I want a new mobile provider.
I’ve pretty much had enough of Optus’ iPhone coverage. Each has their own opinion I guess, but in my mind, the coverage is crap, and it definitely isn’t getting any better.
The only reason I went with Optus when the iPhone came out was because Telstra’s data plans were still ridiculously expensive in my opinion ($29/80MB at the time), and I couldn’t justify spending that much on my personal mobile. And I just thought, ‘well, their coverage can’t be that bad, can it?’ The answer was yes, it can be that bad. The CBD is especially hopeless.
And now that Telstra has better data pricing ($29/300MB or $10 for 150MB), I would be keen to go there with my iPhone, and take advantage of distinctly better coverage.
So I’ve started the process of getting out of my contract. Don’t know how successful I’ll be, but I’m giving it a go based on my amount of complaints about coverage and usability that I’ve got noted on my account in their systems. I spoke to some people at Optus, and the lady was actually really nice and upfront. Basically there was nothing she could do about waiving my contract termination fee, and she just suggested I write to their Customer Relations Group who would look into it. But warned me that it can take up to a month for them to reply.
I was fine with that, wrote them a letter, and have waited. It was mid-April when I wrote.
So now I’ve started to wonder where my reply is. I called Optus today to check, and the lady put me on hold, and then came back and said that her manager said it was actually a minimum of 14 weeks before I should expect a reply.
14 weeks?! They expect people to think it’s reasonable for them to take nearly 4 months to respond to a simple complaint letter? That is utterly ridiculous!
Even more annoying, if you want to escalate something to the Telecommunications Ombudsman, they won’t really be willing to look into your case until you’ve got documented attempts to resolve the complaint within your telecommunications provider… which you have to wait 14 weeks for.
Pathetic.
Let’s be clear: this is all personal opinion and frustration about my mobile provider. And my goodness, they suck on so many levels.