SANCTUARY POINT’S Justin O’Connor is sick of paying for phone services he isn’t receiving.
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After experiencing call drop-outs, delayed text messages and lost business as a result of poor reception he called his providers for a refund and is urging the community to do the same.
“I, like many others these days, rely 100 per cent on my mobile phone,” he said.
“I think it’s wrong for people to have to pay for services that aren’t being supplied to them and I want everyone to know they can get their money back.
“If the phone companies don’t listen to you or try to fob you off, you are well within your right to take it to the Telecommuni-cations Industry Ombudsman.”
Mr O’Connor said he was able to get back hundreds of dollars because he logged the amount of business he lost due to the poor service.
“Even if you just get back $50, it’s worth doing,” he said.
“They have been saying every year for years that it’s due to scheduled upgrade work they are doing on local towers, but it’s really due to the network becoming overloaded when we gain an influx of holiday makers.
“This year they even tried to be one step ahead and issued an early ‘maintenance warning’, but that doesn’t excuse them for continuing to charge people the same amount of money for a lesser service.”
Mr O’Connor questioned why phone companies were allowed to keep selling phones and plans while not providing a service.
“They were playing stacks-on to a network that is already overloaded,” he said.
Mr O’Connor has experienced the same problem year after year, however now knows his rights.
“I just want others to be aware so they don’t get ripped off,” he said.
“It’s not just an issue with loss of business either, I remember when we had bushfires a few years ago I was trying to warn my missus, but I couldn’t get through.
“It’s been an ongoing issue and I hope they eventually fix it.
“Don’t let the phone companies get away with it, the last time I spoke up people were able to claim back around $280,000 in a matter of days.”
Mr O’Connor said regardless of whether users were on a plan or paying pre-paid mobile phone credit they were paying for a service which they should expect to receive and anyone who believes they have not had adequate service should contact their phone provider or take the issue further with the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman who can be contacted on 1800 062 058.