Another quick Optus fail to talk about this morning, this time to do with being disconnected after not paying a bill. Problem is, I did pay it! Budda-boom!
Thursday 05th November 2009
Friday 25th September 2009
So here’s the problem, our home internet has now been down all week and I haven’t been able to blog much at all during that time, and the timing could not have been worse! Consider this a whinging blog entry to end all whinging blog entries!
Saturday 01st August 2009
Unfortunately one of the problems with essentially living in two different countries is things like bills from phone companies are easy to forget when you’re living in the other place. When I’m in Singapore I have a 3G and data plan with SingTel Mobile, in Australia I have a 3G and data plan with Optus.
Despite technically being an overseas subsidiary of SingTel, Optus couldn’t be more different. To their credit (puns are hilarious!), an Optus account is far easier to apply for than a SingTel account and has much less fine print, but you pay for this initial convenience by having far slower data speeds, spotty 3G reception and a tiny amount of data. Granted Singapore is microscopic compared to the metro area of Adelaide despite having five times as many people, but in Singapore I have full 3G reception everywhere except in lifts. I also have six times the data, for cheaper.
The other thing has to do with late payments of accounts. With SingTel if I’m late they send a series of warning letters and disconnect me, but they’ve always had me reconnected within an hour of my bill payment, even if it’s on a weekend (yes, even Sunday!). With Optus they claim a business day before reconnection takes place, but it’s taken 4 business days each time it’s happened.
I’m not denying for a second it’s entirely my own fault for not paying my bills, but the difference in support and service is huge. Optus needs to get their act together. I’m bullish that they’re capable of it, they just need a nudge. By a huge bull. I’d be scared into changing if a bull came charging at me. Charging… like charging a phone. I’m a genius!
Given I use my iTelephone with these plans, I wonder if Neal from iPhoneUserNews.com has anything to say about this? Wonder if you get a free Guinness and a potato when you sign up for an Irish telco?
Wednesday 24th June 2009
I was in a hurry to get to sleep last night so I didn’t talk much about this aside from posting a screenshot, but yesterday I was able to get my iTelephone unlocked and was blown away by how easy and fast it was.
I got my iPhone 3G from Optus which meant it was tied to their SIM card in Australia; travelling back to my other "home" in Singapore meant the device just became a fatter, glorified iPod Touch. Calling Optus from here though all I had to do was prove my ID and ask for it to be unlocked for it to be activated on their end. Optus claimed they usually need 10-15 business days to push through an unlock but because I was overseas already they “pushed it through” faster and promised it’d be done in 24 hours. And to their credit, it was!
Once I had backed up my iPhone in iTunes I did a complete restore, during which time I was told my carrier had some new settings to transfer which I presume changed the IMEI number to a carrier-neutral setting. When I popped out my Optus SIM and pushed in the SingTel Mobile 3G card I had from my Centro with the data plan, it worked beautifully.
I’ve had mobile phones for many years but this is the first time I’ve had to deal with the issue of "locked" phones which is more of an American phone company thing. The iPhone is an American designed phone so I guess this makes sense.
Anyway I’m super pleased I was able to get Apple and Optus to unlock it without question even though my 12 month contract hasn’t expired so I can use my iTelephone here. Singapore has brilliant phone coverage, I’ve been walking around all morning with it and have had full signal strength for 3G the entire time. Back in Adelaide I only get a decent 3G signal in the CBD. The iTelephone was built for places like Singapore!
Friday 06th March 2009
I always liked their flag, even if I can’t call some of them now!
Here’s something I didn’t know, as an Australian with an Optus phone line, I’m not allowed to call certain places. When did this happen?
Because of an increase in the number of unauthorised call activity and modem-jacking incidents Optus has barred all direct dial calls to the following destinations:
- Diego Garcia
- São Tomé and Príncipe
- Guinea-Bissau
If you need to make a call to any of these destinations, contact Optus Customer Service on 133 937, as access to a specific number may be able to be restored.
Alternatively, connections can be made through Operator Services by dialing 1225 (charges apply).
Anybody know anyone in the British Indian Ocean Territory I can call? What about Santo Antonio? Guess I’d better brush up on my Portuguese if I’m going to call someone in Bissau. Wait, I can’t!
Wednesday 04th March 2009
Do you all remember that long winded rant post I wrote on Sunday where I was having so much trouble paying my phone bill with Optus that I gave up doing it online?
Well I was told by a person at the Optus shop today that as an iPhone user I was registered automagically with their Optus Zoo service and that they’d sent me a password to it. By logging into Optus Zoo, I can pay my bills online there instead. Brilliant I thought, so I rushed home and attempted to login to Optus Zoo.
What was it that Homer Simpson said when he was laughing at the never ending previews at the beginning of a movie he was watching? "I’m laughing! But it’s a laugh of impatience!"
Sunday 01st March 2009
Lesson one of website design: never create sites that only work with JavaScript or Flash. ALWAYS provide alternatives if they’re not available.
Optus has sunk to a new low with me. Despite having much better coverage than Vodafone who I was with previously here in Australia, their 3G coverage still woefully bad outside the Adelaide CBD [Google Maps]. Coming from Singapore where I can even use my phone in most lifts I come across and onboard ferries between Singapore and Batam, Indonesia this definitely takes some time to adjust to when I come back here to study.
My latest adventure with Optus involves paying a bill online. I’ve never understood why companies go out of their way to make their online billing services so cumbersome, it’s so much cheaper for them to let their customers interface directly with their payment systems with their computer than paying somebody at one of their retail stores or over the phone to take payments. But I digress.
I went to Optus.com.au and clicked the conspicuous Pay a bill link. It took me to a secure page that fortunately doesn’t use MD5 and contains a few simple fields for credit card information and the amount owed. So far so good.
The problems started when I attempted to click some of the important information links in the page’s description. When I clicked on the Payments link which I was instructed to do to learn about their rich 1% credit card surcharge, I was told such a page doesn’t exist.
When I clicked the Privacy Collection Statement, nothing happened at all. As it turns out the hyperlink consisted of some JavaScript which NoScript in my Firefox browser had blocked. Why does a website need to use JavaScript to link to another page?
The most frustrating bug with the page though was its help system. When you click on any of the question mark links next to the form fields, you’re redirected to an explanation on another page. I didn’t know what they meant by a Card ID, so I clicked the question mark. Because it loaded another page in the same window, my 16 digit credit card number and my almost as huge 14 digit Customer Account Number were reset!
The fun didn’t end when I clicked the Pay Bill button though, for instead of processing my request I was tersely thrown back a 1990s era error page:
The question is, did my payment go through? I don’t want to enter my details again if I did because I’d be paying twice and from experience I know phone companies never give you money back they owe despite sending threatening letters to you when you reciprocate their lack of respect by not paying a bill.
We really need WiMax or city wide WiFi systems so we can get rid of these phone company peoples.
Wednesday 14th January 2009
Some of my own Optus spam from when I was in Australia
According to a story released just hours ago from the Adelaide Now website, Optus has been fined AU$110,000 for sending text message spam which was sent from a misleading phone number.
From the report:
The fine is the second biggest penalty imposed for a breach of Australia’s anti-spam laws.
The messages promoted the OptusZoo entertainment service to customer mobile phones and used the sender identification 966.
Optus assumed recipients would make the connection between 966 on a mobile phone keypad, and the word “ZOO” which can also be spelt out using the three numbers, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) said.
“However, this was not considered sufficient identification, as ‘966′ could be used to represent any number of permutations on a telephone keypad,” ACMA chairman Chris Chapman said in a statement.
Somehow their reasoning that everyone would know what that number means does sound just a little fishy. It sounds like a classic case of intentional obfuscation, then denial to me. It seems hard to believe that someone could really think a three digit number could translate using a keypad into "Zoo" which we’re supposed to associate with one of their products.
If the numbers when entered into a phone magically spelt the word "Optus" I’d perhaps be marginally more forgiving… but "Zoo"? How many Optus customers are even aware that they’re using that service?
Optus is of course Australia’s number 2 telecommunications company behind Telstra. Writing this from Singapore is ironic given Singapore Telecom owns Optus. Budda boom.
Wednesday 10th December 2008
The Optus iPhone advertisement page
It seems I’ve been doing a lot of these real world experience type of posts over the last few days. Eventually I’ll have a positive one to report on!
Given I’m going to Singapore on Friday, I’ve been going through a check list of things to do. One of these things was to find out whether my iPhone was locked to Optus (my mobile phone company) and if so whether or not it was possible to unlock it before I left so I could swapin my SingTel SIM card when I get there.
The first thing I did was venture to an Optus store this morning and ask the above questions while I was in the city. I was told Optus does lock its handsets (crap) but fortunately because I’m on a post-paid plan it’s free to unlock for the first six months. When I asked them to it for me though, the assistant hurried away and came back with a scrap of paper and a phone number. For some reason though they couldn’t do it for me at the shop, I had to call this number and have it arranged. I was going to ask why they couldn’t just do it at the shop, but I remembered the golden rule with dealing with phone companies: common sense isn’t allowed to enter into your reasoning!
So this afternoon I got back home, sat down and called the number she had labelled as "Post Paid Customer support". I was presented not with a simple "Dial 1 for us to pretend to give a crap, Dial 2 for lip service" menu system or even a human being, but rather one of these new voice recognition systems. This is called "Progress"
Optus Please say in a few words what you’re calling about. Me Unlocking a handset Optus You’re enquiring about a PIN Number. Is this correct? Me No Optus Please say in a few words what you’re calling about. Me Unlocking a mobile phone Optus You’re enquiring about a PIN Number. Is this correct? Me No Optus [Lip service ... condescending instructions on how to talk] Me Cancel cancel cancel grilled cheese sandwich Optus Are you calling about a mobile, landline or internet service? Me MOBILE! Optus You are calling about a mobile, is that correct? Me Yes, that is what I said! Optus Are you an existing customer or a new customer? Me EXISTING! If I were a new customer, you would have lost my business already with this stupid… Optus I’m sorry I didn’t understand that. Are you an existing customer or a new customer? Me EXISTING! Optus Are you post paid or pre paid? Me POST PAID! (how long is this ordeal going to last?) Optus Are you calling from the line you’re inquiring about? Me Unfortunately for me, yes Optus And what are you calling about? [presents 800 different options which you have to listen through] Me Technical support! Optus Please hold… Me Yeah, you’d like that wouldn’t you
When I was finally put through to a human being, he was very friendly and pushed my paperwork through to get my handset unlocked so I could use it overseas. What I want to know is why I had to go through an electronic Mr Ed first. The number was also clearly not "Post Paid Customer Support", otherwise I wouldn’t have been asked any of these questions in the first place!
Lift your game Optus. When you’re in such a low position to start off with, it shouldn’t be too hard to improve.
Wednesday 24th September 2008
The telco malice episode!
Was SUPPOSED to be discussing our Flinders Ranges trip and my new iPhone, but ended up discussing the cola wars, my dad’s much needed holiday with us in Adelaide, having no energy sucks, mistakingly assuming malice instead of stupidity, the sad decline of Vodafone service in Australia, multivitamins and coffee preparation, the Aussie outback is REALLY flat, signing up with Optus, mobile phone prepaid plans are a ripoff, really humbling super old rock, good to be back home, sculling boiling water, phone calls with Elke, and some "realistic" philosophy!
Flinders Ranges trip and iPhone adventures will be released in the coming week. Heaven forbid I actually record what I’m supposed to one day :-).
Music for this episode performed by Chris Juergensen from Magnatune.com.
Download MP3 to listen ↓ 33:00 15.2MiB
You can also stream this episode and view its Internet Archive page.
