Dear Mr Wallace,

                        Thank you for your reply to my Email of 20th January regarding the slackers at Optus.  I advise that since then I have still not got a single peep out of them.  They still seem to hope that I will just go away.  As it would be a very easy matter for me to send out a heap of emails about them to our major news and current affairs organizations, that is pretty childish thinking on their part.

                        I reproduce below the last email I sent to our Telecommunications Ombudsman about them.

                        (Dr.) JOHN RAY

                                    24 Forest St., Moorooka,

                                    Qld, 4105

                                    10 Feb 2000                                        

Optus

Dear Michelle,

                        Why are you so ignorant?  Do you think that ignoring letters addressed to you is good manners?  How can you expect other people to be polite to you when you are so rude to them? The way Optus ignores its customers would make anyone rude.

                        But despite your many attempts to ignore me I was proved right in the STD barring matter and I will also eventuallty be proved right about the congestion at your Telstra Gate.  So please get on with fixing my complaint before I take matters to the media.  I can assure you that sending a heap of emails to the media about you will be no problem for me at all.

                        I reproduce below my last email to you which you have so far seen fit to ignore plus some letters that I have written to the TIO about you.

                        Yours faithfully,

       (Dr.) John RAY

                                    24 Forest St., Moorooka,

                                    Qld, Australia, 4105

                                    10 Feb., 2000                                        

CEO

C & W

Dear Mr Wallace,

                        As the email attached below reveals, the ostriches at Optus are still trying to pretend that the only possible problem with their system could be with their local lines, whereas the techies tell me that the problem lies with congestion at the "Gate" connecting their system to the Telstra wires.  They sedulously avoid even mentioning that problem.  They do hint at the real nature of the problem by identifying the high speeds used by modern modems as being at the core of the problem but take refuge in outdated government standards to excuse their inadequate capacity.

                        The bottom line is that I had no problems connecting to the internet whilst I was using the Telstra wires but now that my local service is with Optus, I have constant problems.  If they are such dinosaurs that they don't want their wires to be used for internet traffic, they are going the right way about achieving that.

                        I have also checked with my ISP at times when I have been having problems connecting to them and have been told that they were running at that time at only 50% of capacity and were having no problems with their system.

                        I do not expect Optus to fix their Gate problem overnight but I do expect them to come clean about it and compensate me for the losses it has caused me.  If you cannot get them to do that I will have to see if the media can.

                        Yours faithfully,

                        (Dr.) John RAY

Dear Dr Ray  

I refer to our conversation and testing of the Cable & Wireless Optus (CWO) line on the 18 January 2000. 

The problems you are experiencing are not related to our line. All tests have shown that your line is clear of any fault. You confirmed during that conversation that you do not experience call drop outs with voice calls. If there was a fault on your line you would be experiencing call drop outs on both types of calls, as the CWO exchange can not identify any difference between voice and data transmissions.

Therefore you are liable for all calls made from your line. 

Our tests have indicated that your data line is above standard requirements for connection speeds. The minimal Austel requirement for connection is 24000 kbps and our reports show that your connection speed varies between 45333kbps and 46666kbps.

We refer you again to your ISP. 

For further information on the Internet you may want to have a look at the Internet Industry Association Web Site on www.iia.net.au.

Cable & Wireless Optus now considers this matter closed. 

Yours sincerely 

Michelle Ford 

National Customer Relations Manager 

Cable & Wireless Optus