Crazy Johns crazy new fee grabs! what to do...

morpheu on 22/08/2012 - 13:38

hey guys i got 2 text messages re new fees recently and i'm steaming mad about what to do;

15/8/12 "from 1 sep you'll be charged $1.10 inc gst to continue to receive a summary paper bill…"

ok i can accept this, i think other companies have done something similar, no biggie, but today i got a new fee text which i can't accept;

22/8/12 "from 1 sep we will introduce a fee for credit card & australia post payments" what the fff!!! that's the only 2 ways i pay my bills, they want me to pay THEM a fee just to pay my bill!@$# unacceptable!

solutions? change plans? easier said than done, i signed a new 2 year contract earlier this year and got a new phone, but they can take the phone back if i can get out of the contract without penalties!
was thinking about making a formal complaint to TIO, it worked sweet with Vodafail and the order they messed up, anyone had similar situation or any advice?

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Comments

  • samfisher5986 on 22/08/2012 - 13:49

    Can you just bpay the online bill or have it direct debited out of your account?

    Credit card and likely Australia post costs them money so as long as they provide decent alternatives then it seems fine.

  • Paul Atreides on 22/08/2012 - 13:52

    I know telstra does the same thing in relation to some of its services. I personally wouldnt get to fussed about it. Everytime you make a tio complaint and get out of your contract, the telco writes the termination fee off. If you decide to go back to that telco later, youll need to pay off the written off amount, and theres only so many telcos you can go through this process.

    Fees dont sound too bad imo, telstra charges $2 paper bill + another $2 to pay instore/post office. Try and sort out a direct debit with them or try using BPAY(how i pay my bills).

    my 2c

  • sane on 22/08/2012 - 15:46
    +1

    You may find that attempting to charge a fee (eg increase the cost they expect you to pay) are grounds for cancelling the contract and keeping the phone.

    Phone companies generally try to ensure that their changes are not sufficient to trigger this aspect of consumer law - but are often told no.

    See http://www.consumer.vic.gov.au/businesses/fair-trading/contr… It might be worth calling them and asking the question of if CJ are allowed to do this. If they say they are, you'll have to find another route. If not, you have a bat to beat them over the head with. You generally should keep the phone if they break the contract.

    • morpheu on 22/08/2012 - 16:24

      that sounds promising sane, thanks for the tip, i know phone companies sneak in a lot of fine print but i thought i was locked in as far as monthly charges go, but fees like this sound underhanded!
      re bpay, cheers i'll look into it

  • Geewhizz on 23/08/2012 - 05:42

    Legally, they're entitled to charge a fee for payment with credit card, and they HAVE been permitted to so do since well before your contract started.

    Given that they provide fee-free methods of payment as mentioned above (bpay, direct debit) I don't think you'd have a leg to stand on.

  • billybrown on 23/08/2012 - 19:10

    This doesnt seem fair to me. When you signed up on the contract you agreed to a set of conditions. Now they are trying to change the terms of the contract by adding in more fees? Its like if i sign up for a 12 month gym membership, and after 6 months they say "from now on you need to pay $2 extra every time you come in." Mind you I bet they probably have some terms and conditions that deal with this…

  • i like free on 23/08/2012 - 22:04
    +1

    You can link your bank account for direct debit. I think that will avoid the fees.

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