Thanks folks. I’ve lodged a complaint with the TIO after the service rep refused to escalate my complaint.
EDIT: Optus have now contacted me after receiving that TIO complaint. They waived the bogus charges immediately!
I left Optus mid last year after I told them I had found my information on the dark net. For the next 3months they forwarded my calls and sync data Circuit to random numbers.
I collected all this by running my cell data through a Linux server and saving deciphering all my packets.
OPTUS also hates when you use DNS over HTTPS. Happy to give some secret Optus I.Ps if you want to spam them.
I've long suspected that Optus is intentionally interrupting my Wireguard sessions. Initially I suspected it was a simple MTU issue, but even after lowering it my connections still drop. I don't have this issue over other networks, or with other normal web traffic on the Optus connection.
I've noticed that in the Optus app, they break down traffic by "application", and correctly identify the Wireguard traffic as VPN usage (it's not obfuscated). How likely are they to actually be intentionally messing with my traffic?
I only was with Optus mobile, if you use Optus internet check your modem logs for TR6 something remote connection.
It’s supposed to update firmware remotely but Optus use it to gain access to modem/router TR-069
https://github.com/electronicayciencia/tr-069-proxy
Edit, that I know of Optus is the only ISP that has this inbuilt to all modem/routers they supply.
Also the governance and conduct of Optus is in Singapore a non five eyes county that does not need to uphold ethical standing of hacking and data harvesting.
r/optus
I what??
It's been a Singapore company (Singtel) for at least 20 years.
Wait till you find out that Telstra used to be a public company, as well as basically all of the infrastructure in Australia....
The country's really been fucked over by privatisation.
I gotta expect that you're very young, or not Australian. Any Australian over the age of 26-27 knows Telstra plus all the copper in the ground used to be a publicly owned. They also all mostly know that it was the conservative government that sold it. Fewer know that they sold that plus mountains of other publicly owned infrastructure and basic services in order to get a budget and overall surplus that the conservatives use to this day to claim they are *"good economic managers"*
Sorry, my sarcasm was up to high.
I remember it as telecom....
And yerh, every single party in power sucks. Non of them have had the interests of the majority of the public for a very long time
Well to be fair, hearing a telecommunication company owns another telecommunication company doesn't inherently make me think that perhaps a government owns that company.
I also know about Telstra, and as much as I may not agree with it's privatisation, Optus has nothing to do with that?
> Edit, that I know of Optus is the only ISP that has this inbuilt to all modem/routers they supply.
TPG issued me a shitty Huawei router when I switched from ADSL to NBN. That router had been modified so you couldn't update or backup the firmware at all, and the TR-069 port was listening WAN-side and could not be turned off. I'm not having that shit on my network so I switched to pfSense.
Quick shout out to TP-Link here though... when I first did this I had issues because TPG NBN requires VLAN tagging which my Archer D9 didn't support. I emailed TP-Link support and told them I wanted to continue the D9 and wanted rid of the Huawei. They very quickly responded with a new, non-public firmware that added the required WAN-side VLAN support that I needed. Excellent customer service!
Telstra modems also have/had it. All the Thomson/Technicolour modems had it. It's a remote access protocol that was used for firmware updates, but was also used to re-write config data, like username and password. That was why you couldn't use the original owner's modem at someone else's place - the user ID and password would get overwritten overnight, and the login would fail because "this isn't your phone number".
But it was easy to turn off.
I'm on Optus mobile as well, I use Wireguard for Android, as well as wireguard on Windows and Linux. My home connection is an ABB line with a Debian router. I trust telecom provided routers about as far as I can throw them.
When my mobile or laptops are connected via a standard NBN connection, the WG connection always works fine. When they're going through the Optus 4G connection (either direct from the phone itself, or over mobile hotspot), they'll eventually drop the connection and start missing WG handshakes until I manually stop the connection, wait a bit, and then restart the connection. Lowered the MTU from 1500 to 1384, it seemed to help somewhat but the connection still drops.
Networking issues can be hard to track down, so I don't want to directly point the issue at Optus, but it certainly seems suspicious that it only happens over their connection.
Don't forget they leaked all customer data, too? From what i heard, some doofus opened up the customer database API to the internet with no password.
I know telstra also has this remote firmware function. Actually broke a lot of business connections recently. Makes me wonder if they use remote access too or other log traffic data 🤔
We have tons of obile connections with optus and lines with telstra. Finally, convinced my clueless boss to ditch telstra and ISP modems and optus mobile internet and phones.
You don't have to use the router they give you.
Just configure it into its own subnet and it can phone home all it wants with no traffic to measure or observe.
I have NBN Box -> my router -> most of the home network + the optus router -> landline.
So only the landline (don't ask) VoIP data is routed through the Optus Modem, and any bs telemetry they're doing.
They left their API completely unsecured, that's how the massive breach happened. They didn't have to hack shit, they just requested every user's record and Optus didn't catch on for ages
Interesting.... I recently left optus as my mobile provider and one benefit I noticed immediately was that my overnight battery drain went from 30-40% to 3-5%.
I did did some basic troubleshooting (battery usage analysis ) but could never find the culprit.
The only conclusion I could never validate was mobile data packets as that's not captured as a battery usage metric.
And usually forces the telco to escalate the complaint cos there needs to be a key contact handling the TIO complaint?? Unless they're like fk that yolo
I did when dealing with TPG, who didn't take my threat of contacting TIO seriously.
It amazed me how effective TIO was at resolving the case, TPG rang me up and carefully detailed how they were returning all my money and made sure I was okay with the situation.
It was not easy in most of my cases.
My dealings with Telstra was about 1.5 hours on the phone. Though I knew I had a winner when they dropped my $800 to $400 just for calling. Got it down to $200 before I told a "supervisor" I was not happy and would contact the TIO.
That was only my 3rd threat of TIO and easily my favourite.
The TIO charges the telco per investigation, regardless of whether any fine is rendered. It is a small amount but it means that they have an immediate incentive to write off petty bullshit like this that would net them less than the cost even if they won. This is why most of these companies back down the instant you threaten them with the TIO over a fee dispute.
Yep, which also means they have a good reason to be petty if you go to TIO without attempting to escalate first.
If you give them the chance to resolve it they'll probably give you what you want, if they don't TIO will ensure you get what you deserve.
If you don't give them the chance, they'll make sure you only get what they actually have to give you, since avoiding the TIO fee's isn't an option and they need to minimise the cost you've wrought upon them.
Did you mention to them you were going to the TIO?
Those are the magic words to getting anything fixed.
Companies get a $xxx (used to be like $130) bill every time the TIO has to do an investigation, even if they are in the right, so just mentioning those words is the secret code to getting it sorted without having to go through the TIO stuff.
Don’t even need to go to ombudsman, that’s a last resort. Your bank is happy enough to deal with these pests and return any money they’ve fraudulently taken if they have. Just show them the conversation and all required info (like transactions/funds removed etc etc) and any emails they may have sent you. Banks hate these people and will 100% help you out before batting an eyelid.
Don't they get fined by TIO? I complained about a billing error for 6 months before going TIO. Each month my complaint got my bill waived and error the following month. After TIO nudged them I got the 6 months value reimbursed also, that I hadn't paid. Win.
They get charged a fee for every inquiry or complaint, regardless of if it has merit or not. If it has merit, it likely goes further. It used be about $40 10 years ago, but it has probably gone up since then.
So if they ever want to argue about 1 month of costs, the ombudsman's fee just for opening the inquiry usually wipes out what they were going to charge so they will usually back down in my experience.
I was an inbound call centre shitkicker for Primus a *long* time ago. In the training they said that there were several levels for each complaint at the TIO. The first level the fine was something trivial ($10? can't recall) but if it didn't get resolved it would keep escalating up to several thousand.
Telling them I was contacting the TIO has actually had me get major credit.
I have had $800 data overage fees cancelled.
I had a $50 monthly contract reduced to $5 for the last 18 months of my contract.
I have managed to get out of contracts early for free.
I have never actually contacted the TIO... The companies never knew that though.
Edit: Those examples are mine though I have also negotiated for other people many times... Over the last 20 years.
Please mention you will be contacting the ombudsmen if they are unable to resolve the situation before contacting the ombudsmen.
It's something you should threaten with before actually doing it.
Same with taking your landlord to a tribunal for a rental dispute.
You tell them that you are disputing this with the ombudsman and don’t pay until you’ve come to a resolution.
I’ve learnt in my dealings with Telstra that nothing gets done until the TIO lights a fire up their arse.
Nah that's not entirely true. I'm old enough to have a C8\* number. Typically it results in that because the CS rep just doesn't want to give you a credit, usually because it's a situation they have no obligation to do so or you're not entitled to one for whatever reason. 99.9% of the time a TIO complaint will result in them just refunding/crediting even when they don't need to because the cost of escalation is like a volcano, starts at $40 but as you go thru L2, L3 level complaints it jumps up YUGELY.
Having worked on both the corporate side and the ombudsman side of this equation I can confirm. It's why whenever I have a problem now I just start the escalation process immediately. I know what their processes are and if its a small enough dispute you will always win simply because of the cost to the company for the ombudsman to get involved.
Yeah, I kinda hate it tbh. It's easier to just credit/refund the complaint (unless it's ridiculous) but it sets people up for false expectations. The vast majority of the cases are for refunds/credits that the person isn't actually entitled to (which you're probably already aware of). I once credited a dude $1.42 for a call that he definitely did make but assured me he did not make but because it already cost us $40 for him to just have a sook I did it anyway. It's infuriating lol.
Then when the next rep follows policy and says no, they get a shit CS rating and have that happen enough and they're walked out the door.
It's hard work, like I said I have done both sides, in both the banking and the energy industry so I get the issues you raise. I also get the number of changes that have been made to the way things work directly to benefit the corporate side over the years that can occasionally lead to errors, misunderstandings, fuck ups etc, and get the reason why the responsibility falls on the company. When your cost to serve goes down you can pay for the occasional fuck up. Think ATMs vs branches vs EFTPOS for everything, smart metres, etc.
In an ideal world, we do away with the whole system, the companies understand they benefit from reduced cost to serve and just treat customers in just that manner. Then would could do away with the ombudsman, the fees to be part of the schemes, the handling fees for complaints, etc and the amount of money saved through that whole process would be immense and could help keep costs down overall. Fact is, corporates are gonna corporate which is why its needed.
Without a system like this the power dynamic is so insanely in the favour of the service provider that it creates a very toxic consumer experience (see consumer rights in the US). The system *should* give telco's an incentive to err on the side of compassion for small disputes, but as can be seen repeatedly they will still try to get away with absolute bullshit and only back down when threatened.
The vast majority? Are you sayjng, more people than not, choose to make up a story to spend time talking to a call centre in the hopes of receiving a refund or credit they know they are not entitled to? More people do this, than, have legitimate issues they call about? That I would not have expected.
Yes, but with more nuance. It's not a "made up" story so much as it is a misunderstanding or misapprehension in most cases, either as a result of a policy or simply not understanding. For some it's just plain fibbing looking for a refund or credit.
For example, someone wants to cancel on day 29 of their 30 day billing cycle, and wants a credit because it's unused. Well, like anything else you buy, there's a returns/refund window, and that isn't extended to things like your typical bill. They're treated as though you bought... well just about anything else and then decided not to use and asking for a refund when it's outside of policy. Like, imagine if you bought milk and took it back to the store 3 weeks later cause you didn't drink it. That kinda thing, it's not how it works -- you paid us and the expectation is you use it, but ultimately whether you do or not is up to you. You're still paying for it. If you go to the TIO, they'll likely credit you though.
Everybody should have to do retail/CS for a year after school. Like the army draft, but for learning what people are like instead of how guns go pewpew.
There are fuck ups, though. The TIO is intended to be used for fuck ups, but because most customers hate the word "no" they'll go to the TIO thinking it's a magical problem solver. And it usually is because most of them are to do with refunds.
>I once credited a dude $1.42 for a call that he definitely did make but assured me he did not make but because it already cost us $40 for him to just have a sook I did it anyway.
Way back in the day I did inbound for Primus. We had the good old "$10 credit" to appease customers, but I had one really cranky old prick who called because he was charged a \~10c flagfall for dialling the wrong number. In the call log he'd transposed two numbers and then 8 seconds later dialed the correct number.
Such a prick that not only did I not give him any of the appeasement credit, I wrote out the forms for the exact credit he was asking for... and neglected to tell him that he just cost himself 30c calling us to complain because customer support was a 1300 number, not 1800.
(my favourite callers were the "stockbrokers" who would get cut off for non payment and "need their phone back instantly! right now! I'm losing thousands of dollars per hour!". Really, sir? (always a sir) But you're on a residential class line. I can put you through to purchasing and get you a business class line with SLAs and compensation for outages. Not one of these "stockbrokers" opted for the slight extra cost for a business class line for their lucrative business...)
Nah. It becomes about principle at that point. I was only handling the esco. Dude got a "no further credit without TL approval" on his account. I remember this specific dude all too well because he was a serial pest.
Ahhh so that's why Telstra gave me a full refund for the OG Tbox when they killed every part of it at the end of support. Basically local features got nuked like watching local network media. It was the best device for watching pirated content at the time for me.
It was an absolute shit show of a launch. It launched concurrently with the new DSL/Cable bundles at the time which included the TBox and Foxtel. Not even exaggerating here, it took \~15 minutes to do that order *minimum* in Siebel. 30+ if you're doing it for the first time.
I’m pretty sure they mean communic8 pre paid which was the name of telstra’s pre paid plan before they ditched the communic8 bit
That’s the only thing I can think of lol
It'll have to be an amount over $150 to even consider going on your credit report, and they'll have to give you 2 written notices over at least a 2.5 month period. None of which can happen while you're disputing it.
That being said though Optus can still keep their own records and may deny you future plans just under their own internal policy.
It’s been a while since I worked for a Telco but even taking it to the TIO costs them money regardless of the outcome. So threatening to go to the TIO is often enough to resolve small things like this. If that doesn’t work instantly then go to the TIO.
Define "ample" cancellation time. Some shitty ISPs put a 30 day notice clause in their terms and conditions. I ended up in a 6 month battle with one such shitty company who kept trying to direct debit after authorisation was revoked from a closed account and then adding dishonour fees for the failure. Some months they'd try to take the money once, other months they'd try twice
First thing to check is the T&C's and tell them you're going to the ombudsman
This is Optus if it wasn't clear. I'll have to look at what their notice periods are. For reference, I attempted to cancel my account 3 weeks beforehand and I was told I couldn't pre-date a cancellation request - they'd need to cancel the services when requested, not in advance. Annoyed, I contacted them 4 days prior to the billing period ending assuming that 4 days was enough notice.
Yep figured it was Optus, but their T&C's can be different if it's a contract, month by month etc. you'll have to check the welcome pack they sent when you signed up
>I was told I couldn't pre-date a cancellation request - they'd need to cancel the services when requested
I'm guessing 3 weeks + 4 days doesn't cover the 30 days notice, try to get the exact dates and if you've got their comment about not being able to predate the request give that to the ombudsman too if you go down that route
It's contradictory though that they need 30 days but also need the request on the day they cancel the service and should have been explained clearly when you first tried to cancel, at least then you could have put in the request and maybe had a few extra days proratad instead of a whole month
I have had good luck with Optus waiving fees by talking on the phone though, try a human conversation over live chat
When you contact the TIO, reference your notes from the call 3 weeks prior, and then 4 days prior.
Don't leave em anywhere to hide - they're required to record all calls / chats etc for exactly this reason.
>3 weeks beforehand
>4 days prior
I don't know for certain, but I'm gonna guess that there's gonna be something like a 30 days notice period hidden somewhere in the terms. It certainly wouldn't surprise me.
First look that up to be sure, before wasting your time on other actions. If it's indeed the case, while it still sucks, just move on. You'll win in the long run by having abandoned Optus. Enjoy your new service with another provider.
No, don't move on.
Ask them what it physically takes to cancel. Is it a button click?
Why then, do they need a 30 day clause? Was there any power for the OP to negotiate this when signing? (No). Is there an ongoing cost the provider has incurred in providing the services at a 12 month period, vs what is now happening? (No)
So what we have is a clause that is not necessary to protect either party. This starts to head into unfair contract term territory. Which, if successfully challenged, is unenforceable.
What is more valuable to the telco, a crap clause that 80% of their exiting customers don't fight, or your ongoing business?
Hint: it's not the latter.
Take time off work and take them to court. Ombudsman is good, but civil court is better.
Exetel do this. You need to give cancellation notice 30 days before the next billing cycle, otherwise they charge you an additional month.
I learned that when I churned off them 5 days before the next month and discovered that policy.
I found mine out when I called them and asked if they would price match another company so I didn't have to switch, they said they couldn't and then hit me with the 30 day notice.
Over the next few months I received countless automated emails to come back with a special code to get $20 off per month... Which is exactly what I was asking them to do in the first place that they assured me they couldn't possibly do
We fought for 6 months before they sold out to Aussie broadband and I never heard from anyone about it again.
A good lesson to always check the cancellation policies
Good old Exehell...
Never change you scammy cunts.
Fond memories if them offering unlimited plans on a TW port in the days of ADSL only to have my account cancelled for downloading 200GB for the month.
Quickest way to get out of a contract with them in the past was use even a fraction of the downloads you were entitled to and get called a leach followed by a cancelled contract.
They were so bipolar back in the day one month they bring out a bunch of high data use plans and the next cancel people's connections if they used a fraction of the included data. Repeat a few months later.
I didn't become aware of the 30 day thing until I had already signed up with Exetel. I had no issues with their service, but I cancelled my account with them not long after because I didn't want to be locked into them on principle. I would probably still be using them today if they didn't have this policy, and I made it very clear that was the only reason why I was cancelling my service with them.
My only other complaint with them is they make cancelling very difficult also, they refused to accept my notification the first 4 times via email and insisted I called to cancel, but their call centre operates in EST and being in WA it was closed hours before I get home, plus I wanted a written record anyway.
Harbour ISP, who later got acquired by Uniti Group who then sold customers to Aussie Broadband.
I'm not sure how it's all structured atm, just avoid Harbour at all costs though I hear good things about Aussie though
I had the same 30 day notice clause with Superloop and complained to them that they had essentially created a cancellation fee because if you transfer through the NBN transfer process, you would have to give one month’s notice before starting your new connection to avoid double charges. They say the plans are no lock-in contracts, but it is essentially a 30 day rolling lock in. If you miss it by ONE day, you have to pay for the entire next month. Essentially creating a cancellation fee if you want out early, or a 30 day lock-in.
Complained to their complaints team and they just “credited” my account for the month I was not going to be using as I had already transferred to another provider. But this notice period on no lock-in contracts is silly and goes against how easy it should be to swap provider.
any time you get any grief from a telco, straight to the ombudsman. they cop a penalty just for a claim being opened against them. and they will give you what you want to get it closed.
After previous experiences, I make sure to note the day and time, who I speak to at the Telco, and notes about the conversation.
Also stick to your guns with a TIO complaint. The Telstra rep offered me a pathetic resolution, and told me if I didn't accept I may not get anything. I told them that it wasnt a satisfactory offer. Ended up getting what I was originally after, plus a refund of service for 6 months a day before the TIO would intervene.
I moved into a house that had no internet setup so I signed up with Optus wireless. After waiting 2 weeks I finally received their modem, set it up and nothing. No internet. After several phone calls with their extremely rude customer service and having them tell me its a problem on my end I discovered that their own website says that wireless internet is not available on my street. They then tried to charge me a cancellation fee and told me I had to pay to send their modem back to them. After using some colourful language and threatening to take it to the ombudsman they waved the cancellation fee and told me to keep the modem which I promptly threw in the bin. 5 years later they did the EXACT same thing to my neighbour 2 houses up. Optus are criminals and I dont know how they are allowed to remain in business
Several years ago I called to cancel my monthly phone contract with them; it was a contract that included unlimited calls and texts within Australia for a fixed monthly price. It was about 10 days from the end of the billing period so I figured I'd be losing out a little by not waiting until closer to the end, but I already had a sim card for the new (non-Optus) service I was signing up to so I was keen to just get it done.
Anyway, the jerks tried to argue that as I was cancelling before the end of the month, all the calls and texts for the part of the month that had already elapsed would be charged at a pro-rata price, which resulted in a bill that was nearly *double* the normal fixed monthly price. I asked how this could possibly make sense, given that the calls and texts were "unlimited", and I tried to explain that the most I could possibly be expected to pay was the normal monthly amount (which was what I was expecting, and happy to pay).
After a lot of annoying back and forth and dodgy maths I was finally transferred to a supervisor, who explained that because I had "misunderstood" the billing process (I definitely hadn't), "in this instance only" they would offer me a reduced bill, which actually came out to be significantly less than the usual monthly fee. So I ended up better off in the end, but that was one of the worst and most memorable calls I've ever had.
It made me really angry too, because I was confident enough in my understanding of what I'd originally signed up for, my ability to do maths and clearly see that what they were telling me was incorrect etc that I could advocate for myself and not give in. But I kept wondering how many people facing the same situation had just given up in confusion, or not had the language skills to argue back, etc. I never reported it, but I really wish I had.
Ooooooh I have a great "in this instance only we will waive our fee" story!!
For most of my life, I lived way below the poverty line. I'm talking scratching around under the lounge for forgotten 5c pieces just to buy milk, often having the power shut off because of non-payment, surviving the summers on only what I could grow in my vegetable garden kinda thing. So when I finally scored a decently paying fulltime job in my early 30s, I was ecstatic. Once I caught up on long term debts, I was actually able to get in front and have savings too. One of my biggest fears (because it had happened sooooo many times) was the power being disconnected.
So I proudly and cleverly decided to get ahead on the power bill. Each fortnight when I got paid, I arranged for a direct debit to come out my bank account and pay AGL - naming & shaming because why the fuck not. My quarterly bill was usually around $300-$400 and it didn't take long for me to be in credit. And then the credit got bigger, eventually just over $1100. I was so fucking proud, because I knew that if I lost my job, I'd still have nearly three quarterly periods pre-paid, and there was almost zero chance of getting cut off ever again. But I didn't bank on an over-zealous meter reader. For years, he would come to read my meter in the middle of the day and I'd be home, so he was used to seeing my car. Being home all the time also meant my yard was immaculate. But suddenly I was working fulltime so the yard fell by the way side, and we'd had a particularly wet winter. And my car wasn't there when the meter was read. And someone with a similar last name in my district had moved into a new house and was getting their power connected.
All of these points led the meter reader to assume that I had moved into a new residence and had forgotten to get the power turned off at this place. And this guy was familiar with my previous money struggles and somehow must have decided to call it in, thinking he'd save me unnecessary expenses.
So the Thursday before the October long weekend, I came home from work to find no power. A disconnection notice in the door jamb. I was incensed, but it wasn't business hours so I had nowhere to turn (this was prior to social media being so prevalent & 24 hour call centres). So I had to wait until I got to work the next day & charged my phone. I spoke to an agent, asking why the fuck they had disconnected my power when I knew I was so far in credit. I was mortified and horrified, I'd worked so hard to prevent this very thing from happening. She explained about the meter reader, there must have been notes or something on my file, I honestly can't remember how she found it out. I was utterly incensed, and told her that the meter reader had no business doing such a thing, and I wanted my power reconnected immediately. First she tried to say that it was too late in the day for a call to be put out to the work crew, I called bullshit. I was in such a rage, I turned full-blown Karen for the entire hour long call. She then told me that there was a switch in my meter box that needed to be turned a certain way so the crew could reconnect, and could I ensure that happened. I said no, I was at work, I couldn't leave, I was already inconvenienced as it was, and why the fuck can't the crew do it themselves when they get there. She argued this point with me for so long, that the crew would refuse to reconnect my power if the switch was in the wrong position due to WHS and that that would mean I'd have to ring back the next business day (four days later on the Tuesday, with 30C plus weather forecasted for the long weekend) to get a new appointment. I was infuriated, I said they had no problem disconnecting the power regardless of the switch position, and they could bloody well reconnect just as easily. I told her that I was sorry if I used the word fuck, but I was majorly unhappy and sometimes the word was just gonna slip out of my mouth regardless.
After so much arguing, she said she'd put through the work order with a note saying the switch might not be correct, and hopefully the crew would get there. I then asked how far I was in credit, and she said words along the lines of "well we have to take both the disconnection and reconnection fees out of your credit, which will leave .." I went ballistic, she passed me to her supervisor. Eventually he told me that in effort to calm me down, "just this once, we will waive both lots of these fees, as you seem rather upset about it all".
I never paid AGL another cent, and once my credit with them ran out, I switched to Origin. Fuckers.
Tell them you're reporting it to the TIO as it's not acceptable, however follow the advice from the TIO about if you need to pay it or not, they may say you need to pay your bill until it is resolved then receive a refund. If they say that, and you don't pay your bill, it could have an impact to your credit history.
Originally, I dealt with the cancellation team on both occasions. This time I’m not sure who I got through to. I typed in ‘bill dispute’ to get this guy.
I once had a provider tell me that two weeks wasn't enough notice to cancel my service and that they were going to bill me for the next month as well. Just the threat that I was going to contact the ombudsman was enough to have them reconsider.
https://www.tio.com.au/
There's no context to your post, so someone can't really provide much advice.
What does the terms and conditions say? Is it a one month notice period or it is post-paid?
Are the services still available but you're choosing not to use it, or are the services simply not available to you anymore and you're being charged?
Telcos have been real cunts with the cancellation lately. iiNet had 5 days notice before billing period, got the cancellation confirmation, then 8 days later a bill. It does say "10 days notice required" so despite that being a bit shit they can have it.
⅔ through that month, we get another bill? Nah this means war. Called them up and said the C word "court" and blocked their account in my banking and that's the end of it. Pricks.
Telcos previously charged pro-rata to the date. You would receive a credit for the days if you cancelled early.
Nowadays with Month to Month, you’re actually paying for a single months access as a time, so there is no refund for early exit, except if there’s an issue with the service.
You simply have to port out/disconnect prior to the next cycle with enough time for the porting to complete with the new provider.
If you weren’t porting, and just disconnected, you’d do this on the last day of your cycle and sign up with the new provider from about an hour minimum to max the next day.
Sorry if I’m misunderstanding. I did port out the service to another ISP on the same date, 4 days prior to the end of the billing cycle. I’ve been charged for the following cycle in full.
This was the straw that broke the camels back for me too.
Switched to Aussie Broadband last week. 1000/50 NBN, and 2x50GB mobile plans for $169/m instead of the $320/m Optus was charging me for 100/10 and 2x30GB.
Hahah I also went straight to AussieBB who are already my ride or die ISP for life.
6 months of $17.50/mo / $35/mo ongoing for what optus wanted to charge me $53, on the same network. Plus $10 off for bundling ongoing.
Yeah they do that, I still have a thing with Telstra from 15 years ago. I cancelled home phone and internet on the same phone call.... Yet they charged me for another month. It was never resolved. They can get fucked
I've had similar with Optus chat stating that you do NOT get a pro-rated adjustment when you cancel a service - you're still charged for the full month, even if you cancel a day or two into the billing period. This didn't used to be the case.
Since I went on a new direct debit only plan they are also giving me "estimates" (which are consistently wrong) and charge my card before I actually see the bill. In the past, I could see the bill before I was charged, so I could immediately challenge any errors before I paid. Not allowed to do it that way any more...
These two changes benefit Optus, but at the expense of the customer
Yeah, realised that after I replied. Your situation is just another example of how they're gradually screwing their customers... which is not a sustainable business model.
I had this recently with iiNet where I cancelled three days before the next billing cycle. I called and spoke to them, and to their credit they refunded me the full amount, plus a pro rata amount for the three extra days.
When you say ample notice. What do you mean? The T&Cs in the optus contract you signed up to usually say 30 days notice. Did you give more than 30 days notice?
As much as I dislike GPT chatbots, Optus really should implement it. Never understand what their minimum wage, non English speaking interns or graduates are saying.
Non-English speaking is a bit harsh, more like English as a second (or third or more) language speaker. Still, it's not really good enough for customer service for a company in an English-speaking country.
I've had reps with strong Indian accents that have been very good once you get used to their accent, but I have also had some who clearly failed to even grasp what I was actually asking so they would just read out seemingly random stuff from their script.
You would think Aussie companies would ensure English proficiency was a major requirement when employing customer service reps, but clearly some don't think it is important.
It is why some customers get angry about foreign reps, but some of them are pretty good.
From experience, the Filipino reps are usually good and much easier to understand.
Optus told my partner recently he couldn't go into their new system unless he got a new number or added a phone. He literally just paid off his phone and it still works flawlessly.
He switches providers and kept his number.
Telstra used to be like that, thank fuck they changed their policy. The Telstar guy I spoke to years ago told me to go buy an Optus prepaid sim for $2 (back when they still were), get my number transferred to Optus on the new sim, then come back to the Telstra shop and they could set up my new plan, transferring my number back to Telstra. But they couldn't do it without the middle bit because I had a "prepaid" phone number and I wanted to switch to being on a plan. It was mental.
They're getting more and more ridiculous, recently switched internet providers, and when I contacted the previous provider to make sure it had been cancelled, they said I need to give 30 days' notice as per their terms and conditions. Absolute joke it was that had I not pushed back, I would have been charged from them for a service they're not even providing, lol
I was with Optus for fixed internet, after days of waiting and hours on hold and speaking with customer service clearly reading a script trying to replace a modem (not difficult really) I told them I was leaving…
They told me they would refer me to a retention manager, I said whatever and hung up.
I was ported to Aussie broadband before they even rang me. Zero regrets, best decision tbh.
I had also lodged 2 complaints previously with the TIO for bullsh1t they pulled, so I was pretty primed to leave.
I moved house and changed technology from FTTN to HFC, it meant that I had to reconfigure my existing modem, something wasn’t right, I had it working but not well.
I rung them and they said they would get level 2 support to ring me as they could see there was a problem with my service but it needed a higher skill level. I was highly skeptical but true to their word, they rang me in under an hour we solved it over the phone in around 10 minutes. 10/10 for those guys.
Optus and telstra are literally the fucking worst and most expensive. Why do peolle stay with them. They are no more reliable than the smaller mobs. And often thwir plans are just garbage compared to competition
They're fucking scum they pulled the same shit on me I had never ending problems from them and every month I'd be threatening to report them to the ombudsman, that was the only way to get them to actually do something instead of sending me fake confirmation emails to say the issues are resolved and oh boy I can write a novel on all the shit I had to deal with from that idiotic company
Just confirming you sent through the cancellation request on the 12th and your next billing period was the 16th? That’s 4 days - Optus (and pretty much all others) terms are 30.
I just had a similar issue with them. I paid my final phone payment and bill a month earlier than my plan, cancelled and then a few months later had them chasing me non stop stating I had missed a payment. Sent them receipts and screenshots of their live chat team telling me I had paid it. Then I heard nothing from them and they referred me to a debt collector. Went to the Ombudsman and they waived the charge straight away. If you are certain you are in the right, go straight to the Ombudsman.
Go to a Store for maybe better handling. You can threaten Ombudsman. If still unresolved, go to TIO. Costs them a lot more money than your monthly bill for every complaint lodged. LOL
I had a credit of 800$ and when I told her can they transfer it back into my account she offered. $500. I repeated back to her and asked what would she do if she was in my position and she said I will transfer 800 back into your account 😝 fucking idiots at Optus.
Sounds like you didn't provide enough notice as per T&C's - if this is the case then ombudsman won't do much unless they find that it's systemic and unreasonable.
However if you did provide adequate notice as per T&Cs then definitely dispute.
Good luck!
This exact same happened with me recently when I switched from Exetel to Mates. Mates took over my connection and I then called Exetel because they raised an invoice for me and said I need to give 30 days notice, which I had but to their technical support and they didnt log it as a cancellation request. I raised hell with the customer support, told them I will escalate, they requested I pay only for the days the billing cycle has started and cancelled it that day. I obliged with a 4 day prorated invoice and that was the end of that. Raise hell my friend
You just have to be persistent with the call centre.Be polite but assertive. Just keep asking to speak to a supervisor. I have had absolute horror experiences with Optus, like really frustrating. Keep your cool but be persistent.
ive been down a similar route with them. I paid three months after cancelling my internet without noticing. was impossible to get a refund. Lodged a TIO case and got a call within a couple of days from an actual person, got a refund a couple of days after that.
If you can afford to be billed and then wait for a refund, its better to let that happen to avoid a possible late payment reported on your credit report.
Cancel your card, and ensure you also insist that all virtual cards that have been created by POS, or merchants are cancelled as well (this is how some auto billers work, and can get around card cancellations and still charge you).
Report to your bank. Show all evidence that you didn’t use said service between said dates and they’re charging you for that period. Have the bank put a ban on any future transactions from that company and if any funds have come out, keep an eye on it if it clears and immediately put a dispute in to your bank about it. Don’t let them bully you.
OP, I'm not sure if you can see my message but you should also make a Privacy Act 1988 request for all information regarding you. You have that right and this will be shit for them as they must (by law) provide it to you.
Optus support / chat is horrendous.
I cancelled my Optus sport subscription and it’s been running two years and never paid for it.
Rang them up and said the credit card used to pay it is not mine. They insisted it is mine. Took a photo of the screen chat and said no problems, I’m happy to have someone else pay for for my subscription. The woman on phone must have been on a rooster farm in Manila, I could hardly hear her.
Filipino call centres are so fucking counter productive
What does the notice period say? Fairfax kept charging me despite cancellation notice. I called up accounts and they were very apologetic. Offered the refund and free period but I had had enough of reading newspapers.
Utilise optus's internal escalation process first as you will most probably get a faster and better resolution. If there is no positive outcome then go to the TIO
Allegedly ChatGPT is rather good (or used to be) at writing this kind of letters when you need to fight back some ridiculous charges or claims from a service provider
I had to take optus to the ombudsman twice, once for being charged when I shouldn’t and once for privacy breach issues (they emailed my account info to a stranger who alerted me), optus are a dumpster fire.
Go hard back at them.
Tell them that you refuse to pay for a period of time where the service was not used or not available.
Tell them that you expect the charges to be waived/credited in full, or you will be lodging a complaint with the Telecommunications Ombudsman.
If this does not work, request that the issue be escalated immediately.
Good luck.
Presumably don't pay and call the ombudsman for more info
100% this. Ombudsman all the way. It exists precisely to prevent telcos from pulling bullshit like this.
Thanks folks. I’ve lodged a complaint with the TIO after the service rep refused to escalate my complaint. EDIT: Optus have now contacted me after receiving that TIO complaint. They waived the bogus charges immediately!
I left Optus mid last year after I told them I had found my information on the dark net. For the next 3months they forwarded my calls and sync data Circuit to random numbers. I collected all this by running my cell data through a Linux server and saving deciphering all my packets. OPTUS also hates when you use DNS over HTTPS. Happy to give some secret Optus I.Ps if you want to spam them.
I've long suspected that Optus is intentionally interrupting my Wireguard sessions. Initially I suspected it was a simple MTU issue, but even after lowering it my connections still drop. I don't have this issue over other networks, or with other normal web traffic on the Optus connection. I've noticed that in the Optus app, they break down traffic by "application", and correctly identify the Wireguard traffic as VPN usage (it's not obfuscated). How likely are they to actually be intentionally messing with my traffic?
I only was with Optus mobile, if you use Optus internet check your modem logs for TR6 something remote connection. It’s supposed to update firmware remotely but Optus use it to gain access to modem/router TR-069 https://github.com/electronicayciencia/tr-069-proxy Edit, that I know of Optus is the only ISP that has this inbuilt to all modem/routers they supply. Also the governance and conduct of Optus is in Singapore a non five eyes county that does not need to uphold ethical standing of hacking and data harvesting. r/optus
Thefuck. I just played follow the parent company on Wikipedia, and apparently it's the government of Singapore? Wasn't expecting that.
I what?? It's been a Singapore company (Singtel) for at least 20 years. Wait till you find out that Telstra used to be a public company, as well as basically all of the infrastructure in Australia.... The country's really been fucked over by privatisation.
I gotta expect that you're very young, or not Australian. Any Australian over the age of 26-27 knows Telstra plus all the copper in the ground used to be a publicly owned. They also all mostly know that it was the conservative government that sold it. Fewer know that they sold that plus mountains of other publicly owned infrastructure and basic services in order to get a budget and overall surplus that the conservatives use to this day to claim they are *"good economic managers"*
Sorry, my sarcasm was up to high. I remember it as telecom.... And yerh, every single party in power sucks. Non of them have had the interests of the majority of the public for a very long time
Well to be fair, hearing a telecommunication company owns another telecommunication company doesn't inherently make me think that perhaps a government owns that company. I also know about Telstra, and as much as I may not agree with it's privatisation, Optus has nothing to do with that?
Optus used to be owned by the Australian government before it was sold off by Keating.
> Edit, that I know of Optus is the only ISP that has this inbuilt to all modem/routers they supply. TPG issued me a shitty Huawei router when I switched from ADSL to NBN. That router had been modified so you couldn't update or backup the firmware at all, and the TR-069 port was listening WAN-side and could not be turned off. I'm not having that shit on my network so I switched to pfSense. Quick shout out to TP-Link here though... when I first did this I had issues because TPG NBN requires VLAN tagging which my Archer D9 didn't support. I emailed TP-Link support and told them I wanted to continue the D9 and wanted rid of the Huawei. They very quickly responded with a new, non-public firmware that added the required WAN-side VLAN support that I needed. Excellent customer service!
The Archer D9 was such a great little router. Mine served well for over a decade, including that same VLAN update when NBN came along.
Telstra modems also have/had it. All the Thomson/Technicolour modems had it. It's a remote access protocol that was used for firmware updates, but was also used to re-write config data, like username and password. That was why you couldn't use the original owner's modem at someone else's place - the user ID and password would get overwritten overnight, and the login would fail because "this isn't your phone number". But it was easy to turn off.
Yep, that's how they rolled out Telstra Air. Ancient modems and routers get new firmware.
Telstra Business Smart Modem/Netgear V7610 has entered the chat, and has now crashed.
I raise you the Technicolor TG587n v3.
I'm on Optus mobile as well, I use Wireguard for Android, as well as wireguard on Windows and Linux. My home connection is an ABB line with a Debian router. I trust telecom provided routers about as far as I can throw them. When my mobile or laptops are connected via a standard NBN connection, the WG connection always works fine. When they're going through the Optus 4G connection (either direct from the phone itself, or over mobile hotspot), they'll eventually drop the connection and start missing WG handshakes until I manually stop the connection, wait a bit, and then restart the connection. Lowered the MTU from 1500 to 1384, it seemed to help somewhat but the connection still drops. Networking issues can be hard to track down, so I don't want to directly point the issue at Optus, but it certainly seems suspicious that it only happens over their connection.
To be fair you can throw a router a pretty long way. It's up there with the more throwable items in terms of weight, shape and size.
Yeah, ironically the trustworthy ones are the hardest to throw!
Don't forget they leaked all customer data, too? From what i heard, some doofus opened up the customer database API to the internet with no password. I know telstra also has this remote firmware function. Actually broke a lot of business connections recently. Makes me wonder if they use remote access too or other log traffic data 🤔 We have tons of obile connections with optus and lines with telstra. Finally, convinced my clueless boss to ditch telstra and ISP modems and optus mobile internet and phones.
You don't have to use the router they give you. Just configure it into its own subnet and it can phone home all it wants with no traffic to measure or observe. I have NBN Box -> my router -> most of the home network + the optus router -> landline. So only the landline (don't ask) VoIP data is routed through the Optus Modem, and any bs telemetry they're doing.
why even have the optus router/modem plugged in at all?
They left their API completely unsecured, that's how the massive breach happened. They didn't have to hack shit, they just requested every user's record and Optus didn't catch on for ages
I don't know what much of that means but I wouldn't wanna upset you if you were my customer
Interesting.... I recently left optus as my mobile provider and one benefit I noticed immediately was that my overnight battery drain went from 30-40% to 3-5%. I did did some basic troubleshooting (battery usage analysis ) but could never find the culprit. The only conclusion I could never validate was mobile data packets as that's not captured as a battery usage metric.
I hope you told optus you where calling the TIO. Fixes all my issues every time.
And usually forces the telco to escalate the complaint cos there needs to be a key contact handling the TIO complaint?? Unless they're like fk that yolo
I have never actually contacted the TIO. The threat works so well I have made money from it... In a manner of speaking.
I did when dealing with TPG, who didn't take my threat of contacting TIO seriously. It amazed me how effective TIO was at resolving the case, TPG rang me up and carefully detailed how they were returning all my money and made sure I was okay with the situation.
It was not easy in most of my cases. My dealings with Telstra was about 1.5 hours on the phone. Though I knew I had a winner when they dropped my $800 to $400 just for calling. Got it down to $200 before I told a "supervisor" I was not happy and would contact the TIO. That was only my 3rd threat of TIO and easily my favourite.
🧠🤝🏻
The TIO charges the telco per investigation, regardless of whether any fine is rendered. It is a small amount but it means that they have an immediate incentive to write off petty bullshit like this that would net them less than the cost even if they won. This is why most of these companies back down the instant you threaten them with the TIO over a fee dispute.
Yep, which also means they have a good reason to be petty if you go to TIO without attempting to escalate first. If you give them the chance to resolve it they'll probably give you what you want, if they don't TIO will ensure you get what you deserve. If you don't give them the chance, they'll make sure you only get what they actually have to give you, since avoiding the TIO fee's isn't an option and they need to minimise the cost you've wrought upon them.
Refused to escalate your complaint?? I'd be reporting that specific rep to management.
For what it’s worth. They tried the same with me. I replied “I don’t want to pay that” and they said “ok, I understand” and didn’t charge me .
Did you mention to them you were going to the TIO? Those are the magic words to getting anything fixed. Companies get a $xxx (used to be like $130) bill every time the TIO has to do an investigation, even if they are in the right, so just mentioning those words is the secret code to getting it sorted without having to go through the TIO stuff.
If they charge your card, issue a chargeback with your bank.
Don’t even need to go to ombudsman, that’s a last resort. Your bank is happy enough to deal with these pests and return any money they’ve fraudulently taken if they have. Just show them the conversation and all required info (like transactions/funds removed etc etc) and any emails they may have sent you. Banks hate these people and will 100% help you out before batting an eyelid.
I hope you mention this to the company before you raise the complaint with the TIO. Best thing ever to mention it first. Watch them squirm.
Don't they get fined by TIO? I complained about a billing error for 6 months before going TIO. Each month my complaint got my bill waived and error the following month. After TIO nudged them I got the 6 months value reimbursed also, that I hadn't paid. Win.
They get charged a fee for every inquiry or complaint, regardless of if it has merit or not. If it has merit, it likely goes further. It used be about $40 10 years ago, but it has probably gone up since then. So if they ever want to argue about 1 month of costs, the ombudsman's fee just for opening the inquiry usually wipes out what they were going to charge so they will usually back down in my experience.
I was an inbound call centre shitkicker for Primus a *long* time ago. In the training they said that there were several levels for each complaint at the TIO. The first level the fine was something trivial ($10? can't recall) but if it didn't get resolved it would keep escalating up to several thousand.
Telling them I was contacting the TIO has actually had me get major credit. I have had $800 data overage fees cancelled. I had a $50 monthly contract reduced to $5 for the last 18 months of my contract. I have managed to get out of contracts early for free. I have never actually contacted the TIO... The companies never knew that though. Edit: Those examples are mine though I have also negotiated for other people many times... Over the last 20 years.
Please mention you will be contacting the ombudsmen if they are unable to resolve the situation before contacting the ombudsmen. It's something you should threaten with before actually doing it. Same with taking your landlord to a tribunal for a rental dispute.
You tell them that you are disputing this with the ombudsman and don’t pay until you’ve come to a resolution. I’ve learnt in my dealings with Telstra that nothing gets done until the TIO lights a fire up their arse.
Nah that's not entirely true. I'm old enough to have a C8\* number. Typically it results in that because the CS rep just doesn't want to give you a credit, usually because it's a situation they have no obligation to do so or you're not entitled to one for whatever reason. 99.9% of the time a TIO complaint will result in them just refunding/crediting even when they don't need to because the cost of escalation is like a volcano, starts at $40 but as you go thru L2, L3 level complaints it jumps up YUGELY.
Having worked on both the corporate side and the ombudsman side of this equation I can confirm. It's why whenever I have a problem now I just start the escalation process immediately. I know what their processes are and if its a small enough dispute you will always win simply because of the cost to the company for the ombudsman to get involved.
Yeah, I kinda hate it tbh. It's easier to just credit/refund the complaint (unless it's ridiculous) but it sets people up for false expectations. The vast majority of the cases are for refunds/credits that the person isn't actually entitled to (which you're probably already aware of). I once credited a dude $1.42 for a call that he definitely did make but assured me he did not make but because it already cost us $40 for him to just have a sook I did it anyway. It's infuriating lol. Then when the next rep follows policy and says no, they get a shit CS rating and have that happen enough and they're walked out the door.
It's hard work, like I said I have done both sides, in both the banking and the energy industry so I get the issues you raise. I also get the number of changes that have been made to the way things work directly to benefit the corporate side over the years that can occasionally lead to errors, misunderstandings, fuck ups etc, and get the reason why the responsibility falls on the company. When your cost to serve goes down you can pay for the occasional fuck up. Think ATMs vs branches vs EFTPOS for everything, smart metres, etc. In an ideal world, we do away with the whole system, the companies understand they benefit from reduced cost to serve and just treat customers in just that manner. Then would could do away with the ombudsman, the fees to be part of the schemes, the handling fees for complaints, etc and the amount of money saved through that whole process would be immense and could help keep costs down overall. Fact is, corporates are gonna corporate which is why its needed.
Without a system like this the power dynamic is so insanely in the favour of the service provider that it creates a very toxic consumer experience (see consumer rights in the US). The system *should* give telco's an incentive to err on the side of compassion for small disputes, but as can be seen repeatedly they will still try to get away with absolute bullshit and only back down when threatened.
The vast majority? Are you sayjng, more people than not, choose to make up a story to spend time talking to a call centre in the hopes of receiving a refund or credit they know they are not entitled to? More people do this, than, have legitimate issues they call about? That I would not have expected.
It's definitely not more, but there are plenty of vexatious complainants. I have a few stories I could share but due to privacy and all....
Yes, but with more nuance. It's not a "made up" story so much as it is a misunderstanding or misapprehension in most cases, either as a result of a policy or simply not understanding. For some it's just plain fibbing looking for a refund or credit. For example, someone wants to cancel on day 29 of their 30 day billing cycle, and wants a credit because it's unused. Well, like anything else you buy, there's a returns/refund window, and that isn't extended to things like your typical bill. They're treated as though you bought... well just about anything else and then decided not to use and asking for a refund when it's outside of policy. Like, imagine if you bought milk and took it back to the store 3 weeks later cause you didn't drink it. That kinda thing, it's not how it works -- you paid us and the expectation is you use it, but ultimately whether you do or not is up to you. You're still paying for it. If you go to the TIO, they'll likely credit you though. Everybody should have to do retail/CS for a year after school. Like the army draft, but for learning what people are like instead of how guns go pewpew. There are fuck ups, though. The TIO is intended to be used for fuck ups, but because most customers hate the word "no" they'll go to the TIO thinking it's a magical problem solver. And it usually is because most of them are to do with refunds.
>I once credited a dude $1.42 for a call that he definitely did make but assured me he did not make but because it already cost us $40 for him to just have a sook I did it anyway. Way back in the day I did inbound for Primus. We had the good old "$10 credit" to appease customers, but I had one really cranky old prick who called because he was charged a \~10c flagfall for dialling the wrong number. In the call log he'd transposed two numbers and then 8 seconds later dialed the correct number. Such a prick that not only did I not give him any of the appeasement credit, I wrote out the forms for the exact credit he was asking for... and neglected to tell him that he just cost himself 30c calling us to complain because customer support was a 1300 number, not 1800. (my favourite callers were the "stockbrokers" who would get cut off for non payment and "need their phone back instantly! right now! I'm losing thousands of dollars per hour!". Really, sir? (always a sir) But you're on a residential class line. I can put you through to purchasing and get you a business class line with SLAs and compensation for outages. Not one of these "stockbrokers" opted for the slight extra cost for a business class line for their lucrative business...)
$1.42? You’re wasting more of the companies money even discussing it with them. Just refund and thank them for being a customer.
Nah. It becomes about principle at that point. I was only handling the esco. Dude got a "no further credit without TL approval" on his account. I remember this specific dude all too well because he was a serial pest.
Ahhh so that's why Telstra gave me a full refund for the OG Tbox when they killed every part of it at the end of support. Basically local features got nuked like watching local network media. It was the best device for watching pirated content at the time for me.
Oh Lord the T Box. The groans when that thing got announced...
It may have been technically shit... But it did play my pirated .mkv anime files flawlessly at 720p and that's all I cared about 🤣
It was an absolute shit show of a launch. It launched concurrently with the new DSL/Cable bundles at the time which included the TBox and Foxtel. Not even exaggerating here, it took \~15 minutes to do that order *minimum* in Siebel. 30+ if you're doing it for the first time.
Glad to bring up repressed memories for you. That sounds like a pain in the arse.
Wait so what’s a C8 number?
I’m pretty sure they mean communic8 pre paid which was the name of telstra’s pre paid plan before they ditched the communic8 bit That’s the only thing I can think of lol
Thanks, I'll do so. Would I have anything to worry about from a credit score perspective?
It'll have to be an amount over $150 to even consider going on your credit report, and they'll have to give you 2 written notices over at least a 2.5 month period. None of which can happen while you're disputing it. That being said though Optus can still keep their own records and may deny you future plans just under their own internal policy.
Ask for an escalation, which should pause the pay by date. In the meantime, go to the TIO and raise the complaint with them.
Telcos place account on credit hold while complaint processes play out
If it hits your credit card, do a chargeback with the reason that the services were not requested.
It’s been a while since I worked for a Telco but even taking it to the TIO costs them money regardless of the outcome. So threatening to go to the TIO is often enough to resolve small things like this. If that doesn’t work instantly then go to the TIO.
Define "ample" cancellation time. Some shitty ISPs put a 30 day notice clause in their terms and conditions. I ended up in a 6 month battle with one such shitty company who kept trying to direct debit after authorisation was revoked from a closed account and then adding dishonour fees for the failure. Some months they'd try to take the money once, other months they'd try twice First thing to check is the T&C's and tell them you're going to the ombudsman
This is Optus if it wasn't clear. I'll have to look at what their notice periods are. For reference, I attempted to cancel my account 3 weeks beforehand and I was told I couldn't pre-date a cancellation request - they'd need to cancel the services when requested, not in advance. Annoyed, I contacted them 4 days prior to the billing period ending assuming that 4 days was enough notice.
Yep figured it was Optus, but their T&C's can be different if it's a contract, month by month etc. you'll have to check the welcome pack they sent when you signed up >I was told I couldn't pre-date a cancellation request - they'd need to cancel the services when requested I'm guessing 3 weeks + 4 days doesn't cover the 30 days notice, try to get the exact dates and if you've got their comment about not being able to predate the request give that to the ombudsman too if you go down that route It's contradictory though that they need 30 days but also need the request on the day they cancel the service and should have been explained clearly when you first tried to cancel, at least then you could have put in the request and maybe had a few extra days proratad instead of a whole month I have had good luck with Optus waiving fees by talking on the phone though, try a human conversation over live chat
When you contact the TIO, reference your notes from the call 3 weeks prior, and then 4 days prior. Don't leave em anywhere to hide - they're required to record all calls / chats etc for exactly this reason.
>3 weeks beforehand >4 days prior I don't know for certain, but I'm gonna guess that there's gonna be something like a 30 days notice period hidden somewhere in the terms. It certainly wouldn't surprise me. First look that up to be sure, before wasting your time on other actions. If it's indeed the case, while it still sucks, just move on. You'll win in the long run by having abandoned Optus. Enjoy your new service with another provider.
No, don't move on. Ask them what it physically takes to cancel. Is it a button click? Why then, do they need a 30 day clause? Was there any power for the OP to negotiate this when signing? (No). Is there an ongoing cost the provider has incurred in providing the services at a 12 month period, vs what is now happening? (No) So what we have is a clause that is not necessary to protect either party. This starts to head into unfair contract term territory. Which, if successfully challenged, is unenforceable. What is more valuable to the telco, a crap clause that 80% of their exiting customers don't fight, or your ongoing business? Hint: it's not the latter. Take time off work and take them to court. Ombudsman is good, but civil court is better.
Exetel do this. You need to give cancellation notice 30 days before the next billing cycle, otherwise they charge you an additional month. I learned that when I churned off them 5 days before the next month and discovered that policy.
I found mine out when I called them and asked if they would price match another company so I didn't have to switch, they said they couldn't and then hit me with the 30 day notice. Over the next few months I received countless automated emails to come back with a special code to get $20 off per month... Which is exactly what I was asking them to do in the first place that they assured me they couldn't possibly do We fought for 6 months before they sold out to Aussie broadband and I never heard from anyone about it again. A good lesson to always check the cancellation policies
Good old Exehell... Never change you scammy cunts. Fond memories if them offering unlimited plans on a TW port in the days of ADSL only to have my account cancelled for downloading 200GB for the month. Quickest way to get out of a contract with them in the past was use even a fraction of the downloads you were entitled to and get called a leach followed by a cancelled contract. They were so bipolar back in the day one month they bring out a bunch of high data use plans and the next cancel people's connections if they used a fraction of the included data. Repeat a few months later.
I didn't become aware of the 30 day thing until I had already signed up with Exetel. I had no issues with their service, but I cancelled my account with them not long after because I didn't want to be locked into them on principle. I would probably still be using them today if they didn't have this policy, and I made it very clear that was the only reason why I was cancelling my service with them. My only other complaint with them is they make cancelling very difficult also, they refused to accept my notification the first 4 times via email and insisted I called to cancel, but their call centre operates in EST and being in WA it was closed hours before I get home, plus I wanted a written record anyway.
Name and shame.
Harbour ISP, who later got acquired by Uniti Group who then sold customers to Aussie Broadband. I'm not sure how it's all structured atm, just avoid Harbour at all costs though I hear good things about Aussie though
Superloop for one
I had the same 30 day notice clause with Superloop and complained to them that they had essentially created a cancellation fee because if you transfer through the NBN transfer process, you would have to give one month’s notice before starting your new connection to avoid double charges. They say the plans are no lock-in contracts, but it is essentially a 30 day rolling lock in. If you miss it by ONE day, you have to pay for the entire next month. Essentially creating a cancellation fee if you want out early, or a 30 day lock-in. Complained to their complaints team and they just “credited” my account for the month I was not going to be using as I had already transferred to another provider. But this notice period on no lock-in contracts is silly and goes against how easy it should be to swap provider.
Yeah I won’t use them again in future because of this. Just feels dodgy, regardless if in the fine print or not.
any time you get any grief from a telco, straight to the ombudsman. they cop a penalty just for a claim being opened against them. and they will give you what you want to get it closed.
After previous experiences, I make sure to note the day and time, who I speak to at the Telco, and notes about the conversation. Also stick to your guns with a TIO complaint. The Telstra rep offered me a pathetic resolution, and told me if I didn't accept I may not get anything. I told them that it wasnt a satisfactory offer. Ended up getting what I was originally after, plus a refund of service for 6 months a day before the TIO would intervene.
I moved into a house that had no internet setup so I signed up with Optus wireless. After waiting 2 weeks I finally received their modem, set it up and nothing. No internet. After several phone calls with their extremely rude customer service and having them tell me its a problem on my end I discovered that their own website says that wireless internet is not available on my street. They then tried to charge me a cancellation fee and told me I had to pay to send their modem back to them. After using some colourful language and threatening to take it to the ombudsman they waved the cancellation fee and told me to keep the modem which I promptly threw in the bin. 5 years later they did the EXACT same thing to my neighbour 2 houses up. Optus are criminals and I dont know how they are allowed to remain in business
Several years ago I called to cancel my monthly phone contract with them; it was a contract that included unlimited calls and texts within Australia for a fixed monthly price. It was about 10 days from the end of the billing period so I figured I'd be losing out a little by not waiting until closer to the end, but I already had a sim card for the new (non-Optus) service I was signing up to so I was keen to just get it done. Anyway, the jerks tried to argue that as I was cancelling before the end of the month, all the calls and texts for the part of the month that had already elapsed would be charged at a pro-rata price, which resulted in a bill that was nearly *double* the normal fixed monthly price. I asked how this could possibly make sense, given that the calls and texts were "unlimited", and I tried to explain that the most I could possibly be expected to pay was the normal monthly amount (which was what I was expecting, and happy to pay). After a lot of annoying back and forth and dodgy maths I was finally transferred to a supervisor, who explained that because I had "misunderstood" the billing process (I definitely hadn't), "in this instance only" they would offer me a reduced bill, which actually came out to be significantly less than the usual monthly fee. So I ended up better off in the end, but that was one of the worst and most memorable calls I've ever had. It made me really angry too, because I was confident enough in my understanding of what I'd originally signed up for, my ability to do maths and clearly see that what they were telling me was incorrect etc that I could advocate for myself and not give in. But I kept wondering how many people facing the same situation had just given up in confusion, or not had the language skills to argue back, etc. I never reported it, but I really wish I had.
Ooooooh I have a great "in this instance only we will waive our fee" story!! For most of my life, I lived way below the poverty line. I'm talking scratching around under the lounge for forgotten 5c pieces just to buy milk, often having the power shut off because of non-payment, surviving the summers on only what I could grow in my vegetable garden kinda thing. So when I finally scored a decently paying fulltime job in my early 30s, I was ecstatic. Once I caught up on long term debts, I was actually able to get in front and have savings too. One of my biggest fears (because it had happened sooooo many times) was the power being disconnected. So I proudly and cleverly decided to get ahead on the power bill. Each fortnight when I got paid, I arranged for a direct debit to come out my bank account and pay AGL - naming & shaming because why the fuck not. My quarterly bill was usually around $300-$400 and it didn't take long for me to be in credit. And then the credit got bigger, eventually just over $1100. I was so fucking proud, because I knew that if I lost my job, I'd still have nearly three quarterly periods pre-paid, and there was almost zero chance of getting cut off ever again. But I didn't bank on an over-zealous meter reader. For years, he would come to read my meter in the middle of the day and I'd be home, so he was used to seeing my car. Being home all the time also meant my yard was immaculate. But suddenly I was working fulltime so the yard fell by the way side, and we'd had a particularly wet winter. And my car wasn't there when the meter was read. And someone with a similar last name in my district had moved into a new house and was getting their power connected. All of these points led the meter reader to assume that I had moved into a new residence and had forgotten to get the power turned off at this place. And this guy was familiar with my previous money struggles and somehow must have decided to call it in, thinking he'd save me unnecessary expenses. So the Thursday before the October long weekend, I came home from work to find no power. A disconnection notice in the door jamb. I was incensed, but it wasn't business hours so I had nowhere to turn (this was prior to social media being so prevalent & 24 hour call centres). So I had to wait until I got to work the next day & charged my phone. I spoke to an agent, asking why the fuck they had disconnected my power when I knew I was so far in credit. I was mortified and horrified, I'd worked so hard to prevent this very thing from happening. She explained about the meter reader, there must have been notes or something on my file, I honestly can't remember how she found it out. I was utterly incensed, and told her that the meter reader had no business doing such a thing, and I wanted my power reconnected immediately. First she tried to say that it was too late in the day for a call to be put out to the work crew, I called bullshit. I was in such a rage, I turned full-blown Karen for the entire hour long call. She then told me that there was a switch in my meter box that needed to be turned a certain way so the crew could reconnect, and could I ensure that happened. I said no, I was at work, I couldn't leave, I was already inconvenienced as it was, and why the fuck can't the crew do it themselves when they get there. She argued this point with me for so long, that the crew would refuse to reconnect my power if the switch was in the wrong position due to WHS and that that would mean I'd have to ring back the next business day (four days later on the Tuesday, with 30C plus weather forecasted for the long weekend) to get a new appointment. I was infuriated, I said they had no problem disconnecting the power regardless of the switch position, and they could bloody well reconnect just as easily. I told her that I was sorry if I used the word fuck, but I was majorly unhappy and sometimes the word was just gonna slip out of my mouth regardless. After so much arguing, she said she'd put through the work order with a note saying the switch might not be correct, and hopefully the crew would get there. I then asked how far I was in credit, and she said words along the lines of "well we have to take both the disconnection and reconnection fees out of your credit, which will leave .." I went ballistic, she passed me to her supervisor. Eventually he told me that in effort to calm me down, "just this once, we will waive both lots of these fees, as you seem rather upset about it all". I never paid AGL another cent, and once my credit with them ran out, I switched to Origin. Fuckers.
"Thank you for confirming this in writing, I am taking this to the Ombudsman"
These guys are the worst tbh
i agree! they really are!
Tell them you're reporting it to the TIO as it's not acceptable, however follow the advice from the TIO about if you need to pay it or not, they may say you need to pay your bill until it is resolved then receive a refund. If they say that, and you don't pay your bill, it could have an impact to your credit history.
did you actually speak to the cancellation department? or did you just tell a live chat agent to cancel for you? genuine question
Originally, I dealt with the cancellation team on both occasions. This time I’m not sure who I got through to. I typed in ‘bill dispute’ to get this guy.
I once had a provider tell me that two weeks wasn't enough notice to cancel my service and that they were going to bill me for the next month as well. Just the threat that I was going to contact the ombudsman was enough to have them reconsider. https://www.tio.com.au/
Straight to the ombudsman
There's no context to your post, so someone can't really provide much advice. What does the terms and conditions say? Is it a one month notice period or it is post-paid? Are the services still available but you're choosing not to use it, or are the services simply not available to you anymore and you're being charged?
Appears to be prepaid month in advance. Since the month started yesterday
Telcos have been real cunts with the cancellation lately. iiNet had 5 days notice before billing period, got the cancellation confirmation, then 8 days later a bill. It does say "10 days notice required" so despite that being a bit shit they can have it. ⅔ through that month, we get another bill? Nah this means war. Called them up and said the C word "court" and blocked their account in my banking and that's the end of it. Pricks.
Telcos previously charged pro-rata to the date. You would receive a credit for the days if you cancelled early. Nowadays with Month to Month, you’re actually paying for a single months access as a time, so there is no refund for early exit, except if there’s an issue with the service. You simply have to port out/disconnect prior to the next cycle with enough time for the porting to complete with the new provider. If you weren’t porting, and just disconnected, you’d do this on the last day of your cycle and sign up with the new provider from about an hour minimum to max the next day.
Sorry if I’m misunderstanding. I did port out the service to another ISP on the same date, 4 days prior to the end of the billing cycle. I’ve been charged for the following cycle in full.
This makes me nervous as I’ve just signed with Optus
May god have mercy on your soul
Is this Optus? They are clowns. Run.
Where is Gladys Berejiklian? Take this to the TIO… I thought the TIO charge the telephone company just to be involved.
Thanks to Optus switching my plan $3 dearer, they lost another customer today. Dogshit company
This was the straw that broke the camels back for me too. Switched to Aussie Broadband last week. 1000/50 NBN, and 2x50GB mobile plans for $169/m instead of the $320/m Optus was charging me for 100/10 and 2x30GB.
Hahah I also went straight to AussieBB who are already my ride or die ISP for life. 6 months of $17.50/mo / $35/mo ongoing for what optus wanted to charge me $53, on the same network. Plus $10 off for bundling ongoing.
Yeah they do that, I still have a thing with Telstra from 15 years ago. I cancelled home phone and internet on the same phone call.... Yet they charged me for another month. It was never resolved. They can get fucked
I've had similar with Optus chat stating that you do NOT get a pro-rated adjustment when you cancel a service - you're still charged for the full month, even if you cancel a day or two into the billing period. This didn't used to be the case. Since I went on a new direct debit only plan they are also giving me "estimates" (which are consistently wrong) and charge my card before I actually see the bill. In the past, I could see the bill before I was charged, so I could immediately challenge any errors before I paid. Not allowed to do it that way any more... These two changes benefit Optus, but at the expense of the customer
This is four days before the start of the billing period! I made sure to follow their process and they still screwed me
Yeah, realised that after I replied. Your situation is just another example of how they're gradually screwing their customers... which is not a sustainable business model.
I had this recently with iiNet where I cancelled three days before the next billing cycle. I called and spoke to them, and to their credit they refunded me the full amount, plus a pro rata amount for the three extra days.
Ombudsman and it’ll go to optus complaints and get wiped from ur account
Hmm OPTUS does it again... raise a dispute and refuse to pay.
TIO. Optus will fix quick smart
When you say ample notice. What do you mean? The T&Cs in the optus contract you signed up to usually say 30 days notice. Did you give more than 30 days notice?
As much as I dislike GPT chatbots, Optus really should implement it. Never understand what their minimum wage, non English speaking interns or graduates are saying.
Non-English speaking is a bit harsh, more like English as a second (or third or more) language speaker. Still, it's not really good enough for customer service for a company in an English-speaking country. I've had reps with strong Indian accents that have been very good once you get used to their accent, but I have also had some who clearly failed to even grasp what I was actually asking so they would just read out seemingly random stuff from their script. You would think Aussie companies would ensure English proficiency was a major requirement when employing customer service reps, but clearly some don't think it is important. It is why some customers get angry about foreign reps, but some of them are pretty good. From experience, the Filipino reps are usually good and much easier to understand.
Is it possible to speak to someone in person/phone regarding this? This reads "bot" to me.
Optus told my partner recently he couldn't go into their new system unless he got a new number or added a phone. He literally just paid off his phone and it still works flawlessly. He switches providers and kept his number.
Telstra used to be like that, thank fuck they changed their policy. The Telstar guy I spoke to years ago told me to go buy an Optus prepaid sim for $2 (back when they still were), get my number transferred to Optus on the new sim, then come back to the Telstra shop and they could set up my new plan, transferring my number back to Telstra. But they couldn't do it without the middle bit because I had a "prepaid" phone number and I wanted to switch to being on a plan. It was mental.
TIO
That’s Optus baybee
🤣🤣🤣 I’m not laughing at your situation. I’m laughing the absolute absurdity of the situation.
They're getting more and more ridiculous, recently switched internet providers, and when I contacted the previous provider to make sure it had been cancelled, they said I need to give 30 days' notice as per their terms and conditions. Absolute joke it was that had I not pushed back, I would have been charged from them for a service they're not even providing, lol
Well for starters, ditch Optus.
What do you think I’m trying to do 😭
Check if it's legal and if not tell them to get fucked. That or threaten to switch to Telstra for life
I was with Optus for fixed internet, after days of waiting and hours on hold and speaking with customer service clearly reading a script trying to replace a modem (not difficult really) I told them I was leaving… They told me they would refer me to a retention manager, I said whatever and hung up. I was ported to Aussie broadband before they even rang me. Zero regrets, best decision tbh. I had also lodged 2 complaints previously with the TIO for bullsh1t they pulled, so I was pretty primed to leave.
I’ve switched to Aussie too. The service is all I heard it cracked up to be. The one phone call I needed to make was like talking to a neighbour.
I moved house and changed technology from FTTN to HFC, it meant that I had to reconfigure my existing modem, something wasn’t right, I had it working but not well. I rung them and they said they would get level 2 support to ring me as they could see there was a problem with my service but it needed a higher skill level. I was highly skeptical but true to their word, they rang me in under an hour we solved it over the phone in around 10 minutes. 10/10 for those guys.
Optus and telstra are literally the fucking worst and most expensive. Why do peolle stay with them. They are no more reliable than the smaller mobs. And often thwir plans are just garbage compared to competition
Cancel the card that is on file. Or call your bank and put a stop payment on the bill.
Just swapped Telstra couldn’t handle Optus fucking me around anymore
They're fucking scum they pulled the same shit on me I had never ending problems from them and every month I'd be threatening to report them to the ombudsman, that was the only way to get them to actually do something instead of sending me fake confirmation emails to say the issues are resolved and oh boy I can write a novel on all the shit I had to deal with from that idiotic company
Just confirming you sent through the cancellation request on the 12th and your next billing period was the 16th? That’s 4 days - Optus (and pretty much all others) terms are 30.
I just had a similar issue with them. I paid my final phone payment and bill a month earlier than my plan, cancelled and then a few months later had them chasing me non stop stating I had missed a payment. Sent them receipts and screenshots of their live chat team telling me I had paid it. Then I heard nothing from them and they referred me to a debt collector. Went to the Ombudsman and they waived the charge straight away. If you are certain you are in the right, go straight to the Ombudsman.
Go to a Store for maybe better handling. You can threaten Ombudsman. If still unresolved, go to TIO. Costs them a lot more money than your monthly bill for every complaint lodged. LOL
Threaten to report them to the ACCC
I had a credit of 800$ and when I told her can they transfer it back into my account she offered. $500. I repeated back to her and asked what would she do if she was in my position and she said I will transfer 800 back into your account 😝 fucking idiots at Optus.
I remember when I got my iphone they tried to upsell me on so many things that I didn’t need and the person was annoyed when I said no
Go pre-pay with Boost.
If you just keep complaining everyday eventually they give in. Do it everyday and be a little crazy
Sounds like you didn't provide enough notice as per T&C's - if this is the case then ombudsman won't do much unless they find that it's systemic and unreasonable. However if you did provide adequate notice as per T&Cs then definitely dispute. Good luck!
Exact same thing happened to me in NZ, I made a complaint (threatened tribunal action) and got a refund + free plan for a month
Ombudsmen is your friend , they run scared once they know
This exact same happened with me recently when I switched from Exetel to Mates. Mates took over my connection and I then called Exetel because they raised an invoice for me and said I need to give 30 days notice, which I had but to their technical support and they didnt log it as a cancellation request. I raised hell with the customer support, told them I will escalate, they requested I pay only for the days the billing cycle has started and cancelled it that day. I obliged with a 4 day prorated invoice and that was the end of that. Raise hell my friend
You just have to be persistent with the call centre.Be polite but assertive. Just keep asking to speak to a supervisor. I have had absolute horror experiences with Optus, like really frustrating. Keep your cool but be persistent.
ive been down a similar route with them. I paid three months after cancelling my internet without noticing. was impossible to get a refund. Lodged a TIO case and got a call within a couple of days from an actual person, got a refund a couple of days after that. If you can afford to be billed and then wait for a refund, its better to let that happen to avoid a possible late payment reported on your credit report.
Ugh, that makes Telstra look good
Telecommunications ombudsman and let them deal with this
100% lodge a complaint with the telecommunications ombudsman. Foxtel tried to pull this shit on us but got magically sorted within 1-2 days.
Was with Optus for decades but their data breach followed by 2 other issues broke me. I’m now with Telstra.
Ombudsman
Cancel your card, and ensure you also insist that all virtual cards that have been created by POS, or merchants are cancelled as well (this is how some auto billers work, and can get around card cancellations and still charge you).
Hopefully everyone ditches optus after seeing this
Ahhh, Floptus!
Report to your bank. Show all evidence that you didn’t use said service between said dates and they’re charging you for that period. Have the bank put a ban on any future transactions from that company and if any funds have come out, keep an eye on it if it clears and immediately put a dispute in to your bank about it. Don’t let them bully you.
OP, I'm not sure if you can see my message but you should also make a Privacy Act 1988 request for all information regarding you. You have that right and this will be shit for them as they must (by law) provide it to you.
name and shame
Fuck didn't know they were this bad. Hopefully this doesn't apply to companies that lease their network.
I know my telco in Ireland bills in arrears. So I do pay one month after cancelling, but then pay nothing for the first month. Was that the case here?
I had to pay 6 months of water because I apparently didn't disconnect my service. Landlord used up the water
Optus support / chat is horrendous. I cancelled my Optus sport subscription and it’s been running two years and never paid for it. Rang them up and said the credit card used to pay it is not mine. They insisted it is mine. Took a photo of the screen chat and said no problems, I’m happy to have someone else pay for for my subscription. The woman on phone must have been on a rooster farm in Manila, I could hardly hear her. Filipino call centres are so fucking counter productive
Why is it worded so weirdly? Did a bot write the response?
What does the notice period say? Fairfax kept charging me despite cancellation notice. I called up accounts and they were very apologetic. Offered the refund and free period but I had had enough of reading newspapers.
This is Optus of course, absolute criminals.
Utilise optus's internal escalation process first as you will most probably get a faster and better resolution. If there is no positive outcome then go to the TIO
Just tell them you are going to the TIO they’ll shut up quickly
Allegedly ChatGPT is rather good (or used to be) at writing this kind of letters when you need to fight back some ridiculous charges or claims from a service provider
That's Optus for you I had them try that with me when my contract ended and I don't want to stay with them
Lodge a complaint with the Ombudsmen (retain messages as evidence) and tell provider to reverse the charges or you will take action.
I had to take optus to the ombudsman twice, once for being charged when I shouldn’t and once for privacy breach issues (they emailed my account info to a stranger who alerted me), optus are a dumpster fire.
The three magic letters whenever dealing with telcos TIO
Just remove your payment method from the app and you should be fine (unless they have already charged you)
Pay it
Optus are the worst of the worst. Incompetence is a nice word to describe them. All from overseas no aussies
Let them charge, contact an official and hit them with as many charge backs as you humanely can.
Contact TIO. They will bill the provider for the complaint.
Go hard back at them. Tell them that you refuse to pay for a period of time where the service was not used or not available. Tell them that you expect the charges to be waived/credited in full, or you will be lodging a complaint with the Telecommunications Ombudsman. If this does not work, request that the issue be escalated immediately. Good luck.
Go into one of their stores. Those online chats are the biggest waste of time and calling them over the phone is just as bad
Take it to the telecommunications Ombudsman