Telstra’s ‘get out’ offer to head off complaints
AUSTRALIA’S largest internet provider is making a play to stop the skyrocketing number of NBN complaints, and will offer new customers a chance to get out of their broadband contracts early without paying a cent.
Telstra’s planned “NBN Satisfaction Guarantee” could save new broadband users as much as $270 in early termination fees, and will come after official complaints about NBN Network services jumped almost 160 per cent last year.
But the guarantee will not solve some NBN connection problems, the company admitted, as they could follow users to the next internet provider.
Telstra fixed products head Jana Kotatko said the new guarantee was designed to alleviate the “slight fear factor” some customers suffered when switching to the NBN.
The guarantee would allow new NBN users to break their Telstra contract within 30 days of connection without penalty, which was a potential saving of $270 and an extension of the company’s current 10-day cooling-off period.
Early contract termination fees from service providers in- cluding Optus, iiNet, and TPG range from $300 to $375.
Ms Kotatko said the new promise, which had been tested with a limited number of customers to date, could help stem the tide of NBN complaints to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman.