Anny Chih

Toshio and Stick get along like peas and carrots

The title might sound like an advert, but I assure you Virgin didn’t sponsor this latest post. I wonder if I should’ve asked?

As you may have noticed, I’ve been MIA for the past few weeks after I left Sarah’s place because the apartment I’ve been staying at doesn’t have internet. It has been driving me INSANE. Seriously, frickin’ INSANE.

I tried waiting it out until the internet connection was set up (it was supposed to be 10 working days [already a really long time just to get a phone line set up] but Telstra lost the record of the first request, then they said they connected the phone line but it’s STILL not working, and they’re now telling my roomie that he needs to buy a new phone and that’s it’s his fault the line isn’t connected yet. Let me ask you this Telstra, if the phone works to call your “customer service line” but it can’t call a local number even though my roomie has paid for the service, doesn’t logic dictate that it’s not the phone that’s the problem but instead that the connection and service that has been paid for hasn’t been activated / set up properly on YOUR end?). My poor roomie is totally getting shafted and is now going to buy a new phone (even though he knows the current one is working) after already buying an $8 plug to try the other older phone outlet (Telstra told him to do this too) only to find that everything was working equally. And for what? He only wanted to get the phone line so that he could get the internet set up. He was already willing to spend the $200+ Telstra charges just to set up a short term phone line and they STILL treat him like crap. Telstra, you suck.

I couldn’t take it anymore. I was even starting to get depressed from the lack of communication. I started getting homesick and whenever I saw a plane I would think “is it going to Vancouver? I wish I was on it.” It was really quite sad. And finally something in me just went off and last night I went to Queens Street Mall to AllPhones and bought a Virgin Mobile Broadband USB Modem (aka an internet stick). I was in and out in 15 minutes ’cause the guy who works there (Ben — who also sold me my phone when I first arrived) is awesome and I know I’m not going to get ripped off by him. He recommended Virgin’s stick because I told him I would be travelling around and Virgin and Optus have better coverage in rural areas. “Why is Virgin better than Optus?” I asked “They’re the same price and have the same plans.” He said that though they were on par with each other, the process to recharge your account is simpler through Virgin. After my horrid experience trying to recharge my pre-paid phone plan (unsuccessfully) online with Vodafone, this was a definite selling point.

$129 for the stick, $50 for a two month plan and a half hour set-up later, I was online again! HOORAY!!! I can’t even begin to describe the relief I felt from being able to communicate with everyone again. It’s amazing! It was like being upgraded from a piece of stale Coles bread slice to freshly baked Baker’s Delight sourdough with evenly spread warm butter. Side note: Baker’s Delight is the Australian version of Cobs Bread in Canada (similar logo and the stores look exactly the same).

And a note to companies in general: it’s a really nice perk when the customer service rep offers to call you on your phone when he / she realizes that you’re using your cell phone to call the company. I notice, and I know other people do to (I asked). Thank you to the considerate woman at Virgin who offered to call me back when I was setting up my USB modem. I wish Translink had offered to do the same earlier this week (it probably cost me about $5 just to talk to the slow customer service guy about the $11 that Translink had overcharged me for).