I am sceptical about the stated reasons for the closure.

Recently I needed to buy a new phone and tablet but was not able to enter the store to look at the merchandise, let alone buy anything or speak with staff and have assistance to transfer my data because there were no appointments available for four days.

I bought the devices from a local electrical dealer that day and was able to get an appointment in Raymond Terrace the next day.

This move by Telstra can't be any good for its bottom line and is certainly a slap in the face for the community.

If the Telstra Store at the Salamander shopping centre has closed because of, reportedly, a decrease in customers, lord help all the other stores in the centre which I am sure would be envious of Telstra's customer traffic.

Then again, perhaps there are two Telstra stores. The one I always go to where I have to invariably que up and make an appointment and the other with too few customers. I should have been going to the store with too few customers.

Meanwhile the elderly who are not mobile or who do not drive, or have a 15-kilometre restricted licence, cannot obtain the face-to-face contact they so badly need in this modern technological age.

I agree in part with Ernest To (Money should go where needed, Examiner, Letters, June 23) but I'm sure not all would agree regarding the way Port Stephens Council spends ratepayers' money.

Young families with ever-increasing costs of paying off homes and raising children would find the extra rate increase a bit rough, especially after they look at [the Mayor's] new Ford Ranger with special blue paint at an extra cost to the ratepayers.

And we can't get potholes temporarily fixed. Go Figure.

Also Interested to note Maitland City Council's increase was considerably lower because they said they are looking within their council operations to make savings.

I didn't see Port Stephens Council take that attitude.

In regard to the closure of Telstra, let's call it for what it is, a very lame excuse for closing the Salamander Bay branch.

Telstra have been singing their own praises on TV in regards to all their payphones now being free but how many are there in our area?

As far as I can tell, they are few and far between.

The company has also stated that they have brought all their call centres back home from overseas. They should have never left our shores to start with. And to say that they were not busy enough to keep the Salamander store open - how can they explain that? On many occasions people have had to make an appointment or walk around the centre and wait for a phone call to say that someone was available to see them.

I have been informed by two technicians that Telstra is winding down their BigPond email accounts. If so, that's another blow to people who will now have to open a different account and pass this on to all companies and friends. I called into their office and was informed by a nice young man that the staff were not happy either.

The answers they were told to give was to go to Raymond Terrace or phone them and be prepared to wait.

What an insult to Telstra customers.

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