On 29/04/2005, at 8:47 AM, Michael Hawkins wrote:
I switched to Westnet broadband a couple of years ago, and have never
regretted it. The phone is answered promptly, messages taken if need
be, and
calls returned. Request for help via email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
rea
responded to promptly. The virus checker service works, as does the
spam
filter. I get a digest of emails that have been blocked. This means
that I
can check to see if anything has been blocked that shouldn't have been
blocked, and I can manage the spam filter to let email from that
source come
through.
What I particularly like is that the service staff don't try to hide
behind
excuses. If there's a problem, it's acknowledged and efforts made to
resolve
it. Follow-up courtesy calls are made, too, to see if any further
issues
have arisen.
Michael Hawkins.
Hi Michael,
We agree totally with you. I have been with WestNet almost since the
time when 'Chris Thomas'
started WestNet. I have remained a strong supporter of them, and
believe they deserved to have been voted the Number 1 ISP in Australia
for Customer Service for the last couple of years.
However, it was brought to our attention on our list of a few concerns
some members were experiencing. So I contacted WestNet Management re
these 'issues' , they answered, and asked me to give them
constructive feedback.
They are improving all the time and want to be able to serve the Mac
community better.
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I congratulated Chris Thomas last year after they were voted No. 1 ISP
& this is part of his reply:
Start of Quote:
A few years ago we created an ambitious mission statement “to be
recognised as the best Internet Service Provider in Australia through
outstanding customer service and providing premium quality Internet
access, at a fair cost, no matter where you are in Australia”.
Ultimately we weren’t going to be satisfied until we achieved this.
Through the Australian Broadband Survey in 2003, and now the ACNielsen
survey, we believe we have achieved it, and that’s a huge credit to our
team.
Fortunately that’s not the end of the story. We see room for massive
improvement in our current performance, right across the board. To be
recognised as number 1, and to still see so much room for improvement,
is a good thing for us, but it probably means that the Internet
industry is not performing as well as it should be. I think we’ll see a
big improvement from all those ISPs that are going to be around for the
long term. Our mission statement is not going to change, so you should
see services improve, and hopefully we can stay ahead of the rest of
the pack as they all improve as well.
End of Quote
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I have added below an interview with Chris Thomas.
Chris Thomas, Perth
Founded WestNet (www.westnet.com.au)
How did you get started? I was working for the Department of Defence in
Geraldton, WA, and there were no ISPs there. In 1994, I set up a
Geraldton-wide web and e-mail server so that anybody who had local call
access could let me know they wanted to get started learning the
technology. In August 1995, we got a link to Perth and in November 1996
we got acquired by Mitchell & Brown Communications, which brought
[business] balance and judgment.
I loved what I was doing, and didn't mind losing money [initially]
because I figured it would come good. In January 1999, we put in an
access server in Perth. We were around 5000 customers at the time of
the takeover and have 25,000 now.
What's the biggest challenge? A lot of the things that can be really
frustrating about Telstra are their anti-competitive, monopolistic
attitudes. A lot of what goes on in the background can really bug you
but you've got to let those issues be resolved outside of your
negotiations with the company. It's up to the umpire [the Australian
Competition and Consumer Commission] to say what they can and can't do.
They're just a company looking after their bottom line.
What does it take to succeed? The key thing is that you've got to have
great management. And you have to be absolutely passionate about the
job, and want to know everything about how everything works. It's not
the sort of job where you can just be someone who does this and goes
home at 5pm and isn't really interested. If you're really fascinated by
this stuff, you'll be working 10 to 15 hours a day and won't notice it
that much.
Cheers,
Ronni
When Microsoft asks you, "Where do you want to go today?" Tell them,
"Apple!"
