Optus, optus, optus…read more.. How long have I been a customer? At least 15 years. So, with a feeling of embarrassment at having signed up to a 'Lease' for the Note 9 back in September 2017, this week I was unfortunate enough to have a screen crack occur. I figure, no biggie, I will go in store and find out what the damage in $$$ is for either a repair, or to cover the 'fair market value' of the phone if I were to upgrade to a new phone. I get assigned a place in queue and when an associate finally comes to where I am sitting, I explain the situation and the current condition of the phone. During this the sales associate just stands above me while I'm awkwardly sitting at the table I was waiting at and only answers the bare minimum of what he thinks I am asking. I went there to explore my options which ranged from pay the repair costs and conclude my business with Optus in a few months, through to seeing what the upgrade costs would be to re-contract and how a cracked lease phone would be addressed in billing. Optus text chat couldn't help with this which is why I went in store, however in store they are also unable to assess if a phone has a cracked screen and require it sent away for repairs to be quoted 'Between $290 and $495' for repairs. No idea why text chat couldn't of told me this. A flagship store doesn't have a tech to assess repairs before sending them? Sales Associates aren't taught that one crack in the screen is that same as a dozen as the whole screen gets replaced either way? The Associate I dealt with thought that because there were 'so many cracks' the repair would be closer to $495' which demonstrates a lack of training as a screen replacement with Samsung is $280. He did not look at my account, did not engage me with my problem to offer solution I wasn't myself proposing, and made no attempt to provide any real service, I suspect he tuned out once he realised I was possibly going to be a hassle by lodging a repair request. But what really disappoints me is that I went in to look for a solution, willing to spend more money with Optus and I couldn't even upgrade as if I did, I would be obligated to accept the 'repair quote' for my device before the quote would be given since it cannot be done in store. I remember taking home the Nokia 3315 from the store when I first got to pick a new phone. And the N-gage. Hell, I even worked at the Chermisde Optus years ago and the level of service I received would of gotten me in a whole lot of trouble if a manager saw that interaction or had any idea a new contracted service was at stake. Fair warning, the lease options are predatory and I should of known better. They offer $240 discount in exchange for your $1500 phone over 24 months. Not sure what I was thinking when I agreed to it. The store is nicer then it used to be, but the service somehow has just degraded, or maybe I'm just unlucky. Either way, with the way the plans are priced you're better off buying a phone outright and jumping on the more competitive telco's offering 40Gb of data for $40 a month rather then $100+ a month at Optus if they 'subsidise a phone" at $60 extra a week over sim only plans, catching you for $1440 extra Bad deals, and bad service.

When walking into this shop recently, I was only going to ask about getting my phone on my mobile…read moreplan upgraded. Turns out I was eligible and the staff were very helpful and had me on an upgraded plan & mobile phone in no time. Very fast & efficient service.