a nice driveway.
So I rang the builder, and they said the pipe is standard. So I cancelled the contractor, and re-booked Telstra. A week later a new Telstra guy arrived and (eventually) conceded that the pipe was fine - but there needs to be a trench dug from the footpath to the Telstra connection - so he would book the contractor for me. Same contractor, same necessity for me to contact him and get him to book the job.
Contractor came out and said "sorry, non-standard pipe, can't do it", even though I told him Telstra had given it the all clear. I then had to get contractor, Telstra & builder all talking... and finally we had a landline connection...
...1 Whole Month After I Booked It!
Then 4 days after ordering ADSL through Internode it was rejected because Telstra had failed to update their database to show that our phone line existed.
So now I expect to get ADSL 6 weeks after booking the phone connection, and 1 month after I took possession of the house. I need ADSL to work, to pay of the mortgage.
NOT HAPPY TELSTRA!
The moral of the story is that while outsourcing might have its advantages, it is terribly inefficient in this instance. I imagine that 30 years ago the entire job would have been handled by one person, and done quickly. Unfortunately the division of responsibility makes it hard for me to point the finger at who is to blame...
Hopefully I will get some money out of Telstra because they took so long.
Comments:
Post a Comment
