I AM COMPLETELY DISENCHANTED

Phil and I do have a mobile (cell) phone.  We don't like them but we have one so that if we are out together and there is an emergency such as a car breakdown (heaven forbid) we can contact the necessary people.   Phil always takes the mobile with him when he goes shopping etc., in case I should need him urgently or he wishes to ring me to check should he buy anything else or to let me know he is running late.  The rest of time the mobile is turned off and we use our landline.  We know so few people that there is little likelihood anyone would want to contact us at odd hours.

This week we found our mobile would not hold a charge so realise it is either the battery is flat or it is totally kaput.   It is not a phone either of us have ever enjoyed using so decided to replace it, preferably with a senior friendly one.  (Our current mobile looks like this but is a pretty blue/green colour).

 I telephoned Telstra and asked a very nice lady (yes she was in Australia) about the type of phone which would suit us best.  She recommended a Telstra Easy Call T303 and told me that is the type she bought for her nanna who is 82.  That sounded just the phone for us (larger keys for Phil's fingers etc., and NO camera but has an FM radio for some reason) but I was told if we wanted to keep our little $10 mobile plan with Telstra she could not sell us the phone but we would have to go to a Telstra store to buy the phone over the country for $99.  I was told it comes in black or white....aren't they just great how Telstra apparently don't think older people need a little colour in their lives.........so I decided a white one as it would be easy to find if I should carry it in my handbag and Phil agreed so a white one it would be.  This is the phone we are after:

That all sounded great so I telephoned our nearest Telstra store in Booragoon (4 times).  No answer to any of my calls but was told they were busy serving customers and I could leave a message and they would get back to me either today or the next business day.   "Whoah" I thought "how do they know I'm not a customer?"  "Is there nobody in the store to pick up a phone and ask the caller to wait a minute or two?"  There was an alternative person I could speak to which I decided to do.  He, I think, was possibly in the Phillipines, but was very helpful and said he'd check on the availability of the phone I wanted.  He came back to be and said yes that the Booragoon shop had 3 white and 1 black of that model phone.

I thanked him for his assistance and off went Phil to Booragoon to buy said phone.  He arrived home to tell me that after standing in a queue for 10 or more minutes he handed the person behind the counter the written description of the phone.  The chap then went to the store and said "we only have 3 black in that particular phone".   Back home came Phil and we both just sat there feeling somewhat let down by this firm who is always advertising what a great service they offer.  By this time I had wasted time and money on phone calls (13 numbers cost 35 cents each now) and Phil had wasted time, energy and petrol for no return.  That store wants to be very thankful that I'd not decided to accompany Phil in that venture!!!  He can be so patient with people but as I've aged I've learned to speak up for myself if I feel the need to do so.  I know employees only do what they are told to do so it is their boss to blame more than anything, in this case Telstra.

This morning we telephoned 3 other Telstra stores not too far from our home but not one of them answered their phone.   Phil then found another number he could ring ...a 13 number ...and he found himself talking (yes, you've guessed it) to a chap in the Phillipines (Phil asked him where he was).  This man also tried to be helpful but said he couldn't tell Phil why none of the Telstra shops we'd tried were answering their phones.  Phil just said thank you and hung up!!

I then found another 13 number to ring and the young lady (also I am sure in the Phillipines) asked how she could help.  She wanted to know my name and all that detail and I asked her why she needed that when all I wanted to know was the availabilty of a mobile phone.  She explained it was for security purposes which I think i carrying it a bit too far.  I asked her how would a person get on if they had only just arrived in Australia, wanted to buy a mobile phone and then start up an acccount.  She then asked how could she help and would I like her to find if the specific phone was available in a store near my home.  I told her Fremantle and Success were the closest (already having had a failure with Booragoon).  She asked me to wait ("please, don't hang up") and eventually came back and said neither store had that type of phone in either white or black.

I am now wondering what to do and I do feel very angry.  Do I get Phil to go to Battery World and have them check the battery in our existing little phone which we really would like to be rid of or do I persevere and try and buy the phone we want.  I have already put a complaint on Telstra's Facebook page and their answer to my not getting answer was that I should have left a message.  A big help that was.  I have also sent them an email explaining the whole sorry saga and they will contact me within FIVE business days.  Great service eh?

I know people that have fallen out so badly with Telstra they won't have anything to do with them and I now understand why that is.   We are a little too old and tired to be looking around for another phone service but I fear what is going to happen should the NBN ever reach our suburb if Telstra are in control.

Thinking about this as I type I have decided a letter to the Minister for Telecommunications will be sent voicing my disappointment with Telstra and its non-existent service..  I think the Minister may be Malcolm Turnbull who I feel at present has his mind on other matters but that is another story which I guess will unfold next week.  I do not discuss politics on my blog so will leave that alone.