MATE Reviews 1,932

Been with mate about two years now on a 50NBN plan, initially they where great with speeds of 52Mbps during peak times. Lately I’ve been experiencing much lower speeds during peak times, as low as 800kbps. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure out they have a congestion issue because they have not purchased the needed bandwidth from NBN. So back to Telstra with their better service and higher prices.

This company has provided poor service and taken money from me that was not agreed too, I had no NBN service in the evening and could not or would not fix, on top of that ripped me off over 80 when I moved my service address. They also I believe mis- represented my contract dates, but started the contract with barefoot years ago and can not find original contract.

Multiple internet crashes.
Tech support is from work experience kids who log a fault for real techies to call back.
The whole “let’s be mates” marketing idea is extremely painful to listen to every time you’re on hold.

So I contact them on chat on 3rd of October to disconnect my wifi effective middle of the month they are like "sorry we can't as we do not operate pro rata basis"
4th of October same chat they are like yes we can disconnect on pro rata basis, guess what instead of disconnecting my wifi on 15th they disconnected on 5th"
Now I am wondering how am I going to work tomorrow and which sentence of typed English they could not understand.
Just horrible WiFi, pathetic customer service, all there customer service phone number are based in Australia but they don't pickup your calls for hours.

So I contact them on chat on 3rd of October to disconnect my wifi effective middle of the month they are like "sorry we can't as we do not operate pro rata basis"
4th of October same chat they are like yes we can disconnect on pro rata basis, guess what instead of disconnecting my wifi on 15th they disconnected on 5th"
Now I am wondering how am I going to work tomorrow and which sentence of typed English they could not understand.
Just horrible WiFi, pathetic customer service, all there customer service phone number are based in Australia but they don't pickup your calls for hours.

ripper service, great customer support, miles ahead of all other telco's.

I first connected with MATE in Nov 2017. It was great initially, however in mid 2021 I noticed a decline in the service. I was contacted by MATE on 11/05/2022 and was told that I could upgrade to FTTP from FTTC without any repurcusions and that the box could go where I wanted it to. When the NBN technician came out he advised that I could not have the box where I wanted. MATE told me NBN would cut me off if I did not go ahead. On the 14/06/2022, I contacted the TIO and on the 15/06/2022 I contacted NBN. NBN stated that it was not mandatory to upgrade to FTTP when it was availaible and sent an email to that regard on the 15/06/2022. MATE continued to harrass me and wrote to me stating that NBN would cut me off. I ignored the communication. On the 08/08/2022 MATE gave me 30 days notice of cancelling my service because I would not upgrade. They told me that I would have the same problem everywhere I went. I have now found out that MATE refuse to cancel the order, as is my right in the NBN portal. Other provider are happy as is NBN for me to keep fibre to curb (FTTC), however I cannot transfer, MATE refuse to cancel the order in the NBN portal. I have pasted the secon NBN letter sent on the 11/08/2022. I will not be able to have internet as a result of this malicious coduct, and I have been suffering worsening depression and anxiety as a result. MATE have been made aware and will not cancel, despite knowing that I have had several serious anxiety attacks over it and that I will be left without internet. MATE continue to say that we have advised you that you have 30 days, at time of writing 24, however they will not answer or acknowledge that they will not cancel the order in the NBN portal. I spoke with Reif at NBN on the 12/08/2022 and he advised that I should not be forced to by any provider to upgrade if I did not wish to and that providers giving misleading information as to the requirements for upgrade are doing the wrong thing. Below is an the email from exetel confirming that I cannot transfer for FTTC because MATE have not cancelled the order and also the email sent from NBN confirming that I am not obligated to upgrade. Beware and if you have in issue contact Arnold Thomas and Becker.

Hi Rebecca,

Please note that your address shows that it qualifies for NBN fibre to the premises (LOC............................).

It does not show a 'fibre to the curb' connection type as per what your mentioned.
Aaron Shanmugaraja
Sales

exetel.com.au

Hello Rebecca,

Thank you for your enquiry to nbn. The reference number for your enquiry is 15687635.

There is no obligation for a customer to upgrade Fibre to The Premises (FTTP) when the option becomes available. Should a customer change their mind and wish to upgrade at a later date, they can speak with their Retail Service Provider (RSP) to place an order.

As the you are currently connected to Fibre to The Curb (FTTC), you may opt to stay connected with your current RSP. If you prefer to change providers, your new provider may need to lodge a Service Request for assistance with having the service class for your address amended to allow a new/transferred FTTC connection.
Note: Please do not reply to this email. If you are in need of further support, please contact us via our ‘check an existing enquiry’ webform.

Kind Regards,

Sarah

nbn

Value for Money

They used to be good when they started, but recently my Internet has become much slower and today I even found out that they lease their IPs from ripe.net in Amsterdam after checking my IP on WHOIS, so that some sites identify their IPs as foreign IPs. The other day I had been blocked by a site (NRS) that said only Australian IPs can log in, so I tried to find out more, and the customer service of that site said that some ISPs lease their IPs from overseas. They have not offered an explanation or an apology after I contacted them.
Interesting how they say their customer service is based in Australia, but they lease their IPs from overseas.

It used to be good but now it has gone downhill. From the past three months I just cannot get a constant good speed during a day. Despite my numerous calls, they never send anyone and my issue has never resolved. I am suppose to be getting 240mb+ but its not even 5mb 99% of the time.

Also there is always 1-2 hour wait time when you call. Not sure how can they claim to be award winning customer service.

I've been with the Provider for over 5 years. They were great for a long time but this year, and certainly in recent couple of months, the internet connection and speed has been poor. I also tried to get my home phone connected at my new address and after troubleshooting with LBM Support, they left me with a phone line which can ring out from the home phone but not receive calls (and vice versa depending on the setting they do). Support said there is something wrong with the modem and they don't have any modem currently to replace this faulty one.

I've just returned to edit this review (9 September 2022) and downgrade the service from 2 stars to 1 star. My internet has become completely unstable, disconnecting and requiring reboot of the modem each time to reconnect. This happens multiple times a day since the past 2 days. Mate Communicate have been unhelpful with this issue. I work from home 2 days or more per week (depending on state health regulations) and internet connection is absolutely needed for my work. Mate Communicate don't seem to care. My recommendation now is stay well clear of this provider.

The service itself is ok. Hours to get support are limited and the staff that service the chat are generally horrible. Dealt with Hannah recently, totally unempathetic and not willing to help whatsoever for a problem that is actually their fault- not mine. You have to jump through hoops and do the job yourself.

My whole household is a member with MATE and we are the hugest fans🙋🏾‍♀️ I love reffering MATE to all my friends and family AND the value you get for NBN AND MOBILE is next to nothing. WE LOVE MATE!!!

Over charged service is terrible. No customer service. Couldn’t use my internet for over 2 months

What can I say about Mate?
Absolutely incredible company with the best customer service! 100% Aussie owned and operated with a heart for people.
Recently, NBN has been upgrading their infrastructures and some of us have had issues with our internet, however Mate has been messaging customers to update on what's been happening.
True, we had to wait for a while before they answered the call, however they have been prompt to find a solution to our issues, which has been resolved within 2 days maximum.
In my line of work, I've had to deal with lots of companies and none of them compare to the service Mate delivers.
I've had the best service with them and I could not recommend them enough.

Been with MATE for over 4 years, but now can’t get through to customer service, no Internet in my house for 2 days! They keep saying nbn issue,I went on the nbn site and no outage reported at my address…. Very very dissatisfied and disappointed with you all.
I do not recommend at all for anyone to join them,I’m leaving asap to anyone I can find regardless of cost.
Shame on you guys.

Been using MATE in my new house for well over a year, and my in-laws have it in their house now going on 24 months. Both have been very happy with the quality of service and connection. Australian support always on hand.

Started off bad, got good then got bad again.
I've been with mate for less than a month and have had to contact them 4 times so far.
Firstly, they didn't even contact me to let me know my internet was set up.
After a day without internet (they took away my previous internet) I contacted them and they told me that my internet was active however didn't notify me.
I thought it was fine and dandy, the first few days I had super speedy internet as I'm on the higher plans available.
Then I notice my internet speed drops drastically, I call them again and the person I spoke to was rather rude and kind of spoke to me like the reason for the slowing speed was an obvious issue.
A few days pass all is fine and dandy, then yet again my speed drops to a measly 3mbps when I'm meant to be on 90...I'm paying $90 a month and the internet doesn't even work.
You can't even contact them on a Sunday which is when the internet just happened to not work.
Aussie broadband is so much better and only $10 more, I'll be switching back as I am not happy at all and rather upset that I trusted the many positive reviews.

You can tell by the recent customers nearly all one star so there is something wrong with this internet provider.
I was with another internet company before i changed to mates for only a month then moved on quickly.
1. I found the service during the day perfect for the internet but gradually the nights or each night got worse and worse to even use my youtube on my mobile via wifi it didnt function.
End of the straw that made me move was a whole night no service for paying top dollar for what. Crap service.
I would never recommend this company to anyone who does not love the internet and as we rely so much on it these days service service should be number one but its number 2.
I've left and no problems now with my new internet provider and no issues.
2. Mate likes to blame nbn for its issues and outages that were continuous every night so there is something wrong with there service not nbn.
They like customers to get intouch with them with problems to do with this issue to make out thats its the customers problem not theirs. But it is their problem as they are the service provider not the customer.
You pay, you expect results, none of this rot they like to portray as if its not coming from Mates. And it is.
Leaving was the best solution than waiting for an outcome that could be whenever!
3. Help talking to Grace who is a AI was useless for the problem i had with Mates. You really had to ring them leave your contact number for them to ring you back but they didn't!
Not good service in 2022 in the modern australia times not retro times.

Don't trust any good reviews.
Horrible company extremely deceptive billing practices.

The internet hasn't work for a bit more than 6 month, countless of calls to fix it, they keep asking me for tests, and tests, they can't figure out why, they say something to do with my building cables... I can't take it anymore. I'm changing provider. I live in a brand new building, and only mate seem to have problems with it.
When I called mate to tell them Australia online told me my problem will get fix by swapping with them so I was cancelling my service, they just answer "sure not a problem" haha, Mate doesn't even give a F.