Telstra’s NBN refund process begins – Customers offered three options

Just days after agreeing to a process of refunds with the ACCC, Telstra has begun contacting customers affected by the NBN speed dilemma to offer them a refund or resolution.

EFTM reader Malcolm contacted us after receiving this email from Telstra

It’s straight to the point, and refreshingly there’s very little jargon involved.  Designed to be clear and understandable, Telstra is looking to put this behind them and fast.

The letter outlines the plan the user is subscribed to, but then also lists clearly the speeds that user is capable of getting from their NBN connection.

It’s this level of transparency that could have avoided this costly mess for Telstra in the first place.

Critically, Telstra’s resolutions take into account the fact that while – in this case – the user is only able to get 61Mbps speeds, they may in fact choose to stay on their 100/40 plan, understanding properly that it is an “up to 100/40” concept.

Any plan downgrade would result in the speed being slowed to 50Mbps downloads.  For some, that extra 10Mbps is worth the cost, but not many.

The options presented to Telstra users are:

• Option 1 – Move plans and receive a refund
  • In this case, users are refunded the cost difference between the new and old plan over their NBN connected period.
• Option 2 – Exit your contract without cost and receive a refund
  • Many would take this chance to look around and consider a new ISP, given that it also includes a refund of the plan differences.
• And finally;
• Option 3 – Remain on your current contract with no refund
  • This is for those folk who want to keep paying extra for whatever benefit in speed is available over and above the next plan down.

Telstra has acted fast in the face of the ACCC concerns, and are to be congratulated for that – what this action doesn’t do is help to explain the peak speed issues many users will also have – ones that can only be tested by experience.