UPDATE | Justin, a Whirlpool reader, has written to let us know Telstra refunded him the FULL price for his broadband installation when he returned his modem to them recently. The letter he got read: "As a further goodwill gesture, Telstra wishes to extend to ex-customers of the Freedom Plan who cancelled at this time a full rebate on the installation fee paid at the time of joining" ... "This goodwill gesture is further acknowledgement of the impact that recent changes have had on ex-freedom plan customers, and is a tangible step by Telstra to improve customer satisfaction". Interesting! Obviously Telstra is painfully aware customer anger are over the changes.

Telstra's webpage for the announcement is called "broadband amnesty", tacitly acknowledging that Telstra is feeling the effects of the 'war' customers have been fighting against unfair plans and conditions.

Telstra's official line is that customers have "residual concerns" about the changes it made in March to its plans, which included price rises for most plans, and the introduction of the comparitively poor value 300 megabyte and 1 gigabyte plans.

Telstra's true reason for this latest 'amnesty' is not clear, but unconfirmed industry speculation is that a regulator such as the TIO or ACCC may have been involved, as Telstra would be very unlikely to offer this concession to customers for no reason.

Telstra is once again offering pro-rata refunds on installation fees, or the opportunity for customers to keep their broadband modem free of charge (in addition to no contract cancellation penalty fee) for any customer who was on a contract on 1 March 2002.

Interestingly, Telstra's 'amnesty' announcement coincides with Optus' official announcement of its new broadband plan fees today (emailed to customers -- no new details).

LINKS

• Opinion: Telstra is ripping you off
  
• broadbandchoice.com.au
• Telstra's full announcement.
• Telstra broadband amnesty webpage

  OPINION | Whirlpool encourages customers to take this opportunity to exit their Bigpond contracts without penalty. There is a much wider range of better value broadband services on the market now than there were in March.

  Although the market appears to have accepted volume charging by continuing to take up broadband under this scheme, Telstra's volume charging model is particularly greedy.

  Charging such extortionate rates for excess usage is unfair to customers, causing very large bills on top of monthly plan fees for even a small amount of excess usage. Telstra's high excess usage fees dissuade customers from enthusiastically using their broadband connection for streaming media, and is damaging the broadband content industry in Australia.

  Optus's choice to throttle download speeds once customers reach their limit is much fairer and less antagonistic to customers.

  Furthermore, Telstra's insistence that it will charge for uploads is also exploitative of its position in the market. Almost all other ISPs worldwide provide free uploads, because wholesalers generally don't charge for upstream data.

  It seems that Telstra isn't really interested in providing retail service to "the vocal minority" (which presumably includes Whirlpool members). The damage to Telstra's brand in bad publicity probably costs them much more than the revenue generated in monthly fees. It seems Telstra would rather service customers who don't realise they are being ripped off.

  The time is ripe to withdraw your support for Telstra by withdrawing your business. Find a better broadband supplier at Whirlpool's sister site broadbandchoice.com.au and take your business elsewhere to a company that values your custom.

  You can be assured that Whirlpool will continue to pressure Telstra to provide a fairer wholesale and retail offers for all Australians -- and what better way to make your support for this movement felt than to take your business elsewhere.

  OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT |

  Dear Telstra BigPond broadband customer,

  New 'pay-for-what-you-need' plans

  As you know, Telstra introduced new Telstra BigPond broadband plans in March 2002. The new plans, designed to help more Australians gain access to the Internet, have been extremely well received, with strong customer take up, particularly for the 300 megabyte and 1 gigabyte plans.

  Customer feedback on new, 'pay-for-what-you-need' plans

  At the time of the announcement of the March 2002 plan changes, some customers raised concerns about the new 'pay for what you need' system. After listening to these concerns, Telstra assisted customers by extending by two weeks in February 2002 the period in which customers could opt out of their contracts. Telstra also took steps to ensure that customers were not financially disadvantaged by offering them the choice of retaining their modem at no extra cost, or, a pro-rata rebate of their installation fees based on the remaining months of their initial contract period.

  Once again, as a further goodwill gesture and to address residual concerns, Telstra is ensuring that current customers (as at 1 June 2002) with residual concerns have another opportunity to cancel their contract without early termination fees. Members who will still be within their contract term and were on a Telstra BigPond Freedom Standard or Freedom Deluxe Plan at 1 March 2002, will have the opportunity to cancel without early termination fees from 1 June to 27 June 2002, inclusive.

  In addition to having cancellation fees waived, customers will be given the choice of either:

  a) Returning their modem and accessories^ for 100% rebate of their installation fee at the time of joining, or
  b) The choice of retaining their modem and accessories^ at no extra charge. If this option (b) is selected, Telstra will not provide the rebate on installation fees. Please note that Telstra cannot guarantee that the modem will be compatible with any broadband service other than Telstra BigPond.

  Cancellation information can be found at; http://www.bigpond.com/broadband/amnesty

  If you choose to cancel your plan, you will be notified shortly with instructions on the process to return your modem and accessories^ to qualify for the full rebate.

  Yours sincerely,
  The Telstra BigPond team

  ^Accessories to be returned with modem to qualify for full rebate included modem stand, cables and power packs for Telstra BigPond Cable services and these are to be returned in good working order. (TM) Trademark of Telstra Corporation Limited ABN 33 051 775 556