Differing installation times given between sign-up and accounts

[antonramp]

Hi,

We are soon to move into a new(ish) house and so knew we needed to organise some internet service.  We had decided on TPG and I spoke to the sales person to get it started. 

What I had mentioned to them was that, since on Tuesday 17th, I would be home all day but needed access to the internet right then for my studies (full-time online) from then, as I am only off work a few days a week.

I was advised that, since it was previously connected to the NBN by the previous occupants, there would be no need for a technician to come out, and that the modem could simply be plugged in and essentially running almost immediately.  This seemed good enough to me. 

I was told that, to ensure the 1-2 day prompt delivery of the modem, to pay on the 12th to make sure it would arrive by the required 17th September.  What ended up being sent out as an email for payment was registering my bank details for direct debit.  I did that and the money came out on the 12th. 

I called today (Friday 13th (maybe that's the reason for the troubles)) to find out that a direct debit (the emailed option to make the payments) takes 3-4 business days to process.  Then things would be sent out following that (1-2 days more).  That would make it upwards of an entire week after the date from when I said it had to be connected.

Turns out that even with a credit card payment, which I also organised today, it would still not get processed until Monday 16th to be sent out following that.  Additionally, the accounts person to whom I spoke mentioned that the technician would still be required anyway (adding further days depending on availability).  I cancelled the credit card payment then, but still have the direct debit working since it's after the time I needed it no matter what.

What are the possible options available to me? This is not what I had organised or was advised when I first signed up and there is apparently no way to expedite anything.  I'm somewhat at my wits end here.

Thanks for listening and hope to get some good advice here (hopefully with a way to rectify the solution so it's there by the day I was expecting it (even though that seems like a pipe-dream now)).

Anton

[Riezl]

Hi @antonramp,

We have located the account using your community details and we can see that we have received your order on the 8th of September. We have emailed you the same day asking for your payment details so we can lodge the order to NBN Co. but it appears that the payment was only set up after sending another email on the 11th of September.

TPG is a prepaid service; your initial payment is comprised of an installation fee and your 1st month fee. By operating this way we are able to keep costs down to continue offering the best value deals possible to our customers. The installation process begins as soon as we receive these specified funds from the customer.

The payment is still in progress and we are expecting it to be posted on September 17 or 18,2019.

Furthermore, your address is classified by NBN Co. as Service Class 34, which means that it is NBN FTTC serviceable and it was previously transitioned to NBN, thus all you need to do is to connect the TPG supplied modem to the NBN NCD (Network Connection Device), which should be installed at your premises.

Is there an NBN equipment (NCD) installed at your premises? If you are unable to find the equipment, we will need to raise the issue to our Provisioning Team.

[antonramp]

Thanks for the response.

The issue was that the person spoken to when organising the service (I assume it was part of the sales department) said that, since we could move in from the 16th and that we needed to be connected on the 17th, we should hold off paying until the 12th so that the equipment would arrive on the 16th or 17th and not before we actually owned the house.

That is why we held off making the payment until then, as was suggested.  Furthermore, the method of payment was incorrect for our needs since we were sent an email asking for direct debit only from a bank only.  This was not the correct payment option due to the 3-4 day wait, but was the only one provided.

Had we been given the additional information, we would have paid as soon as we got the message asking for payment instead of waiting the additional days until the 12th.

This was why it was so frustrating.  I needed to be home all day anyway on the 17th and also needed our service to be connected so I could work while being home.  I assume nothing much can be done now though, since even paying by visa, as I heard on the phone today talking to accounts, apparently wouldn't give enough time because of the extra day or so since that Thursday the 12th.

If it could be processed and sent out so it's guaranteed to arrive on the 17th, I'd make that additional visa initial payment now, but from what I heard on the phone, that would still be at least Wednesday 18th.

Thanks and I hope that all makes sense,

Anton

[Riezl]

We apologise for the trouble this has caused you, @antonramp.

We'll review your previous interaction with our staff as part of our ongoing effort to provide the best possible customer service and we'll be taking care of the matter internally.

Is it possible for you to check if there's already an NBN Network Connection Device installed at the premises?

If there's already an NBN Network Connection Device, if NBN Co. is giving us the right information about your Service Class, and you are going to make a payment via Credit Card now, chances are;

1. Payment will be posted on Monday, 16/September/2019
2. We can request to expedite the delivery of the modem and it's possible to arrive on Tuesday, 17/September/2019
3. Once the modem is received, you can connect it directly to the NBN Network Connection Device and the service will be remotely activated.

Otherwise, we will need to wait for the Direct Debit Payment to be posted. We'll wait for your response. Thank you.

[antonramp]

Thanks again @Riezl .  I know it can be difficult to get everyone on the same page, and knowing me, I don't necessarily give the most important information immediately.  This should be evident from the long messages I write, and the fact maybe some trawling of those is required in order to get the main points from them.

While I can't be certain, I'd have to assume that the NBN Connection Device is already present, so would be just waiting on the modem.  If that's the case, I'd gladly for safety pay using the credit card, especially if it can be expedited and it'll arrive on the Tuesday.

Thank you and I might as well pay now just to be safe since it means that even if it doesn't work exactly as planned, that extra initial fee paid by card would still roll over into credit for the upcoming bills after the first one.

Thanks,

Anton

[Will]

Hi @antonramp 

Thanks for your response. We have requested one of our Accounts Specialist to contact you to discuss about making the payment via Credit Card.

We strongly suggest, however, to check that the NCD is present at the address as to avoid any delay in getting the service activated once your installation order commences.

Regards,

[Riezl]

Hi @antonramp, we are closely monitoring your case and we'll request to expedite the delivery of the modem on Monday.

It would also be best to make sure that the NCD is present at your premises to avoid delay in the service activation.

We'll revert to you as soon as a new update becomes available. Thank you.

[antonramp]

Hi and thank you again for helping here.

Because the settlement date is late today, we don't actually have keys or access to the house to check regarding the NCD.

I have asked the agent in charge to check for it, which he said he would do early Monday morning.  I'm just waiting on him to verify that now, in which case, I can let someone here know.

I appreciate what you've done for us here, and am very happy with the response I've had so far.

Thank you.

[antonramp]

@RiezlI just heard back from the estate agent.

Apparently there is no NCD present in the house, so we will definitely need that too. 

Do you know how I should go about getting that as well?

Thanks in advance,

Anton

[BasilDV]

Hi @antonramp,

I'm stepping in since @Riezl is currently not available.

We'll advise our Provisioning team that there's no NCD installed at the address for them to request for an NBN technician to install the device.

If you have a preferred time and best number to be contacted today for further discussion, please send it via PM.

Regards,

BasilDV