5 weeks ago my Mum passed away.
It was not sudden, all her affairs were in order, and I as her son had been appointed her PoA months before.
In sorting out her outstanding invoices and finalising the services she would no longer need, I obviously had to deal with several companies that supply the services that most of us use on a day to day basis.
Her electricity supplier was happy to cancel the contract with up to a weeks notice, giving them time to organise a final reading
Her gas supplier similar deal 3-5 business days
Both I informed I would contact them once we had cleared Mums possessions out of her house
Telstra went a little differently, the female on the phone was very polite, communicated clearly and gave me her condolences which were genuine. I found out my Mum had 2 contracts with Telstra, a mobile account with about 5 months left and a home package which included fixed line and broadband which was contracted to October 2019, another 15 months. I approached it similar to the gas and electricity and assumed having died my Mums contractual obligations would be waved.
The woman on the phone explained that yes she could cancel the service but the contract would need to be paid out in full from her estate, her exact words. The other option would be for me to walk into a Telstra shop and sign paperwork and take over the contracts. I explained I already had a Telstra service and did not need another two. She apologised and explained they were the only options she could offer. Looks like she was correctly following the script from the official Telstra page on the matter
https://exchange.telstra.com.au/how...telstra-service-when-a-loved-one-passes-away/
This is the disappointing state of TLS today, trying to claw every last cent from the dead, rather than treating people with respect in times of sorrow. My Mum had been a loyal Telstra customer for the entire time it has been a public company, over 20 years, and for decades before when it was private.
On the Telstra wikipedia page
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telstra
"Telstra is now fully privatised and was undergoing a change program to become more customer focused under its previous CEO,
David Thodey."
And their Customer Service Guarantee
https://www.telstra.com.au/consumer-advice/customer-service/customer-service-guarantee
"Telstra is committed to achieving customer service excellence. "
It is disappointing when loyal customers for several decades are treated like a contractual inconvenience when they die
(20min delay)