BEERWAH businesses are being offered as little as $30 credit in compensation for a disastrous two weeks of outages that have cost some retailers thousands in lost revenue.
Delays have eased in recent days across the town centre, but business owners have been left frustrated by the telco’s response to upgrades, which are aimed at eventually providing 5G services.
One business owner said the two-week blackout had been a disaster with eftpos offline while they couldn’t email or call clients.
After lodging a complaint they then received a call last week from a Telstra staffer who offered them a $30 credit.
“I told them that wasn’t good enough, so they spoke to their manager and then offered a $49 credit. I didn’t want to push any further so I just accepted it,” the business owner said.
“Luckily most of our class payments are automated online.
“However if you value the money we lost on some of our in studio class payments, loss of revenue from merchandise sales and working overtime getting back to customers from our home residence in Glasshouse, it cost me at least $1000.
“So to get a $49 credit didn’t really suffice for all the interruptions and inconveniences we dealt with.”
A Telstra spokesperson said the telco considered compensation on a case-by-case basis.
“Customers can call our front of house teams to discuss their individual situation,” they said.
“We are sorry for any inconvenience this might cause and we’re working to deliver improved services as quickly as possible.”
More outages are expected across Beerwah this week.
Maleny’s service is also undergoing an upgrade, which began last week.
Another planned outage runs from June 20-24.
Telstra Regional General Manager May Boisen said upgrading towers especially as part of the Mobile Black Spot program was a priority.
“Telstra invests more than any other telco in regional and rural Australia, and our mobile network now covers 1 million square kilometres more than any other telco,” she said. “Providing regional connectivity is not just a Telstra responsibility, it’s a challenge that must be shared between Federal, State and Local governments and with providers such as the nbn, us and other mobile carriers.
“We continually investigate new opportunities to further expand our mobile coverage, including co-investment opportunities such as the Federal Government’s Regional Connectivity Program and we work closely with local communities to get the best outcomes.”
