18 June 2009

Transact upping their Charges

18 June 2009 | ed2279

I received a letter for Transact yesterday telling me they were upping their monthly rates on the Web and phone deal I have with them to $59.95 per month. They said its due to rising costs to provide the service and even mentioned how nice they have been in absorbing those on my behalf until now. They also said the amount includes the tax imposed by the government for the service. I checked my bill and found the tax is $3/month and my current payment amount is $48.18/month. So even taking into account the $3 tax that’s an increase just shy of $9/month! And for that I get a piddly 2MB internet speed… and I have to pay my ISP on top of that plus any phone calls I make

After doing some research I’d like to know if anyone is using iiNet’s DSL and VoIP service in Canberra, specifically in the Kambah area. Their Naked DSL plans apparently give me better speeds for less money, I dont need an ISP and i get a VoIP phone. I realise that there are set up fees and I’d need to buy some new hardware to use it, does anyone use it and recommend it? I’m sick of paying Transact a ton of money for little to no service

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Clown Killer3:48 pm 27 Jun 09

Ozmreeee, You’re right in that I’m not a manager. But in my role as business owner I do indeed employ a handful of managers – all of whom are excellent at managing their staff, who in turn are all competent to deal with anything that our clients could ask of us.

Fortunately we’re not in the sort of business that has to deal with peoples self-inflated sense of entitlement so we don’t come across many people like yourself.

miz1:46 pm 27 Jun 09

And Telstra are no longer absorbing the ACT Govt tax.

ant10:57 am 27 Jun 09

iinet used to get a lot of good raps, but there’s been a few negative comments going around lately. Internode seems to please a lot of people. If you’re looking at providers, Whirlpool is the place to go hang.

WanniAss9:19 am 27 Jun 09

Sorry ozmreeee, not quite sure what your point is. You object to Transact but are too lazy to do anything about it. In that case the cost of Transact must be less than the cost to you of reorganising all your affairs. You were given the opportunity to decline the contract and you didn’t. In that case, Transact must be good value to you.

I’m with Transact for the main reason being they are not Telstra. I’m happy with the coverage I get. I’ve had two complaints in 6 years, both resolved quickly. I’m sure there are better deals out there, but basically can’t be bothered.

ozmreeee7:32 am 27 Jun 09

I’ve heard good things about iinet from other people too, deye … they’re on my list of providers to look at

deye6:05 pm 26 Jun 09

iinet sent out a nice email this week saying they have reviewed their plans and decided to give us an extra 5 GB of quota for free 😀

ozmreeee6:00 pm 26 Jun 09

I came back to the thread to give an update and saw your post, Clown Killer – while I’m not at all interested in your thoughts, having seen them I’ll comment

You are either:-
a) Not a manager; or
b) A piss weak manager who is happy to take the glory when handed out but is suddenly unavailable for a dissatisfied client and wants the team to take the brick brats

Of course it is a supervisor’s responsibility to deal with a customer when that customer is not happy with the response they receive from the staffer. Often the staffer is not even empowered to resolve the issue. In this instance I chose to short circuit the “Can I …?” “No” “OK – I’d like to speak to your manager, please” escalation process.

It’s any customer’s right to ask for a review of a decision when they are not happy with said decision … You are probably one of those acquiescing little pansies who just takes “No” for an answer and spends the rest of your life griping about how unfair everything is.

I prefer to deal with an issue when I don’t like it.

As it turns out, after approaching the Telecom Ombudsman, I have had the denial of my request to go on a month by month arrangement reviewed by, and subsequently agreed to, by TransACT.

So now I can take time to investigate alternative telecomm providers and not have to make a rushed decision

Clown Killer1:56 pm 25 Jun 09

I asked to speak to a supervisor straight off, rather than rail at the poor bugger who answers the phone – the supervisor gets paid to put up with my sh*t the standard operator doesn’t.

I’m not suprpised that you were given a frank appraisal of what you could do with your business. A call centre opperator is exactly the person you should have been speaking to rather than ewasting everyones time with grandiose request to speak to a supervisor. The opperators are paid to put up with whatever “sh*t” it was you have to whine about, they are paid to do that, it’s their job. The supervisor is paid to make sure the opperators are doing just that.

ozmreeee1:41 pm 25 Jun 09

I actually decided to ring TransACT and complain about this increase. I asked to speak to a supervisor straight off, rather than rail at the poor bugger who answers the phone – the supervisor gets paid to put up with my sh*t the standard operator doesn’t.

So, I got put through to this arrogant b*tch who basically gave me the ‘lump it or leave’ option. “We are acting in accord with your contract …” (which I’ve never actually signed/seen – but I’m sure it’s available online somewhere) “… the increase has been approved by the Communications Minister and we have given you the option of cancelling your contract” “blah … blah … blah”

OK – yep, I can go elsewhere but it’s a pain to change my email address and I don’t have the time to research alternative providers. Which is why I recently chose to renew my contract with TransACT even though I know they are much more expensive than alternative providers.

I’m sick and tired of the local provider card being played (“While we encourage you to continue to support TransACT as your local telecommunications provider …”) because it’s wearing thin. I had a similar comment from an ACT car yard when they offered me a $1,000 higher changeover deal on a new car than a car broker (Private Fleet – thoroughly recommend them unless you particularly like dealing with car salespeople)

I’ll be so pleased when TransACT goes broke, cos then I’ll have to get off my ar*e and really investigate this stuff! (Though I must admit the earlier contributions in the thread are enlightening and worth following up)

I’m actually going to try to go to a month-by-month arrangement wih TransACT as happened for 6 months in between my last contract expiring and signing the new one. That way I can leave when I choose … not holding out much hope of success in that venture, but if you don’t ask you don’t find out!

God I love “Rant ‘n’ Rave ACT” (aka RiotACT).

monomania6:33 pm 19 Jun 09

I am with Transact and have had no problems.

I do have some concerns about the relationship between it and ActewAGL which basically administer TransACT on behalf of its shareholders. In share terms only 18% is owned by the ACT community but TransACT receives the benefit of being aligned with ActewAGL (look at their logos), ACTEW and the ACT government. And bundling? And the fact that the TransACT superannuation scheme is a part owner.

Higher fees. Ramping up earnings to get more out of the sale.

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