NBN install delayed -- can I get an earlier date?

[conaltuohy]

I signed up for NBN a few weeks ago and I was looking forward to the connection scheduled for yesterday afternoon, but I waited without any sign of a technician. I called TPG yesterday, soon after 5, but they had not had any notification from NBNCo about what happened. I called again today (just now) and found that the installation had been skipped because of under-resourcing, and the best the TPG person could do at the time was to reschedule my installation for the 21st of January.

Can I ask TPG if they can try to get me an earlier date? My old ISP subscription has now expired and my only internet access is via a mobile phone. I do IT work from home and I am going to be hard-pressed without broadband internet.

[Shane]

Hi @conaltuohy,

Welcome to the community!
 

The initial date provided is the earliest date available provided to us by our wholesale partner NBN. We can have a look to see if we can schedule you in with an earlier time. However, we cannot guarantee this as we work with our suppliers to provide this particular service, which means we are reliant on their scheduling.

I was able to locate your account using your community details. I'll chase this up with our Provisioning Team and request urgent feedback for the update with your NBN installation.

Regards,

[conaltuohy]

Thanks Shane!

I've heard (via phone) from your provisioning team and they've undertaken to try to get me an earlier reschedule. No promises though, so at this stage I am still expecting to have to wait until the 21st.

[Shane]

You're welcome, @conaltuohy.
 

I apologise if the initial installation schedule was moved; we are looking forward for the service to be installed on the given date. Further information will be provided by our Provisioning Team

Cheers!

[conaltuohy]

Incidentally, Shane, I have heard from a friend that there have been thousands of complaints about this to the telecommunication ombudsman, and I guess that means that TPG must have had this happen many times. I'm wondering if you have any idea of whether it's usually possible to get a priority booking from NBNCo when it does happen? Or is it normally the case that if they bump you from the queue that you go back to the end of the queue? I tried to find out from NBNCo itself, but they were hopeless and just referred me back to my ISP, even for this which I am pretty sure is an issue with NBNCo (or its subcontractors).

[Shane]

Hi @conaltuohy,

NBN Co. advised us that the Installation Appointment Schedule was rescheduled due to availability of resources and technical capacity in the area.

Our Provisioning Team requested an earlier appointment schedule and to ensure that your installation will be prioritised, however, there's no guarantee as we only rely on their appointment schedule.

It is best to contact us to get details of your installation schedule. NBN Co. will refer you back to us, as they do not have your application details.

Regards,

[conaltuohy]

Hi Shane

Yeah I understand that you are dependent on NBNCo's schedule (I have spoken on the phone to three different people at TPG who have all told me that, at various stages of arranging my installation).

But actually that's not what I asked NBNCo about. I posted on their facebook page to ask not about getting my appointment rescheduled, but only about what their policy was in such cases; i.e. when an installation did get bumped because of under-resourcing, did they then have a policy that it should be rescheduled with a higher priority, or did they just allow it to be scheduled along with other installations, as if it were an entirely new application? They weren't able to answer that question even though I was quite persistent about asking (maybe their Facebook page is not the best way to ask them questions). All I got was an apology and a referral back to TPG.

Are you able to answer that question? It sounds like you (TPG) have had to specifically ask for my reschedule to be prioritised.

I do feel like there's no real transparency and accountability in this situation; there's just the ISP and NBNCo who can point the finger at the other, and customers just have to wait ... maybe until the 21st for me, or maybe even later if the technician can't make it on that date -- who knows? I can certainly see why people are complaining to the ombudsman. And I really wish I had known in advance that I couldn't necessarily count on the install happening on the scheduled date; I wouldn't have cancelled my other broadband account! 

[Shane]

Hi @conaltuohy,

Regrettably, I wish I was the bearer of better news.I don’t have any further updates differing from what has already been communicated to you. Your experience is important to us. We will raise this to our Provisioning Team and provide you details tomorrow.

Regards,

[conaltuohy]

For the record, I heard again from a TPG case manager, who was very apologetic, and had persisted in raising the issue with NBNCo, but unfortunately their persistence hadn't been rewarded with success; NBNCo say that they simply don't have the resources available to offer an earlier timeslot. I've learned a few things: this has happened "hundreds" of times to TPG customers; NBNCo contract out the installations to local professionals, and the ISPs aren't able to provide their own technicians to do the networking installations; the ISPs can't really do anything about NBNCo's failures (beyond complaining). 

So my advice to anyone signing up for an NBN-based plan is not to cancel your existing broadband plan until the NBN connection is actually up and running!

[Erika]

Hi @conaltuohy, 

I've sent you a PM and provided you with a solution to use while we are awaiting for the service to be installed, kindly check your inbox for more details.

Regards,