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Billing complaint

The complaint
Elderly customer is signed up to a contract that she didn't need or understand.
The outcome
Contract is cancelled without penalty.

The issue

Two smiling elderly women.

Lynn* is 78 years old, lives alone and has very little knowledge of technology. 

Lynn noticed that her name was not spelt correctly on her home phone bill. She went into her local Violet Telco* store to have this fixed. In store, Violet Telco convinced Lynn to sign up for a new NBN package while she was there. Lynn took the paperwork home and became worried that she did not understand what she had agreed to. 

The next day, Lynn spoke to her friend, Barbara*. Barbara looked at the paperwork and explained to Lynn the details of the NBN package and what it cost. Lynn became upset as she did not want this package. She visited the Violet Telco store the next day to discuss the issue. 

Violet Telco said that a cooling off period did not apply to the agreement with Lynn and she had to go ahead with the contract. 

The investigation

That evening, Barbara and Lynn submitted a complaint form on the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman’s website. Taylor*, a Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman Enquiry Officer, received the complaint and wrote a referral letter to Violet Telco’s complaints team the same day. 

The outcome

One month later, Barbara emailed the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman and said Violet Telco had cancelled Lynn’s NBN package without cost and put her on a more suitable plan.

*Names have been changed to protect privacy.

How we've helped other customers

Complaint
Carlo, a full-time student with limited income, was scammed into buying three mobile phones, leaving him with a $3,200 debt. He contacted BranchTel for help as he couldn’t afford to pay off the debt, causing him significant distress and hardship.
Outcome
During conciliation, BranchTel initially offered Carlo a payment plan of $180 per month, which he couldn’t afford. After raising concerns about this, BranchTel agreed to waive all of Carlo’s debt due to his severe financial hardship.
Complaint
Tamin Tutoring signed up for an NBN service and equipment bundle with BlockTel but experienced frequent faults with slow and dropped video calls and inconsistent phone calls. When they tried to cancel due to these issues, BlockTel demanded over $7,000 for early termination.
Outcome
Tamin Tutoring didn’t want to pay this cancellation fee because the service never worked properly. After complaining to our office, the parties agreed that Tamin Tutoring could exit its contract and only pay 40 per cent of the cost of the cancellation fees.