Tag Archives: consumer

ACCC executes perfect hit on Telstra, Optus and Vodafone

Posted on 15 September 2009 by Peter Moon

After months of secret negotiations, Telstra, Optus & Voda have rolled over and ‘offered’ ACCC a court enforceable undertaking … equivalent to court injunctions … to stamp out false advertising in the broadband and telephony industry. When legal advisers warn second and … Continue reading →

Posted in advertising, Trade Practices Act | Tagged ACCC, consumer, misleading, optus, section 52, Telstra, tpa, Trade Practices Act, vodafone | 3 Comments

Senate Committee rubber stamps draft unfair contracts law

Posted on 13 September 2009 by Peter Moon

The Senate Standing Committee on Economics has received, and noted, strong submissions that part of the proposed new unfair contracts law can’t be right. But so what ? The Committee majority finds no fault with the reasoning of law Professor … Continue reading →

Posted in New laws, Trade Practices Act | Tagged consumer, contracts, Trade Practices Act, unfairness | 1 Comment

Optus toughens up mobile contract

Posted on 29 July 2009 by Peter Moon

Last December Optus incurred customer wrath, effectively torpedoing mobile access to cheap international VoIP services by charging them at international rates. At the time, Optus insisted that: International calls within the meaning of your Optus Mobile Standard Form of Agreement for all … Continue reading →

Posted in New laws, Trade Practices Act | Tagged consumer, optus, sfoa, Trade Practices Act, unfairness | 3 Comments

Consumer Bill’s bonkers bit

Posted on 28 June 2009 by Peter Moon

There’s an element in the proposed national unfair contract terms law that: isn’t in the Productivity Commission report that recommended the new law isn’t in the Victorian law that is already in force in Victoria isn’t in the United Kingdom … Continue reading →

Posted in New laws, Trade Practices Act | Tagged consumer, Trade Practices Act | 1 Comment

TPG still can’t get liability law right

Posted on 6 June 2009 by Peter Moon

Are some companies allergic to best practice legal compliance ? TPG has finally changed a seriously illegal misrepresentation about handset warranties in its Mobile Fair Go policy, after we highlighted the problem in December 2008 and again in May 2009. … Continue reading →

Posted in How not to do it, Trade Practices Act | Tagged ACCC, consumer, Trade Practices Act, warranties, warranty | Leave a comment

ACCC explains warranty laws … again

Posted on 16 March 2009 by Peter Moon

For some reason, many businesses just can’t get their minds around Australia’s warranty laws. ACCC has issued a new booklet explaining how it works, again. The subject has been addressed any number of times by the Commission in the past. … Continue reading →

Posted in advertising, Making sense of contracts, Trade Practices Act | Tagged consumer, remedies, Trade Practices Act, warranties | 2 Comments

Test yourself: Who is a Consumer and what is a Consumer Contract ?

Posted on 27 January 2009 by Erhan Karabardak

One of our recent posts raised an interesting question which many ISPs and telcos seem to overlook; Who is a ‘Consumer’ under the CommsAlliance Telecommunications Consumer Protections Code 628:2007 (the “TCP Code”) ? The answer has some pretty serious consequences. … Continue reading →

Posted in Code compliance, Making sense of contracts, Spot Check | Tagged Comms Alliance, consumer, Consumer Contracts, TCP Code | Leave a comment

Mythbuster: A CSP can’t cut service just because a payment is late

Posted on 12 November 2008 by Peter Moon

A surprising number of people, both service providers and consumers, believe that an overdue payment entitles a CSP to suspend or terminate service. For consumer and small business contracts, that simply isn’t true. If there’s nothing more to it, the … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Mythbusters | Tagged consumer, contract, regulation | Leave a comment

3 signs up for new Consumer Code

Posted on 29 September 2008 by Peter Moon

The Communications Alliance has announced: ‘Hutchison 3G Australia Pty Ltd (3 mobile) has become the first signatory to the new code designed to protect telecommunications consumers.’ They’re talking about the Telecommunications Consumer Protection Code, a consolidation of six previous codes … Continue reading →

Posted in Telecommunications Act | Tagged ACMA, consumer, consumer protection, regulation | Leave a comment

TIO – Tricks of the trade: Part 2

Posted on 5 September 2008 by Erhan Karabardak

We learned how to approach and assess a TIO complaint in the first part of this series. in this second part, we look at how to effectively respond to the TIO and achieve the best outcomes. In the first part … Continue reading →

Posted in TIO | Tagged consumer, TIO | Leave a comment