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A woman in the final stages of pregnancy should not have to bother about much more than the health of her unborn child. But in the case of Francesca Sherrard, the NBN and Telstra have both put paid to that; she has been trying, without much success to get connected, and increasing the stress on her system at a time when it is ill-advised to do so.
Sherrard (seen with her daughter right, below), who resides in Lorne, signed up for a NBN connection with Telstra on 17 February. To date, four months and more since that application was filed, she is still off the internet.
She says Telstra either cannot or will not provide her with an ADSL connection as an alternative. They have not been able to tell her when she will have a fixed Internet connection either.
Despite her condition, Sherrard has not sat back and taken things lightly. Emails to both Fiona Hayes, the head of customer service at Telstra, and Robyn Denholm, the telco's chief operating officer, initially went unanswered.
{loadposition sam-8}Denholm finally wrote back on Friday, asking for time until 27 June to provide an answer on how the issue could be solved.
Image may be NSFW.
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Sherrard lives on a new property on an established street and has now purchased a wireless dongle for use.
"However I can't use home features (need fixed IP), Foxtel features (need to be connected to fixed line), booster for Internet throughout the house, and is costing me a fortune (my Telstra contract was for 1000 G per month and I get 10g for $40 with the Wi-Fi)," she told iTWire.
In desperation, she drafted a letter to Telstra chief executive Andrew Penn, and included a six-page list of her intercations with the company. In it, she said, in part that she had:
- "been ridiculed by Telstra technicians by pre-empting that I did not want to find myself in exactly this situation (I like most Australians have had issues with Telstra connections before);
- "been promised connection dates that never occurred;
- "been promised prompt follow-up by my assigned case manager, just to keep me informed, not to resolve anything, that then never occurred;
- "been told it is NBN Co’s fault not Telstra’s; this is despite the fact my contract is with Telstra and I’m sure you’re receiving hefty penalties from NBN Co for their SLA delays. More pointedly, this is also despite Telstra now moving me to an ADSL contract which is within your control that, yet you still can’t provide an ETA of connection;
- "never been the recipient of a suggested interim resolution from Telstra (I have proffered a number of them); and
- "never once received an apology for the distress I’ve clearly articulated to my supposed case manager that this is causing our family to live with."
A clearly desperate Sherrard told iTWire, " I think it's just wrong that Telstra can keep doing this to everyone, as literally every person I've told my story to has had a very bad experience with a Telstra connection, fault or billing issue, that Telstra seem to be able to keep perpetrating without any penalty.
"They may eventually make the consumer whole commercially, but that doesn't even begin to compensate for the treatment you go through during the process, and the helplessness you feel at not being able to compel a timely resolution."
Telstra has been contacted for comment.
