I come before you all today a beaten man. I have traveled down multiple paths but every one rejoined and lead me back to where I started.
Let me take you back to June 2009, my house upon nearing handover, I took the initiative to organise phone line, internet and even a faxline to ensure my modern home had all the modern convenience of the gigabit ethernet I had paid for.
The week before moving into my house, I receive a phone call. It turned out that my house, though being completely wired, as was my neighbourhood, would not be able to have access to a phone line, and thus no internet or Xbox Live. Why? Telstra was dragging their feet in activating the exchange until Nov 30th.
I began my crusade. Talking to ACCC, TIO and local council, proved frustrating. But I persisted. Progress was slow and a month out from my Nov 30th connection date. I stopped. It would be soon enough.
On Nov 30th, I called iiNet and confirmed my plan and asked for confirmation on connection. After being on hold for approx 10 mins, they came back saying Telstra have delayed connection with no specified reason.
That was it, I began my crusade again with renewed fervour. Nothing is getting in my way. Logged with state and local council, logged with ACCC and logged with TIO, this time citing income losses due to not being able to work from home and asking for compensation. iiNet were very proactive in this, assuring me that cost would be passed onto Telstra and pushing forward with fear of someone fearing industrial action.
This was looking promising as Telstra had established existing customers in my street. It turns out Telstra have configured satellite telephones for those who signed up to a minimum 24 month contract. iiNet are unable to offer that service. Telstra have had to put their customers on satellite because they have not arranged for Western Power to activate the exchange. So I still will not have a phone line until 29th Jan and then 5-10 working days to get my internet connected.
Let it not be said that I did not try nor commit to getting this connected. I have to admit defeat on this because there is nothing further I can do unless I sign up with Telstra, which will not happen on principle.
It's in their advertisingTelstra sucks. Don't let anyone tell you differently, Telstra sucks.