Neil was not offered a reasonable payment arrangement when he was unable to work

The complaint

The outcome

After we referred Neil’s complaint to Pebble Telco’s escalated complaints team, Pebble Telco agreed Neil could pay off his debt over several months, at a monthly rate he could afford.

The issue

Neil has several services with Pebble Telco. Last year, he became seriously ill and was not able to work. This significantly reduced the income available to Neil’s family each week. Because of this, he was not able to keep up with his monthly payments and a large debt built up on his account.

Neil contacted Pebble Telco to ask for help. Pebble Telco gave Neil an extension on the due date for his charges, but when the extension ran out he was not able to pay off the full amount. Neil contacted Pebble Telco again, but it refused to consider setting up a payment arrangement unless he paid $350 within the following fortnight.

Neil could not afford this, so he contacted our office.

The investigation

After we referred Neil’s complaint to Pebble Telco’s escalated complaints team, they came to an agreement about how Neil would pay off his debt.

The outcome

Neil agreed to cancel some of his services to reduce his ongoing monthly charges. Pebble Telco agreed Neil could pay off his debt over several months, at a monthly rate he could afford.

*Names of all parties have been changed.

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.

Home phone

Internet

Mobile phone