I have been an Optus Customer since the good old days of
analogue.
I have had very few problems, the odd billing issue, but
never a hardware failure, never have I broken contract, never have I lost a
phone, never have I asked for favours.
I have ALWAYS had 2 year contract and within 6 months of the
contract expiring I ALWAYS get a new phone with a NEW 2 year contract.
For the last 2-3 months my phone has been playing up, calls
drop out, the phone restarts for no reason what-so-ever and within the last
week the phone won’t tether to my laptop…….. which is a real issue as I use
this feature often for work.
Today I dropped past an Optus Store (Franchise) and asked if
there was anything they could do for me. They said no – you break contract it
will cost $404 to get a new handset. I said surely 15 years counts for
something and they said there is nothing we can do, you have to call Optus customer
service.
So I call Optus customer service and after a 20 min phone
call, I am advised that Optus will drop the $404 penalty to $250 and I can get
a new handset. I started push I mean I’ve been a loyal customer for 15 years, doesn’t
that count FOR SOMETHING?
I was then advised that I could receive a ‘loan’ handset until
the end of contract. I immediately asked what sort of handset….. Various brands
and models were rattled off, but when I started asking would it seamlessly sync
all my details without 3rd party software or would the handset tether
wirelessly to my laptop….. The answer was unknown.
I said seriously – I’ve been a customer of Optus for 15
years and you can’t just get me a new contract and handset and forget about the
old? I was advised that the call taker had gone to her ‘limit’. Keeping in mind
it’s now 20 minutes into a service call, that even though I’m with Optus I have
to pay for…..
I started to realise I was talking to a brick wall.
15 years means nothing, customer loyalty means nothing and
even when I used the “I’ll go to another provider” line, they seriously didn’t
seem to care.
I’ve got 2 months left (before I get an early release) on my
contract before I’m issued with a new handset… I’m going to sit the remainder
of the 5 months of THIS contract out and seriously consider switching to
Telstra (Other providers are no good where I live) And now that Telstra has ‘memo’
(a one to one answering service) just like Optus’s ‘Surepage’ There is nothing
holding me back.
I’ve essentially been given ‘The Finger” and told my money,
my loyalty and 15 years of service means nothing.
So might as well behave as though that is the case.
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