TelstraClear in gun after Fair Go going-over

A Fair Go report into a special TelstraClear deal has prompted dozens of complaints from customers angry with the ISP's standards of customer service.

The report concentrated specifically on the response to a special deal TelstraClear has been promoting heavily on TV, with two customers telling stories of how they had tried to make the switch from their old providers but been plagued by long waits for phone assistance.

At one stage, one customer tells of how she tried the sales line in desperation, got through straight away, but was then re-directed to the help line, where she waited again with no response.

Steve Jackson, head of consumer sales, marketing and products for TelstraClear, fronted up for the show, saying the company hadn't anticipated the response to the deal, and would switch some members of its sales team to the assistance line to help speed up response times.

Jackson even offered his personal email address for unhappy customers to get in touch. However, judging by the slew of complaints that have flooded the Fair Go Facebook page since the show went to air, customers are convinced the problem has been going on for some time.

TelstraClear's Australian parent, Telstra, announced last week that it was in talks with Vodafone about possibly selling the subsidiary. Nothing has been said by either company since then, but if the deal is still on the table this sort of publicity won't do Telstra any favours.