I have my home phone and internet with Optus and I have had ongoing problems with my internet as I keep getting cut of the net and my entire computer screen freezes. Every time I phone Optus about this problem I have to pay for the call; 1st I get a machine wanting details from me, then when I get through to an operator they want me to give them the same information again, they then tell you that they have to transfer your call to another area and when you get through to that area you have to give all your details again, only to be told again that you are in the wrong area and put back to a machine to start the whole process again. I have spent hours on the phone going through this process and struggling to understand the accents of the people who answer my call. I have often been cut of the line or hung up on so that I have to phone them again and again and each time I phone them I am charged for the call. Then when I finally do get through to the right area I often get a technician who hasn’t got a clue and tries to convince me that I have a virus on my computer. For over 12 months I have had to put up with Optus doing this to me and the problem with my internet has progressively gotten worse and I get cut off the internet every 10 seconds. About 10 days ago I noticed that my modem was overheating and when I told Optus about this they finally accepted that the modem they supplied me is faulty and has been causing the problems. Optus agreed to send me a new modem and told me that it would be delivered on Friday 5-2-2010. As they couldn’t give me an exact time, it meant that I had to wait in the whole day for the courier and I had to cancel several important appointments and reschedule others so that I could be home to get the modem. But guess what the courier never arrived. I phoned Optus at 3pm that afternoon and was told that they made a mistake and booked the courier for next month. I asked Optus to send the modem out to me by another courier as I couldn’t give up another day; but they said they couldn’t do that, so I asked them if they could deliver it to my local post office and again they said they couldn’t do this. Optus now expect me to sit in again on Monday waiting for this modem and they will probably stand me up again.

I have been down this path with Optus before and I don’t trust them. When I first signed up with Optus, they claimed they would send my modem out on 4 different occasions and stood me up three times. At the time I had just been diagnosed with skin cancer and even though they knew that, they still treated me like this and it meant that my medical appointments had to be rearranged. At the time I tried to cancel my contact with Optus, but they would not let me do this and just kept turning my life up side down. I am sick of the way they treat their customers and am seriously considering taking them to court. I don’t think anyone should trust Optus or their products.

Soooo I have an iPhone with Optus and after a month of use it stopped making or accepting calls. I could check the weather, get on the internet but not make or receive calls. Pretty critical stuff for a phone I would have thought.

I took it into the store, waited 25 minutes until someone was available to help me and my phone was sent off for “assessment”. In the meantime I am given the worst phone known to man as a replacement. On this occassion my phone was replaced but I was advised by the Optus store staff to get insurance, so like a true idiot I did….

Fast forward 15 months and I have been paying my insurance premium each month and the screen on my phone gets cracked. I called Optus insurance and am advised that the screen is covered by insurance FANTASTIC… BUT there is a $100 excess to fix it and a 10 day “assessment” period. I do a little research and I can take the phone into iExperts in the city pay them $99 to get a new screen installed (not voiding the Apple warranty) in half an hour while I wait.

I consider doing this but I figure I have paid $150 for this insurance over the past 15 months I am going to use it at the very least. So I take my phone into my local Optus store and wait another 20 minutes until someone can serve me (why don’t they just get more staff???). I sign some form, am reminded that it will cost $100 to repair and I would hear back from assessments within 10 days.

11 days later I hear nothing so I go into the Optus store (glutton for punishment). This time I only wait 10 minutes to be told I have to call insurance. I call insurance and am told that my phone has been “assessed” and guess what - the screen is cracked and needs replacing which will cost me $100. Not sure why it took them 11 days to discover something I told them from the beginning BUT THEN I am told it would take 15 days to fix. Problem is I am going overseas in 7 days and need my phone back. So I ask them to just send me back my phone so I can take it into the city to be repaired….

THAT IS WHEN THINGS GO HORRIBLY WRONG…

I am then told that it will cost me $50 to get my phone back - UNREPAIRED!!!!! Apparently the cost of some guy in a service centre looking at my phone (with a big crack in the glass) and assessing that it needs a new screen costs ME $50… WHAT THE??? Not only this they still can’t guarantee that I will even get my broken phone back before I go overseas in one weeks time.

So now I have paid these chumps $200 to take my still working phone for 11 days to then take another week (hopefully) to send the phone back to me still broken. And they call this SMART insurance?????? It should be called SMART insurance for very very dumb people…

My advise to your - other than NEVER going near an Optus store or using Optus as your phone carrier is DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES get the insurance. It will just create more hassle for you, and is the worst possible solution to your iphone wows. There are loads of iPhone repair places that are SOOOOO much quicker and charge way less than the Optus Smart insurance

With all the hate in my body I hope to never have to speak with another Optus “Customer Service” person again in my life….

Just listened to all of your podcasts and am quite sad there hasn’t been anymore since late 08!

Are you guys dead in the water or planning on bringing NAT back?