Grumpy old buggers thread

[RANDLOVER]

There might be something to this Saitch as I had to give Telstra my credit card details the other da, and they now use an AI recording to get the details then switch back to the call centre operator.

[scarry]

Yesterday I spent a good part of the day (in between dealing with matters regarding the fire) on the phone to Telstra. This convinced me that their entire customer relations is carefully designed to make contacting them as difficult as possible, to discourage customers from complaining.

Their procedure is designed so that when you attempt to talk to them about something, by the time you can actually talk to a human, you are shaking with anger. And the person you are talking to has nothing to do with the subject you are calling about, and can't transfer you to them, or if they try, the call is lost anyway. Faced with having to start the whole procedure again, most people will just give up.

That describes my attempt to call them about my non-working landline, which quit abruptly on Wednesday mid word. I wanted to try and find out what they were doing about it, and give them a further bit of information that might help diagnosis - after a day, instead of dead silence on the line, there is now a faint high pitched hum.

Sadly,Optus is no difference.

Two calls, hours on the mobile to try to explain to them that our internet is not operational,no we don't need to run around doing tests on the modem bla bla,as a branch has hit the wires and the end of the wires are in my hand.We just need a tech here ASAP to join all the wires.

I wish i knew which colours went where,as i would have done it myself.

Eventually days later, the Tech did arrive and had it fixed in 10 minutes at the most.

The problem is the person that you talk to is Phillapino,and they cannot fully understand the English language.

Anyway i now have a pic,and have drawn a diagram so i know which wires go where,in case it happens again.

[JDNSW]

Even more sadly, it is not just Telstra and Optus - I have encountered very similar problems with the Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, and NSW NPWS. The actual subject seems to be irrelevant, the methodology is identical - make life as difficult as possible for your customers to solve any issues they may have.

One result of this is the common request before you actually get to talk to a human along the lines of "please do not abuse our staff". They know this is necessary, because they have set up a system designed to ensure that by this time the customer is furious!

[scarry]

Banks are no different,they just don't want to know you,except when it comes to charging fees.

My Mum died in 2021,trying to sort all her Westpac accounts out was an absolute disaster.

It was pretty simple,probate was done,properties were sold,it was an even split for everything as per her will,no disagreements, or anything,between us.

We had numerous meetings at a branch,and because two of the four Sons were executers of the will,we had to both be there at every meeting,what a PITA.

Luckily the two executers lived in Brisbane,the other two live elsewhere.

Anyway,after about 4 meetings,with different staff each meeting,who had absolutely no idea WTF they were doing,we had it sorted.

Surely they come across this sort of thing every now and then,but no, it seemed it was the first time for them.

And another thing,whenever we rang the branch of the bank,we could ony leave a message,and they would call back...sometimes.
We couldn't actually talk to anyone on the phone.Then if they did call back,it was only to book another meeting,we couldn't ask a question.

[V8Ian]

So many bank staff, even in the branches, are not employed by the bank. They're simply casual employees of a labour hire company.

[oka374]

My daughter has discovered the best way when dealing with Telco's and other enterprises is to when the call is answered initially and you are asked to say the problem, just say "I wiant to disconnect my service(s)"
I tried it with Telstra and as she says you immediately get to talk to a person here in Oz who has english as their primary language.

[Tins]

The TIO is usually enough to get you escalated to the next level of consultant who is not reading off a script and is capable of speaking English quite well. The thing is that you must have made a reasonable effort to resolve your problems at the entry level. Personally, I think that having to repeat myself several times as the person on the other end cannot, or will not, is a “reasonable “ effort.
The person up the ladder has more authority to alter things, and the incentive to do so as the TIO can apply some pressure.
As noted , I think the first people you speak to have a role, and that is to get you to go away. This is often so effective that everyone else has adopted the same tactic.

[scarry]

They're simply casual employees of a labour hire company.

Off topic a bit,did you know it is the same for Qbuild.
A huge majority of the Tradies,and others are from Labour Hire Companies.

Apparently the last Govt started this many years ago so the figures for the number of public servants employed by the Govt look lower,or better,whatever way you look at it.

[Saitch]

At 1421, I received a Bureau "Heat Wave Warning" for my district. I went outside and checked my weather station. It showed 27.9°.

What's going on? What constitutes a Heat Wave? Is it to try and scare the population with a subliminal, 'Climate Change' message?

Is there anything that pollies don't have the stinky/sticky fingers in, these days?

[Tins]

At 1421, I received a Bureau "Heat Wave Warning" for my district. I went outside and checked my weather station. It showed 27.9°.

What's going on? What constitutes a Heat Wave? Is it to try and scare the population with a subliminal, 'Climate Change' message?

Is there anything that pollies don't have the stinky/sticky fingers in, these days?

I was checking out the weather in the Scenic Rim this morning. EXTREME HEAT it said. 30 degrees.