A customer complained it's taken nine weeks to get broadband while some helpdesk callers were put on hold for two hours
KEY POINTS:
Telecom's Australian subsidary, AAPT, has customers fuming over slow call centre response times and hold-ups in getting phone and internet services switched on, after hitches with its new customer management system.
Telecom had hoped the new $100 million online customer management system - know as Hyperbaric - would boost profits by allowing it to reduce call centre staff and retain customers.
But Australian online forums are running hot with criticism of delays in AAPT signing up customers to phone and internet deals.
One customer complained it took eight weeks to get his phone switched from his existing telco and he was still waiting on a broadband connection after nine weeks.
Customers said calls took anywhere between 10 and 45 minutes to be answered, with some complaining they had given up after two hours, repeatedly listening to Status Quo's 1979 hit Whatever you want while on hold.
The self-service system - currently available to new customers, with the intention of migrating existing customers - allowed customers to update contact details, check payments and amend phone and broadband plans online.
It took Telecom two years to develop.
Telecom spokesman Mark Watts said yesterday the company had under-estimated the technical issues around migrating "dozens and dozens" of systems.
"As with any large-scale migration or implementation of new systems there's been some teething issues," said Watts.
"They've manifested themselves as some unacceptable delays for some customers in getting through to call centres and that leads to some understandable degree of frustration."
Watts said extra call centre staff were being added and there were signs that waiting times were coming down.
"There'll be a reduction for some of those worst-affected customers as the resource comes on stream," said Watts.
Telecom had hoped the new system would drive down costs and improve revenue by retaining the company's small business and residential customers.
Speaking at the beginning of August, chief financial officer Marko Bogoievski said the project had gone extremely well and performance over the first few weeks of operation had exceeded expectations.
Telecom's investment in AAPT, Australia's third-biggest phone company, has previously failed to live up to earnings expectations.
Telecom bought AAPT for $2.2 billion in 1999, but after a series of writedowns its value fell to just $270 million.
Telecom made a further investment in Australia this year, paying A$357 ($423 million) for network company PowerTel in April, after failing to find a buyer for AAPT.
Last year AAPT announced it would close call centres in Victoria and Queensland, centralising operations in Sydney.
Many at the Victorian call centre retained their jobs when another operator took over.
Writers to the Whirlpool online forum said the problem lay with AAPT's new customer management system.
News of troubles in Australia come on top of Telecom's recent phone network outages and major email disruptions for users of its Xtra internet service.
Telecom shares closed down 2 cents at $4.41.
CALL WAITING
*Some customers signing up to AAPT, Telecom's Australian phone and internet service, are waiting up to nine weeks for connections.
*Feedback to an online forum said calls to the helpdesk were taking 45 minutes to be answered, with some customers giving up after waiting more than two hours.
*Problems with the implementation of AAPT's new customer management system, Hyperbaric, are to blame.
*Telecom is apologising for the delays and says more call centre staff are being added.
