Thodey: Telstra customer service "not good enough"
- 04 November, 2009 12:03
- Comments 2
Telstra has done an about face on its decision to charge customers for paying their bills over-the-counter, scrapping the penalty $2.20 fee and promising to credit customers who have had to already pay the fee.
Telstra CEO David Thodey said it could take up to three months to implement the necessary changes to the company’s billing system, however, any bill payment fees paid by customers during that time and since the new charge was first introduced on 14 September 2009 would be credited the money back.
Thodey said the fee had been designed in a way that exempted more than a million elderly, pensioners and disadvantaged people but was still unacceptable to many of its customers.
“I believe encouraging our customers to pay their bills electronically is the right thing to do. Right for our customers, right for the environment and right for our business,” he said at the company’s AGM. “However I made a mistake...we should not have implemented this change in the way we did, and so I have decided to scrap the charge.”
Telstra was now faced with finding ways in which it could encourage customers to take advantage of electronic payments, Thodey said, with the possible introduction of optional electronic-only plans.
The about-face follows related comments from Thodey acknowledging that Telstra needed to do more to services its customers.
“The bottom line is this: Our customer service is not good enough and must improve,” he said.
He said the company had moved to address the issue through the establishment of an ‘Office of the Customer’; setting new standards for customer responsiveness and complaints; making every employee personally responsible for improving customer service; setting company wide target for customer service; and re-engineering and simplifying core processes.
Email Computerworld or follow @computerworldau on Twitter.
- Bookmark this page
- Share this article
- Got more on this story? Email Computerworld
- Follow Computerworld on twitter
- ALM Buyers Guide: A Practical Guide to Choosing the Right Agile Tools for your Team
- Solid State Storage 101 - An introduction to Solid State Storage
- NetScaler 2048-bit SSL performance advantage
- Better Insights and Alignment with Business Intelligence and Scorecards
- Printer Usage and Cost Management Strategies for the Australian Mid-market, an Unrealised Opportunity
- iPhone 5 rumour rollup for the week ending February 10
- 3D mapping revives underwater city
- Academic challenges Turnbull over NBN satellite criticism
- What are you saying: Telstra’s customer service slowly improving, SA minister urging Facebook to overturn its photo ban
- In pictures: Capgemini opens new Canberra office
-
Maingear's six-core laptop has 1.8TB of SSD storage
-
After Megaupload shuts, BTJunkie follows
-
Windows Event Viewer phishing scam remains active
-
NeuroSky MindWave: Fun with Brainwaves
-
20 popular Ubuntu Linux apps you may want to try
-
Teach Yourself Visually Windows 7
-
Windows 7 for Dummies®
-
Office 2007 All-In-One Desk Reference for Dummies
-
Windows 7 for Seniors for Dummies®
-
Windows 7 for Dummies® Dvd+book Bundle
-
Excel 2007 All-In-One Desk Reference for Dummies
-
Microsoft Office
-
MYOB Software for Dummies 6E Australian Edition
-
Computers for Seniors for Dummies, 2nd Edition
Comments
Anonymous
The faces might have changed but it seems that the 'tude hasn't.
What is the difference between screwing customers with a cash charge for paying bills, and screwing them with higher plan charges for the same thing??
sam
You do not know what you are talking about above blogger.
Post new comment