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Monday 27 August 2012
Northern Rivers Social Development Council launches survey on the impact of Tesltra closure
Friday 13 July 2012
We knew nothing, nothing! Honestly?
[http://www.scmagazine.com.au/News/305928,telstra-says-its-not-spying-on-users.aspx]……
Days after suspicions of Telstra's networking monitoring activity was first aroused, the telco has revealed it captures web addresses visited by millions of subscribers on its Next G network.
The addresses are compared to a blacklist of criminal sites curated by web filtering company Netsweeper, and held both in Australia and the US.
[http://www.scmagazine.com.au/News/306441,telstra-tracks-users-to-build-web-filter.aspx]
I want to talk to you about why customer privacy is not negotiable.
Last week, the media ran with a story that Telstra was sending information about the web browsing activity of Next G customers to a third party company in North America. We were collecting this information to classify Internet sites for a new cyber-safety tool called Smart Controls.
We stopped the program immediately, as this was the right thing to do. We informed the media and briefed the Privacy Commission and other regulatory bodies. But by then, the damage to our reputation was already done.
Some of our customers may feel we have broken their trust, and, frankly, they are entitled to feel that way.
The hard reality is it will take months of hard work to win back that trust.
I am also concerned that this incident occurred in the same week that the Australian Communications and Media Authority and the Privacy Commissioner handed down their findings on a privacy breach last December, when customer records were exposed on the Internet.
Judging by media reports, the Privacy Commissioner, Timothy Pilgrim, is also concerned. He told The Australian last Friday that he was now on the lookout for systematic privacy weaknesses in our operational culture.
It’s not hard to see why. These incidents and investigations create an impression that Telstra does not care enough about the privacy of our customers. Not only that, they undermine the great work we have done to improve customer satisfaction and change the way our customers talk about us.
Of course, the truth is we care deeply about customer privacy.
That’s why I want to remind everyone that privacy is not an aspiration at Telstra – it is an essential requirement and our license to operate.
Privacy at Telstra is everyone’s responsibility. We have to do better.
If you have concerns with anything that threatens the privacy of our customers, then raise the issue with your manager as a matter of urgency.
Our customers’ trust is a commodity that’s both precious and fragile. It takes months and years to build, but can be broken in one day.
That’s what happened last week. It must not happen again.
David
Thursday 15 December 2011
Telstra fails to inform bundled account customers in writing of major privacy breach
This is the full text of the only correspondence from Telstra and BigPond sent on 13 December 2011 to a ‘bundled account’ customer whose name, address, phone number and account password/s may have been amongst the hundreds of thousands potentially publicly available on the Internet for an unspecified period.
As you're aware some of our online services were unavailable from late Friday 9th to late Saturday 10th December due to an earlier internal systems issue.
I want to sincerely apologise for any inconvenience you may have experienced this weekend because of the disruption.
Services are now back up again for the majority of our customers, and your BigPond services should be working as normal.
The decision to temporarily reduce access to these services was not taken lightly and I know that our actions resulted in a poor online experience for you and was a source of frustration.
So if you have any technical difficulties after logging into your BigPond email account please see our online help, visit us on CrowdSupport or just call us on 133 933. We’re here to help any time.
Once again, I apologise for the disruption to your service and thank you for your patience.
Best regards,
Peter Jamieson
Executive Director, Customer Service
Saturday 10 December 2011
Privacy Breach: Telstra was going to tell its customers, when?
Sensible Telstra customers will be changing their passwords promptly as a first measure after reading this in The Australian this morning:
Whirlpool forum regular exposes this privacy fail (emanating from what looks suspiciously like an internal company database whose creation and management may have been outsourced) at 1.08pm 9 December 2011:
Ugh, well, after a series of good experiences dealing with Telstra over the last eighteen months it feels like we're back in the bad old days. Tl;dr: Telstra is an enormous corporation with a seemingly endless number of autonomous departments, none of which knows what any of the others is doing. Telstra have leaked customer information onto the Web. I signed up for the $78 deal on 24th November—hadn't previously had a bundle on my account, or a Bigpond connection. Got my bill by email yesterday and, sure enough, the discount wasn't applied. First thing I did was to jump onto online chat. Had to wait over 10 minutes for a consultant (which was fine because I could basically just get on with my work). He didn't know anything about the $78 offer, but I gave him the link, it felt like he was about to apply the discount both to my current bill and to future bills, but then he told me that I would have to ring 1800 330 192. OK. I rang 1800 330 192 and after some humming and hawing the guy there gave me the $13 credit on my bill for this month ($10 plus the discount for the pro-rata initial period), but said that they don't in fact know anything about the $78 deal, and that I would have to ring the 'Bundles' department at 1800 008 851. Incidentally, if you do a Google search for that number, you get a very interesting result. Um, Telstra, that's customer information just sitting out on the open Web… That page also seems to suggest that he shouldn't have given me the number, but should have put me through……. |
Thursday 28 April 2011
Australian Emergency Call Centres in 2011
This is the ideal.......
The Triple Zero (000) Emergency Call Service is an operator-assisted service that connects you to the relevant emergency service organisation (police, fire or ambulance). Telstra is currently responsible for answering calls to the emergency service numbers Triple Zero (000) and 112, and transferring them, with relevant associated information, to the requested emergency service organisation.
You should only call Triple Zero (000) when a situation is threatening to life or property, or time-critical. If a situation is not urgent but does need the attention of an emergency service organisation, you should obtain the number of your local police, fire or ambulance service from the phone book or by calling directory assistance. ...........
If, at any time and for whatever reason, it is not technically possible for Telstra to transfer a Caller No Response Call to the IVR, it must instead forward it directly to the Police as if it were a genuine request for emergency police assistance. [Australian Communications and Media Authority, 4 June 2002 & 5 April 2011]
This is the reality for many.......
The Queensland flood inquiry has heard a triple-0 operator chastised a mother and her son, shortly before they were swept to their deaths.Two emergency calls made by Donna and Jordan Rice were played to the inquiry as their family wept quietly in the courtroom. [ABC Lateline, 19 April 2011]
Police Association vice-president Scott Weber said police were providing a "bare minimum" coverage of response to triple-0 calls. [The Telegraph 17 March 2010]
The Ombudsman is inquiring into complaints that police failed to respond to desperate triple-O calls from the children of a man who was being assaulted.[ABC Stateline 11 March 2005]
Says it all really
Tuesday 19 April 2011
Sol Trujillo joins the pudding club
Pic from Bloomberg interview on 11th January 2011
Sol is obviously living off the fat of the land since leaving Telstra and is beginning to look as padded as the popular cartoon image of the merchant banker he's become:
Garcia Trujillo Holdings LLC....After being CEO of three $45 billion market cap companies on three different continents, Sol Trujillo who serves on the board of directors of Target (NYSE:TGT) and WPP Group (NASDAQ: WPP) says that companies have a “domestic emerging market” with just as great a potential as other international markets. Trujillo joined forces with Charles P. Garcia, a member of the Board of Directors of Winn-Dixie Stores (NASDAQ:WINN) as well as Nina Vaca, Gary Trujillo who sits on Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona and Well Fargo Bank Desert Region, Alejandro Silva, who sits on the Board of Directors of Walgreen’s (NYSE: WAG), and other Hispanic business leaders in this new venture.
Monday 3 January 2011
Another brickbat for Telstra Customer Service
Telstra continues to elicit negative perceptions……………….
An ongoing Telstra torment
I CAN'T begin to explain the torment I've experienced this past 12 months at the hands of Telstra.
I must say though my feeling of futility and stupidity was somewhat allayed when reading our glorious Bonnie's letter to you on December 20.
Bonnie is a business woman I admire and it brought me great relief to know that someone of her capability and knowledge of the world of communications could also struggle in her dealings with this once great telco.
I could detail in excess of 20 examples of monumental Telstra stuff ups involving my personal and company phones and internet connections over this year, however, the one that brought the most chuckles and pain was their recent disconnection of my business phones.
Without detailing the events leading up to this - which were quite bizarre and confusing to say the least -a day arrived, a Thursday, about four weeks ago when all my telephones - the business line, the EFTPOS line and all three company mobiles were dead.
When I tried to dial it told me I could only dial the billing number on my bill -which I did but it still didn't let me ring out.
So in frustration and fear I tried the Telstra business number - miraculously I got through. I explained I had called the billing number on my account as instructed -but had not been able to get through.
The only remark then was they were aware the wrong number is printed on those bills -no apology, no explanation.
The woman I spoke to told me that I hadn't paid my account which I explained I had in dribs and drabs over BPAY -and that Telstra had only just reconciled all the errors of the past 12 months.
The woman explained that I needed to pay another $473 if I wanted the phones reconnected.
I told her I simply didn't have that money on the day and asked her how she expected me to pay this amount given my customers couldn't call to order nor could they pay with EFTPOS and nor could they buy any pre-paid telephone or internet. She didn't care.
She said to call back when I paid and they would arrange to have my phones reconnected.
The irony was as she went to end the conversation she asked me which number was the best one to contact me on?
I said: "Are you serious? You've disconnected every single line I have."
I managed to get an email through to my son, who is currently serving in Afghanistan, he paid the account via BPAY and emailed me the payment details.
I actually have my own designated Telstra person - with an email address and direct number - as a result of the Telstra trauma
I've experienced this year. I couldn't call that person because the phones were disconnected - and as it turned out he was on an RDO anyway.
I emailed the payment information immediately to this chap, who returned to work on the Friday and he gave instructions that my phones be reconnected immediately.
Well immediately in Telstra terms was the following Tuesday morning.
My store is open 6am-6Pm every day of the week and my business number is used to book appointments for the acupuncturist and remedial masseuse who work from the clinic I've established at the rear of my store.
So almost six days with no phones, no EFTPOS and no sales of pre-paid internet or phone.
Over that weekend I needed to speak to my father.
I had a brainwave -I'll use the telephone box outside my store - hmmm ...it was out of order.
But the most painful part of this whole experience was that on the Sunday, December 5, my baby boy turned 26. He promised to call me from Tarin Kowt where he is currently serving as an Australian soldier.
For the first time in those 26 years I didn't get to speak to my baby boy on his birthday.
Thank you again Telstra -a most memorable year.
Oh, and some advice, stop spending buckets of money on sending out copious volumes of expensive marketing materials and direct that budget towards improving your customer service.
URSULA TUNKS
Managing Director, Premium ldeas and Marketing
[The Daily Examiner,letter to the editor,28 December 2010]
Thursday 23 December 2010
A 'Bah, Humbug!' for Telstra from one irate customer
Hanging up on Telstra is still on the cards on the NSW North Coast if this 20 December 2010 featured letter to The Daily Examiner editor is any indication:
Click on image to enlarge
Thursday 25 November 2010
Saffin explains where it's at in the keeping Telstra jobs in Grafton campaign
Federal Labor MP for Page Janelle Saffin's media release on 23 November 2010:
Page MP Janelle Saffin said she notes that Telstra has made some efforts to retain jobs in Grafton, following the local campaign against the closure of the call centre.
“I welcome the personal involvement of CEO David Thodey, following my representations and meetings with him on this issue.
“I understand that he visited Grafton and faced the workers last week, which I had requested he do, to see for himself the local situation and what might be done to support jobs in Grafton.
“When I met with Mr Thodey in my Parliamentary office last month, and had Clarence Valley Mayor on the phone as well, we made clear the strong local reaction to the planned closure of the Telstra call centre.
“Mr Thodey also said at that meeting that when some NBN services were available he would consider what more could be done.
“At this stage I understand there are 18 positions to be maintained in Grafton until at least the middle of next year. I am hopeful that they will become ongoing positions.
“I have kept in touch with the union to discuss the latest situation for the employees who have lost their positions and how many are still in the area looking for local jobs,” Ms Saffin said.
“I feel for the workers losing their jobs, and extend my thanks to those local employers who have hired Telstra workers, starting with The Daily Examiner which was the first cab off the rank.
“It is very disappointing that many jobs have been lost, but I have to be gracious and acknowledge Telstra’s latest developments, as our concerted community campaign did achieve some positive results.”
Tuesday 2 November 2010
Telstra gives out 23,500 silent number details to perfect strangers - says Oopps!
Telstra advising customers of mail-out issue
Media Release 27 October 2010
Telstra will today start contacting customers affected by a recent mail-merge error involving a letter explaining upcoming fixed line price changes.
An error in a mailing list has meant around 220,000 letters with incorrect addresses were mailed out, including 23,500 letters involving customers with silent lines.
As soon as the error was identified, the mail out was stopped.
The letters, which were delivered to the wrong address, went to consumer customers and some business customers and contained the customer name, their telephone plan, phone number and, if applicable, reference to their Telstra Pensioner Discount.
No billing or call record information is contained within these letters.
The error concerns nearly 10% of more than 2.3 million letters sent to customers in the past week.
Telstra is taking this issue very seriously. An urgent and thorough investigation is underway to examine how this occurred and to stop it happening again.
The company is directly contacting affected customers to apologise for the error.
Customers who have received multiple letters are requested to securely destroy them or return to sender.
The Privacy Commissioner, regulatory authorities and consumer groups are being provided with information to assist customers who may call them and Telstra will cooperate fully with these bodies on this matter.
Any concerned customer should call Telstra on 1800 307 987.
Friday 22 October 2010
Why Clarence Valley businesses are giving Telstra the flick
Daily Examiner (22/10/2010) |
Sunday 10 October 2010
Public relations Telstra-style falls flat with customer
This is a recent Keep Australia Working Regional Employment Plan assessment of prospects in the Richmond-Tweed and Clarence Valley:
In April 2010, the unemployment rate for the priority employment area was 8.1 per cent, higher than the April seasonally adjusted national unemployment rate of 5.4 per cent. Moreover, the youth unemployment rate for the same period was 12.7 per cent, compared with the national average of 11.7 per cent.
The participation rate in the region has decreased to 51.1 per cent as of April 2010, well below the national average of 65.4 per cent.
The average unemployment duration for job seekers in this region is longer than the national average (43 weeks compared with 34 weeks nationally). This represents a significant barrier to employment given factors such as loss of skills and motivation. The region is also characterised by well‐below‐average levels of educational attainment. Transcript of the TELSTRA letter:
7th October 2010
Telstra Country Wide
North Coast NSW
[Name and address redacted for privacy reasons]
Thank you for your letter regarding Telstra's call centre consolidation and the potential impacts in Grafton and the Clarence Valley. I appreciate your concern for our staff and the community.
There is never a good time for such decisions and they are never easy. Please be assured that Telstra has taken into consideration feedback from affected employees and acknowledges the representations made by the community.
Like any organisation, Telstra must continue to make changes to remain competitive in a fast-changing market. Nonetheless, Telstra will continue to maintain a local presence in Grafton and the wider North Coast region in Telstra Country Wide, through our field workforce, and in our business and retail stores.
Over coming weeks, we will look at what we can do to support our Grafton staff to find alternative jobs. We will also support our people throughout the process with access to our employee assistance program and relocation assistance. Redundancy packages are also available and are among the most generous offered in Australia.
I hope that this explanation will go some way to reassuring you that we have explored every option in looking to continue our business call centre presence in Grafton before making a final decision.
Sincerely,
Michael Sharpe
General Manager
Telstra Country Wide
Michael.Sharpe@team.telstra.com
TELSTA CORPORATION LIMITED (ABN 33 OSI 775 556) I P.O. Box 1123 Lismore NSW 2480 P 1800 687 8291
Thursday 30 September 2010
Telstra continues down the path to irrelevance as Thodey tries to woo MPs with canapés & cocktails
Wednesday 29 September 2010
Daily Examiner photoshops Telstra CEO with predictable results
Never say there will be no lingering bitterness over Telstra's decision to axe around 180 jobs in the Clarence Valley and strip about $6 million in wages from the local economy.
In today's Daily Examiner David Thodey's image has obviously been photoshopped as an invitation for a bit of anatomical comparison.
I'm happy to oblige...........
BEFORE
AFTER
Sunday 26 September 2010
Truth is the first casualty in Senator Nash's media releases
When Janelle Saffin was first elected as the Federal Member for Page in November 2007 she hit the ground running. Very early on she began to actively lobby on behalf of residents in her wide and diverse electorate.
In January 2008 Ms. Saffin was lobbying the Communications Minister to delay shutting down the CDMA network because of residents' complaints concerning bad reception from Telstra's newly introduced Next G and, in 2009 she and the Member for Braddon were instrumental in making Telstra backdown over its introduction of yet another service charge - this time for paying accounts over-the-counter or by post.
So my mouth quite literally fell open when I came across this 15 September 2010 media release from Fiona Nash. A Nationals senator who obviously has political doublespeak down pat as she reverses the order of events and attempts to write Ms. Saffin out of the very campaign she started in partnership with Clarence Valley residents and local media.
Follow Cansdell's Telstra lead, Nash urges Saffin
Thursday 23 September 2010
Telstra caught out in a big fat lie
Click on image to enlarge
On 21 September The Daily Examiner informed Telstra that "We have been lied to. It's bad enough that we could lose 180 jobs, but to be lied to about the reasons is incredibly galling."
To be told that the national telecommunications company is pulling a customer service facility out of the Clarence Valley because there isn't a big enough workforce in the area to consolidate it here and then be told that Telstra had not even advertised locally, exposed the lie for what is was - an attempt to pass the blame back onto the community.
One has to wonder why this national telecommunications company decided to be less than straightforward with the Clarence Valley community and whether it now regrets the very vocal local fallout from this lack of honesty.
For those interested in signing the community petition asking Telstra to reconsider its intention to close the Grafton Call Centre, it can be found at a stand located within Grafton Shopping World until the end of the week.
To express your opinion directly to Telstra's CEO email David.Thodey@team.telstra.com.
- Previous NCV post Live or work in the Clarence Valley? Hang up on Telstra!
- DEX article Valley ‘should dump Telstra'
Friday 17 September 2010
Live or work in the Clarence Valley? Hang up on Telstra!
In The Daily Examiner on 16 September 2010:
TELSTRA could lose millions of dollars worth of business from the Clarence Valley if it proceeds with plans to close its Grafton call centre, putting 108 workers out of jobs.Yesterday Member for Page Janelle Saffin said if the Telstra plan went ahead, businesses across the Valley should reconsider their phone carrier.
She said if Telstra decided to abandon the Valley, we should consider abandoning it.
Today we launch a concerted campaign – 'Hang up on Telstra' – to encourage people to change carriers, but only if the Telstra plan proceeds.
Daily Examiner general manager Judy Lewis said she would consider dropping our Telstra account, worth about $5000 a month, and Clarence Valley Mayor Richie Williamson said he would be asking his council to consider something similar. The council account is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Send Telstra a message it understands – money.
Ms Saffin yesterday launched a petition calling on Telstra CEO David Thodey to intervene immediately and halt any plans to axe the jobs of its 108 Grafton workers.
For the first time in anyone's memory, there was a queue of people in Grafton's main street waiting to sign the petition.
Contact Ms. Saffin's electoral office at 3/55 Prince Street, Grafton Ph: 6642.8507 to find out where petition can be signed.
Sunday 30 August 2009
The Australian says general public won't find new Telstra CEO's email address easily. Really, truly? ROFL
This morning I read an online James Jeffrey snippet in The Australian which ended with:
In the meantime, Strewth's inbox has been on the receiving end of an avalanche of Telstra customers who are exceptionally keen to be given Thodey's email address. All we can say is, good luck.
All I can say is - really?
I suspect that all one has to do is use the Team Telstra email address and render it as David.Thodey@team.telstra.com .
This was a functioning e-address at time of writing this post.
So if you have a complaint or two..........
Telstra gets another serve from the Northern Rivers as Saffin takes new charges complaint to Parliament
This time it's the hardworking Federal Labor MP for Page writing in the letters column of The Daily Examiner on 28th August 2009 concerning new over-the-top Telstra account charges.
Sic 'em, Janelle!
Telstra fee unfair
I WHOLEHEARTEDLY agree with David Bancroft's editorial (DEX, August 24) regarding Telstra's unfair penalty imposed on people who want to pay their bills by phone or over the counter.
Earlier this month Phil Redpath also wrote (DEX, August 8) calling for people to write to Telstra and send copies of their complaints through to me in a campaign to have the new charge dropped.
I agree that people power can work in these situations, and ask that people send their representations directly to me if they prefer (Janelle.Saffin.MP@aph.gov.au ) and I will pass on to Telstra.
I have already contacted the new CEO of Telstra, David Thodey, calling on him to immediately withdraw the $2.20 charge, which is a penalty on those who can't or don't want to pay electronically.
This penalty is particularly unreasonable in the light of Telstra's announcement of an annual profit of more than $4 billion.
I have been working on the Telstra billing issue in Canberra with my colleague Sid Sidebottom, the Member for Braddon, and we will be speaking on a notice of motion on this issue which is listed for debate in the next sitting of Parliament.
There is a clear opportunity here for David Thodey to demonstrate he is genuine about improving customer relations by getting rid of this unfair billing charge.
Let's show him some people power at work.
JANELLE SAFFIN MP,
Member for Page
Update:
Tamanian MP for Braddon Sid Sidebottom's letter to David Thodley protesting new Telstra charges, 20th August 2009
Perhaps the pollies representing Clarence, Lismore, Oxley and Ballina (state), as well those looking out for Cowper, Lyne and Richmond (federal), might like to tell the world how they are approaching Telstra's latest attempt to gouge its loyal customers.
Friday 28 August 2009
When Telstra upsets a journalist......
The Daily Examiner, 24 August 2009
Click on image to enlarge
Not only in print but online goes the complaint when Telstra can't get its billing right and then charges for the bungle:
But the really galling part of this is that Telstra, having had us jump through hoops, is going to bill us for the privilege of paying our bill. It is sick.
I believe this move started months ago when Telstra sent me a beautifully crafted letter saying how kind it was of them to change their billing period from three months to one. We were quite happy with the three monthly billing and had no choice about the change.
So now we are being billed monthly and being charged $2 a shot to pay the bill over the counter or a percentage of the bill if we pay electronically.
Someone said to me over the weekend it was like a shop advertising an item for $100 but when you went to pay for it you had to fork out an extra $2 for the privilege.
Maybe if enough people complain about this unfair imposition the giant might be forced to change.
In the national media Telstra fares slightly better as it is reported that Telstra post-Truijillo is a much more customer friendly place and, elsewhere that complaints have leveled off (rather confusingly citing that in 2007-08 Telstra received 19,364 customer complaints).
One has to suspect that hard-pressed metropolitan journalists haven't gone much further than the media releases.
According to the Telecommuncations Industry Ombudman's own report, between January and June this year Telstra recorded a total of 62,541 complaints (37.3% of all telco complaints issues), with some recorded along these lines:
You will see in the pages of notes I’ve taken over 4 months that I have made hundreds of calls and spoken to approximately 70 customer service representatives. On one occasion, I was
on the phone to different departments from 9.30am until after 5pm. But to this day we still do not have the landline service that is so paramount, given our child’s situation. I have received conflicting information from Telstra’s representatives. Conversations have ranged from, ‘That staff member is not trained appropriately…’ ‘They shouldn’t have told you that…’ ‘Why
did they do that?’ to comments such as, ‘Don’t panic, there is no reason why we can’t connect you today.’ At one stage I was on a conference call with two Telstra staff from two different
departments, both disagreeing about the information they were giving me.
The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman's January-June 2009 public report on Australian telecommunications companies here.
It appears that Telstra is not the only telco which still has a long way to go in balancing service delivery and customer satisfaction.