Getting Online Again

This is part one of the saga associated with getting online again. We deal with Telstra and Bigpond. I am not complaining about the level of service received. In fact it has been far better this time around than on previous moves where I have ended up abusing the operator because of delays in being hooked up to the telephone, or in one case having to write a long letter of complaint because of the way that I was treated because my name did not appear as the account holder. Thanks to the dumb privacy laws I continue to get treated like a second class citizen.

When we arrived at the house we checked to see if the phone line had been made operational. We have been able to dial out and receive calls. However, what we did not know was that our order could not be completed because of an error in the Telstra system. The error code indicated that the previous owners had not requested a disconnect for their phone line to take place as of the 10th September. Instead, what they had done was to make an order for the disconnect and the reconnect to occur on 8th October when they move into their new home. As a result of their error, Telstra could not proceed to connect us to Bigpond. We were not aware of this issue until we found our computer equipment, and David hooked up the modem, only to be greeted with nothing for an ADSL signal.

Today I made contact with Bigpond regarding the issue. I ended up with a young woman who was not in the slightest bit helpful. She was not able to find the order that had gone through the Internet. I asked to speak to her supervisor, and she wanted to know why, so I asked again. She asked me to hold, and I waited, and waited, and then the telephone dropped out. The stupid bitch must have hung up the phone on me. So, I rang in again, seeking the same information, and eventually, after at least two more calls I found out the reason as to why we did not have our Bigpond connection. I had to ring the Real Estate agent to get him to ask the previous owner to request the disconnect as a matter of urgency. This was completed within 15 to 20 minutes. When I got in touch with Telstra/Bigpond again I was able to sort out the activation. The woman was super friendly and helpful. In the end she contacted David and asked him to cancel the original order so that a fresh request could be made. Everything was then done on the spot.

Everyone was extremely helpful, but I must say that I do not appreciate an operator calling my husband my "partner". I find this to be somewhat insulting because "partner" has the connotation that we are living together and that we are not married (we have been married for 30 years). I did tell the operator that I do not appreciate the use of the word "partner". However, it is not his fault if Telstra is following the latest trend by getting their operators to use the word "partner". It is fair enough if I had not said I am "Mrs", but I introduced myself that way, so he should have used his brains and used the correct terminology.

So, now I am waiting until I can get back online. Part 2 of this story will be the completion of the latest of the sagas involving our move from Sydney to Canberra.