Telstra Disconnects Senior's Non-Telstra Service without Authority - Still Unresolved

IVI on 23/09/2019 - 16:14
Last edited 25/09/2019 - 11:25 by 2 other users

True Story… still onGoing / unFolding… TIO aware [due in 26 Sep]

Telstra actioned "Port-In" BEFORE insuring an activated "SIM" avail.
to "Gain" Senior's number; Senior's number STILL Not Working

25 Sep: TELSTRA =STILL= HASN'T RESTORED THE SENIOR'S MOBILE SERVICE

18 Sep: a Senior has a serious "Chest Event" req'g ambulance to ED

20 Sep: back at home; unbeknownst to her, Telstra DISCONNECTED her phone's only working (Non-Telstra) mobile service

23 Sep: the mobile service was needed, but found unexpectedly Disconnected by Senior (thankfully, Not an emergency situation…)

(W/out authority, Telstra (for a 2nd time) "removed" (by Port-In) her tel.no. from its (non-Telstra) mobile provider… this time: WITHOUT checking -FIRST-, that it would have an Active [Telstra] SIM destination!

It didn't, which explains why her service doesn't work; & it hasn't
worked since that day: 20 Sep)

More as this story unfolds…

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Comments

  • Bonbi on 23/09/2019 - 16:19
    +16

    Did she pay her bills?

    • IVI on 24/09/2019 - 08:49

      New account… No money was ever owed…

      'forgot to mention that

  • rompastompa on 23/09/2019 - 16:21
    +59

    I'm more concerned that you're using full sentences..

    • SBOB on 23/09/2019 - 18:44
      +25

      Yet, strangely, still difficult to read ;/

      • Seedy seed on 24/09/2019 - 09:48

        Only if you want American spellings lol

      • whatif on 24/09/2019 - 12:37
        +20

        I think you need Grammarly.

  • HighAndDry on 23/09/2019 - 16:23
    +1

    Did another telco request the number be ported?

    • Baysew on 23/09/2019 - 16:30
      +20

      Too dramatic, to let any facts creep into this developing story, at this stage. More at 7.00.

    • IVI on 24/09/2019 - 08:51

      Nope… the reverse:
      a port had been req't
      w/ Telstra to Gain..

  • twadds on 23/09/2019 - 16:36
    +22

    FYI, if there is an emergency, your relative can still call 000 even without an active phone service.

    • IVI on 24/09/2019 - 08:53
      -1

      Is that true, both for 000 and 112..?

      Or would she need to know to dial 112..?

      • Seedy seed on 24/09/2019 - 09:49
        +4

        A sim is basicly a key onto the network and emergency numbers are the screen door at the side of the network that isnt locked.

      • CocaKoala on 24/09/2019 - 13:56

        As a matter of fact, you don't even need a sim card to dial emergency numbers.

          • CocaKoala on 24/09/2019 - 16:17

            @OzJD: You may be correct, and I reckon hoax calls from sim-less phones were an issue. I'm not entirely sure what's the status now though.

          • spaceflight on 24/09/2019 - 17:24
            +1

            @OzJD: You are incorrect. Calls without a SIM have never been blocked.

            In Australia emergency calls to Triple Zero can be made with or without an active SIM in your phone.
            https://www.vodafone.com.au/about/company/emergency-warnings

          • mrvaluepack on 24/09/2019 - 21:04

            @OzJD: Source?

          • jasonb on 25/09/2019 - 02:03

            @OzJD: Not true. Much as sometimes we wish it was.

            Source: work for an emergency service.

      • IVI on 25/09/2019 - 05:58
        -1

        Re-Asking…

        Is that true, both for 000 and 112..?

        So, No One here knows if the person
        would need to know to dial 112…?

        Or does 000 ALWAYS work, from ALL phones?

        • Blitz001 on 25/09/2019 - 06:50

          What did she say? Surely she tried?

        • ASAPNow on 25/09/2019 - 06:56

          Why don’t you just pull out your sim card now and try.

        • Chandler on 25/09/2019 - 09:14
          +2

          Triple Zero (000) is Australia's primary telephone number to call for assistance in life threatening or time critical emergency situations. Dialling 112 directs you to the same Triple Zero (000) call service and does not give your call priority over Triple Zero (000).

          112 is an international standard emergency number which can only be dialled on a digital mobile phone. It is accepted as a secondary international emergency number in some parts of the world, including Australia, and can be dialled in areas of GSM network coverage with the call automatically translated to that country’s emergency number. It does not require a simcard or pin number to make the call, however phone coverage must be available (any carrier) for the call to proceed.

          There is no advantage to dialling 112 over Triple Zero (000). Calls to 112 do not go to the head of the queue for emergency services, and it is not true that it is the only number that will work on a mobile phone.

          Dialling 112 from a fixed line telephone in Australia (including payphones) will not connect you to the emergency call service as it is only available from digital mobile phones.

          Source: https://www.triplezero.gov.au/Pages/Usingotheremergencynumbers.aspx#mob112

          Edit: more information:

          Special capabilities, including roaming, once only existed when dialling 112, however mobile phones manufactured since January 2002 also provide these capabilities when dialling Triple Zero (000) to access the emergency call service. It is important to realise that if there is no mobile coverage on any network, you will not be able to reach the emergency call service via a mobile phone, regardless of which number you dialled.

          Source: https://www.acma.gov.au/theACMA/calling-the-emergency-call-service-from-a-mobile-phone--faqs

  • Associated87percent @ Telstra on 23/09/2019 - 16:48
    +34

    Click bait title much?

    Watch what happens next will shock you!!

    • orangetrain on 23/09/2019 - 17:46
      +2

      Does licking a battery shock you?

      • CocaKoala on 24/09/2019 - 13:56
        +2

        Does licking a battery shock you?

        I'm positive it will.

      • jackspratt on 24/09/2019 - 16:22

        Only if it's a watch battery.

        • WaterMark on 25/09/2019 - 13:29

          Only if you watch me do it

    • bigbadboogieman on 24/09/2019 - 17:28
      +2

      Do you work for Telstra? Or the senior?

      • BartholemewH on 25/09/2019 - 02:46
        +3

        I think it's spelled señor?

  • Sergeant Salami on 23/09/2019 - 17:00
    +2

    No, but sticking your penis in a blender is!

    • AdosHouse on 23/09/2019 - 17:07
      +2

      Can confirm

      • Ozpit on 24/09/2019 - 09:44
        -2

        I second this. Also not a pretty sight.

      • PaKoRa on 24/09/2019 - 13:50

        Legendary

    • Yummy on 25/09/2019 - 00:22

      Username… does not compute…

  • Zedsdeadbabyzedsdead on 23/09/2019 - 17:01
    +4

    Op is really posting this from a call box as he changes into his super hero costume.

    • GoldenDragon888 on 23/09/2019 - 18:06
      +3

      I wondered why the post
      wasn’t in columns.
      He needs to power up
      for that to occur.

    • IVI on 24/09/2019 - 08:54
      +1

      'costume is @TheCleaners

    • Seedy seed on 24/09/2019 - 09:50
      +2

      Lol wallet wizard!

  • elgrande on 23/09/2019 - 17:49
    +2

    So IVI catches a bus..

  • GoldenDragon888 on 23/09/2019 - 18:01
    +9

    What’s with the formatting?

    • ssquid on 24/09/2019 - 11:23
      +8

      Remember the kid on Malcolm in the Middle who had really bad asthma and had to pause for breath every five seconds? That how OP writes every post.

    • Lockieasy on 25/09/2019 - 12:54

      It reads like Pseudocode. Maybe OP is a programmer.

      • ssquid on 25/09/2019 - 13:02
        +1

        OP is an AI practicing for a Turing test.

  • GoldenDragon888 on 23/09/2019 - 18:11
    +5

    Would have been better if the OP had started their post like this,

    “The story you are about
    to read is true.
    The names have been
    changed to protect the
    innocent.”

    • Associated87percent @ Telstra on 23/09/2019 - 18:37
      +8

      Queue “Law and Order” intro music

      • Switchblade88 on 23/09/2019 - 20:13
        +7

        CHUNG CHUNG

        • ssquid on 25/09/2019 - 13:04

          Executive Producer
          DICK WOLF

      • Seedy seed on 24/09/2019 - 09:51

        Lol i actually had it before i read your reply hahaha

      • notfrodo on 25/09/2019 - 17:36
        +1

        Cue not queue

    • IVI on 24/09/2019 - 08:55

      +1

  • bobbified on 23/09/2019 - 18:24
    +4

    Drama queen much?

    • IVI on 24/09/2019 - 08:56

      Never, AFAIK

  • Fysh on 23/09/2019 - 18:43
    +3

    Possible story #1 : Elderly person got a call from a sales rep in regards to her telephone service and got sold a mobile service with Telstra.
    Possible Story #2 : Elderly person got a call from a scammer and scammer ported the number to Telstra prepaid to get her sms alerts so they could $0 her bank account

    FYI Telstras system needs a valid sim to activate so its somewhere.

    • Associated87percent @ Telstra on 24/09/2019 - 00:15

      Correct. Telstra send an sms to the old provider before initiating the port to Telstra confirming you have the device. If you don't respond to the message, the port doesn’t get done

      • Whisper Quiet on 24/09/2019 - 08:45

        I ported to Telstra a few months back and never got any confirmation sms to port to my phone. It was done automatically in a minute.

        • Seedy seed on 24/09/2019 - 09:52
          +1

          New since September

      • bigbadboogieman on 24/09/2019 - 17:30
        -1

        Yeah you probably need more training….

    • IVI on 24/09/2019 - 08:56

      2x Nope

  • whooah1979 on 23/09/2019 - 18:43

    What is a chest event?

    • Fysh on 23/09/2019 - 18:44

      panic attack

      • whooah1979 on 23/09/2019 - 18:51

        Panic attacks are physiological.

    • neo on 23/09/2019 - 18:50

      Heart jumps out of your chest, just like when I realised IVI is using correct formatting for once!

      • IVI on 24/09/2019 - 09:11

        Extra fees apply for that…

    • [Deactivated] on 23/09/2019 - 22:12
      +2

      What is a chest event?

      Cue Dr Billy Rae Cyrus

      You can tell the world you never was my man
      You can burn my clothes up when I'm gone
      You can tell your friends just what a fool I've been
      And laugh and joke about me on the phone
      You can tell my arms go back to the farm
      You can tell my feet to hit the floor
      Or you can tell my lips to tell my fingertips
      They won't be reaching out for you no more

      But don't tell my heart
      My achy breaky heart
      I just don't think she'd understand
      And if you tell my heart
      My achy breaky heart
      She might blow up and kill this woman

      IVI, stop breaking Senior ladies' hearts. Not cool, mate.

      Ps: you can always call 000 even if you've been disconnected.

    • IVI on 24/09/2019 - 08:57

      Hard-to-Breathe, due to pain in chest (mostly)

      • [Deactivated] on 24/09/2019 - 11:01

        Well, that's how it feels when a heart is breaking, IVI. Hope she's on the mend.

    • ProlapsedHeinous on 25/09/2019 - 03:27

      Hooters Reunion tour

  • Randxyz123 on 23/09/2019 - 19:11

    Umm what?

  • JIMB0 on 23/09/2019 - 19:54

    Give them a call. Oh wait, you can't.

  • hawkeye on 23/09/2019 - 23:01

    I'd sue apple Samsung Nokia all the phone makers for not having a warning app built-in to their phones.
    Telstra just for being Telstra Optus for not offering a better product or playing scare tactic ads and coca cola as it didn't calm your nerves when you wrote this.

    • IVI on 24/09/2019 - 09:59
      -8

      DW.com had an Excellent docu on Coke:

      • "It's the Plastic Bottles, stupid" <= Not DW.com's title

      (Sorry.. I can't recall the original title)

      Any1 recall "Unfogetable Tanzania" ie,
      BEFORE Coke did a Glass 2 Plastic pivot?

      Pristine Beaches… you get the picture

      Now, that (earlier, Genuine) image
      has gotten BURIED in mountains of
      Coke bottles

      They took Tanzania from a place where
      glass Coke bottles got recyc'd mostly
      to 1 where far too many plastic 1s DON'T

      They have 4 factories to [make &] fill
      plastic Coke bottles…

      After China STOPPED buying plastics
      things got worse, eg:

      Local nano "army" of
      Bottle + Deposit collectors
      got paid almost Nil
      for huge bags of Coke bottles =>
      - increased Poverty & Hunger
      - growing mountains of plastic bottles
      - wind-strewn bottles across Tanzania
      - loss of Tourist visits + income

      Earlier, Coke's commitment
      to make Coke bottles of 25%
      recycled plastic bottles
      maxed out at 7%

      An LEAKED internal Coke doc't
      showed "bragging" of Coke's
      lobbying "successes" - ie:
      that KILLED pro-recycl'g Laws

      Soon, Yet Another "commitment"
      by Coke's CEO to aim for a lar-
      ger % of Recycled-bottle pres-
      ence in new Coke bottles…

      With little reason for optimism,
      that the new goal will ever be
      met, Coke says: It's too early
      to tell, but admits Tanzania is
      NOT [ yet ] set to be improved
      by Coke's new plan(s)…

      PS I've NEVER bought Coke, ie,
      since coming to Oz, nor in the
      decade B4; I do NOT, as a Rule,
      drink any freely-offered Coke
      product, choosing, eg, Macca's
      "Courtesy Water" instead…

      I urge every1 reading this to:

      1. Fact-check (report any Falsenews)
      2. If it stands-up to 'checking,
        get your caffeine-fixes in OTHER
        ways than those, that may aid & abet
        Coke to RUIN any more "Tanzania's"
        yet to be spoiled, on the Planet

      I hope Coke will soon buy-into
      the BusinesRoundtable.org's latest
      "Redefinition of the Purpose of a
      Corporation: to Promote 'An Economy
      that Serves all [Stakeholders]" <= my change

      (They really only drop "Shareholder primacy"
      - replacing it with a list of stakeholders,
      eg: Suppliers, Employees, etc.)

      Go look it up… it's Not New by now

      IVI on 24/09/2019 - 09:59 (Collapsed - Offtopic. Show)
      • ssquid on 24/09/2019 - 11:15
        +1

        Urge all you want, nobody is reading due to your terrible formatting.

  • QW3RTY on 24/09/2019 - 12:24
    +7

    Understand -you- HAVE a [bus] to catch.

    but

    please
    p - R - o - V - i - D - e

    update

  • SpotTheOzzie on 24/09/2019 - 12:37
    +1

    I remember a colleague who use to always use … in his emails.

    (profanity) that guy.

  • pformag on 24/09/2019 - 13:00

    FFS.

  • ssjwill on 24/09/2019 - 13:01

    is this a movie preview?
    any one else read this like Pablo Francisco? ONE MAN…ONE DESIRE…

  • DiscoJango on 24/09/2019 - 14:24
    +2

    Goodbye English language. Hello future of ozbargain.

  • brendanm on 24/09/2019 - 16:35

    This is Orwellian

  • Randolph Duke on 24/09/2019 - 16:42
    +2

    Opening post:
    “ Without authority, Telstra - for a 2nd time - removed her tel.no. from her original mobile provider”

    Later post:
    “ Nope… the reverse:
    a port had been req't
    w/ Telstra to Gain..”

    Which is it?

  • Charybdia on 24/09/2019 - 17:43

    True story? I thought we only posted plots to amateur novels on this forum.

  • Dreamcast on 24/09/2019 - 17:53
    +8

    Just called Optus. They confirmed you're a douche.

    • Yummy on 25/09/2019 - 00:21

      dOUCHe !!

  • bmerigan on 24/09/2019 - 21:16

    Sooo I'm hearing:
    Ported (transferred) phone number to new carrier. Old SIMcard stops working. User never puts new SIMcard in phone. User shocked to find phone not working. Posted to forum hoping the mob will blame the carrier.

  • Jamie007 on 25/09/2019 - 02:06
    +2

    Telstra are unbelievable. This is a situation that’s been going on for five weeks with my elderly uncle - Being 75, he’s old school and just pays his bills when they come in the mail. He recently moved and updated Telstra that his address changed. They supposedly updated his address but then he got an email saying he was overdue to pay his mobile bill but never received it. He went into a Telstra shop where sure enough they still had his old address. He once again got them to update it. Anyway time goes by and once again he gets an email saying he is overdue on a bill that he never received. He pays it, but on the same day he pays it Telstra terminate his service without warning and give him a $1000 bill for the handset. He goes back into a Telstra store (where incredibly they STILL have his old address) to sort it out and is told he’ll be reconnected within 48 hours. A week goes by and he is still unable to connect. Goes back to the Telstra shop, is told it he’s in a queue to be connected and will be 48 hours. Another week goes by. He calls Telstra on my phone. Says his case has been elevated and he’ll be connected within 48 hours. Another week goes by . Goes back into Telstra shop. They say they don’t understand what’s happening and give him a “special number” to call (the very special 133200). He calls it. They say the technicians are on the case and it will 100% be connected within 4 working days.

    Well we are now on week 5 and the phone is still not connected. My uncle is 75, lives alone and in the last year has had heart issues and and had DVT and has now been forced to go without a phone for five weeks (and on-going). It’s just unbelievable.

    • zoob on 25/09/2019 - 12:32
      +1

      That sounds like a case for the TIO.

    • Thundaja on 25/09/2019 - 13:07

      Telstra don’t just disconnect a service and bill you for the phone. There would have to be 4-6 months of non-payment for that to happen. They might suspend a service for non-payment, but you’re not billed for the entire phone.

      The Telstra shop should have given him a printout of the bill and checked the current balance of the account when he initially came in. That was standard procedure when someone came in with an incorrect address (at least it was when I worked there 2 years ago).

      I’m sorry that this happened to your uncle, but as someone who was expert at cutting through the Telstra crap and resolving issues like this when I worked there, it definitely sounds like there is more to this story than you are letting on.

      • Jamie007 on 25/09/2019 - 16:54

        Well that is what happened. I have seen his last bill. In which he only owed one month and it said failure to pay by a certain date would result in a $15 penalty, not disconnection. There was no other warnings. or notices. That date was the date he paid it via bpay but that same day the service was cut off. Next he received a bill for something like $1000, which was like his $90 monthly bill and $900 for the remaining handset repayments. He has been told to ignore that and as he is up to date on his bills he’ll be reconnected. That was 5 weeks ago. The latest is that they’ve told us they are sending a new SIM card via courier, god knows why. A SIM card we were told would be here yesterday.. Whats the bet it’s been sent to the old address?

  • Associatedmindurbiz @ Telstra on 25/09/2019 - 06:51
    +3

    1. Trying hard to understand the story but what is going on

    2. The port cannot proceed without three things: a. The service has a Sim card associated with it in the port order. b. The Pre Port verification is complete (you'll get a text message with a link to click and authorise the port) C. The number is currently active with another provider

    So it's not possible for a number to be ported to Telstra without a valid Sim card. If the number is currently with Telstra and you DIDN'T receive a Sim card (lost in mail, wrong address, etc), all you need is a Sim replacement. Either go into a store or order it over the phone

    If you want to reverse the port back to the original carrier, you can contact them and ask for a port reversal.

    • Thundaja on 25/09/2019 - 12:57

      I agree, this seems to be a classic case of making mountains out of molehills.

      The person in question asked for their number to be ported… and it was.

      If the port was completed early (yeah, not great but shit happens), just go to the Telstra store and get them to move the service to a new SIM and hand that SIM to you in store. It takes 2 minutes.

      Escalating to the TIO is going to ensure this take LONGER to resolve than needed, and takes resources away from people that actually need the TIO.

      • netsurfer on 25/09/2019 - 13:42

        Nah, talk to the porting team(s). They are the ones actually doing the work.

        The biggest issue with Telstra is each team only does limited tasks and they are far too strictly by the book quite often. Also, if you don't talk to the right team, it won't get solved. Also, Telstra staff can make the most unbelievable errors sometimes and the other team members will come up with reasons why they cannot correct them despite common sense would be the staff made a mistake previous (i.e. typo, copy and paste error).

        Escalating this to TIO is not a bad idea as the complaints department will look into it. I find hose people are better. They are far more pragmatic (do act like a human, rather than robot) and do at least pretend to do the right thing.

  • payless69 on 25/09/2019 - 07:43

    The older one gets the higher the probability the bill remains open. Makes commercial sense.

  • kolorijo on 25/09/2019 - 09:52
    +14

    I still wish I can neg a forum post…

  • netsurfer on 25/09/2019 - 11:19

    Talk to Telstra porting team. Those people have the information needed. You can also talk to previous provider's porting team.
    Basically, talk to the groups which actually do the porting.

  • MessyG on 25/09/2019 - 20:25
    +1

    A trillion years ago I worked at the Telstra faults call centre. No jokes there were staff there who looked like they'd stepped out of the seventies - clothes, hair, accents and all.

    But that's beside the point. You have an elderly person with a heart condition. Ring the 132200 number and ask to speak to a team leader, tell them you have an elderly person with a heart condition with no phone service. There was a case many years ago when someone died as a result of severe asthma attack and no phone service and after that Telstra was compelled to escalate this cases quickly, and they do so. Forget the shop - they can't help. Get someone in management on the phone and tell them your this person could die at home alone and no one would know because he has no phone. They'll get on it faster than go to the TIO (although you still should).

    Telstra have a Universal Service Obligation to all Australian citizens to ensure they have a working phone. I don't know if the shop staff get that in their training but the call centre staff very much do. https://www.telstra.com.au/consumer-advice/customer-service/…

    • EmployeeXetrok @ Telstra on 25/09/2019 - 20:36

      "Telstra has a Universal Service Obligation (USO) to ensure standard telephone services (STS) and payphones are reasonably accessible to all people in Australia on an equitable basis, wherever they work or live."

      The OP has an issue with a mobile service which is not part of the USO.

      There's also priority assist which you might be thinking of.. which is again not related to a mobile service. https://www.telstra.com.au/consumer-advice/customer-service/…

      • MessyG on 25/09/2019 - 21:39

        I made a couple of assumptions reading that post. The OP said the elderly person had a medical event and mentioned that this is their only phone service. If this is the case, while you're right in that the USO specifies that it's a landline - if we had of had a call like that in the callcentre that suggested an elderly person with a heart condition was without a phone, we would have acted on it immediately - restoring the mobile service would be the fastest interim measure to get this person access to a phone. Secondly we don't know if they're in an area that can only be accessed by mobile phone. The priority assist thing is new since I worked there, but regardless, if you get a call with someone suffering a medical condition and no service, you're not going to tell them to fill in a form and you'll get back to them. What if they have a heart attack and can't ring anyone? The lawyers and media would be all over it in a second. OP needs to escalate up (because more junior/inexperienced staff will stick rigidly to rules without getting the issue) until there's a resolution (or completely ignore my post if they do indeed have a working landline!)

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