Angus Kidman08 September 2008, 3:59 PM
Number two telco Optus appears to be dragging its feet on blocking stolen phones from its network, causing some users to question Optus's motives.
" My girlfriend had her mobile stolen last Friday and she immediately contacted Optus to have the IMEI number barred to prevent the phone from being used on the Telstra, Vodaphone and Optus network," wrote one Optus customer on the Whirlpool forums.
"Optus assured her that the bar would take place within 24 hours. When we checked on Monday via the AMTA website, the bar was not in place, so we called Optus again only for them to admit they did not bar the IMEI number but only the SIM card and they again reassured us that they would bar the IMEI number."
"I just checked again on the AMTA website (and surprise surprise) its still NOT blocked!"
A number of other Optus customers said they'd had similar experiences.
The IMEI number of a mobile phone is its unique serial number, and a list of stolen phones and their IMEI number is maintained by the Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association (AMTA) on its Mind Your Mobile site.
Australian carriers taking part in the scheme are meant to block new SIMs from working in phones listed on the register, meaning stolen phones can't readily be resold and reused.
Customers who have lost their phone should have the option both of barring their own SIM (to prevent people making calls that you have to pay for) as well as blocking the IMEI number to prevent the phone's reuse by the thief.
Obviously, IMEI blocking plays a more important role than simply having the satisfaction of knowing that a thief can't use your phone -- it also creates a big disincentive for thieves to steal phones at all.
APC contacted Optus to ask how long blocking was supposed to take and why some people were having problems getting it done. "SIM blocking can take up to an hour, and IMEI blocking and unblocking can take up to 24 hours," a media spokesperson told us. That timing would not be affected by whether it was a weekend or not, she added, and customers had the option of blocking the SIM, the IMEI number, or both.
The Optus spokesperson refused to comment on whether or not staff were trained to routinely recommend IMEI blocking or not, describing that as a "hypothetical" situation.
However, Optus' own web site only describes IMEI blocking as an “option“ and devotes more considerably more attention to SIM barring.
It also points out that only the registered account holder can authorise an IMEI block, while you can ask someone else to call up on your behalf and block your SIM card. (One practical upshot of that is that if you're overseas, you'll be facing an expensive phone call to get your IMEI blocked.)
What do you think? Is Optus shirking its responsibilities here, or are delays in customer service par for the course in dealing with any telco?