Internet Has Been Cut off, Agent Appears Clueless

Question on 01/11/2017 - 13:55
Last edited 01/11/2017 - 16:18

Renting through a real estate agency, for some reason the internet is in the landlord's name. We have been asking the agent since September to contact the landlord and ask if we could arrange for a NBN connection on our own, and only recently did she reply and say that the landlord has arranged for an NBN connection but she did not have any further details.

Yesterday morning, our internet was suddenly cut off, the DSL light on the modem is not lit up, and the agent seems completely clueless. I have conflicting information from one of my housemates here…as far as i can make out, she claims to have gotten in touch with the landlord directly and was told that the ADSL 2+ was cut off due to the NBN upgrade and that an engineer would be here today to setup the NBN.

For some reason, nobody thought to inform us that the internet would be cut off and the agent doesnt seem to have any clue that this was going to happen.

More than half the day is gone and there is no sign of the engineer. Agent still seems to have absolutely no idea what is going on. Housemate says the landlord is unreachable and she texted him with no reply. The latest word I have from the agent is that the landlord will not let us organize the NBN on our own, but she is being vauge and will not tell us whether she told the landlord of our request or whether she simply predicted his response.

Having no internet is obviously a huge problem and we apparently cant setup internet here on our own. Not sure if its legal for the landlord to stop us from getting internet setup here. So far we have no actual confirmation when or if someone is coming to setup the NBN.

Any ideas? The agent just seems clueless on the situation and we dont have any clue what we can do. Our main priority at the moment is getting working internet, but the agent doesn't seem to have any details and the landlord is unreachable.

Edit : The landlord, an elderly old man who had difficulty with english, just showed up and I helped him to setup the internet. According to him, the agent never passed on our request to organize the NBN setup ourselves…which is quite disturbing. But at least we have internet now.

As expected, he got the chapest plan available…for a 5 person apartment. This is bound to cause problems.

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Comments

  • danielagain on 01/11/2017 - 14:00

    IF Internet is included in the price of your rent, then you would just be paying twice for internet. do you rent a room, an apartment or a whole house?

    • Question on 01/11/2017 - 14:04

      Its a room in an apartment.

      The ADSL 2+ got cut off yesterday. Agent seems to have no idea what is going on. Have dealt with this agent on other issues before and it takes many weeks of following up to get anything done.

      Looking at the agency's website, it looks like she's the head of the real estate agency as well so its not like we can speak to a manager.

      • danielagain on 01/11/2017 - 14:09

        you are renting a room and shared space, there is obviously a delay in the NBN move. if you want internet and are willing to pay, just get wireless broadband

        OVO 100gb - $69.95
        Optus 100gb - $70 (Sim Only Data Month to Month)
        Optus 140gb - $70 (Sim Only Data - 12 Months)

        Agents are restricted to the owners wishes and whims at times, so it might not be her fault.

        • Question on 01/11/2017 - 14:33

          And how long would it take to get wireless broadband setup?

          Not to mention paying for wireless broadband only to have NBN setup right after would be a huge waste of money.

        • danielagain on 01/11/2017 - 14:34
          +1

          @Question: goto optus shop, get sim card, buy modem, should take less than 60 minutes

          get a month to month plan, pay for the month, get a cheap modem… could be less than $100

          I personally have a spare Optus 4g WiFi Modem and a Telstra 4G USB Stick for backup - maybe something to invest in for next time you are without internet (also really good for holidays)

        • Question on 01/11/2017 - 14:40

          @danielagain:

          What are the cheapest options out there? My area has really bad optus network coverage unfortunately, and apparently that will affect the 4g as well?

        • obiwanmy on 01/11/2017 - 14:51

          @Question:

          The cheapest option really depends on how much data you use, the speed you need. For me, optus wireless was the cheapest for me if i wanted a reasonable speed internet (as my ADSL 2+ only gives me 2-3MBs, my area has lousy optus coverage but at least i still get around 10-12MBs). Paying $70 per month for 140GB (bought a 2nd hand modem for $80).

          Telstra would give me more speed, but it is double the price for less data.

        • Question on 01/11/2017 - 14:53

          @obiwanmy: In terms of mobile networks, what are the different carriers? Optus has their own network, so does vodafone i think. Any other options?

        • danielagain on 01/11/2017 - 14:56

          @Question:

          Cheap is subjective to what you want\need

          if you want 100gb, then 70 is cheap.

          have a look at the option that is best for you
          Vodafone Prepaid usb (coles)
          Vodafone Data combos

        • Question on 01/11/2017 - 15:07

          @danielagain: What i meant was, are there any other moible networks available?

        • danielagain on 01/11/2017 - 15:10

          @Question: Try here

  • djsweet on 01/11/2017 - 14:04
    +1

    If the landlord is getting the NBN set up, hopefully you will get out of paying the NBN New Development Fee. At least that's a win.

    • Question on 01/11/2017 - 14:05

      That doesnt help us get internet unfortunately, as we have no actual confirmation on whether the landlord is doing anything.

  • [Deactivated] on 01/11/2017 - 14:08

    I've heard that consumer affairs/protection might be able to help with this.

  • Christy Bambi on 01/11/2017 - 14:08

    Problem is your renting a room in a house so you fall under a housing and lodging not a tenancy agreement. You can withhold rent at best but if you are getting a NBN upgrade usually it takes a week or two and you have to suffer with no internet. Make calls to your original supplier to find out when the upgrade will be complete.

    • Question on 01/11/2017 - 14:43

      Wont help as the original supplier (iinet in this case) will not divulge any info to anyone who is not the account holder. We dont even know for sure if its iinet thats the NBN provider…or whether the landlord really did go out to order NBN.

  • Quantumcat on 01/11/2017 - 16:20

    Ask whoever is on the lease to ask for a rent reduction for each day there is no internet. A friend did this when her hot water stopped working and the agent was slow to get it fixed. She got like 20% off her rent and showered at work for a few weeks so didn't mind too much!

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