Aussie Broadband Becoming Too Expensive? Alternatives?

Lkohno83 on 09/06/2023 - 08:51
Last edited 09/06/2023 - 10:20 by 1 other user

I have been with AussieBroadband (NBN 50/20) for a rather long time - and no doubt they attend to and resolve issues rather quick. Despite them being slightly more expensive than other ISP's, I have been willing to pay the slight premium over others.

At that stage, it was perhaps a $5 difference a month.

Reviewing all available plans now, ABB is charging $79 for the 50/20 plan whereas others are having promotional offers of around $55-60 a month - this is almost a 30% price difference - which, to me, is significant.

Trying to do the right thing, instead of just jumping ship immediately, I thought I would reach out to ABB to see whether they are able to offer anything to reduce this price gap - be it on a time based promotional offer or not. Hence I sent an email out.

And this is the reply I received (direct copy+paste from email):

Unfortunately, we do not have any active promotions regarding existing customers, so the best we can offer you at the moment is $10 off per month for 12 months.

You are correct in that some providers have cheaper plans than we do at present, and that is because you are not just paying for the internet service, but also our customer service. If this $10 offer is not enough for you, and you do not value customer service as highly as you do whatever is cheapest, we wish you the best.

I certainly do not appreciate the last sentence in their response.

  • If I did not value customer service, I would not have reached out to them in the first place

  • It seems to me that ABB might be over their head thinking "they are big" and able to charge a significant premium over others?

What say you fellow Ozbargainers?

Time to walk?

or still worth the premium?

Internet Broadband nbn

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Comments

      • RatBargain on 12/06/2023 - 00:08

        Superloop and Launtel have Aussie call centres.

        I’ve never needed to find out about the others

        Altruism or patriotism doesn’t save CC jobs from AI

  • bigbadboogieman on 11/06/2023 - 03:09
    +3

    I went to More telecom for 53.90 for 12 months after finishing 6 months with Australia Post Broadband for $49.99.

    Unless you're talking to their "customer service" for 1 hour each month, the premium isn't worth it.

    • Ridiculous Panda on 11/06/2023 - 07:39
      +4

      Exactly.. and if you are talking to them, then something is wrong with the service to begin with.

  • Thaal Sinestro on 11/06/2023 - 03:10

    Stay with ABB. Be content with the $10 a month discount. The real reason why internet connectivity prices are so high is because the NBNCo is trying to extract profits from their infrastructure monopoly. Their business model is to increase charges over time.

  • NotAnAudiophile on 11/06/2023 - 04:58
    +2

    Australian broadband prices are a joke. In Asia, 1gbps connections from a national carrier like a Telstra or Optus costs the equivalent of $30 a month.

  • Wayne7497 on 11/06/2023 - 05:03
    +1

    I chose super loop for the free fttp upgrade with discount for 1st 6 months

    https://superloop.com/flip-to-fibre#plans

    Need to check your address to see the upgraded plans

  • kfp187 on 11/06/2023 - 07:03
    +2

    You get what you pay for. I’ve always found Aussie amazing to deal with. They have an Aussie call centre. Isn’t that what people want when they need support? Unfortunately to pay Australians, it isn’t as cheap as call centres overseas… if you don’t need their service then fair comment, they make. Go elsewhere cheaper that has “crappy customer service”.

    • cloudy on 12/06/2023 - 10:30
      +6

      I think when people pay for internet is they want internet. Not good support, most people who don’t go with ABB haven’t needed support and struggle to understand why people pay for support.

  • jaimex2 on 11/06/2023 - 09:37

    I'm still on $60/m on Exetel for NBN50.

  • Shunter86 on 11/06/2023 - 10:21
    +2

    Aussie Broadband has jumped the shark in my opinion.

    Yes their service is still excellent, and if you're stuck on FTTN/FTTC their little self-help toolkit app is awesome for kicking your connection, but the prices are finally at a point where the cost outweighs the level of service (which is saying something).

    If you're on FTTP and want a competent, easy to communicate with RSP like Aussie, I churned to Superloop as part of my FTTP upgrade and have been extremely happy with them. You don't get an email address or toolkit app, but I could do without those. And yes, Australian based customer service.

    I was just looking at prices last night for 250/25. Superloop/Exetel are the best at $108.95 per month (Superloop's non-promo cost has actually come down from $114.95), and ABB is up at $129. I think ABB has slightly higher evening speeds, but to me not $20 a month worth.

  • xavster on 11/06/2023 - 10:29
    +3

    Yeah, as a business owner, I think that's an inappropriate response if my staff said that. Could be someone having a bad day though.

  • Ft Mase on 11/06/2023 - 10:30

    I emailed them similar about 12 months ago and they didnt offer me anything.

    I jumped ship to another provider and cancelled within 24 hours and went straight back to ABB.

    Its the consistency, customer service and australian owned that keeps me.

    • cloudy on 12/06/2023 - 10:32
      +1

      Your CS experience seems inconsistent with OPs. Does consistency in CS matter ?

      Personally if someone else got offer something and I didn’t when I did something similar, I wouldn’t be happy

    • shutuptakemymoney101 on 13/06/2023 - 19:05
      +1

      Who did you move to? Cancelling with 24 hours doesn't seem like you gave the new provider any time to investigate/fix any issues?

  • djohn7 on 11/06/2023 - 10:32

    I’ve thought about jumping ship a few times but I do value quality service since I WFH a lot and I haven’t had a single problem with them. That being said I used to use TPG and I can’t recall many problems with them either other than when I had to call up and deal with offshore staff and long wait times.

    I’m on the 75/20 ABB plan since I only have FTTN and my peak speeds only cap out at around 80 so doesn’t seem worth to pay the extra and I feel like it’s better value compared to the 50/20.

  • mirz on 11/06/2023 - 10:38
    +1

    I’m on $99 for 100/20 unlimited plan with ABB for a very long time. Includes static IP address for free. I’m on FTTP.

    I’m WFH, wife running her business from home, plus 3 x teenagers. You can imagine our reliance on internet. We are using at least 1700-1800 GB per month on average.

    Never had any problem with them except once optic fiber connection was broken. It was Friday morning before a long weekend, called ABB customer support and they followed up NBN to make sure my optic fiber connector was replaced and fixed on Friday afternoon.

    IMHO if customers will keep playing providers for these promos, sooner or later broadband quality will be compromised.

    Superloop is an American company when ABB is an Australian company. I’ll rather pay my money to local company but again that’s just me 😄

    Yes, that email is very wrong and should have reworded in much nicer and professional manner.

    • Twix on 11/06/2023 - 16:24

      Superloop is an Australian company with a mix of local and a Sri Lankian call centre. You can have 1000/50 unlimited $99/m and a free static IP with Superloop running alongside your Aussie BB service.

      • Zondor on 12/06/2023 - 19:16

        I've tried to call them to sign up and no one has picked up in 10m. Imagine when I actually need help on the support line.

    • RatBargain on 12/06/2023 - 00:14
      +3

      They raised a service request for NBN Co. that isn’t the hard part. You were impressed with the speed/quality of repairs. Though as you mentioned, was NBN Co. not your ISP

    • juki on 11/06/2023 - 11:49
      +14

      i had a good smile at your reply, while you do make excellent points imo, to be so passionate i suspect you were the ABB employee sending the reply :)

      • UFO on 11/06/2023 - 11:52
        -7

        Nah man…. I'm just sick and tired of people being offended by everything, and then putting ridiculous priorities like how much someone sucks up to them over product delivery.

        Just sick and tired. I'm in a 'forward facing customer role' in a different industy… and maybe this whinge has struck a chord, but it's just so very frustrating. People oblivious to their own actions. We have an awesome homemade Australian ISP, and people in this thread don't value that at all. Will throw cash away to some international mob because of a few bucks. It really sucks, and then those same people will whinge that nothing is made in Australia these days.

        • juki on 11/06/2023 - 11:56
          +5

          I'm in healthcare so i'm familiar with abuse and the constant "offence" people seem to deal with, in their defense i'm also bewildered that some people manage to function as adults

        • howcan on 13/06/2023 - 09:58

          Buddy, it's good to vent sometimes but this is pretty over the top, you seem to have bottled up all your frustration and anger at your job or random things in general and then exploded in a highly erratic and emotional post on a discussion over an internet service provider. This isn't healthy or normal to be so stressed out and angry in your job, especially in a customer facing position. If your company provides a free employee assistance/counselling service it may be wise taking up the offer, or chat to your doctor before it gets to you. You're going to have a complete mental breakdown or do something silly if you continue like this.

      • T-man on 11/06/2023 - 23:32
        +6

        😂 I wouldn’t write an essay like this if I don’t get paid.

    • SydBoy on 11/06/2023 - 19:48
      +5

      there is nothing offensive or threatening with words ""I'm going to leave if you can't do this"."… so don't justify wrong words used by ABB… !

      • UFO on 11/06/2023 - 21:40
        -6

        I'm not sure you understand the definition of what a threat is, because the example you used is exactly what one is.
        But that's ok…. you do you, and you keep worrying about those "wrong words used by ABB". The irony of that is very funny btw :).

        • RatBargain on 12/06/2023 - 00:24
          +1

          I'm not sure you understand the definition of what a threat is, because the example you used is exactly what one is.

          Threat -noun
          1. a statement of an intention to inflict pain, injury, damage, or other hostile action on someone in retribution for something done or not done.
          2. a person or thing likely to cause damage or danger.

          Actually, no threat was made by OP. Just an expression of intent to decline the discount offer and ongoing contractual agreements.

    • sheebies on 12/06/2023 - 17:59
      +2

      Premium product?

      Rock solid reliable?

      Are you serious? I feel so incredibly ripped off, my husband changed our service over to Aussie broadband in April and on a daily basis our internet drops out. It often happens multiple times per day. Their responses are all throwing it onto someone else and now I’m in a position where I potentially have to pay opticomm $500 for a service call because Aussie broadband have determined it’s an opticomm problem.

      Never mind the fact that when I was with activ8 me it never dropped out once

      • Twix on 12/06/2023 - 19:27

        Daily dropouts is more likely to be a OptiComm fault.

  • lancesta on 11/06/2023 - 11:48

    Imo ABB are at the forefront of transparency with their capacity on their lines and live data rates. I find the straightforward customer service refreshing. I don't need someone who coddles me and has to put on a professional face all the time.

    I guess it may come across as arrogant but like with the amount of telcos that come and go I don't think it's a bad point. iiNet were really expensive towards the end but they also advocated for internet users and such when the other telcos just rolled over. I also rate the local customer support as well as quick customer support. It is definitely a lot of money to pay extra per year but idk when I'm waiting on a call queue in a decade and getting frustrated I'll know that it's the price I pay for a discounted rate lol. I hope they are able to be a bit more competitive as the cost is hard to justify for most people.

    They've also become a bit of a default provider for people who didn't typically hunt around for a better deal so maybe they're a bit complacent too.

    • juki on 12/06/2023 - 09:25
      +2

      at least you know where you stand and it addresses the concern, not some generic wishywashy reply that doesnt answer your issue. i got maybe a lower speed to not spend too much with ABB but it always works consistently and they never bother me.

  • TheBean on 11/06/2023 - 14:26
    +2

    I left them a while ago, same reasons as you OP. lol

  • burns13 on 11/06/2023 - 14:59
    +4

    I didn't like that condescending response either to be honest. I'm with ABB as well, since we are paying a premium for this customer service I might see if that was a one off comment.

  • chefdillu on 11/06/2023 - 17:47

    https://www.letsbemates.com.au/

    Local AU Contact Centre and no issues

  • SydBoy on 11/06/2023 - 19:45

    i was with flip NBN for more than a year and my call was always picked up by someone in Australia and responded with curtesy and they are way cheap then ABB .. !

  • eklipsils on 11/06/2023 - 20:02
    +2

    I was in the same situation. I asked ABB if they could do something with the monthly cost but in my instance they said no. I was just looking for a $10 a month discount which they refused. So I moved to SuperLoop and it's been great!

    ABB will start losing customers on mass if they keep at this policy of not reducing their current customers monthly costs. There is a lot of competition out there who have local support aka SuperLoop.

  • wayfastwhitie on 11/06/2023 - 20:46

    Superloop 50/20 $69pm. Been with them for 2 years, no issues.

  • ninjadefuse on 11/06/2023 - 21:23
    +2

    I was with superloop for about 4 years. A few weeks ago I started getting 40% packet loss. I checked everything on my end before reaching out to their support. After 4 days of back and forth they refused to escalate this to NBN. Their support has been moved overseas and gone down the drain.

    I switched to ABB, and the same issue was occurring. Within 5 minutes of service activation, they had lodged an NBN appointment. The NBN tech was unable to fix the issue and escalated the issue. All said and done, my internet was fixed within 48 hours of switching to ABB including the wait time for NBN appointment.

    If you are in an area with crappy infrastructure (fttn,fttc,hfc), then their support level is absolutely worth the extra money.

    • utsc on 12/06/2023 - 20:29

      Did NBN identify the real fault and what was it?

      Did ABB or Superloop ask you to log the ping for 4 hours before file a fault with NBN

      • ninjadefuse on 09/11/2023 - 18:57

        NBN did not specify what the fault was, but it was on their side of the network. The technician that came out could not fix the issue and had to escalate the issue internally within NBN.

        I provided pings/traceroutes and everything requested by Superloop. I provided these logs for 4 days, chasing them up once a day by phone. They kept refusing to escalate to NBN.

        ABB did not request anything and lodged the request with NBN within 5 minutes.

  • Hahuh on 11/06/2023 - 21:42

    I'm switching from Superloop to leaptel but I would churn to Superloop / exetel and rotate that to get the introductory price.

    For me (Thornbury poi), Superloop has been good. I am happy with the international routes and hardly have had problems with them.

    I've been with Aussie (first nbn rsp for nbn 2015), some focus reseller that ran siptalk or something, whitelabeled Aussie (origin?), Superloop.

    You do get what you pay for. For the really cheap ones, they may lack caches for things like Netflix or have suboptimal routes or one POP. Support is also another factor to consider if you're the type to call support and need someone to be present and capable.

  • milobob on 11/06/2023 - 21:56

    Hmm a very blunt email indeed. Personally I wouldnt word it like that ever to the customer. But the Q is, what are you essentially shopping/looking for?

    I'm with them for customer service and reliability. Happy to pay more for that. But I also pay for things where I believe provide me better service.

    Reading your post again, I think you already know your answer 😜

  • Godric on 11/06/2023 - 23:05
    +1

    Leaptel been pretty good for me

  • T-man on 11/06/2023 - 23:07

    They are becoming the new Telstra, and consider themselves a premium provider. Just switch to another provider, don’t have to stay and pay for the loyal tax.

  • sajuuk on 12/06/2023 - 08:18

    Move from ABB to Leaptel last month. All is good.

  • hitworm on 12/06/2023 - 09:12

    Up to you. It wasn’t a nice response, but you probably got a bad customer service representative, or someone who just had a bad day dealing with too many unreasonable customers

    At the end, seems like you got what you wanted to achieve in the first place and you’re happy with the Internet quality, so if it were me, I would stay

  • keejoonc on 12/06/2023 - 10:00
    +3

    I have used Mates, Superloop and now with More Telecom on their promotional offer through CBA ($83.30 for their 250/50 plan) and haven't had any issues with either of them.
    ABB loves to charge premium citing their superior customer service but how often do you actually need customer service from your ISP provider?
    I've had none for the last several years so I'll take my chances and pay less through other cheaper providers.

  • gromit on 12/06/2023 - 10:01
    +1

    Personally I see nothing wrong with the response, direct and honest. Really it comes down to do you value the customer service or not. For me being a techy I actually don't value the customer service at all so I jumped.

  • jschalky on 12/06/2023 - 10:05
    +1

    unless you are struggling with money. just stay with them.
    they are head and shoulders above the rest in customer service. and when something goes wrong. and it will cos it always does…. you want good service.
    if it was me i would take the 10 bucks off pm and smile.

  • PurchaseAnxiety on 12/06/2023 - 10:20
    +1

    I haven’t been with them for a while, but my parents are currently with them. And I really wasn’t impressed with their recent customer service. My parents are paying for 50mbps and getting 10mbsp on a good day and frequent dropouts (fixed wireless). I’d already told them to do a speed test when plugged directly into the NTD, and it didn’t help things. There’s also a clear as day red light on the NTD signifying a weak signal. So it was obviously an NBN fault. I told them to ring AB, assuming they’d log a fault with nbn. Well after over an hour on the phone, ABs suggestion was to factory reset their wireless router. My dad did that, which booted all their devices off the network. He had to end the call because he couldn’t even tell if the internet was working anymore, let alone had improved. Weeks later, he’s still finding devices that he needs to reconnect. And it probably goes without saying, but resetting an entirely different device did not improve the bad signal being received at the NTD.

    Might have been an unlucky experience, but still pretty disappointing, seeing as they obviously hang their hat on this stuff.

  • Poor Ass on 12/06/2023 - 11:06
    +1

    I don't understand why people on here love ABB so much… Maybe they got the you pay for what you get mentality but it's not true in this case

    I've never been with them and happily been churning every 6 months to get the promos in other ISPs

    Hardly any downtime and even if there was you really think it's the ISPs fault all the time? It could be NBN itself. It usually sort itself out unless there was an issue with the pit like weather events.

    Never really had a really bad ISP for NBN compared to when I had ADSL2++++++ or dialup

  • grang on 12/06/2023 - 11:09

    Same boat.

    I have a bad connection, so I often use the self service tool (kick the connection) as bad water ingress in my aweful 30 year old copper can push my max rate sync rate from 38 mbit to 28 mbit.

    I guess I can just turn the modem on and off.

    That, and the kids like to play competitive — 3 of them. So the capacity of ABB has been appealing.

    That said, I pay the $79 unlimited price for 50/20, getting 38/5 a month and it is a lot when looking at alternatives - 20x12 = 240 saving for a year is worth it, if the kids don't complain too much.

    Gawd I hate FTTN.

    • TheBean on 12/06/2023 - 14:27

      Have a look at leaptel, they also don't oversell their capacity and have been good to me with consistent speeds. There's been at least a few posts so you can read the comments from them to get a feel.

  • FloatingPoint on 12/06/2023 - 11:14

    Switched from ABB to Tangerine few months ago. No problem and still very fast. 6 months discount on 100/20 $62.88 compared to ABB $99. ABB is good but just getting too expensive. I value CS but not at $40/month. Also I need static IP for work - Tangerine comes with it for free while ABB charge $5 extra.
    Will look for another discount once 6 months finish. Will stay with them if nil available.

  • prinsenhof on 12/06/2023 - 12:13
    +2

    I'll be staying with them. No wait times for support and an actual smart person picking up the phone first time is easily worth extra. Normally it takes a good hour and several escalations to get to a person smart enough to fix the problem with other telcos.

    Confidence that the people actually know what they are doing aids in fault finding as well, as you can generally trust the information is correct and start looking in other areas for the problem. Most other telcos will ask you to turn it off and on, and then if that doesn't work, they'll then ask you to turn it off, on, off, on and then wait 2 minutes and just turn it off.

  • fadzsolz on 12/06/2023 - 12:15

    Rough response but I have been them a few months and in the 1-2 cases I had issues it was good to get a response with a real person vs the faceless AI powered bots with cookie-cutter responses.
    That said, if I had telstra would take them as they have decent service and support with benefits (loyalty etc).
    ABB is a no frills service.

  • stumo on 12/06/2023 - 12:23

    I walked a few years ago when they decided to up their prices for existing customers.

    Been with Future Broadband since then, and they have been better than ABB for customer service and far cheaper. Instant response to tickets by an actual human.

  • kabammi on 12/06/2023 - 12:49

    I reckon it's a great reply for this type of product.

    However this type of response has its place.
    I got almost the exact same reply from the ANZ Bank about my mortgage about 5 years ago. They wouldn't allow us to leverage the new loan discount (0.5% less that what we were playing), even though we figured our bank loyalty might justify it (having had a mortgage for 12 years at the time and banking with them for 30 years). Worth a shot right? Well their response was surprising. They flat out refused and said if I had a found a better deal elsewhere, to take it. Knowing the crap you have to go through to change banks for mortgages, I read that as hubris. And the tone on the phone was almost cheeky. So we went to Ubank and have saved a fortune!

  • [Deactivated] on 12/06/2023 - 14:07

    Cashrewards + Boost SIMs.

    e.g. This a few days ago: https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/780463.

    I use the internet a lot and use about 80GB a month. So that's about 2x SIMs a month and I'm not tied to the house.

  • istoleyourid2 on 12/06/2023 - 14:17

    Awesome, took this thread as an opportunity to ask ABB for a discount. Got the $10 month off for 12 months. I'm happy 😊

  • Geoff01 on 12/06/2023 - 15:16

    Why pay a premium for customer service. Thats admitting we can't provide a reliable product but are contactible to constantly fix it. I'm with more Telecom through cba and haven't had one issue with fttn since swapping from tangerine. Had no issues with them either and never contacted them.

    • keejoonc on 12/06/2023 - 16:44
      +1

      I don't get it either. Pay $x more than other options EVERY month for the supposedly superior service which you more than likely won't even need.

  • happydude on 12/06/2023 - 15:54
    +1

    The response above is a little harshly written but logical. If the customer doesn't prioritise customer service over price ABB is not for them.

    I also think we really need to stop being hyper critical of any response that isn't perfect from a support person that has challenging response targets to meet.

  • utsc on 12/06/2023 - 20:31
    +1

    I see a big improvement in terms of wait times to reach a Superloop service agent. In the last month I was able to reach the rep within 5 minutes 3 times when compared to wait time of 30-45 minutes one year ago.

    I am still getting micro drops where the internet is dead for 1 to 2 seconds but comes back on without any intervention.

    I am on FTTP 100/40 and have not figured out if the fault is at my end or with the NBN

    • ReaperX22 on 13/06/2023 - 11:35

      I'm able to get through to Superloop quite fast too.

      I went to downgrade my plan to save a few bucks, in the end the guy offered me an additional 20 dollar discount for 6 months lol. So I'm paying 84.95 for 250/25 + a static IP (I was already on a discounted plan.. That supposedly ended last year according to the guy on the phone) - he said call up again in 6 months and see what they can do for me then ha!

  • ozaym on 13/06/2023 - 08:44
    +1

    If you had to use customer service for a internet company 9/10 times is because they are providing a crap internet service, do not agree customer service is a massive selling point for ISP, I don’t pay Telstra mobile for the customer service, I pay the premium for the coverage, what a loser customer service, I would call them back and get out through the cancellation line and forward them the email, I doubt the managers at ABB would be impressed with that response.

  • surg3on on 13/06/2023 - 09:26
    +1

    That $10 a month isn't worth it when you dont have any problems. If you are lucky you wont have any for years and years. When you do ABB have staff that can actually solve issues and wont waste hours of you life with telephone ping pong reading out the same checklist again and again. Getting people that can solve problems costs $$$ . I do not see why OP is surprised.

    • Poor Ass on 13/06/2023 - 11:19
      +2

      Whirlpool is the website people go to bitch and moan right?

    • dbell on 13/06/2023 - 14:47
      +2

      To be fair for the ABB reps, Whirlpool is not their official communications channel and it's one of those "above and beyond" things that companies do to go the extra step with communication. I didn't even know they had a rep on here. It's probably a company policy now that they cannot provide advice or communications outside of the official channels or something similar due to legal reasons, that would not surprise me.

  • camr00 on 13/06/2023 - 11:41
    +1

    I've been with ABB for ~7 years and cant really fault them. That said, I regularly look around for better offers and look at my own speeds.

    I noticed today that the ABB website has changed their upload speeds to 16MBPS for their $79 and $99/mth plans. I checked my service and I am indeed getting less than I used to (15.99, 14.01 and 14.02 across 3 separate tests) when I used to get high 18's and occasional low 19mbps upload speeds (confirmed by my speedtest result history).

    I'm keen to see whether other people are consistently below the prior 20mbps speeds which I used to be much closer to.

    Also, would make the move to Telstra's $90/mth ($20 discount for 6 months) Premium plan and getting 100/17 along with some freebies (Kayo, binge) much easier. I would need to pay ABB $99 (admittedly RRP) for the same speeds.

    Might be time to move.

    • Twix on 13/06/2023 - 15:11

      Aussie BB and Telstra upload speeds have not changed and remains at a maximum of 20Mbps. The typical evening upload speed from 7pm to 11pm for Aussie BB is 16Mbps upload and Telstra is 17Mbps upload. I ran multiple speedtests now and got 19Mbps on Aussie BB. I will do more peak time speedtests tonight.

  • Panama on 13/06/2023 - 13:08
    +1

    I find More and Tangerine are ok.

  • dbell on 13/06/2023 - 14:45

    I kind of feel like ABB got too big for itself and lost that sense of personal touch, now becoming similar to the likes of Telstra and Optus. Their response wasn't too harsh and could have been worded better, you probably got hold of someone having a rough day or like mentioned, pre-empted the "I'm going elsewhere" response.

    As for an alternative ISP there's obviously some good suggestions here, if cost is your #1 concern and seeing other ISPs have better pricing, would it not be best to wait it out and see if they change?

  • browncamry on 13/06/2023 - 17:07

    I was with ABB and found it cool that I could self service my connection issues. I would occasionally need to kick my connection, etc, every month or there about without having to call support. I like self service.

    I've since joined Leaptel, and although I don't have those self service features, I've not had to kick my connection during the 3 months I've been connected. It has just worked this whole time.

  • astroboy38 on 13/06/2023 - 17:07

    I've been with ABB for a number of years and agree with many comments here that they've been rock solid throughout and the few times i've had to reach out to customer service, they've solved the problem pretty quickly. Over the years, I've just accepted the price rises but thanks for the reminder to look around. Just made the move to More NBN thanks to the CBA offer (30% discount). From what I've seen/heard over the years, there doesn't seem to be a huge difference between ISPs from a QoS perspective for your avg user - WFH plus moderate level of streaming…

    More NBN seems to be fine in past 24 hrs… lets see how it holds up and hopefully I'll never have to speak to CS.

  • Mugsy on 13/06/2023 - 17:15

    I'm with Exetel and have been pretty happy with their 50/20 unlimited offering with 3 speed boosts per month (which I haven't had to use). $70/mth isn't the cheapest but they're reliable which, considering I WFH, is pretty invaluable.

    But might give Spintel a try at the new house when it's finished. My bro and parents are with Spintel with no issues (apart from an invoicing issue my bro had when there were charging him for two services and the second one wasn't requested… at least not intentionally… watch those invoices but that goes without saying for everything).

  • localhost on 13/06/2023 - 18:09

    Guys, I won't comment prices and speeds, but since I've moved to gigacomm 6 months ago never called anyone. It just works.
    Don't care where is their support centre located, just receive some texts with maintenance windows (usually in 1am-5am timeframe).

    I am on 200/50 for $79/month plan and forgot about problems with connectivity - lags during teams/webex/zoom sessions, slow video download etc.

    Not sure is it available everywhere but it's worth trying.

  • autonomate on 13/06/2023 - 20:19
    +2

    It’s a publicly traded company. Its sole purpose now is to either increase dividends or stock price.

    This is why so many people left when they IPO’d. This happens with every organisation that goes public.

    Vote with your wallet.

    Sign up with Launtel and give cash to the company who not only staffs locally, but regularly calls NBN out on their shit practices. At least until Damien decides to sell and retire.

    ABB will continue to turn the screws. Next will be staff and operational cuts.

  • Geekomatic on 14/06/2023 - 00:01
    -2

    Sign up w/Telstra. You'll be so sorry and screaming to go back.

    Or, sign to any of the many BS artist ISPs.

    I do residential IT work, in the Peel region of WA. Aussie/Future are currently okay (IF, they don't oversell).

    "You get what you pay for".

    Best to you.

    • camr00 on 14/06/2023 - 08:53

      Can you elaborate please? I've used Optus and Telstra in the past, and both have provided a good service, albeit with lacklustre telephone support (on the rare occasion it was needed), and at a high cost (which was a primary driver for my move to ABB).

      With Telstra's current offer of $90/mth for 100/20, which includes Kayo, its $9 cheaper than ABB's equivalent plan, and excluding Kayo costs.

  • yjun355 on 14/06/2023 - 07:40

    So what is conclusion?
    Are there any sub $50 options?

  • stratbargain on 14/06/2023 - 08:59
    +1

    I had nothing but issues with Aussie trying to get a billing mistake they made corrected. Spoke to probably 5 people over 8 weeks each promising it had been fixed and I’d be refunded the next week. The refund never came and each person I spoke to treated me like it was a new issue.

    The wait times were surprisingly long as well. But that might have been fixed now.
    I can’t fault their internet speed/reliability but people love to say their support is amazing. I’ve had a much better experience with Exetel. Rarely a wait time more than a minute and while not local support they ave all been knowledgeable and helpful.

    Anyway shop around. There are plenty of cheaper isp’s with similar reliability.

  • mungas on 14/06/2023 - 10:52
    +1

    Leaptel has been good. I switched from Optus and the customer service was great when i had initial issues of trying to setup

  • Windows7forever on 14/06/2023 - 13:58

    The alternative is use your mobile 4G as internet, go to a public wifi / library, or live without the internet.

    • CocaKoala on 16/06/2023 - 17:15

      As opposed to choosing an NBN plan with dozens of other providers?

  • BlaCkAdDaIX on 14/06/2023 - 14:57
    +1

    Service is only of value when you have a problem and need to talk to someone… NBN shouldnt' have a problem it should just work so they overvalue their perceived service difference.

    I moved to superloop a couple of months back, has been fine so far, I have faster connection for less $ .. (at least for 6 months then still cheaper than what i left ABB on)

  • bargain-nut on 14/06/2023 - 15:29
    +2

    Left them years ago over the same attitude towards me as an existing customer. Best thing I did, I'm with a local provider now who have really good customer service and even better speeds.

  • Dealor on 17/11/2023 - 13:33

    Well, is there any good option around $50-$60 mark gang since Superloop has increased their prices

    Thanks for choosing Superloop as your internet partner. We hope you're enjoying fast, reliable 50/20 internet for all your streaming, gaming, WFHing, and general staying connectedness. Plus we hope you're taking full advantage of our extra Superloop perks like My Speed Boost, Bundle & Save, and Free with Friends.
    The wholesale cost across a number of speed tiers has been raised, which means we're increasing your price to $75/month. Passing on the increase isn't a decision we make lightly, but it does mean we can continue delivering the reliable internet you've come to know and love, as well as those free Speed Boosts at the push of a button, the Superloop app, and dedicated customer support should you ever need to chat.

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