Anyone work for TCL? Does this redirect charging seem right?

Hazmat · 24th August 2009, 19:51

Okay, back in February my wife and I moved house. Our residential line is used for a home based business (shouldn't really be relevant but meh, bears mentioning). We shifted about 4 km away out of the city.
Now to have our phoneline moved took 2 weeks for which we got a $50 credit (big fucking whoop, spent more than that in gas going to another residence that had a phone every night so we could keep the business running).
TCL advised we couldn't have the same number (WTF? isn't it just software routed traffic?) so we're paying $22.50 per MONTH to have our old number redirected to our new house PLUS an undisclosed per minute charge for each call to the old number. I say undisclosed as the times are not itemised, but it's about $35 a month PLUS GST.

Now I'm not exactly au fait with billing but should we be paying anything at all?

We're in the process of giving out business cards with our new number on them, but there are still a couple of thousand of the old ones out there "in use" as it were so we can't just disconnect the old line. Not to mention our Yellow Pages ad.

Beccara · 24th August 2009, 20:00

That does sound rather odd that they couldnt port the number over, by the sounds of it Telstra have customerlinked your old number to your new one which on Telecom will incur $0.15/min for all inbound calls.

I've never delt with the Telstra system before but they can be cocks to work with numbers on so if worst comes to worst what you can do is port the old number to Telecom and then shift it back, its a PITA and will cost you a bit in connection/disconnect but is a failsafe way around it since when you bring the number back to Telstra it will be in the porting pool and more useful.

There are certain exchanges in Wellington that are so old that they cant accept different blocks of number tho so what you are talking about could be a result of the 2 locations being on seperate exchanges and 1 of them not being able to accept a partial block transfer.

Hazmat · 24th August 2009, 20:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beccara

That does sound rather odd that they couldnt port the number over, by the sounds of it Telstra have customerlinked your old number to your new one which on Telecom will incur $0.15/min for all inbound calls.

I've never delt with the Telstra system before but they can be cocks to work with numbers on so if worst comes to worst what you can do is port the old number to Telecom and then shift it back, its a PITA and will cost you a bit in connection/disconnect but is a failsafe way around it since when you bring the number back to Telstra it will be in the porting pool and more useful.

There are certain exchanges in Wellington that are so old that they cant accept different blocks of number tho so what you are talking about could be a result of the 2 locations being on seperate exchanges and 1 of them not being able to accept a partial block transfer.

Oh I get the logisitics of it, I just don't understand why the fuck I should be paying a per month AND a per minute charge cos of something that's Telstra's problem. Esp when we were never advised of the per minute charge at the time. Nor is it even itemised. Hell, they could put any amount in there every month.

Beccara · 24th August 2009, 20:22

Telecom are the same, $20/month and $0.15/min. Residental lines are just $20/month with no per min charge

Telstra in my experence have always been pricks when it comes to moving numbers around or clients shifting away from them. I can never get Telstra to do a seamless number port yet Telecom retail have no issues with it at all.

If you hadn't handed out the new number I would have recommended you do the Telstra-Telecom-Telstra switch but since you've handed out both you may have to settle with 2 Telstra analog lines and fight you way upto someone who knows enough to do it

edit:// Failing that you have a slim chance of getting it back by inducing a fault on the line and talking to a senior line engineer who might be able to slip it thru the backdoor

Hazmat · 24th August 2009, 20:31

Possibly yeah.
IMO though, TCL should have figured all this out from the get go. I mean, isn't that what Customer Service is all about?

Oh. Right. Telco

Plus the fact that because "it's just a residential line", we're looking at 24-48 hours before the fault is investigated. Coming into our off-season, we can't afford to be without a phone for up to 2 days.

Pimp-X · 24th August 2009, 21:18

If I can just take over from Beccara being the expert for a second.. since I happen to work in the same room as the guys that run the switches (and coincidentally, that room is above one of the switches), if you can hit me up with a little more detail (say, the number and so on) I can try to find out what and why. How that can be translated into 'product or service x' is another story, but I may be able to help.

Help being the word though. Not willing to be whipped while helping.

UNLESS of course this is, after all, a number ported through a rotary step-by-step exchange at which time I'll hand you back to Beccara the expert.

Hazmat · 24th August 2009, 21:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pimp-X

If I can just take over from Beccara being the expert for a second.. since I happen to work in the same room as the guys that run the switches (and coincidentally, that room is above one of the switches), if you can hit me up with a little more detail (say, the number and so on) I can try to find out what and why. How that can be translated into 'product or service x' is another story, but I may be able to help.

Help being the word though. Not willing to be whipped while helping.

UNLESS of course this is, after all, a number ported through a rotary step-by-step exchange at which time I'll hand you back to Beccara the expert.

Thanks dude. REALLY appreciate you looking into it (even if nothing comes out of it) as we're paying $600+ a year for it, and it'll need to be in place till this time next year...:/
Number removed to protect the innocent.
Hopefully that's enough to go on.

Pimp-X · 24th August 2009, 21:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hazmat

Thanks dude. REALLY appreciate you looking into it (even if nothing comes out of it) as we're paying $600+ a year for it, and it'll need to be in place till this time next year...:/
Number removed to protect the innocent.
Hopefully that's enough to go on.

Sweet as - grabbed the number before I stealth'd your post.

I'll try to get in front of it tomorrow. My wife may be being discharged from hospital tomorrow so I *may* be scarce but if not tomorrow, then tomorrow's tomorrow.

crocos · 24th August 2009, 21:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pimp-X

Sweet as - grabbed the number before I hax'd your post.

Altered for great Database Superhero Justice!

Beccara · 24th August 2009, 22:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pimp-X

If I can just take over from Beccara being the expert for a second.. since I happen to work in the same room as the guys that run the switches (and coincidentally, that room is above one of the switches), if you can hit me up with a little more detail (say, the number and so on) I can try to find out what and why. How that can be translated into 'product or service x' is another story, but I may be able to help.

Help being the word though. Not willing to be whipped while helping.

UNLESS of course this is, after all, a number ported through a rotary step-by-step exchange at which time I'll hand you back to Beccara the expert.

Hey by all means step in since you clearly a person who knows more on the matter, Just speaking from experence dealing with your CSR's and wholesale teams etc.

StN · 25th August 2009, 08:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pimp-X

I'll try to get in front of it tomorrow. My wife may be being discharged from hospital tomorrow so I *may* be scarce but if not tomorrow, then tomorrow's tomorrow.

...and after that, we demand an update on the paintbrush situation!

Delphinus · 25th August 2009, 09:56

Hazmat why don't you just port the number to a VOIP account. $7 a month, free forwarding to another local number

crocos · 25th August 2009, 13:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by Delphinus

Hazmat why don't you just port the number to a VOIP account. $7 a month, free forwarding to another local number

FTW

Hazmat · 25th August 2009, 13:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by Delphinus

Hazmat why don't you just port the number to a VOIP account. $7 a month, free forwarding to another local number

TCL handle all our needs at present.
When it comes time to look at new contracts we'll investigate..

Delphinus · 25th August 2009, 15:25

Doesn't affect your current number, all you do is use VOIP to forward the old number through. Hell you don't even need a VOIP phone, just an account.

Hazmat · 25th August 2009, 18:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hazmat

TCL handle all our needs at present.
When it comes time to look at new contracts we'll investigate..

Pimp-X · 25th August 2009, 19:46

Today was a bit complex - I'll try hit them up tomorrow!

Hazmat · 25th August 2009, 20:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pimp-X

Today was a bit complex - I'll try hit them up tomorrow!

In your own time fella!!..

24th August 2009, 19:51	#1
Hazmat I Like Toast	Anyone work for TCL? Does this redirect charging seem right? Okay, back in February my wife and I moved house. Our residential line is used for a home based business (shouldn't really be relevant but meh, bears mentioning). We shifted about 4 km away out of the city. Now to have our phoneline moved took 2 weeks for which we got a $50 credit (big fucking whoop, spent more than that in gas going to another residence that had a phone every night so we could keep the business running). TCL advised we couldn't have the same number (WTF? isn't it just software routed traffic?) so we're paying $22.50 per MONTH to have our old number redirected to our new house PLUS an undisclosed per minute charge for each call to the old number. I say undisclosed as the times are not itemised, but it's about $35 a month PLUS GST. Now I'm not exactly au fait with billing but should we be paying anything at all? We're in the process of giving out business cards with our new number on them, but there are still a couple of thousand of the old ones out there "in use" as it were so we can't just disconnect the old line. Not to mention our Yellow Pages ad.

24th August 2009, 20:31	#5
Hazmat I Like Toast	Possibly yeah. IMO though, TCL should have figured all this out from the get go. I mean, isn't that what Customer Service is all about? Oh. Right. Telco Plus the fact that because "it's just a residential line", we're looking at 24-48 hours before the fault is investigated. Coming into our off-season, we can't afford to be without a phone for up to 2 days. Last edited by Hazmat : 24th August 2009 at 20:33.

24th August 2009, 21:18	#6
Pimp-X Drunken Annoying Superhero Bastard	If I can just take over from Beccara being the expert for a second.. since I happen to work in the same room as the guys that run the switches (and coincidentally, that room is above one of the switches), if you can hit me up with a little more detail (say, the number and so on) I can try to find out what and why. How that can be translated into 'product or service x' is another story, but I may be able to help. Help being the word though. Not willing to be whipped while helping. UNLESS of course this is, after all, a number ported through a rotary step-by-step exchange at which time I'll hand you back to Beccara the expert. __________________ If there is one movement I could get behind in this world, it would be the discrimination and abuse of fucking idiots.

25th August 2009, 19:46	#17
Pimp-X Drunken Annoying Superhero Bastard	Today was a bit complex - I'll try hit them up tomorrow! __________________ If there is one movement I could get behind in this world, it would be the discrimination and abuse of fucking idiots.

24th August 2009, 20:00	#2
Beccara	That does sound rather odd that they couldnt port the number over, by the sounds of it Telstra have customerlinked your old number to your new one which on Telecom will incur $0.15/min for all inbound calls. I've never delt with the Telstra system before but they can be cocks to work with numbers on so if worst comes to worst what you can do is port the old number to Telecom and then shift it back, its a PITA and will cost you a bit in connection/disconnect but is a failsafe way around it since when you bring the number back to Telstra it will be in the porting pool and more useful. There are certain exchanges in Wellington that are so old that they cant accept different blocks of number tho so what you are talking about could be a result of the 2 locations being on seperate exchanges and 1 of them not being able to accept a partial block transfer.

24th August 2009, 20:22	#4
Beccara	Telecom are the same, $20/month and $0.15/min. Residental lines are just $20/month with no per min charge Telstra in my experence have always been pricks when it comes to moving numbers around or clients shifting away from them. I can never get Telstra to do a seamless number port yet Telecom retail have no issues with it at all. If you hadn't handed out the new number I would have recommended you do the Telstra-Telecom-Telstra switch but since you've handed out both you may have to settle with 2 Telstra analog lines and fight you way upto someone who knows enough to do it edit:// Failing that you have a slim chance of getting it back by inducing a fault on the line and talking to a senior line engineer who might be able to slip it thru the backdoor Last edited by Beccara : 24th August 2009 at 20:24.

25th August 2009, 09:56	#12
Delphinus	Hazmat why don't you just port the number to a VOIP account. $7 a month, free forwarding to another local number

25th August 2009, 15:25	#15
Delphinus	Doesn't affect your current number, all you do is use VOIP to forward the old number through. Hell you don't even need a VOIP phone, just an account.