Advice on friends problem

luke · 13-11-2006, 09:31 PM

Hi all
A friend of mine has just informed me that his telco called him and notified him of his phone bill. He is about half way through his billing cycle, and his phone bill totals $11,000.

A bit of information:
He's on a 3G cap plan, i think it's $49 for several hundred dollars worth of calls etc. You get the idea.

A person from a call centre sold him the deal with handset and plan over the phone. They explained all the details to him and he entered into a verbally signed contract.

What they didn't tell him was that for the first month, data calls and GPRS were free. Kind of like a "Trial Period".

So anyway, new bill cycle starts, my friend connects his phone to his computer and proceeds to download several gigabytes of data. His last bill did not reflect any data charges in the previous month so he assumed that it wasn't costing him very much. Now he's in debt for eleven grand and is unable to pay it. The telco told him that he should have read the contract, however he never recieved one. The person told him most of the details over the phone and he agreed verbally.

What should he do? I suggested consumer affairs.
The telco concerned starts with a "T" and ends with "elstra".

What does everyone think? Was it his fault? Or is he yet another victim of a big corporation just trying to make its dollar?

Luke.

Falcon_Phill · 13-11-2006, 09:39 PM

hahahahaha. THAT SUCKS!

BJ · 13-11-2006, 09:41 PM

I would say he is in deep Shiite. He has no one to blame but himself. It was up to him to make sure that he had a currant contract, as they say in court ignorance is no excuses. Shurely some one at his telco will listen, but then again they aren't obliged to are they. Buyer beware.

Danny · 13-11-2006, 09:45 PM

How could anything used on a phone possibly cost 11grand for half a months worth.
I don't reckon I could rack that up if I tried to!

Are you talking about WAP, because ive got it and its not that expensive. Besides, who could put up with the slow crappy WAP for long enough to get themselves 11 grand in debt.

What services have been this phenomenally expensive. I can't see how this half monthly bill could be possible. Is it a mistake on telstras part?

MRAH33 · 13-11-2006, 09:47 PM

Damn that is harsh. as BJ stated im sure someone at the telco will be able to help in some way.

I6corp · 13-11-2006, 09:47 PM

Arghh..... Feel for him, he doesnt have anyones else to blame.

But he should give consumer affairs a call, and or today tonight ;)

Psycho Chicken · 13-11-2006, 09:48 PM

Ummmm, I'd say he's a certain distance along the tributary of excrement river with no means of propulsion for his manually propelled water vessel.

Ignorance will be in the contract more than likely. He more than likely got a copy of it in the mail.

luke · 13-11-2006, 09:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Danny

How could anything used on a phone possibly cost 11grand for half a months worth.
I don't reckon I could rack that up if I tried to!

Are you talking about WAP, because ive got it and its not that expensive. Besides, who could put up with the slow crappy WAP for long enough to get themselves 11 grand in debt.

What services have been this phenomenally expensive. I can't see how this half monthly bill could be possible. Is it a mistake on telstras part?

Good point. I've never had a plan like this before but I do know that WAP can be notoriously expensive, at least if you plug your phone into a computer. I know that my old plan I used to be on charged me 2 cents per kilobyte. There's 1024kb in a megabyte and 1024Mb in a Gigabyte. So you see how it can rack up. I'm still investigating exactly how much his plan charges for such a thing though.

pertuan · 13-11-2006, 09:56 PM

I'd say that your friend is basically stuffed. It is/was his responsibility to read the contract and the terms and conditions. I'm sure a copy was available on the net and the telco will most likely say that it was always available even though your friend was never sent a copy.

I'm guessing all that can be done here is to try and appeal to the telco to give him a discount.

Scott · 13-11-2006, 09:57 PM

Wow, sucks to be him eh?

Could try to get out of it with help from TT or ACA...... they're always up for a sucker story and if there seems to be any chance of a big target misleading someone they will go after it.

Might be worth the call to try and save $11k....... damn that's a lot of porn.

luke · 13-11-2006, 10:04 PM

I'm just glad he doesn't read AFF, because the replies I'm getting are not good. Thanks for your input so far.

ACA or TT does sound like a good idea, because it is your typical sob story.

I still feel as though all these big companies take advantage of people who don't read the fine print. Yes it's their own fault but I still feel as though the Indian call centre should have explained it a bit better at the time.
I think the only reason they have plans with lock-in contracts is because they won't be able to keep business otherwise.

Green X · 13-11-2006, 10:05 PM

Why would you use your phone to download 7 Gigabits!!!

It was porn wasn’t it LOL.

But yeah that really sucks!!!

“A person from a call centre sold him the deal with handset and plan over the phone. They explained all the details to him and he entered into a verbally signed contract”.> Mate the last conversation I had with a call centre about buying my current phone in 35 minutes of talking I understood about 2 sentences.

I am sure the guy on the other end thought he was speaking English to me, but it all came out in clicks and buzzes to me. ********* call centres you can’t understand a ********* thing they are saying, I just hang up now if the ring me.

bEAn86 · 13-11-2006, 10:10 PM

ah good news! i think my T3 shares have just gone up! time to sell me thinks

91Laser · 13-11-2006, 10:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by luke

the Indian call centre should have explained it a bit better at the time.

Ahhhh, India calling!!!!!.

I always hang-up, since i cannot understand what they say anyway

:

Regards,

Rob

eb_5litre · 13-11-2006, 10:13 PM

Go get into heaps more debt then file for bankruptcy............ (j/k)

the_scotsman · 13-11-2006, 10:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Psycho Chicken

Ummmm, I'd say he's a certain distance along the tributary of excrement river with no means of propulsion for his manually propelled water vessel.

cArSiK · 13-11-2006, 10:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by luke

So anyway, new bill cycle starts, my friend connects his phone to his computer and proceeds to download several gigabytes of data. His last bill did not reflect any data charges in the previous month so he assumed that it wasn't costing him very much. Now he's in debt for eleven grand and is unable to pay it. The telco told him that he should have read the contract, however he never recieved one. The person told him most of the details over the phone and he agreed verbally.

Hmm you answered the $11,000 question right there - "He assumed". Expensive mistake but im sure Telstra will come to some arangement with him...Great time for telstra inverstors I say :hihi:

James

Bill_R · 13-11-2006, 10:39 PM

He's gone overboard to rack up $11,000.
I might be wrong but I thought they needed to send a Product Disclosure to the client?
In this sort of case I think it woudl be "responsible" for the Telco to contact he customer and warn them. They are in the market to make $$$ so I don't see that happening.
He might get a reduction on it but, unless they have failed in discolsure, then he's up for a big bill.
Get him to give the Telecommunications Ombudsman a call. They are usually quite good. He'll need to know what outcome he wants and what reason he has.

starwars_guy456 · 13-11-2006, 10:41 PM

That's so dodgy!

This situation MAY fall under section52(1) of the Trade Practices Act 1974 (Commonwealth) - "a corporation shall not, in trade or commerce, engage in conduct that is misleading or deceptive or is likely to mislead or deceive"

or maybe also under "Unconscionable dealing" under common law...

real legal advice should be sought from the lawyers though, but from what I can gather, the company, through the use of their call centre, has taken advantage of the disability (lack of knowledge) of your friend and entered into a contract.

BJ · 13-11-2006, 11:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by luke

ACA or TT does sound like a good idea

Why?? How old is this bloke. Don't you think it is his responsibility to either pay it back or to come to some sort of compromise?? Why the hell should some one else go into bat for him, personally i think he was dumb enough to get him self into this i think he should get him self out. Bj

cArSiK · 13-11-2006, 11:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BJ

Why?? How old is this bloke. Don't you think it is his responsibility to either pay it back or to come to some sort of compromise?? Why the hell should some one else go into bat for him, personally i think he was dumb enough to get him self into this i think he should get him self out. Bj

Damn straigt. The guy excessivly used a service without checking rates. He should have to pay no questions. I know it sounds harsh but its the truth and the LAW.

chich · 13-11-2006, 11:21 PM

HAHAHA... shafted. In the company's defence at least they called him to inform of excessive use. Regardless, he should at least try to fight it - nothing to loose and everything to gain. I'm sure he'll be able to come up with some creative reasons as to why he shouldn't pay up.

I get seriously p*ssed off when i look at my tax bill every year.. this i definitely wouldn't be able to stomach. EVER.

luke · 13-11-2006, 11:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cArSiK

Hmm you answered the $11,000 question right there - "He assumed". Expensive mistake but im sure Telstra will come to some arangement with him...Great time for telstra inverstors I say :hihi:

James

Agreed. Never assume.
He did make some mention about a month ago about how he didn't need to get broadband because he "could get it heaps cheap through his mobile", to which my reply was "just be careful".

The telco never sent him a Product disclosure statement as far as I know, that's what he told me.

luke · 13-11-2006, 11:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BJ

Why?? How old is this bloke. Don't you think it is his responsibility to either pay it back or to come to some sort of compromise?? Why the hell should some one else go into bat for him, personally i think he was dumb enough to get him self into this i think he should get him self out. Bj

Thinking about what I said earlier, it is his fault. I for one always carefully go over contracts, billing schedules, etc BEFORE I even enter into the contract. It's just a shame that not everyone follows that basic rule.

Scott · 13-11-2006, 11:45 PM

It isn't reasonable for the telco (or any business) to let a private user rack up this sort of bill without discussing it with the user when a manageable amount had been reached. Perhaps a call at $2000 would demonstrate a responsible corporate approach.

Waiting until it gets to $11k is laughable and I hope they get dragged through the crapper for it.

What's to say this same thing doesn't happen to an intellectually disabled person? How does the telco protect themselves and users against this proposition? They don't. They would have no idea who they are talking to and obviously have little care either.

ps - I assume he's not but measures should be in place to avoid situations like this. And yes, I think your friend is a dumbass who should read the fine print too.

ck11 · 13-11-2006, 11:57 PM

He made a mistake but $11,000 is a big price to pay for a mistake. That is a ridiculous amount. Get him to give the ombudsman a call asap and find out his options. The indian call center guys can be really dodgy and can be very misleading. The company will give him the usual spin about how they have the conversation recorded and it is a contract. If your friend can demonstrate that he was misled about data charges (e.g. if operator implied or said data download was free) then he has a case regardless of a "contract".

We had a problem with another telecommunications company who tried the same "agreed to contract over the phone thing" but we managed to prove they were misleading.

So depending on the cirumstances he might be able to mitigate the damage.

Wouldnt it be good if people were actually constructive in their comments rather than heap more criticism on some guy and take the righteous attitude. Afterall some of the people here are noble perfect citizens that never make a mistake.

clontarf_x · 14-11-2006, 12:42 AM

I suggest he read his contract pronto. I doubt that the $11,000 is made up entirely of WAP charges. There is something more to the story here...

Working in a Telco I can tell you there are measures in place when a customers spending becomes excessive...

Danny · 14-11-2006, 12:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GMH8TR

damn that's a lot of porn.

It's a very expensive ****. Thats for sure...

Outbackjack · 14-11-2006, 01:00 AM

Is there still such a thing as the telecomunication ombudsman?? That is where I would be heading.

Panda · 14-11-2006, 02:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Outbackjack

Is there still such a thing as the telecomunication ombudsman?? That is where I would be heading.

Yes there is. However you may as well talk to the wall.

I have seen a similar case to this, and the outcome was not great. The Telco agreed to take smaller monthly repayments of the original amount (it was only about $2000 though).

Panda