And the allegation made by the competition watchdog against Optus is only exacerbated by the references to the company’s aggressive debt-collection practices, which were used even when the telco knew the contracts had been “created fraudulently”, according to the ACCC.
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And here is the kicker: The ACCC says many of these exploited consumers were vulnerable or disadvantaged, living with a mental disability, diminished cognitive capacity or learning difficulties, were financially dependent, unemployed, or had limited financial and legal literacy.
Many of the affected customer were First Nations Australians from regional and remote areas or people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.
And remember, this is a company still recovering from its poor response to the 2022 cybersecurity crisis that put at risk the personal information of 9 million customers.
Optus is being sued in the Federal Court over this by the communications regulator, which alleges it did not protect customers’ confidential information.
The message is clear. Big brands must clean up their acts. The big business lobby’s argument that anti-business consumer sentiment is being drummed up by opportunistic politicians gets weaker every time a regulator such as the ACCC or the Australian Securities and Investments Commission takes legal action accusing companies of misleading consumers or unconscionable conduct.
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We have had supermarkets allegedly fooling customers with fake discounts. We had a settlement over ghost flights sold by Qantas. We’ve heard allegations that Harvey Norman customers were misled over interest-free promotions.
Only last week, ASIC launched a legal action against QBE over allegations that some of the insurance giant’s customers have been misled about price discounts they thought they were getting on their premiums.
So much for the Optus “Yes” logo. At least for some of its customers, the answer should have been a loud and clear “No”.
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