[wellylug] Paradise suck (Excuse the rant but I am mightily PISSED OFF!)

[Tony Booth]

I've commented about on this list about their poor service before, but
here's my advice to anyone considering, or already using, TelstraClear
(who own Paradise):

1. If you call the helpdesk/call centre to make a change or request
repairs, record the time of your call, make a note of what you said and
who you spoke to.  Send a follow-up letter to confirm what was said, and
what actions you understood would be taken as a result.

2. If something goes wrong after you call the helpdesk/call centre --
and I'd put good odds on that -- send another letter outlining your
problem, the actions you have already taken to try and get it fixed, and
what you need done about it.  CC: it to Steve Jackson, who is head of
residential sales.  You can try the call centre again, but I've found
that to be useless, and you'll wait 20+ minutes for someone to even
answer the call.

3. If your problem is still not fixed after that, TelstraClear has
'troubleshooters' within the organisation who are supposed to be able to
sort things out quickly.  I can't remember the name of the woman I dealt
with, but things did go much more quickly after I finally got referred
to her.  The way I managed to get referred to her was to write yet
another letter, this time CCing it to the Consumers Institute.  You do
need to be a member to get their assistance (just subscribe to the
Consumer magazine, which I think is worth it), but I suppose you could
always CC: and not actually send anything to the Institude (i.e. fake
it).

4. If you still have problems after that, TelstraClear has offices on
the waterfront which you can walk into.  I dropped off my cable modem
there and made them sign a letter, witnessed(!), saying they had
received it and wouldn't keep sending me bills, since I trust their
internal procedures so little.  And you never know, regular face-to-face
complaints to the receptionist might get you some action, as long as you
are polite and ingratiating.

Or you could save yourself the trouble and just go with another
ISP/telco. 

Cheers
Tony

-----Original Message-----
From: Jamie Dobbs [mailto:jamie.dobbs at orcon.net.nz] 
Sent: Wednesday, 19 November 2003 1:01 p.m.
To: wellylug at lists.naos.co.nz
Subject: Re: [wellylug] Paradise suck (Excuse the rant but I am mightily
PISSED OFF!)


And I have sent this reply to Paradise.net's 'helpdesk':

Thanks for nothing! 

This is yet another example of the abysmal service that Paradise.net now
has, and quite frankly I'm pleased to be rid of it. I will be advising
all of my friends and business acquaintances not to deal with
Paradise.net or other Telstra/Saturn related companies now or in the
future for fear that they might get treated in the same way as we just
have been. 

Luckily I have been able to organize alternative hosting reasonably
quickly but  must say that the way this has been handled by Paradise.net
is quite shocking and extremely unprofessional.

(I was tempted to say more but controlled myself reasonably well I think
as I didn't even question their parantage or mental capacity!)

- Jamie -
----- Original Message ----- 
From: Jamie Dobbs 
To: wellylug at lists.naos.co.nz 
Sent: Wednesday, November 19, 2003 12:49 PM
Subject: [wellylug] Paradise suck


Had this response from Paradise to a further email I sent them regarding
the email debarcle(sp?):

---

Hello Jamie Dobbs,

On your jamiedobbs account is listed the wlug at paradise.net.nz address.
lug at paradise.net.nz is a alias on your finished account.

The website http://wlug.paradise.net.nz is currently still active and is
due to finish tonight.  You may want to transfer this to another account
or hoster.

You may wish to call our customer services team to get a full run down
of what was associated with this account.

---


This to me is further proof of the crap service that Paradise.net now
give - they are closing the website tonight for no apparent reason and
if this is a show of their 'service' I'd advise any Wellylug people
still using them to move quickly before you too get shafted by another
corporate giant (Telstra).