The iiNet Story

When we moved just before Christmas, we decided to shop around for home internet. We elected to sign a 24 month contract with iiNet.

This was a terrible error of judgment.

The following is a full chronological account of my experiences with iiNet. It is long, but this is legitimately the minimum amount of words I could use to document every moment of incompetence.

iiNet - a #2. Finally, truth in advertising.

Based on online feedback on factors such as price, service reliability, and customer support, it seemed like a good informed choice. What we didn't realise is that at the time we came on board, iiNet was apparently starting a rapid downhill descent. Now when you look at product reviews, they naturally skew towards the negative. Any normal person is not going to write a review for a product or service that meets expectations - it's supposed to do that! But what is alarming for iiNet is that the negative reviews are coming from long-term, previously loyal customers, and have become more prevalent over the last year.

I am not surprised based on my awful ongoing experience. To date, I estimate we (wife and I) have spent about 50 hours on the phone to them. I've met many new people from diverse places like Cape Town, Perth, Auckland and Manilla, each one either incompetent and/or hamstrung by their employers’ ineffective procedures.

Our problems began from the initial call to sales, although they really escalated when we relocated, four months into the service provision. Another three months on, issues are kind of resolved, in the sense that I'm just about prepared to quit while I'm only marginally behind.


When the relocation problems were not being satisfactorily addressed is when I began taking notes that provide the basis of this account. That was 14th May 2015. The initial purpose of writing things down was in case I went to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman. You know things are bad when a gainfully employed, busy person has the energy to even consider going down that path.

Prior to mid-May, I'm relying on memory. I have a good memory. The only details really missing are specific dates and the names of the people I talked with.

The Setup

The service we wanted was fairly straightforward: $59.95/month Naked DSL including VOIP, plus a further $29.95/month comprising Fetch TV subscription, set-top box rental, and the Entertainment channels package. Total $89.90 per month.

It was so simple the only reason I didn't do it myself, through the website, was that I had three questions. They were:

1. Would the VOIP phone service that is part of Naked DSL work with our existing, relatively new phone handsets?
2. Would we need a new modem and which one?
3. As we would definitely be moving during the 24 month contract, and probably very early on, would there be significant relocation costs?

I was assured our phones would work with VOIP, and even gave the model so he could confirm with support. I was also told that while I needed a new modem the cheaper "Budii Lite" would be sufficient.

I was assured that relocation wasn't considered breaking the contract and that there was no relocation cost. This seemed so unbelievable to me I clarified it three times.

Hardware

We initially didn't receive the Fetch TV set top box. We weren't charged for the box either, although I was being charged for the subscription. I found it was difficult to utilise the latter without the former. I would think this is a pretty basic billing audit. This would be the first of many account credits.

In sending out the set top box, iiNet's courier of choice (StarTrack) claimed they were unable to find our house. It was a terrace house that has existed for, I'm conservatively guessing, 130 years. The house had been successfully located by everyone else who isn't a professional at delivering things since we'd moved there. And probably for many decades prior. In fact, in 2015 with the advent of google maps and 4G wifi, it's probably harder to not find the house than to find it.

To ensure I receive this hardware so I could access the subscription service I was already being billed for, I changed the delivery address to my work. I reasoned it would be even easier to find a really, really tall building in the Sydney CBD. This was initially going to cost extra, since the delivery and service addresses are different, but I got that fee waived on the basis that I'm not the stupid one here.

StarTrack confirmed that address twice, then promptly delivered the package... back to my home address, while I was at work. I really enjoy Saturday morning visits to the post office.

Later for a different delivery at our current residence, the StarTrack courier rang the doorbell and in the fifteen paces it took me to get to the front door had already got back into his van and started the engine. I guess I should be happy he at least went through the motions of doing his job properly unlike the first instance, albeit he went through those motions at a very accelerated pace.

Incorrect Setup

Now recall that I had three questions at setup. All three were ultimately answered incorrectly, at significant additional financial cost and loss of time.

Our existing handsets phones didn't work with VOIP. We needed to spend $100 on VOIP phones, which was apparently discounted. The discount took three hours negotiation on the phone and 24 hours to get approval. The opportunity cost might mean I'd have been better just paying full price.

The modem didn't work without a bridge or powerline adapters. The bridge was delivered and cost another $119. Then they delivered adaptors as well for $59, so we had to call to get a credit, receive a reply paid satchel and arrange for the courier to pick up the adapters again.

Finally, the relocation cost $80. I wouldn't have been surprised by this charge, except for that whole bit where the sales representative gave me assurance three times that there was no relocation cost. When I complained about this I was told they would "review the tape of the recorded conversation". I have since been told this line a few times, regarding a few different issues. I have never heard an outcome to the various tape reviews.

If these additional costs had been known upfront, it is extremely likely we wouldn't have signed with iiNet at all.

But after these issues were sorted, the service was decent. We even had one month where I didn't call them and the monthly bill statement was exactly $89.90.

Then we moved house.

Relocation

I called iiNet a few weeks prior to moving to arrange the relocation. I actually called too early and needed to call again after I confirmed with the real estate agent that the previous owners had disconnected their phone service at the address (more on this part in a later section). iiNet checked that naked DSL would be available at the new address, and there was an active phone line connection, on both calls. All I then had to do was call when we moved to cancel at the old address. We would then have seamless uninterrupted service from one house to the next.

We moved 20th April and called to cancel at the old address 21st April. So far so good.

Then we tried going online and discovered there was no internet service at the new address. We called about this and a technician was scheduled for 5th May, because although 21st century telecommunications are about vast information at fantastic speeds - the innovation age! -  these technological wonders still rely on processes and bureaucracy more aligned to the age of carrier pigeons and horse-drawn carts.

We then went on holiday.

Upon returning, I spent a full working day at home waiting for the technician, who then didn't show up. I called up to discover why that night. I was told I would be called back. I wasn't. The next night I repeated this process. At least this time the person, while failing to call me back, did log the call so I could see the reasons online. The third night I managed to get confirmation of the online log. If you count time waiting for callbacks this was about seven hours.

The reason for the no-show is still not totally clear to me. I've been told by iiNet different versions - one is that Telstra had a backlog of emergencies callouts due to storms and cancelled late, another is they simply didn't show up without any explanation. I don't know whether Telstra failed to notify iiNet, or iiNet failed to notify me.

The appointment was rescheduled for 20th May. I have learnt the telecommunications industry is incapable of escalation or prioritising certain customers.

Billing

About a week after the no-show I looked at my billing statement and discovered we were being billed for the Internet service at both addresses. So I was paying for two services that weren't available to me.

I called on 14th May, and talked with J***** and J** from Auckland. They credited the duplicate billing. There was no record of the call to cancel the initial service. This happens often with iiNet.

I was told the current address billing would continue until the service was fixed, as only then would they know the amount to credit. I don't know why they couldn't simply stop billing until it was resolved, but I was too busy taking them both through the duplicate issue and ensuring that was handled correctly to worry about that immediately.

While on the phone with J** I also asked whether they could escalated the technician. It would be a whole month without Internet by the time they even looked at the problem.

She said she would look into this and email me with progress, as well as provide written confirmation of the credited amount.

I never received any email. Two days later I checked my statement online and had been credited for the wrong amount.

At this point, we both buy extra data on our phones. My wife was also unable to work from home one day per week as per her usual flexible arrangement.

The Strikeout

I called on the 20th for various reasons. I talked to M***** V from Cape Town

Firstly, I attempted to get the credit sorted. MV credited a further $49.95. When I said this was actually more than I was currently owed, she said the extra could be compensation for "my troubles". While I initially appreciated this very token amount, in retrospect this was the beginning of when my bills went from difficult to understand to completely incomprehensible.

Also, when I checked the additional credit online the next day, it was actually net from the credit provided by J**. A reverse credit! So I was charged money to stop our bills from making sense.

Secondly, I wanted an update from the technician as I'd once again spent the day at home and not seen them. Apparently they showed up but didn't need me to be present. This was in complete contradiction to the instruction I received via email and text that led me to spending two days at home rather than work. At least though they'd made an assessment, which was that we needed a new line. An interesting conclusion given my active line was confirmed multiple times. MV would ensure a technical support person called to explain,

I never received a callback from a technical support person.

Thirdly, I requested to make a complaint about their diabolical service and was assured it would be escalated as someone would call.

I never received a callback regarding my complaint either.

Finally, I requested my direct debit details be removed. I did not want to automatically pay a bill when iiNet had thoroughly demonstrated their inability to calculate it correctly, but I was also changing bank accounts anyway.

This never happened either.

MV also gave me her work email which I emailed a few times when it was apparent she was batting 0-from-4.

I never received a response.

On Sunday morning (24 May) I went to check online about these tasks.

There was no log of the call. Oh yeah, and my account had been suspended due to a lack of activity.

Escalation

This is the part where I spend two hours on a Sunday morning talking to various people like J***** and M****** and a few others in Perth. Now I'm normally not very assertive with sales and support people, but I kind of went a bit mental here, and appear to get a reasonable outcome (but time would prove, not really). The agreement was:

• The technical issue to be escalated and account managed, because following the technician visit on 20th May, iiNet failed to provision anything. When I asked M****** whether anything would have happened if I hadn't called, he said no.
• The account due date extended indefinitely until resolution of technical issues, after being told they "can't" remove a direct debit for an account like mine. Since I'm not paying anything further, I agreed they could just stop crediting and work it all out at the end.
• I also got $60 credited to cover additional mobile phone data. No credit for time away from work, inability to work from home, time spent on phone etc. though. I have not received any further offers of compensation.

I also learnt that when an ISP says you have an active line they are going from a paper list provided by Telstra that may be years out of date. This is how it took so long before identifying we needed a new line. 21st century telecommunications!

The following day I missed a call from the new account manager R***** but received a text saying the fault had been provisioned.

After hearing nothing further by 1st June, I called back, missed the return call but received a voicemail with a reference number and contact details for Telstra's contractors for technical work (IGSM). R***** assured me she was trying to escalate the appointment.

Keeping Busy

On 4th June, I happened to read iiNet's policy and learnt that you can remove a direct debit. I emailed through a request to do this, citing their own policy, as well the two failed attempts in breach of this policy. I received an automatic email confirming receipt, and then never heard anything further. I fully expect when we eventually run out of credits they will try and debit a bank account that I've told them three times no longer exists.

On 9th June, I incorrectly received an exit survey by email. I wished I was leaving at this point. I filled it out anyway. My wife has received the same survey a few times too.

Dug A Hole

On 14th June, the IGSM technician came out and dug a trench and connected the line. When the property was rebuilt they never reconnected the line. This explained the dangling cable in the garage. It cost $434 to dig the trench and connect, including GST. He did do a nice job or landscaping the garden afterwards though.

When I asked the real estate about the lack of connection, he didn't know about it. I assume when we'd asked earlier about the previous owners disconnecting the phone, he gave us their moving date instead. This could've been an honest oversight, but it is interesting he knew all about the Foxtel connection, the air con, and everything that was there, but not the absence of something as fundamental as a phone connection.

I'd name and shame the real estate agency, but honestly, I don't think his conduct was any better or worse than any real estate agent I've previously encountered. Being deceptive is basically mandatory in the industry. And if you're selling, you’d probably want to use them.

The Almost Resolution

I wasn't even mad when they couldn't move forward the appointment for Telstra from the 23rd June, just disappointed.

They did the work on time and I callled that afternoon to check if we were connected, on the advice from the Telstra technician that it shouldn't take long. The person from iiNet said it should be fine and to check when I'm at home.

It wasn't active.

My wife called back that night and was told it would take 2-5 days provisioning to be active. When exploring the contradictory nature of this new advice to my previous call, naturally the earlier call had not been logged. She was also promised a callback the following night to explain why following a scheduled job it would take so long to be connected. I always mocked that American politician explaining the Internet as a series of tubes, but at this point it may be faster.

Also while our bills are on hold indefinitely, we got billed for Fetch TV only. It is very difficult to operate Fetch TV without the Internet, for which we were not charged.

The following night, L*** from Cape Town called. They couldn't escalate of course, but he offered to pay for a dongle. This might have been useful nine weeks earlier, at the start of the ordeal. I also talked to Y**** about receiving texts and emails about a "new" service. I was assured these were automatically generated emails and texts that could be safely ignored, and not another duplication where I would be charged extra.

Over the next few days I received further emails of this nature.

We would later be charged for a landline even though I use VOIP and have never had a landline service with iiNet. They simply forgot to turn of the landline connection when checking the line was active for Naked DSL. More credits!

After the full 5 days provisioning, I called at 2pm and was told I would get notification of an active line at close of business. Oh, but it still might take 48 hours to “sync”. This was more new information about another potential delay. Fortunately it was working that night, although I didn't get the notification until 10:30am the next day. We just turned it on and it worked.

What we didn't do was check Fetch TV. This is where we learnt the bridge no longer worked.

We called J***** S and ordered a replacement for free, as it was under warranty. Also escalated to get the bill resolved, perhaps from the account manager R*****, last heard from in early June. I realised at this point she had never left direct contact details.

1st July was R*****'s last day apparently, so I got I** from Perth. He worked out roughly $260 credits - iiNet are great at credits, not so great at refunds. But he also claimed we owed a $299 line connection, when I’d previously been told it was the homeowners responsibility and to pay through IGSM. I** would "review the tape" and get back to me with a final bill reconciliation "in the next week". He never called back. Instead when sorting out the landline charge, I also got the connection reduced by $240. I have no idea what the other $59 charge is but almost don’t care at this point.

In the interim, the replacement bridge arrived… except they sent us powerline adaptors. These do a similar job, but at half the cost. I knew this from the time I got delivered and charged for both. I called to be credited the price difference and arrange another return.

Conclusion

As of today, 15th July, the internet works, except that part where it slows or drops out at peak hours since Netflix launched for all iiNet customers.

Overall, I have no idea whether the credits actually cover all the incorrect billing - I doubt I will ever be able to properly reconcile the account. I definitely haven't received any offers of further credits or additional services as compensation for terrible service and inconvenience.

I would recommend never sign with iiNet, unless you hate yourself and everyone you live with. Then it's really good.