Summary: Most Australians routinely experience overcharging, fraud, rip-offs and major issues for services including mobile phones, internet, energy, rental cars and various other consumer products. This may unnecessarily waste a massive amount of money, time and energy throughout decades of your life.
But there are permanent solutions for individuals that can put an end to this waste. It took a lot of experiences to finally reach this freedom in my late 30's. I wish I'd been able to read such a post at age 18. This post will provide the most effective, pragmatic guidance on resolving issues with service providers and preventing future issues.
Gain: ~$200 / year from avoiding overcharging, fraud, rip-offs and not receiving the product or service expected.
Details:
1. Don't waste time with multiple phone calls, put everything in writing using email
A single email to a professional, ethical company should resolve any legitimate issue in a timely way. All you should need to do is clearly establish the relevant facts (including account screenshots, prior email correspondence, invoice attachments, laws/regulations, etc) and state your expected, reasonable resolution request and timeframes. If necessary, send a couple of quick email reminders referring to the most relevant email that fully documents your issue. Copy in the Complaints email address if there is one.
E.g. I usually just use the email forward function to copy the relevant email header and ensure I include the Date, To address and any issue tracking ID:
From: <YourAddress@gmail.com>
Date: 22 April 2015 at 16:26
Subject: Re: [#444222] Overcharging of Account Z for July 2015
To: <complaints@serviceprovider.net.au>
However, as soon as you detect that the company is resisting timely and fair resolution due to being unethical, unprofessional or incompetent, you should escalate to the most applicable shortcut: typically this is simply raising a dispute with your bank for the relevant transaction and advising the service provider you have done this.
2. Over 90% of overcharging and payment-related services issues can be immediately resolved by simply disputing the transactions directly with your bank (using Visa/Mastercard/AmEx chargeback schemes)
Ignore anything else you're told about timeframes, issue escalation, complaints processes, ombudsman referrals, consumer affairs agencies or legal options. If you just want the single, best resolution tip that beats all others combined, this is it. Service providers primarily care about profits not fair and timely issue resolution or customer satisfaction. Unethical and incompetent service providers are much worse - most of them only care about short-term profits and will only respond to the most obvious threats to payments.
The key is to ensure your service provider payments are set up using Visa, Mastercard or American Express bank cards (credit or debit). Simply supply your Visa/Mastercard credit/debit card details in setting up your payment. This applies to direct debit agreements too. (Note: You can withdraw direct debit authorisation directly via your bank if using direct debit on your bank account or debit card, but not if using a credit card. See heading #4 below.)
The Visa/Mastercard/AmEx international card schemes are essential to merchants and no merchant - no matter how big or powerful - can afford to jeopardise their access to them, and thus they are forced to comply with their strict rules. The rules essentially mean that if you dispute a transaction within 90 days for a legitimate reason (in most cases just your assertion of double charging, an incorrect amount or fraud will suffice initially), the full amount will be provisionally charged back (refunded) to your account within a few days. The obligation is then on the merchant to provide evidence to your bank that the disputed transactions are authorised and for verifiable amounts and services. If they cannot (i.e. your legitimate issue means the transaction or amount is not valid), then the charge will not be reapplied.
In many cases, some part of the charge or transactions may possibly be valid, but because the provider is rarely able to accurately provide verifiable, authorised evidence of these partial charges, no revised charges will be made at all.
In a recent dispute with the mobile phone service provider Vaya, they incorrectly switched me to a plan I didn't authorise, and then refused to either put me on a plan I did authorise or end my service. Vaya's unethical and unprofessional position was that it could dictate to me the service I would take, and that it could also ignore my repeated requests for correction or refund. I sent dozens of emails to its customer support email address with no resolution. I followed its complaints process which turned out to be a joke. I lodged a complaint with the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO), and while this forced Vaya to actually respond, it did not lead to a timely and proper resolution (I lodged on June 6 and as of August 10 the TIO has done nothing except acknowledge my complaint).
However, when I actually raised disputes directly with my bank regarding Vaya's unauthorised or fraudulent (triple charging for phantom plans) charges on my Ubank Ultra Visa debit card, Vaya refunded the full amount within 24 hours for each invalid transaction: April 2015, May 2015, June 2015, July 2015.
Ultimately, despite being on a Vaya Power Plan (an incorrect, unauthorised one) from April to July 2015, I ended up not having to pay Vaya a single cent for their service for these four months. I had all of their charges reversed in full direct to my bank account. (They initially tried to give me Vaya credit and I rejected it as worthless). When my final invoice came, I even forced them to refund my $20 security deposit, as by that time they were so scared of further disputes being raised with the banks and Visa that they capitulated to all transaction-related demands.
The lesson should be clear: if you have a legitimate payment-related issue you can link to specific transactions and the resolution you are seeking is financial (e.g. a refund), then simply disputing the transactions with your bank is easily the simplest, quickest and most effective way of achieving resolution.
For some parts of your issue, the permitted period (typically 90 days but it can vary between 75 and 120 days) for raising a dispute may have passed, or the transaction charges may have yet to be made. Don't worry, just focus on all existing transactions (and any future pending ones) within the 90 day limit and start disputing them and advising the merchant. The main aim is to achieve a fair overall settlement and starting disputes and achieving provisional refunds demonstrates to fraudulent, unprofessional or unreasonable merchants that you've cottoned onto the way you can prevent payment and recover losses.
Once the disputes and provisional chargebacks start, and you've informed the merchant you'll be watching every future transaction and potentially disputing them till your legitimate issues are resolved, you'll find the merchant suddenly wishes to agree on a settlement. I recommend you don't accept minimal offers from dishonest, ripoff companies that have overcharged you and wasted your time. It is perfectly ethical to use the chargeback process (which is in the favour of diligent and savvy consumers) to minimise your payments to these unethical businesses. Fraudulent businesses need to be driven out of business or forced to change their unethical practices, and the chargeback process is the only reliable mechanism I know of that can be used to do that.
See:
NAB: Dispute and chargeback frequently asked questions
Finder: How Do You Reverse A Credit Card Transaction?
3. Can I use disputed transactions and chargebacks to resolve non-payment issues?
Yes. All of the card schemes (Visa/Mastercard/etc) include a chargeback reason code called:
- Non-receipt of goods or services
See: Visa Chargeback Reason Codes and Time Limits
Most customer issues that don't relate directly to payment, do relate to issues with the product or service provided (quality, completeness, accuracy, timeliness, etc). Hence, it is perfectly legitimate to dispute a relevant bank card transaction and cite as your reason that the service/product provided was deficient in some way.
In these cases, you should first make a written effort to resolve the service/product deficiency and advise that if unhappy with the outcome you will raise a disputed transaction. Simply stating your awareness of, and willingness to use, this powerful fallback in seeking issue resolution, will often be enough. If it isn't, then lodge the disputed transaction and quote the card scheme code applicable is: "Non-receipt of goods or services"
4. Set up payment using Visa/Mastercard debit cards (preferable to credit cards for direct debit) and use direct debit payments where required or most efficient
As explained above, to maximise your protections, my advice is to use a Visa or Mastercard debit card linked to a bank account. Debit cards have the same dispute/chargeback protections as credit cards but have the additional advantage of allowing direct debits to be cancelled immediately by contacting your bank. See: MoneyHelp: Cancelling a direct debit
It's possible to use direct debit directly on a bank account that doesn't have a Visa/Mastercard card, but this means your transactions are not protected by the Visa and Mastercard chargeback scheme. Hence, this is not advisable.
In Australia, my recommendation is to open a Ubank (NAB) Usaver account with a Usaver Ultra transaction account which comes with a Visa debit card. These accounts and card have no fees, no unfair penalties and are perfect for use with service providers - including direct debit.
If using your Usaver Ultra transaction account and in dispute with a service provider, my experience is that raising disputes on unauthorised or unverifiable transactions is simple (a quick phone call quoting the transaction details) and leads to quick chargeback refunds and permanent resolution.
5. Lodge a complaint with the relevant complaints or regulatory agency (ombudsman, consumer protection) and keep it open until satisfied with the resolution or they force closure but minimise having your time and effort wasted
In my experience with Australian ombudsman, regulators or consumer protection agencies, there are so many complaints being lodged due to overcharging, fraud and service issues that these organisations are unable to respond in an effective and timely way to most individual complaints. They also pretend to take "systemic issues" seriously, but almost never deal with them and force unethical and fraudulent business practices to be rectified.
Even if you spend the time exhaustively documenting the evidence of a company's systematic dishonesty, fraud, illegal business practices or deficiencies, these government and industry agencies will do nothing meaningful. I have tried with both the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) and the Victorian Public Transport Ombudsman (PTO) and would recommend others not waste their time.
However, the reason why you should efficiently lodge and follow up unresolved complaints with such agencies is because these open cases have cost charges that force the service provider to actually try and resolve your issue and get you to accept closure of the case before the costs escalate. See the list of complaints and dispute resolution agencies here: Consumer Affairs Victoria - Problems with a service
After setting out the facts and your resolution requests in a single email, you shouldn't waste too much time actually trying to repeatedly reiterate and prove for the ombudsman that your claims are justified and that investigation or sanctions against the company are necessary. These agencies will almost never do anything effective to force the fraudulent companies out of business or to change business practices. But you can at least try and ensure in a time-efficient way that your case is kept open till you feel it has been fairly and fully resolved. If you're getting nowhere, force the complaints agency to close it rather than accept closure with no proper resolution of the larger issues at stake.
For example, the TIO will periodically ask you to confirm if your case is resolved or needs further action. You can simply reply that it isn't resolved and it will progress to the next step. The key issue for the service providers is that they are charged for the costs of these complaint services and the longer and further the case goes, the higher the costs. For mobile phone service providers like Vaya, they are charged the escalating fees below for TIO complaints.
My complaint to the TIO about Vaya is at Level 3 or Level 4 now, costing Vaya at least $670, and possibly up to $2,800. This is several times more than the maximum amount they would have had to refund to me on Day 1 of my complaint.
So while the significant time I've spent trying to expose Vaya's systematically dishonest and illegitimate business practices will never be compensated, I take some satisfaction from discovering the adverse financial consequences for such businesses that can be leveraged. Vaya's dishonesty and unprofessionalism has been unrelenting, and this continued behaviour has simply led to my finding the most effective and time-efficient ways to combat such disreputable businesses.
For others wishing to keep open and escalate complaints against the most fraudulent and unprofessional businesses governed by the TIO, feel free to use any parts of my email below:
<<
I am confident that the full set of email correspondence between myself and Vaya since 7 April 2015 (and other relevant facts provided by email) clearly demonstrates that Vaya has breached the TCP Code in many ways including aspects within Consumer Sales, Service and Contracts; Billing; and Complaint Handling.
As a summary, I refer you to the following high-level excerpt from the TCP Code:
Our Key Commitments to ConsumersA legitimate, reasonable and fair resolution requires these steps:
1. Consumers will enjoy open, honest and fair dealings with their Supplier, and have their privacy protected.
2. Consumers will receive clear, accurate and relevant information on products and services from their Supplier; before, during and, where appropriate, after the point of sale.
3. Consumers will have disputes resolved quickly and fairly by their Supplier.
6. Consumers will receive an effective remedy from any Supplier who breaches the Code
Step 1: Honest and reasonable acknowledgement of the relevant facts and logical conclusions (e.g. whether intentional practice or unintentional error)
Step 2: Honest and reasonable acceptance of all faults and deficiencies in current practices and ethics
Step 3: Honest and reasonable resolution via refunds, accurate explanations, genuine apologies and necessary changes in business practice and ethics
Vaya's responses to my TIO Complaint clearly indicate that Vaya is simply unwilling to complete Step 1 (honest acknowledgement). Given it is impossible to complete Step 3 (honest and reasonable resolution) without completing Steps 1 and 2. I do NOT accept that Vaya has properly addressed, let alone resolved, my TIO Complaint.
>>
Part of my evidence of Vaya's fraudulent overcharging and charging for unauthorised services can be seen in the screenshot below. In researching this, I discovered on Product Review and Whirlpool that this particular fraudulent overcharging method (charging for duplicate or multiple services), used by firms like Vaya, is very common and has been going on for years. Yet the relevant complaints agencies and regulators do nothing to eliminate it or force such fraudulent companies out of business.
Thousands of Australian customers of ripoff service providers are victims of this fraud but regulators do nothing about it.
Part of my evidence of Vaya's fraudulent overcharging and charging for unauthorised services can be seen in the screenshot below. In researching this, I discovered on Product Review and Whirlpool that this particular fraudulent overcharging method (charging for duplicate or multiple services), used by firms like Vaya, is very common and has been going on for years. Yet the relevant complaints agencies and regulators do nothing to eliminate it or force such fraudulent companies out of business.
Ben Pullen, CEO of Vaya, apparently asserts that Vaya is an ethical, honest, fair, professional and competent service provider. Yet a quick browse of customer feedback on Product Review demonstrates that Vaya is guilty of virtually every unethical, fraudulent and ripoff tactic one could conceive for a service provider. The first mistake may be an error. The 10th is a pattern of dishonesty or incompetence. But the 100th and 1000th instance of fraudulent charges simply reflect intentional ripoff business models that are designed around the deficiencies and failings of Australia's supposed regulators and consumer protection agencies.
Update of TIO Complaint - 1 Sept 2015
After three months, TIO Investigations did finally provide a single cursory response regarding my complaint. The gist of their response is captured by the below excerpt:
Please be advised that based the available information in this complaint, the TIO is unable to help you achieve the outcome you are seeking, hence I see no grounds to take this matter further. Given that the core issues have been dealt with, it is my view that the peripheral issues you are seeking reparation for are not sufficient to warrant further investigation. This is because in the end the TIO is unable to force a provider to apologise or admit liability or anything of the type of requests you are making through the email below. If there is any other detriment (financial or otherwise) that you have suffered that has not been addressed, please let me know and I may still be able to help if it is something that we can assist with.The gist of my reply is below, highlighting how useless the TIO appears to be at preventing continued provider fraud, dishonesty, misconduct and unprofessional behaviour.
Clyde - TIO Investigations Officer - 26 Aug 2015
No I am not satisfied with your investigation or determination... I've already stated that the financial redress of Vaya's unauthorised transactions on my account is now resolved. In my view, this is a less important issue.
The unresolved aspects of my complaint (my "core issues") relate to systemic issues where Vaya's current business practices - exposed in their actions in my case - adversely and wrongly affect a significant number of their customers, in breach of the TCP Code and their legal obligations. See: https://www.tio.com.au/about-us/policies-and-procedures/systemic-problem-investigation
In my prior emails, I have specifically explained how these systemic issues (Vaya's current business practices) are in breach of the TCP code and their provider obligations. Your determination indicates that you consider there to be no systemic issues here that fall within the TIO's mandate to investigate.
I would like an appropriate TIO manager to confirm in writing what appears to be your position:
1. Vaya can maintain business practices that intentionally levy unauthorised or unverifiable charges on customers. The TIO can't or won't do anything to stop these practices. It will only help individual consumers get refunds on a case-by-case basis after the unauthorised charges take place.
2. Vaya can maintain business practices that intentionally disregard customer's legitimate service instructions, ignore their complaints and waste their time. The TIO can't or won't do anything to stop these practices. It will only help individual consumers get their service instructions implemented on a case-by-case basis after a TIO complaint is lodged.
3. Vaya can maintain business practices which involve intentional dishonesty, obfuscation and bad faith behaviour, including making intentionally false statements during correspondence on TIO complaints (CCed to the TIO). The TIO can't or won't do anything to stop these practices. It will only help individual consumers obtain redress on a case-by-case basis after a TIO complaint is lodged.
A simple: "Yes, I am in a position to confirm that this is the TIO's official position" will suffice.True to form, the TIO declined to confirm the above position or, conversely, demonstrate how it takes effective action to prevent continuing fraud, scams, unprofessional behaviour and appalling service. Instead it stated:
Adrian Lobo to TIO Investigations - 1 Sept 2015
Please be advised that the TIO has a whole department that investigates “systemic complaints”. However, we do not do this based on a request from a single consumer, we do this as a matter of course and we have a process that identifies issues being brought to us and we take action when “all the boxes are ticked”.This is a laughable assertion of competence, diligence and follow-through given that Vaya and other fraudulent providers have used the exact same scams for years on thousands of customers before me and continue to do so on thousands of customers after me. Meanwhile, the TIO has done nothing effective to stop it.
Clyde - TIO Investigations Officer - 8 Sept 2015
6. Typically when a formal complaint/dispute is initiated charges relating to that dispute cannot be processed (or need to be refunded) till the dispute is settled
Once you've wised up about how Australia's service provider dispute resolution schemes work, you realise that simply lodging the dispute and hoping for a third party to investigate and reach a fair, reasonable determination is pointless. The only point is to play the game - lodging a dispute and keeping it open till satisfied is the only thing you need to worry about.
Typically, any charges relating to the dispute you have lodged cannot be processed or must be refunded if already processed. Thus, ensure you reference all charges you are contesting in your dispute. E.g. In your TIO complaint about a mobile phone service provider.
These providers often try to levy charges that do not relate to actual services provided, are unverifiable, or have no relation to the cost of the service provided. At its core, Australian law and consumer protections are meant to prevent this. But, in practice, the only way to protect yourself in such processes is to keep your dispute open and refuse all unfair settlements offered. Ultimately, most companies trying to levy unfair, unverifiable or unauthorised charges will eventually give up and you will pay nothing.
7. Familiarise yourself with your applicable consumer rights, protection and options
Consumers typically have statutory rights applicable to all products and services and, for some services, there are also specific consumer protections, regulation and complaints processes.
See:
Consumer Affairs Victoria - Resolve a dispute (Director: Claire Noone)
ACCAN: Making the Right Call - Your Rights As a Phone and Internet Customer
ACCC: Complaints and problems (Chairman: Rod Sims)
ACMA: Complaints (Chairman: Chris Chapman)
While I encourage consumers to lodge complaints and communicate your dissatisfaction with the failure to end these ripoffs and deliberate poor service, don't waste too much time trying to convince these regulators or agencies to act. I showed above how useless the ombudsman (such as the TIO) are in stopping even the most blatant patterns of fraud that are part of some provider's business models. But the government regulators they are governed by, like ACMA, are responsible for the most egregious failings.
For example, the below excerpt reveals how ACMA shamelessly claims that intentionally-fraudulent providers will police themselves and end their ripoffs. Providers like Vaya bake their ripoffs, dishonesty and service deficiencies into their systems. Yet, ACMA asserts that their "systemic issues" will be self-corrected!
ACCC: Complaints and problems (Chairman: Rod Sims)
ACMA: Complaints (Chairman: Chris Chapman)
While I encourage consumers to lodge complaints and communicate your dissatisfaction with the failure to end these ripoffs and deliberate poor service, don't waste too much time trying to convince these regulators or agencies to act. I showed above how useless the ombudsman (such as the TIO) are in stopping even the most blatant patterns of fraud that are part of some provider's business models. But the government regulators they are governed by, like ACMA, are responsible for the most egregious failings.
For example, the below excerpt reveals how ACMA shamelessly claims that intentionally-fraudulent providers will police themselves and end their ripoffs. Providers like Vaya bake their ripoffs, dishonesty and service deficiencies into their systems. Yet, ACMA asserts that their "systemic issues" will be self-corrected!
8. Avoid lawyers or going to court or tribunals
Unless the issue is incredibly significant in impact or costs, lawyers should ideally be avoided as the costs, time and stress is certain but a worthwhile, efficient outcome is rare.Some disputes with companies or organisations can go to courts or tribunals. This is generally not worthwhile unless there is no better option including settlement. Courts and tribunals have limited time, will not exhaustively consider all evidence, do not make systemic judgements (regulations should be improved, unethical companies should be barred from doing business) and aim to deliver outcomes in accordance with law (which is often different to what is fair).
9. Use popular review, feedback and forum sites to post your experience and find a better service provider
Firstly, rather than battle with service providers, the smart thing is simply to find the better ones that provide value-for-money services but are ethical, professional and competent. Depending on the service, there are typically popular sites and forums that can provide reviews, experiences and advice. For example, I've used Internode for my internet service for several years, and have found them to be a honest, professional, competent and responsive company.
See:
Product Review
Whirlpool Forums
Secondly, you can contribute your feedback to the most popular or high-profile sites and social media apps like Facebook Pages. For example, with regard to Vaya, I posted the following review on its review page.
Further Info:
Plastic's best-kept secret
Credit Card Chargebacks
Choice
Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO)
UniBul
> Visa Chargeback Reason Codes and Time Limits
COMMENTS