I almost forgot... For my more... "Creative" stuff, go to

http://virama.deviantart.com

Nice work! The three of you in bed is hilarious. I wish I had the skills needed to create those sorts of effects. Best I can do is make ugly comics in Paint.NET... although I was okay at modeling in Maya.

Virama, I really feel for you. This is one of those things that I would never have thought about before, and if nothing else, sharing your story gave me a little bit more insight into things to remember about people I know that have disabilities. This situation sucks, and I can't believe the company wasn't more helpful. In the United States, they'd probably have already had their arses sued off so many times they wouldn't be able to hold their slacks up.

On a side note - I'm browsing your website (not in a creepy stalkerish way, heh) and I love your animal photography! I just graduated with a degree in biology, and I always like to see really good nature photographs. Both of the "Bee World" pictures are gorgeous, with such rich colors. I'm bookmarking the first one (Bee World 3) to get a poster eventually, although I have no idea how I'm going to get it to the US, heh. The contrast is marvelous, the way you bring out the bee hovering near the flower (I'm nutty for bees and ants - that's what I specialized in).

True. =\

Lol at "creepy stalkerish" - it's cool. I'm an online person (if that makes sense) and I'm used to answering many questions about misconceptions of disabilities and well, being an artist, I HAVE to be comfortable with others scrutinising my stuff. In regards to bookmarking "Bee world 3", if you order via FAA (fineartamerica) they post it directly to you and they're based in America... Tell you what, email me via my account in FAA before you buy it and I will create a sale that week and give you a coupon code :) So you can get it cheaper than you would otherwise and/or be able to afford a larger size than you would have been able to otherwise.

UPDATE ON INTERNETS:

This is from Netspace:
Thank you for your e-mail.

We have got 400 GB available to you on a monthly cost of $89.95. You
receive 200GB during peak and 200 GB during off peak hours. Off peak
hours are 2am - 8am. There will be a connection cost which is either
$79.95 on a 24 months contract or $150 on a no contract.

Please let me know if this is the best suitable plan for you.

Regards.
Hardik.
Residential Sales Consultant.
131 456

I replied stating that I could only really afford 60 a month and asked for a better offer.

A friend informed me of this plan:

http://www.tpg.com.au/products_services/ull_pricing.php

I'm thinking the 200gb plan, and I have used TPG before with NO problems EVER. Thing is, I did look this up when I started looking around for plans and I swear this didn't exist. Must be new. Anyway I have emailed them also (with the full story and everything). Let's see if they can offer me at least a RAPID SWITCH ON.

Finally, the same friend said this on my facebook note I put up (basically the same as this thread) which I found very interesting/relevant:

Excellent letter of complaint Edan. It's very succinct and to the punch. What I don't get is, this would never have been escalated if people had some common sense.
It makes perfect sense that a Deaf person cannot hear a phone call, it's just... plain ignorance that they called your mobile phone. Also if you put up a sign to ensure that the Contractor knew where to go, if the intercom system does not work, then they should have followed instructions. Internode need to investigate this, because it's a concern for people who live in apartment buildings and suddenly their intercom system malfunctions. What happens in situations like that?
If Internode can contact the Contractor to request a "Switch On" at a specific address, why can't Internode contact them to find out what actually went wrong? You provided details to allow the Contractor to find you, what did they do? I for one would like to know, if I'm paying for a Contractor, what they did.
Also, with technology these days, email and telephones, it should take 5mins to contact them, not 3 days.
When customer service operators say, "I can't", is it because they don't want to bother, or is it because they don't know how?
Stephen just gave me an idea. If they don't rectify your situation within the time constraints you provided, go to Today/Tonight! Take it live on TV for the WHOLE of Australia to view, not just Melbourne's Newspapers.
Also, when I needed to be "Switched On" for my Naked ADSL, the contractor came out, after a couple of days (not weeks), and after I showed him the MDA, he clicked a switch and that was it. I was also told that if I didn't have the correct line for ADSL, I would have to provide the cabling. I'm sure it's probably just standard practice for them.
Even though I can hear, I would be equally as frustrated to be provide a substandard service.
I hate to say it, but because they are the cheapest, doesn't necessary mean they're the best. You do realise you pay for what you get. I had to pay a little bit more for mine, because I got the service I wanted.

And I agree with all his points. I have also acted on some of his suggestions.

To be fair, ISPs are highly unlikely to have direct contact with the person doing the work, they'd contract the job out to a cabling company who then assign whoever is rostered on so internode would likely have no idea who was doing the work, just what company they work for.

Now why they can't get the cabling company to investigate especially since their inaction is making internode look bad is another matter that really needs work

UPDATE:

I emailed TPG today and got this reply...

The standard time frame for a ADSL2+ with Homephone installation is approximately 10-20 working days once payment has been processed. If paying by Direct Debit, an additional 5 working days is added to this time frame.

Below are the plans we offer:

Plans Monthly Access Charge Monthly Usage Quota *
(Peak + Off Peak) Shaping Speed Sign Up

ADSL2+ Unlimited 24x7~ $29.99 Unlimited n/a
ADSL2+ 500GB $29.99 500GB1 (150GB+350GB) 4Mbps/1Mbps
ADSL2+ 100GB $19.99 100GB2 (30GB+70GB) 256K/256K
ADSL2+ 10GB $9.99 10GB3 (5GB+5GB) 64K/64K
Bundle with TPG Home Phone Bundle with TPG Mobile
TPG Home Phone Line Rental $30 Unlimited Local Calls $5 Talk & Text Medium $14.99 ($700 Cap Value + 1GB) Talk & Text Heavy $29.99 ($1000 Cap Value + 2GB) 49 Cap Saver $14.99 ($300 Cap Value)


Plans 6 Month Contract
Setup $129.95 18 Month Contract
Setup $79.95


You may sign up on our Unlimited plan for $29.99 + $30 home phone line rental, monthly access charge is $59.99.

I could not fucking believe my eyes. UNLIMITED with a phone line too for 59.95 a month?!?! I was forced to swallow, HARD. And asked but one question: "How fast is it?" and then "Yes, will pay."

Here's to hoping to no more fuck ups. I'm amazed.

Whoa! Nice!

Glad to hear that some good news has reached you. If it were me that has the problems that you had, I would have made the evening news after going to their office.

I can understand honest mistakes. This company you first delt with seems like they are unprofessional and or act too big for their boots.

I understand what your going through with this, im classed as having mental health issues. Having said that, my experience barely scratches the surface of what you have fought and well done.

I would like to point out though, im from a customer service background and due to my own health i tended to get cases from other disabled and severely ill client, i had full access to the sytems relating to job booking and a notebook with every subcontracter we used organised by area and relyability. But there were limits to what we could do. To suggest that a cs advisor saying they cant do something meaning they cant be bothered/dont know how or just not wanting to i cant agree with, i could make a 2 week appointment 2 or 3 days but more often than not i still felt this wasnt enough. But the only way to make it any faster was to ask the client to get an independant engineer and forward the bill to us. Of course this usually went down like a tonne of bricks because of the time the uk banking system takes to do refunds and the client would have to pay the indie engineer upfront and we compensated the cost.

Sorry if thats a bit rambling things just sometimes strike a nerve with me. And please dont think that im saying that what you asked for is unreasonable because its not, more companies should have specially trained staff for these things and be able to fast track stuff if its really needed.(i bet if you contacted them as a commercial company theyd be out in no time) i just felt i had to defend my proffesion a little bit. Having said that this isp your having issues with could really do with a kick up the ass, and a similar practice to that that i worked within.

Now I am completely UTTERLY FUCKED OFF.

I have spent the last two days (today is the third) ringing TPG up trying to get to someone with authority so I can explain for once and for all what the fuck I need - INSTALLATION ASAP and for them to read the goddamned attachment I emailed them in the first place (and after they told me they can't open attachments, which is reasonable) I asked them to read the link which incidentally leads to THIS VERY THREAD so I can actually save my breath.

Well, woop de fucking woop. It's impossible. I just spent over an hour today trying to tell the *insert one thousand awful hateful words* call person that I wanted to speak to management. I couldn't. They wouldn't accept it, and I just did not want to explain every single smegging thing all over again so I just begged, threatened and cajoled for an hour then the sly fucker just transfers me to escalation department and when I ask to speak to a manager, they say they have to transfer me to ANOTHER department and well, fuck. THEN, glory of glorys, the relay service drops out. So I'm stuck here ready to fucking throw my keyboard and kick the fucking 40 inch TV in front of me... And I'm a normally pretty calm person.

Here is the transcription of the calls:

YESTERDAY'S CALL

12:02pm System: Welcome to the National Relay Service
12:02pm Operator: (Welcome to NRS, this is RO megan...ringing
12:02pm Operator: welcome to tpg(Recorded message) Your call may be monitored for quality/training purposes. Please advise operator if you do not wish this to occur.
12:03pm Operator: sale enq 1
12:03pm Operator: tech support 2
12:03pm Caller: 1 ga
12:03pm Operator: account and billing 3
12:03pm Operator: home phone 1
12:03pm Operator: mobile 3
12:03pm Operator: dialup 4
12:03pm Operator: busniess solutions 5
12:03pm Caller: actually, redial the number and go to account and billing (3) please ga
12:03pm Operator: domain name 6
12:04pm Operator: (redialing...
12:04pm Operator: welcome to tpg...
12:04pm Operator: home phone 1
12:04pm Operator: mobile 2
12:04pm Operator: any other products or billing 3 ga
12:04pm Caller: 3 ga
12:05pm Operator: thank you for holding your call will be attended to shortly (holding...
12:06pm Operator: holding
12:06pm Operator: ...
12:06pm Operator: holding
12:07pm Operator: ...
12:07pm Operator: holding
12:07pm Operator: ...
12:08pm Operator: (ro here, do you still want to hold?) ga
12:08pm Caller: Yes. Hold for 200 years ifyou have to. ga
12:08pm Operator: (holding...
12:08pm Operator: ...
12:09pm Operator: holding
12:09pm Operator: ...
12:10pm Operator: holding
12:10pm Operator: ...
12:11pm Operator: holding) thank you for calling tpg john speaking ga
12:11pm Caller: Hello John. My name is NAME
12:11pm Caller: I just filled out the online form to get TPG unlimited internet (my username is BLAH BLAH)
12:11pm Caller: and my credit card got rejected - I have put enough funds into it for the payment to pass. Can you please retry for me ga
12:12pm Operator: ok i will check that for you ...i will pull up your account..
12:12pm Operator: do you have a customer id number? ga
12:13pm Caller: I don't know, I havent' been given one at all in all the emails I have correspondended to with TPG. ga
12:13pm Caller: Actually wait
12:13pm Caller: Reference: BLAH BLAH
12:13pm Caller: Is this it? ga
12:14pm Operator: ok can i please have your complete address so i can verify it? ga
12:14pm Caller: ADDRESS ga
12:14pm Operator: thank you for that
12:15pm Operator: are you going to be using a visa or mastercard? i will need the name, card number, verification code and expiry date? ga
12:15pm Caller: Visa
12:15pm Caller: NAME
12:15pm Caller: NUMBER
12:16pm Caller: Verification NUMBER
12:16pm Caller: Expiry DATE ga
12:17pm Operator: just give me a second while i verify...
12:17pm Operator: i will just place you on hold...(holding...
12:18pm Operator: holding
12:18pm Operator: ...
12:19pm Operator: holding
12:19pm Operator: ...
12:19pm Operator: holding
12:20pm Operator: ...
12:20pm Operator: holding
12:20pm Operator: ...
12:21pm Operator: thank you for waiting...
12:21pm Operator: i have updated your credit card details on your file...
12:21pm Operator: it is already in progress ga
12:21pm Caller: thank you. now I need to talk to you about a very important other matter...
12:21pm Caller: Can you pull up the emails I have sent TPG? ga
12:23pm Operator: (ro here, the call seems to have dropped out, do you want to try again? ga
12:23pm Caller: WTF. Yes please ga
12:23pm Operator: Welcome to TPG(Recorded message)
12:23pm Caller: 3 ga
12:24pm Operator: due to the influx of call, we are unable to assist you with your call (Recorded message) (RO here, would you like to make another call?) ga
12:25pm Caller: What? Are you serious? Redial until you get through pls ga
12:25pm Operator: (redialing...
12:27pm Operator: )due to influx of calls, we are unable to assist you with your call(Recorded message) (ro here, i have tried 2 times, do you want to try again?) ga
12:27pm Caller: Yes. Until you can get through. ga
12:27pm Operator: (dialing...
12:28pm Operator: Welcome to TPG..thankyou for holding..your call will be attended to shortly(Recorded message)
12:28pm Operator: (holding...
12:28pm Operator: ...
12:28pm Operator: holding
12:29pm Operator: ...
12:29pm Operator: holding
12:29pm Operator: please hold a representative will be with you shortly(Recorded message) (holding...
12:30pm Caller: WHAT EXCITEMENT! I can scarely hold my breath with anticipation!
12:30pm Operator: thank you for calling tpg carla ga
12:31pm Caller: Hello carla... My name is NAME
12:31pm Caller: Reference: BLAH BLAH
12:31pm Caller: I was just on the phone to John and after processing my credit card details and confirming it went through he hung up on me without listening to my further question....
12:31pm Caller: So can you please help me here?
12:32pm Caller: ga
12:32pm Operator: ok sure i understand your concern...i need your customer id or user name please? ga
12:32pm Caller: I just gave them to you.
12:32pm Caller: Reference: BLAH BLAH
12:32pm Caller: ga
12:33pm Operator: thank you just one second...
12:33pm Operator: i will just pull up your account
12:33pm Operator: ok i am speaking with NAME...can you verify your address please? ga
12:33pm Caller: ADDRESS ga
12:34pm Operator: perfect thank you so much...i understand you have just given your credit card details to the prvious representative..is that correct? ga
12:34pm Caller: Yes I have but that is not the question I need to ask ga
12:35pm Operator: ok so let me just inform you first that the credit card information you provided is already updated on your file the payment of $159.00
12:36pm Operator: $150.94 is already in progress and it will be posted within the day...what is your other concerns? ga
12:36pm Caller: Thank you for the confirmation.
12:36pm Caller: Now, can you please pull up every email I have sent to TPG in the last two days? ga
12:37pm Operator: ok..now i need tocheck on those email...i need to place you on hold for 3 minutes to locate those emails ga
12:37pm Caller: that is fine. Please do so and bear with me, it will all be relevant in time ga
12:38pm Operator: sure thank you so much...(holding...
12:39pm Operator: holding
12:39pm Operator: ...
12:40pm Operator: holding
12:40pm Operator: ...
12:41pm Operator: holding
12:41pm Operator: hello...thank you patiently waiting...
12:41pm Operator: i just need to know what email address you used to send those emails to tpg. ga
12:41pm Caller: EMAIL ADDRESS ga
12:42pm Operator: ok thank you...now i also need to know
12:42pm Operator: the email address that you sent the email to
12:42pm Operator: woudl that be admin or customer service? ga
12:42pm Caller: one second, checking
12:43pm Caller: adsl@tpg.com.au .... I'm assuming sales. ga
12:44pm Operator: ok so that is adsl@tpg.com.au...that would be for sales...i need to locate those emails i will be placing you on hold again for 3 minutes...
12:44pm Operator: is that ok? ga
12:44pm Caller: yes ga
12:44pm Operator: (holding...
12:45pm Operator: ...
12:46pm Operator: holding
12:46pm Operator: ...
12:47pm Operator: hello.... the retrieving of your email may take some time...please hold.. while i am trying to retrieve those emails
12:47pm Operator: what is the purpose of this...do i need to send them back to you? ga
12:48pm Caller: No. I just need to ask you to click the link I have given you in the emails and read the page. I tried to email you the document but you cannot open attachments so I am forced to do it this way.
12:48pm Caller: The reason I am asking this is because I do NOT want what happened with Internode to happen with TPG again. I can give you the link via this? ga
12:49pm Operator: ok so you want me to click on the link that you have sent TPG..Is that correct? ga
12:49pm Caller: absolutely correct ga
12:49pm Operator: ok thank you...
12:50pm Operator: this may take a while
12:50pm Operator: kindly bear with me... what was the exact date the emails was sent...I have done a search and no emails were found..would that
12:50pm Operator: be on the 21st or 22nd? ga
12:51pm Caller: Both 22nd and 23rd ga
12:51pm Operator: ok thank you
12:51pm Operator: i need to check those dates here on our system
12:51pm Operator: please bear with me it will take some time ga
12:51pm Operator: i ahve an email here that was sent on 22nd
12:52pm Caller: Yes the time should be to adsl@tpg.com.au date Tue, Feb 22, 2011 at 12:49 PM
12:52pm Caller: ga

12:52pm Operator: do you want me to click on the link on this email....is this correct? ga
12:52pm Caller: Yes. And read the webpage it takes you to. Please confirm you are doing so ga
12:52pm Caller: http://www.gog.com/en/forum/general/a_true_story_for_your_entertainment
12:53pm Caller: That should be the link ga
12:53pm Operator: ok...i need to check if i can access this link on our end as we only have internet connect...just let me check...
12:53pm Operator: please stay on the line while i check...please hold (holding...
12:54pm Operator: holding
12:55pm Operator: ...
12:55pm Operator: holding) thank you for patiently waiting...
12:55pm Operator: i could not access the link on the email as we only have internet connection..
12:55pm Operator: we cannot access links ga
12:56pm Caller: Okay. I will simply have to tell you what the letter says. It is very long, but very relevant.
12:56pm Caller: Bear with me please....
12:56pm Caller: First, let me tell you that this is a complaint letter to Internode, okay?
I then proceed to quote the letter up to this part: I hung up. And went out on the balcony and screamed my head off in frustration. THEN, I get this email about twenty minutes later:
1:04pm Caller: ******************
1:04pm Caller: Do you want me to go on? It really is quite an amazing story... Now do you understand why I wanted you to click on the link? ga
1:08pm Operator: if i must cut you short.....sorry to cut you off...why the reason he is telling tpg all the complaints you have with internode? ga
1:09pm Caller: Because I do not want this to happen with TPG.
1:09pm Caller: If it does happen, I am going to report TPG to the ombudsmen as I have with Internode. I want to ensure that you put my disabilities on my account and make sure that the technician that comes over does NOT make the same mistakes
1:09pm Caller: I NEED internet, and I need it two weeks ago. ga
1:10pm Operator: ok i understand that...you do not need to worry we will not be doing what internode doing to you..
1:11pm Operator: once this payment has already been posted we will let you know when installment will occur..what whappended with internode will not be happening with tpg ga
1:11pm Caller: It better not. I require you to do the following:
1:11pm Caller: Email that email with the link to someone further up the chain (and I want written confirmation that they have recieved and read the link)
1:12pm Caller: I want you to put the disabiliites on my account clearly and ensure that no one from your company ever RINGS my mobile - texts only.
1:12pm Operator: i will go ahead and escalate this concern to my supervisor.. the experience u have with internode will not be happening with tpg... .
1:13pm Caller: And lastly, I want you to make sure that the technician gets my text number and notifies me when they are about to arrive on my property
1:13pm Caller: via text.
1:13pm Caller: thank you for listening, and once again, I repeat, I want written emailed confirmation that these three things have happened and WILL happen. I am also saving this conversation for future reference. ga
1:14pm Operator: and we will send u an email once we have already read the link that u have on your email.... i have put that note on the file.. that it is text only.. i will send u an email confirming ga
1:15pm Caller: thank you
1:15pm Operator: ga
1:15pm Caller: I'm sorry to be so anal but seriously, I am so put off with this whole thing. I am making very very sure I've covered all the bases. ga
1:15pm Operator: okay if that is all i will go now.. i will ensure it is done via email. ga
1:15pm Caller: thank you bye ga to sk
1:15pm Operator: bye to sk.
1:16pm Operator: (RO here, would you like to make another call?) ga
1:16pm Caller: No thank you, no more calls for 100 years for me now I hope!!!! sksk
1:16pm Operator: (Thank you for your call, bye for now) sksk
1:16pm System: Your call is now finished and you are no longer connected to the NRS.

I will insert today's conversation later when I can actually post it.

The plot thickens...

I never knew something so bloody simple could go so horrible south so fast.