From: john Feltham [vsdh@vsdh.org]
Sent: Thursday, 18 September 2003 11:12 AM
To: ECITA, Committee (SEN)
Subject: Telstra Senate Inquiry

G'day,

I'm not too sure what is meant by a "submission".

But here is what I want to tell the "Telstra Senate Inquiry".

In August of this year I had two phone lines. One Telstra and one 
Optus.  

At that time I used a modem to connect to the Internet. My ISP was a 
local one. This cost me $25.00 per month. My Telstra line was used by 
my modem. The Telstra monthly phone bill used to be in the mid thirty 
dollars per month.  

By August, with Telstra's increases for "line rental", my July bill 
went over $50.00, for the month.  

Hence my connection to the Internet was costing me $75.00 plus, per 
month.  

I decided to close the Telstra line and go to a broadband connection. 
 I decided to use "iinet.net.au" as my broadband ISP. Why? Because 
Telstra charges for uploads as well as downloads, (did you see the TV 
programs recently, where people were getting Telstra accounts for 
$10,000 plus, per month. Those bills must have been due to upload 
charges?) 

Yes, iinet is a Western Australia company while I live in North 
Queensland. They have provided me with an excellent service for a 
cost of $59.00 per month. (Although they have been off line twice, in 
the last week).   

Now to my main complaint.

Having decided to inform Telstra of my desire to close down the 
second phone line, I then tried to contact Telstra by phone to tell 
them of my desire.  

I phoned Telstra off and on for over ten days, without being able to 
contact a living person.  

I was put in a queue, I was put in a queue, I was put in a queue, I 
was put in a queue, I was put in a queue, I was put in a queue,  I 
was put in a queue, I was put in a queue, I was put in a queue.  

I think that you get the message.

I now have a theory about how Telstra makes such large profits.

When I stop my work to pick up the phone, it costs me my time. My 
time is worth money. When Telstra doesn't answer my phone call and 
puts me in a queue, it costs me money to sit there holding on to the 
phone. I am losing money. Telstra must be making money from my time. 
Every time I was put in a queue, I had to pay a flag-fall .......they 
were making money from my not being able to get through to a living 
person.  

I went to the Telstra shop here in Townsville and asked them to 
inform Telstra to disconnect my phone line.  They said that they 
couldn't do it, I had to do it myself. They took me to a telephone 
and said, "Here, let me dial the number for you". Then the lady said, 
"I'll go and get you a chair, it may take some time to get through to 
them!" I left without taking up their offer. I knew what was going to 
happen.
 
So, how did I actually get my phone line disconnected. You can hardly 
wait to hear, right?

I wrote them a letter. Yes!  A letter. And it worked!. I no longer 
have a Telstra phone line. Thank goodness.

So, perhaps Telstra might be able to inform me how customers of a 
telecommunications company can communicate with that communication 
company, when the customer can't get through to them on their own 
phone lines?

A post-script. 

Just the other day, I went into the same local Telstra shop and asked 
if they could arrange the connection of a phone line for me. I was 
dumbstruck when they said that they could do that, right then and 
there.  

How is it that Telstra can arrange a connection locally, but not a 
disconnection? I'm gob-smacked.

John Feltham
PO Box 59
WULGURU 4811
North Queensland.

ooroo

-- Bad typists of the word, untie.

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