Dr Priya’s compensation claim is rejected

The issue

Dr Priya runs a medical clinic and has phone and internet services with ReliableNet. The clinic uses its internet service to process EFTPOS payments and Medicare claims.

The clinic moved and Dr Priya asked ReliableNet to transfer the services to the new address.

It took two months to get the service working at the new address. Dr Priya says during the two month period, the clinic could not process payments or Medicare claims. She said as a result of this the clinic had to turn away several patients and lost business.

Dr Priya contacted the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman to complain, saying she wanted ReliableNet to pay compensation for the clinic’s reduced income during the fault period.

However, the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman did not consider it was fair and reasonable for ReliableNet to compensate Dr Priya for her business losses because she did not take reasonable steps to protect her business.

The technical information for Dr Priya’s EFTPOS and Medical claim device showed that the device could have worked using any internet connection, not just a wired internet connection from the office. This means Dr Priya could have purchased a wireless internet device to keep using her EFTPOS device while waiting for a more permanent connection.

Names of individuals and retail providers have been changed.