Telecommunications giant Telstra harassed a widow for almost a decade about her husband’s account after he tragically passed away with cancer – with the company finally admitting its mistake in handling her case.
Jenny Moncur contacted Telstra up to 40 times between 2014 and 2023 as they continuously contacted her about the now-defunct account of her husband of 37 years, Royce.
He had passed away in a small Gippsland town in regional Victoria after being diagnosed with advanced late-stage kidney cancer in 2014.
As Telstra restocked Royce’s credit, Ms Moncur repeatedly asked them to cancel his account, but the service provider said it needed to talk to the account holder.
After providing them with a death certificate, making complaints to the head office, and contacting the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman, the company kept emailing her about Royce.
Jenny Moncur contacted Telstra up to 40 times between 2014 and 2023 as they continuously asked about her husband of 37 years’ now-defunct account
As Telstra restocked her husband Royce’s credit, Ms Moncur repeatedly asked them to cancel his account, but the service provider said it needed to talk to the account holder
The distress of having to open repeated emails, some congratulatory, about her late husband became too much in the end, Ms Moncur said.
‘It was so distressing. Every time I spoke to somebody I had to continually reiterate, “my husband has died, he’s dead”,’ she told the ABC.
After opening an email that had the header ‘Good News’ which notified her that Royce’s account was in credit, the grief she felt was ‘awful’.
‘It was awful, because it wasn’t good news,’ Ms Moncur said.
‘It was a reminder he was never going to use that credit.’
When Telstra emailed Ms Moncur in January asking her to confirm her late husband as an authority on an account, she said that it felt like a dark comedy skit.
Specifically it reminded her of the Monty Python skit, the Dead Parrot, where John Cleese’s character repeatedly tries convincing a stubborn pet store employee that his parrot is dead.
This latest email prompted Ms Moncur to complain directly to Telstra’s CEO, Vicki Brady, whose office replied to her personally.
Telstra apologised for the ‘grief and anxiety’ that it had caused the widow and blamed a breach of process for the infuriating emails.
An internal review of Telstra’s handling of the situation found that Ms Royce should immediately have been transferred to the company’s compassionate care team.
The pivotal step was skipped and never rectified, Telstra wrote in a letter that was seen by ABC.
The company said that is was investigating procedures in bereavement, which were overhauled in 2022, after realising its mistake with Ms Moncur.
Ms Moncur complained directly to Telstra’s CEO, Vicki Brady, whose office replied to her personally, apologising for the ‘grief and anxiety’ that it had caused
Telstra’s treatment of Ms Moncur was ‘not the standard the industry should be holding itself to’, according to Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman Cynthia Gebert
Telstra’s treatment of Ms Moncur was ‘not the standard the industry should be holding itself to’, according to Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman Cynthia Gebert.
Almost 100 complaints about spam from service providers were reported to Ms Gebert’s office in the past financial year, she told the ABC.
Four of these complaints tied directly to families who were being contacted about deceased relatives.
The majority were from former customers who had left their providers but were still receiving marketing information after attempting to opt out, and erroneous notifications.
Telstra assured Ms Moncur, who found the situation to be a disgrace, that the company ‘must and will do better’ going forward.
An ombudsman report revealed that the telecommunications industry had insufficient customer protections in June of this year.
These companies need to establish predetermined time frames for addressing complaints, the Australian Communications and Media Authority said in a statement.
Any failure to meet those deadlines could result in the regulator seeking up to $250,000 in fines should it take a company to court.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Telstra for comment.
