Question

Trust Us Communications Pty Ltd, is a national communications company which has recently placed an advertisement in the newspaper of a number of large cities in Australia. This is the advertisement:

(Unlimited Broadband Internet Access

For $99.99 a month get unlimited broadband access anywhere in Australia.

Call 1800 999 999 to take up this offer.
Hurry. Limited time only.)

Jenny lives in a remote part of New South Wales and runs an internet dating/introduction business. She is excited by the advertisement and decides to take up the offer.

Jenny later discovers that the advertisement did not explain all of the terms and conditions of the offer very clearly. It seems that the offer is not for ‘unlimited broadband access’. Once a user has reached a usage limit of 150 GB in a calendar month, they are prevented from gaining further internet access until the following calendar month. It also appears that access is not available ‘anywhere in Australia’ and is primarily restricted to areas within 200km of a capital city. Jenny needs permanent access to the internet to conduct her business and will be severely affected by these conditions.

Jenny is very disappointed, she feels that she has been deceived by the advertisement. Advise Jenny of the chances of her success in mounting a claim under the ACL against Trust Us Communications Pty Ltd.

Answer 1

Under ACL (Australian Consumer Law) if a consumer has any problem with the service, she may be entitled to cancel it. She may also be entitled to compensation for damages and loss. The Australian Consumer Law sets out consumer rights that are called consumer guarantees. These include your rights to a repair, replacement or refund as well as compensation for damages and loss and being able to cancel a faulty service.

Internet and phone providers must provide:

• clear and accurate information in advertising, contracts and bills
• help if you’re having problems paying bills and should take steps before disconnecting your service
• good service and deal quickly with complaints
• a repair, replacement, refund, compensation or cancellation if the phone or service fails to meet one or more of the consumer guarantees.

An industry code of conduct was designed to ensure good service and fair outcomes for consumers of telecommunications services. The Telecommunications Consumer Protections (TCP) Code sets out expectations of industry behaviour in relation to matters such as providing information to consumers, advertising, billing, credit management and complaint handling.

Jenny has very fair chances of winning against Trust Us Communications Pty Ltd, because the company was obliged to disclose all the relevant information in the advertisement itself.