Yet another NBN story. Thought it was worth sharing because I was told false information from them (via Telstra) and overall feel for anyone going through issues with them right now. I know my problem isn't as bad as some out there though.
Tldr: drop out issue, four months duration, was first told it was due to the ongoing roll out and then it was due to my wiring. Resolved by NBN Co fixing a loose wire at the node… Telstra waived the bills.
The details:
It started March, not long after getting connected. Got up to 12 short drop outs per day.
29/3, Telstra put me on a "stability" mode. No difference.
8/4, Telstra sent new modem. No difference.
24/4, Telstra technician site visit. No issue with their side or my configuration.
6/6, Telstra try to close my complaint. They advise the drop outs will continue until the NBN roll out is complete in my area. They offered a $190 credit and will not offer an ongoing reduction of monthly price in compensation for drop outs. I decline offer and launch a TIO complaint.
13/6, Telstra contact me about ombudsman complaint and tell me NBN did a site visit (on 6/6 interestingly) and advised they detected a 18m "bridge tap" inside my house. Telstra couldn't really explain what this meant, other than I had multiple phone line connections, which I explained is incorrect. I have a single plug. They advised NBN could tell this from the street. They told me I need to hire a contractor to remove the bridge tap at my cost and couldn't promise to cover it if this didn't resolve the issue.
15/6, I called Telstra back and refused to get a contractor out. I said they should fix the problem, not me. They didn't agree and ended up giving me NBN phone number which I didn't use as the next day Telstra called back saying NBN Co would be coming out and I needed to be there. Was quite strange as there was no prior discussion about this, perhaps they took some advice.
27/6, NBN tech came, nothing wrong in property. He checked the node. The jumper for my house has exposed loose wires. He even showed me a photo. He fixed and said this was no doubt the cause of the problem. Instant stats increase (slightly better line speeds). Since then not a single drop out!
3/7, Through some negotiation, Telstra agree to waive bills from March ($380).
Telstra were quite poor throughout this, as expected. I must have spent a full day all up on the phone with them (spread out over months) and worked from home two days. They don't seem to advocate for their customers at all with NBN and their staff seem to know very little about the technology they are talking about. They just blindly read off their screens. Thankfully they were good enough to reimburse me for the trouble, other companies wouldn't be.
Although it's hard to know the full picture as an end user, but it seems like NBN Co are the real muppets in all of this. Perhaps they are even trying to mislead customers to close cases by putting clearly false information in their responses? Who knows what they would gain from doing that long term. There are people out there who would just go hire a contractor when told to do so, and in this case it was absolutely the wrong thing to do. They are clearly showing no ownership to their own network, without any care if customers are having a good experience.
If you're currently fighting them, good luck. I almost gave up a few times and glad I didn't now. Finger crossed the connection remains stable! I also recommend you go to the TIO. It didn't change how Telstra dealt with me, but it ensures all of the complaints are recorded and hopefully the government will get an indication on the complete cluster fudge that's going on right now!
Edit:
Just to clarify what I mean by drop out. Modem was loosing connection to Telsta, so total loss of connection. Usually the connection would resume within a few mins.
It sounds to me like NBN are either understaffed or it costs too much to get them to pay a contractor to fix line faults, so that's why you had to deal with Telstra's 'script readers' first to try to resolve the issue (which of course takes a while before your issue escalates into one that only NBN technicians can fix).