Not having a phone line for three weeks is literally a matter of life and death for 90-year-old Aub Emery.
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The independent man lives alone in a two-storey house and wears a medical alert bracelet that, with a press of a button, will call for an ambulance via the landline if something happens.
But that can't happen when his phone line has been out for weeks.
His daughters Lyn and Karen – who live in Newcastle and New Zealand respectively – have spent the last few weeks conducting a long-distance battle with Telstra to get their dad's landline repaired.
A Telstra spokeswoman said Mr Emery was not registered for priority assistance, which would have allowed the repair to the landline to be fast-tracked.
“He has a medical alert bracelet because he has been breathless before, his blood pressure drops and he has collapsed,” Lyn Emery said.
I need to know that he can contact someone if he does have a fall.
- Lyn Emery
“He chooses to live in his house because he’s very independent person.”
Since the landline went out Ms Emery said she and her sister have been forced to ring their father’s neighbour and ask them to go and check if he is okay.
She said numerous calls to Telstra to fix his line were less than helpful and described the situation as “absolutely ridiculous”.
“One minute it’s the handset, next minute it’s a modem,” she said.
“At the end of all this they’ve come back and said ‘no, it’s the line’.
“All he needed is a phone that will connect to the bracelet.
“I need to know that he can contact someone if he does have a fall.”
Part of the problem, Ms Emery said, was down to Telstra saying she was not an authorised person on her father’s account and therefore could not contact them on his behalf.
A Telstra spokeswoman apologised for what Mr Emery and his daughters had experienced and said a technician was due to attend his house late on Friday to try and rectify the situation.
She said customers with a diagnosed life-threatening medical condition could register for priority assistance, which would ensure any issues with their services were fast-tracked.
“Unfortunately, as this customer wasn’t registered for priority assistance, his order was not fast-tracked,” the spokeswoman said.
“We have temporarily added the priority assistance status on the customer’s account.
"We will work with him to ensure he is permanently listed for priority assistance and to add his daughter as an authorised contact on his account to avoid any future delays.”