Saturday, August 22. 2009......And Speaking Of Fights You Can't Win........John Linton ..........I received a fax mid-morning yesterday from Telstra Legal accusing Exetel of using false and deceptive and misleading words on a one third size A4 flyer used by Exetel agents in around 100 country towns around NSW, QLD and VIC and, absolutely flabbergastingly, an incidental image on our web site! I have decided not to reproduce the Telstra 'letter of demand/cease and desist' because although it contained no restrictions or proscriptions that I could see I really am sick of Telstra's letters of demand regarding my personal rights of what I can and can't say/write in my capacity as a "private citizen". However, you can probably gather the gist of what was written to us from my reply: ("Telstra Legal Person"), 21st August 2009 Reference: Your (Faxed) Letter Dated 21/8/09 Dear Madam,
One day, should you ever develop a conscience, I hope that you continually look back on your time doing what you are now doing and cringe with embarrassment, perhaps even self disgust, at how you wasted this period of your life.
Never mind - just one more person to add to the fantasy list of people you'd like to run into in a dark alley sometime and see how tough they are without a giant corporation's money behind them. I sometimes wonder what it must be like to work for Telstra Wholesale and wonder whether those people know how much they are so badly regarded by their customers. I used to wonder whether it is just me that holds such a low opinion of them but based on my conversations over the past 15 years with quite a wide variety of people who have dealt with Telstra Wholesale in its various guises I get the impression that those people's views were overwhelmingly negative. I was reminded of this today (shortly after I received the letter) when I had to go into the city to do a brief presentation to one of our major suppliers business sales force on what a wholesale customer wants from its suppliers and being pathologically afraid of being late I was 20 minutes early. This allowed me to hear the last part of the presentation by the CEO of a much, much larger wholesale customer of the carriers who described Telstra Wholesale in far more scathing terms than I have ever used - I was reminded that my views are not exclusive. However fighting with Telstra is as pointless as Michael Malone's 'crusade' - at least I have learned that it's more sensible (even though the taste in your mouth is GodAwful) to eat s*** than pay the legal bills involved in disagreeing with the supplier you pay $A1.5 million a month to for the privilege of continually being called a criminal and a moron. Trackbacks
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"Personally I would have preferred to tell the writer of that letter to go **** herself"
I'm glad you didn't, because what you actually wrote was brilliant. I literally laughed out loud. Your letter's closing sentence, in particular, was the perfect "go **** yourself" anyway. Touché, sir. Comment (1)
Ahahah, love it. Stick it to the (wo)man John. Telstra's just sore on this particular issue because it got in such trouble for advertising Next G as being available "everywhere you need it" (or similar; can't recall the exact wording). On the other hand I do have to agree with Telstra that Optus HSPA is not available "almost anywhere"... nowhere near it. I could barely get throughput in Port Macquarie which is a significant-sized regional city.
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I understand the point. However Telstra got judgement against it because it used National Television and print advertising.
We used tiny flyers in 100 or so country towns where coverage was definitely available and who is stupid enough to assume you can get wireless/mobile coerage if there is no tower to deliver the signal? ....and...of course....Exetel is a tiny company unheard of by most possible purchasers not a national monopoly. Telstra must be in major trouble to concern themselves with nit picking the design of a tiny company's web site to state that an image (there for 'decoration') constitutes "deception". What a miserable life that dewy eyed law student has fashioned for herself. I wonder when she was doing her law degree whether she ever considered that her career would included working for a vicious (and according to recent court decisions) a clarly unethical monopolist as a legal drone? Comments (4)
Hi John, when I received the "stop" email I was kinda pissed off, I had just ordered 400 more pamphlets and done the mapping and planning to letter box drop Pamphlets with my business cards in our region, in the end please print more pamphlets ASAP and lets get on with it... @#$% Telstra their dead in the water and don't know it!...
Bruce Stewart Bungendore Comment (1)
Telstra is accusing other companies of deceptive and misleading advertising? HAHAHAHAHA.
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Melanie will have them reprinted without the 'offending' few words and in your hands by the end of next week.
Comments (4)
Its such a shame that a company like Telstra that has the opportunity to make Australia's telecommunications the envy of the world. Instead they fights tooth and nail to stop competition or any advancement in its tracks and continue to rip off their customers. Like you John my dislike for Telstra is very stong and I choose not to use any of their products they offer.
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It's not April 1st is it?
I too found it amazingly funny, but hel$tra are good at that, they seemed to have stop nit picking Optus, perhaps as they've found out Optus will shove back. JL: You should consider terminating all services with them, and make sure your account manager knows exactly why One also wonders that if you were re-selling their service, if you'd get such a demand, I suspect not. I'd be surprised if you couldn't get a better DSL1 deal via Optus or AAPT anyway. Comment (1)
I would have no idea who any of the people are within Telstra Wholesale - I never see or hear from anyone there.
Other parts of Exetel have some contact with the different areas (operations, network management - maybe some other areas) but I don't think there are any individuals that are regular contats. Othe than Telstra there is no way of providing ADSL1 services at all. Comments (4)
Perhaps Exetel should not offer Tel$tra resold services at exchanges with Optus ADSL 2?
Don't let the bastards get you down ... Comment (1)
John,
Sorry if this is a little off topic but it's still to do with Telstra and the scum-bags that they are... There's a rather long thread on the Whirlpool (Exetel Sub) forum about the possibility of the ISP's taking on Telstra for deliberately capping the speed of their RIMS where there is congestion so that anyone on a 8000 connection is capped to 3000 (or less) for no technical reason other than lack of capacity. The argument is that can Telstra legally get away with charging you as an ISP the full wholesale rate (assuming they do) for a deliberately degraded service? I suppose that they probably do have the T & C's totally tied up legally but I was just wondering if the ACCC would be interested in this situation as they clearly are not providing a full service in all cases - many of us are in this capped situation and whilst we realise it's not Exetel's or any other ISP's fault it was raised as to the legality and also if Telstra are under any obligation at all to upgrade the RIMS or bottleneck areas where they have to deliberately offer a reduced service at full price to the ISP... Just wondering if there is an opportunity for you to get back at Telstra - if they can't supply a full grade service then they shouldn't be charging you (and the end user) the full price..... Comment (1)
The issue is that Telstra don't offer anything other than 'as fast as the infrastructure will permit".
Teir is no ilegality and the contract is not breached in any way. Comments (4)
If everybody ostracised the less than cooperative types it would not take too long before the message sunk in.
Incidentally since switching my phone service from Telstra to Exetel over a year ago I am still waiting for Telstra to refund $10 and some change in a overcharge on my final account. Every couple of months or so I get a new account showing me in credit and after several phone calls and emails I have given up on my 10 bucks being refunded (hey $10 is a couple of beers). Telstra keep sending the account credit notifications and I have now decided that if I use the statements as bog paper after about 20-30 years I might have recouped the money they owe me. Its a bit rough on the bum but for some reason it brings me pleasure. Comment (1)
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