Optus - The Communication Experts

"Welcome to Optus - an Australian leader in integrated telecommunications,delivering cutting-edge communications,information technology and entertainment."

If you were following my HTC Phone Repair Saga, you might be interested in this update.

After hassling Optus - a lot - they agreed to pay for the repair of my phone. All I had to do was to fax the bill in to Optus on the number they game me, attentioned to the person I spoke to and their Team Leader, and the amount would be credited to my bill.

It was the least they could do.

They did ask me how much the repair was expected to be. I told them I was unable to get a definite figure. They called the Telechoice store while I was on the line to them, and came back with their tail between their legs, Telechoice wouldn't tell Optus how much it would cost to repair the phone either. (Note: the phone was going to be sent to Optus to be repaired!)

So, after a month my phone was finally repaired. During that time I took the phone to the Telechoice store and asked for a quote. They didn't get back to me... they just sent it off to get repaired without me sighting a quote or authorising the repair.

It ended up costing $244 to replace the cracked screen.

I faxed the bill to Optus at the beginning of the month, and suprise surprise, when I got the bill today, there was no credit.

Why?

I called Optus and, after only 20 minutes on hold, I found out:

1 - Yes, the account does have a note on it authorising the crediting of the repair to my bill.

2 - The fax I sent went to Manilla. They wanted me to resend it, because they couldn't contact their office in Manilla.

3 - Not only would I have to refax it, I'd have to send it while I was on the line to one of their customer service managers so they could physically sight the bill while on line to me.

I explained to the chap on the line (who was apparently in a call centre in Melbourne, not Manilla) that I had done all I was asked to do. Optus has the bill, they now need to give me the money.

He didn't care. He didn't make the rules. But he was able to get a compromise authorised by his Team Leader.

I could take the bill into an Optus store and have them fax it while simultaneously calling Customer Service, then the $244 will be credited to my account.

Why do I have the feeling it won't end there....

("You can only get your money if... you can guess my name!")