Conall was sold more than $15,000 worth of mobiles and accessories while on a government pension

The complaint

Conall was sold more than $15,000 worth of mobiles and accessories while on a government pension by CurbTel.

The outcome

CurbTel agreed to waive the cancellation fees out of goodwill to Conall. It let him keep his mobile handsets.

The issue

Conall has significant ongoing physical and mental health conditions. He is not able to work and relies on government support
for income.

Conall went to a CurbTel store wanting to sign up for new mobile services.

CurbTel signed him up for multiple expensive mobile handsets, plans, and accessories. The cost over the contract period was more than $15,000.

When Conall did not meet his monthly payments, CurbTel cancelled the services. It also charged him for breaking the contracts, which included high payout costs for the mobile handsets and other equipment.

The investigation

Conall’s representative complained to us saying CurbTel had not sold the services responsibly. The representative said Conall did not understand the contracts or costs involved when signing up for the services and could not afford to pay for them.

CurbTel told us it was appropriate to sell Conall the services. It said he passed its credit check process because he had previously paid his accounts on time. CurbTel also said it had prevented Conall from purchasing more than four handsets.

The outcome

However, following the complaint to our office, CurbTel agreed to waive the cancellation fees out of goodwill to Conall. It let him keep his mobile handsets.

*Names of all parties have been changed.

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How we've helped other customers

Carlo was placed into further hardship after falling victim to a scam

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.

Mobile phone

Tamin Tutoring was charged an unfairly high early cancellation fee

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.

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