Dealing with consumer complaints, NBN style
Dr Mumbo has many hobbies – some of which include watching television shows about nothing, talking about nothing, and complaining about everything.
The small pleasure he derives from each of these activities came together this week when in the face of growing disgruntlement and dissatisfaction with the country’s National Broadband Network (NBN), NBN Co non-executive director Michael Malone offered up this simple solution: If you complain about this groundbreaking 21st-Century project, you should go straight to the “back of the queue” – “No soup for you!”
Malone told the Sydney Morning Herald today that ‘Service Class 0 customers’ – those who live in NBN-ready areas but are unable to connect to the network – who complain to the media should be relegated to the end of the line.
“If I was running NBN and they [complaining Service Class 0 customers] went to the media, I would put them to the back of the queue. Personally, that’s what I would do,” Malone said, urging patience and arguing all Service Class 0 issues will be resolved.
While Dr Mumbo acknowledges Seinfeld’s ‘The Soup Nazi’ could probably do with a more historically sensitive name – Malone’s “No soup for you” approach to customer service in the age of the NBN gave him some ideas.
Think your NBN should be working? No NBN for you.
Complain about Sophie Monk and Matty J’s poor life choices? No Bachie for you.
Disgusted at Ronnie and Georgia passing in at The Block auction? No reno shows for you.
Upset at Dr Blake going to Channel Seven? No more softcore Brit drama for you.
Disgruntled at Carmen and Fitzi being axed from Perth 96.5FM? No breakfast radio for you.
Furious at seeing children “swearing” during reality TV show ad breaks? No food deliveries for you.
Dr Mumbo looks forward to the brave new world of a complaints-free Australia – although he fears the Mumbrella comments section may be less fun.
Working from home for 6 weeks, so thought it would be a good time to connect my townhouse – located in an already-connected complex – to the NBN.
Figured that way I’d be home to let them in to do the installation.
Booked it all in – but alas, they didn’t even come back to me with a possible appointment time until the 6 week working-from-home period had passed…
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When I moved in to my new apartment, the NBN had alrady been connected. Fantastic!
Unfortunately they had decided to install the box right up one send of the property, against a double concrete wall.
As a result, the modem’s WiFi signal only reaches halfway through the house.
When I asked NBN to come and relocate the box, they told me it was Telstra’s problem.
Telstra told me it was NBN’s problem.
Ultimately now, it’s my mobile phone bill’s problem as I use 4G whenever i’m in the kitchen or living room.
Great stuff.
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Soooo the ISP didn’t show up? If they area is NBN ready then ISP is meant to do your install… So who are you complaining about?
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Been fine with iinet for three months. Ok so it’s fttn, I’m 600m from the node, but I was getting 78/33 solid. Happy? Until last Thursday when it all dropped to half the speed 40/20. Apparently it’s working, so there’s no fault. I had a similar issue before. My rsp got three separate Nbn techs to say there was no fault. The 4th tech found the fault and service resumed. So 3 techs are a) crap b) lying c) getting callout fees d) a b and c……?
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@NBNothappyjan,
In all honesty, this doesn’t sound like NBN or Telstras problem… They have both supplied a working service to your home, something a lot of people are struggling to get! The fact your home doesn’t bode well with wireless coverage is really your responsibility.
There are many ways you can extend the coverage of the wireless throughout your home in an affordable way. Some examples include an additional wireless app, cabling, Ethernet over power, wireless extenders etc. Quite a simple problem to solve
While I don’t agree with the current roll-out plans, I do agree that each home be connected in the quickest manner.
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Thus is so symptomatic of the mediocrity we accept in Australia. We don’t aim high enough when it comes to major projects because the naysaying rent seekers tell us it’s too expensive (and we believe them).
Australia could have afforded world class internet regardless of the size of our country. This is a result of what passes as “governance” in Australia in the last 10 years.
Let’s look at Japan – they have trains that float on magnets and go at speeds previously unheard of in train travel. Oh and one can get over 100mbps on a 4G dongle all the way from Tokyo (while underground) to Nagano.
In Australia we have spent $50BN on a dud, and apparently no-one is accountable or responsible – and we aimed for “near enough is good enough” from day one. It’s so disappointing.
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I want this “back of the queue” policy to be implemented so that there’s a chance my area will get NBN connected before the currently planned 2019 / 2020 time frame.
Complain away, Service Class 0!
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I was so excited when connected on the nbn in August paid to get my service boosted to 50mbps . Have never experienced that speed but was getting 28mbps complained to my service provider who asked me to monitor it for a month.Now I am getting a speed of 6mbps what a joke and in the busy time periods like 7pm lucky to get 4mbps. Whats the point
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“Upset at Dr Blake going to Channel Seven? No more softcore Brit drama for you.”
Except Dr Blake is Aussie produced…
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