In summary (because I don't have a lot of time now, but wanted to share my win)
I rang up TPG and said I was "considering churning, what can you do for me?"
Their response was a more polite and more tactful "we don't really care" but you will pay and $11 churn fee and not get refunded any unused credits.
My response was a VERY FIRM if you charge me $11 I will go straight to the TIO and complain. My firmness was a direct result of the $11 fee NOT appearing on the critical info summary forwarded to me when they changed my plan last year. (reduced my data from 3GB to 2GB amongst other changes). Fortunately I had a copy of the critical info that I had saved as a PDF and went through it with them on the phone. They tried to bluff their way through, but I stayed firm.
finally they said Call us back after the fee has been charged and we will look at it. No promises, but we will look at it.
Just put the phone down with them and they will be reversing the fee, subject to final approval, which is really a formality in my book.
SO IN SUMMARY
* Don't just accept TPGs fees.
Argue the point if you think you are right and have evidence.
Understand that the telco pays the TIO a fee for every complaint made against them.
It is actually a better comercial decision to refund the $11 than to pay the TIO fee
FROM THE TIO WEBISTE (AT THE BOTTOM)
http://www.acma.gov.au/Citizen/Take-action/Complaints/Telco-…
How can I be sure that my service provider is learning from what happened to me?
Your service provider is formally required to classify and analyse complaints every three months to identify recurring problems and issues that include areas of non-compliance with the Telecommunications Consumer Protections Code C628:2012
So if there are enough complaints it will create a red flag.
For me this was more about the principle than the $11
Have a great Christmas - I have $11 to go and spend on a present for myself !
No enelope jokes please ;)
I just paid the $11 porting fee twice for 2 phones, although I did manage to argue and get my deposit (prepayment) amount back.
Thanks for the infor, Can you please share the PDF link to the critical info summary?