The attitude and Customer Service of Optus Is Absolutely Appalling

So I bought an optus sim few days ago with $30 recharge, checked on their coverage map that the house has 3g/4g reception, which it is listed as full coverage. Phone drops in and out of 3g with one bar, have tried multiple phones, walking outside…. spoke with chat support multiple times and then was also told the tower is under severe congestion and needs maintenance and it's just stiff shit.

Finally decided it's not fair and tried their chat support again to seek a resolution and the chat operators just keep closing the chat on me…

https://imgur.com/a/HeOzl

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Comments

  • -2

    All mine were fine, activated in 10 minutes, great coverage, much better than kogan.

    • May I ask what areas you frequent? I'm not too happy with Vodafone and was going to try one month on Optues and Telstra.

      • +1

        Brisbane southside

  • +1

    Try using their internet… woeful experience. Not the connection, that's fine save for a hiccup or two but their customer service flat out lies and I've kept proof.

  • +3

    I bought a $5 aldi sim for shits and giggles…. guess what, best of the lot even quicker than telstra when I did a speedtest and full reception.

  • +2

    I had the same issue when trying to resolve my Optus issues via Chat. They disconnected for various reasons - 1 similar to yours and the other was an alleged poor connection. Short story - after 2 complaints to the TIO for separate but related issues, my problem is now solved.

    The pièce de résistance was when Victoria Roberts from Optus agreed in writing via email to cover my excess data charges on my phone account (because they needed to disconnect my cable account to fix what should have been fixed in the first place) but then only agreed to pay half of the $1500 bill I incurred because their records showed I had cable internet for part of the time I was claiming for. My records show I switched to wireless data when cable stopped working. This was even after I pointed out that my average spend over the last 12 months is a flat $40 and all excess data on this bill was incurred between the time I gave the go ahead to disconnect my cable and the time when we agreed my cable came back on line. She also didn't want to re-imburse me for the 1 unit I used after my cable was back online because all my free plan data had been used at the beginning of my 'month' due to the cable disconnection issue.

  • +2

    Same.
    Crap service, disconnects when the answer is not on the cheat sheet; various answers which do not actually answer the question.
    I feel sorry for them because they don't seem to be getting the training that they need.
    However
    I dislike crap service from Telcos. It's way too common.

    They're very good at taking your money.
    They're very bad at giving answers for why they're overcharging or not providing the service.

    TIO seems to be the only way that sorts them out (but still don't get answers as to why the overcharge).

    • +2

      I don't really understand how they seem to be immune from consumer laws… you shouldn't have to go through the TIO just to get a refund for a service that isn't usable. I can only imagine how many people have the same issues as I've had and just give up and move on.. pretty much free money to optus and they've provided nothing.

      • +1

        Exactly. I've noticed that several telcos seem to pretty much expect that we'll give up.
        I get tired of the constant battle to get what I pay for.

        I'm getting very wary of direct debit services. I'm finding more and more mistakes by providers, including PayPal.

        Looking for a cave with free wi-fi to live in where I don't have to deal with so many crappy providers.

  • +2

    One weeknight a few months ago I was having problems with the cable and got onto tech support. It took forever and I was put on hold frequently. Rather than frustrate both myself and the person on the other end with anger I just played along nicely and sympathized with their own work predicament where they're obviously being stretched. I asked how many people were on support that night. Are you ready? Two! Two people from a country far away holding up the tech support for Optus Cable that weeknight. It's a wonder they function as good as they do.

    • +1

      Unbelievable!

  • +1

    Completely agree, their customer service especially on chat is more terrible than I can even explain…Which surprised me, but they have really been consistent with how terrible their customer service is

  • +1

    Well my first problem was that they didn't port my number when I signed up for cable. Their first level of support suggested I get A SECOND cable internet account(to the same house) so that we can port the old phone number, something they should have done correctly the first time.

  • +1

    Yep it took them 3 months to merge two accounts. After my contract is over, bye bye Optus.

  • +1

    Ozbargain has taught me never to buy prepaid Optus sims, no matter the deal.

    • I'm on Optus postpaid and their service is just as bad. Actually, as someone pointed out above all telcos are the same. Online chat is horrible, keep transferring you to other departments and everyone gives you a different answer.

  • I am raising a complaint with TIO about terrible experience I am having with optus. They terminated my spouse's number without permission and not reactivating it for 7 days already. She is left without a phone and having quite a bad time. Initial request wat to port to amaysim but optus terminated phone number and porting failed. Amaysim said that phone number MUST BE ACTIVE in order to port so why optus terminated the number without permission? Optus agents say it is in order to port the number, but why can't they just reactivate it back for 7 days?

    DOB, name and optus account details are correct in amaysim so I think it is optus fully optus fault that 1. her porting has failed 2. and they cannot reactivate her number for 7 days. I spent 8 hours in total so far to fix the issue in chat in store and on the phone - zero progress and no help. terrible experience.

    link to my complaint on yescrowd : https://yescrowd.optus.com.au/t5/Mobile/porting-issue/m-p/34…

  • Another Optus complaint to the TIO won today. I'm getting good at this. I just wish that they would get good at providing the service we pay for. I took the opportunity to give them lots of feedback about their substandard customer service.

    I'm now in the ridiculous habit of saving every online chat, as well as screenshots of everything that happens with Optus, in case I need them for future complaints or the TIO. I can hardly believe that I feel that I need to do it… The expectation that they'll screw up is so high.

    Honestly, after 2 or 3 tries to sort it out, if they won't listen or act, just go TIO. You can upload documents to their website also. They act very quickly, and it's amazing how optus' attitude changes quickly once TIO makes contact with them.
    It only takes a few minutes to type out the complaint. They ask questions so its easy to give them the story. (I keep copies of all that too 😏, just in case).

    Good luck people. They'll eventually, hopefully, lift their game if we keep them accountable.

    https://www.tio.com.au/making-a-complaint

    • +1

      I lodged a TIO complaint, but so far optus has replied with "we don't refund prepaid services"…. How that's even legal is beyond me.

      • I agree with you. Being ripped off by telcos will become the norm if we let them get away with it. I think they must be getting away with it a lot to continue so blatantly.

        I think the TIO may assume it's sorted unless you let them know. On occasion they'll call you and ask you. I think there's a place on their website where you can let them know that its not resolved. Your tio reference number will help you.

        Good luck. It's your money they're taking without service.
        Don't let 'em!

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