Reavill Farms business manager, Michael Rippon, said Telstra did not notify the company when its Web site -- allegedly together with another 260 -- hosted by the carrier disappeared during a server outage.
Recounting phone correspondence with Telstra technical support, Rippon said the outage started Monday evening and lasted around 24 hours. The site had been substituted with a generic Telstra holding site, giving the appearance that Reavill Farm's site was new or in the process of being renovated.
The site was restored early today but Rippon said he wasn't aware the site was down until a concerned relative contacted him midday Tuesday.
Rippon alleges that when he first contacted Telstra technicians Tuesday, they had no idea why the site was down. Telstra technical support told Rippon that the site was new and the content hadn't been activated.
Rippon claims he then informed the support officer that the site was over two years old, prompting the officer to investigate further.
"[The support officer] told me that the problem was on their end. He told me that the server that our Web site was on had been having some problems with its hard drive," said Rippon. "Apparently they lost 260 Web sites... he said 'not to worry' they've got a back-up,"
An angry Rippon said that while the site did not attract large volumes of traffic, it played a crucial role in the stud operation, keeping clients who have invested substantial sums in its services informed about the progress of their breeding programs.
Rippon was also concerned that Telstra's holding site could damage the credibility of Reavill Farms, which turns over AU$5 million anually.
"If they've been using the Web site they'll be suspicious about what's been going on and how the business is going...secondly if they come once and see that why would they come back?," said Rippon.
Telstra was late yesterday unable to comment on the situation, a spokesperson for the company remarking that there was no indication of a Web outage on Telstra's system status page at the time of our enquiry.
Telstra was unable to make a more detailed response to ZDNet Australia's queries at the time of publication.
We all know about Telstra they have a dominance and they use it.
If you ever try to get service from them you get the runaronbdb eing referred to one department to another. Of course when you phone back you speak to someone completely new - and so the whole saga gose.
Oh and have your tried to pay your bill?
THAT IS EASY!!!
If you know hat its like to be raped become a Telstra client