Amazing Customer Service - From A Telco No Less!

My missus lost her pre-paid mobile phone recently. As she doesn't use it much it took a few days to notice. The usual trick is to call the mobile and then find it pretty easily. Didn't work on this occasion. Maybe the battery was already dead. Searching the car, house, shopping centre, etc, failed to turn it up.

I did something unexpected. I called the customer service on my mobile account. Surprisingly there was an option not too deep within the menu to talk to a customer service person and I didn't have to wait very long. As I didn't have the password/code for the wife's account they needed to speak to her for verification. I asked if they were able to pinpoint the phone's whereabouts, from the triangulation with the towers that happens constantly but the customer service rep informed me that only iPhones have that tracking ability. She started up an online account for the mobile, after trying to call it herself, and that would enable us to check the last 60 calls and SMSs from the phone. Lastly she put a block on the phone so that no outgoing calls were possible but incoming calls could still be received.

Two separate emails provided the username and a temporary password to this online account. I did make an error using the password, as it contained a "," as a special character at the end of the code and I didn't notice it. Quite frustrating and I made another call to customer service who quickly put me back on track. Few minutes later and I have a complete list of the last 60 calls/messages and the phone numbers that they related to. Brilliant - as the SIM wasn't backed up that meant that all of the contacts had been lost.

Next weekend the wife remembered that she had an old phone, and it turns out that she liked that one better than the newer one, and so we took it down to the Optus store. Before we got there we had a bit of shopping to do and noticed at Woolies that they were selling Optus SIM cards for only $2. Still, I wanted to talk to the Optus people first. It turned out that they were selling SIM cards for $2 as well. The guy, a trainee, even deactivated the old SIM card and reactivated the new one. As my wife had credit left we didn't need to top it up. It certainly cost more than two dollars of his time.

Back home and the phone wasn't charging properly. That was until I rummaged through one of my drawers and found the original battery charger. That was bound to happen as I'm a hoarder and never throw anything away. Few hours later and one perfectly working mobile phone without any contacts. Only cost a phone that the owner wasn't happy with and two bucks for a new SIM card.

Can't believe the trouble that Optus went to to provide customer service. They were so helpful in the store and on the phone. Being pre-paid customers we certainly aren't high revenue by any means. But we are happy Optus pre-paid customers and not afraid to say so. Who would have thought that in this day and age a telco was capable of providing outstanding customer service? Thanks Optus.

Rigged!

I have an Optus pre-paid mobile phone. Whenever I recharge Optus sends me a text message inviting me to a Website to collect a prize I have won. Oh, it's exciting. There is the possibility of winning free text messages (only to other pre-paid Optus customers now), mobile phones, cameras, trip for two to NYC for the MTV Awards and the like. I always win free texts but live in hope.

Just now I entered the competition and started it - this is where it runs through pictures of the prizes and they slow down to reveal the prize. Much like a spinning wheel does. Only this time before the prize was revealed I received a text message informing me that I had won 40 free SMSs. So, it was already decided what the prize would be. Rigged I call it.