Latest news with #debtCollectors
News.com.au
10 hours ago
- Business
- News.com.au
Optus agrees to pay $100 million penalty
ACC Deputy Chair Catriona Lowe discusses the reasons behind Optus agreeing to pay a large penalty. Optus has agreed to pay a $100 million dollar penalty after admitting to unconscionable conduct. Optus sold services to people who it knew could not afford them and in some cases, pursued those people with debt collectors.
The Guardian
02-06-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
After hundreds of complaints, eHarmony's auto renewal subscription case begins in Australian federal court
People looking for love who thought they were signing up for a limited subscription to eHarmony's dating website were charged hundreds of dollars in renewals they claim they didn't know they were agreeing to – and some were chased by debt collectors, the Australian federal court has heard. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is suing the US-based eHarmony for misleading and deceptive conduct over claims of providing free dating on its platform, and the information consumers were given on subscription costs and renewal terms when buying a premium subscription. The ACCC said in 2023 it had received hundreds of complaints from consumers about eHarmony and its memberships. At Monday's opening of the case in the federal court, the counsel for the competition watchdog, Dr Oren Bigos, told the court the ACCC would rely on six confidential consumer affidavits as evidence that people were being misled by the pricing and the automatic subscription renewals. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email One consumer signed up for six months, and in February 2023, her subscription was renewed for nearly $480 for 12 months. Bigos said the consumer wasn't aware of the renewal until seeing the credit card charge, which she thought was an error. She subsequently received notices from debt collectors for eHarmony. A second customer found he owed nearly $600 for a 12-month renewed membership, with a third customer who ditched eHarmony finding he owed $358 after his six-month membership was renewed for 12 months. The ACCC has alleged that eHarmony had given consumers the understanding or impression that the length of their subscription at the point of sign-up was the extent of the time they would be subscribed for – without any renewal included. eHarmony has argued that at the point of subscription, consumers are warned of the renewal, and that renewal information is contained in the terms and conditions of the site. The terms and conditions state customers will be alerted prior to the renewal to give people time to cancel. Michael Hodge, eHarmony's counsel argued there was a disconnect between the evidence from consumers the ACCC relied on, and the pages from eHarmony's website that the ACCC has alleged misled consumers. Hodge argued that users spent three and a half minutes on the second subscription page. This, he said, indicated they were likely reading the contents of the page and the terms – and not just entering their credit card details. Hodge pointed out the text advising about automatic renewal is placed directly above the subscribe button on the page, and the court must consider whether the ordinary consumer would read that. He said eHarmony's evidence showed four out of five first-time subscribers to eHarmony turn off automatic renewal, which he said can infer that it's something consumers would have read on subscribing. The ACCC alleges that users who had signed up to what had been presented as a free dating site could do very little on the site on the free tier. After going through an 80-question compatibility quiz and entering in their personal details, they would discover it was a 'very limited service, with a very limited ability to interact with other members,' Bigos said. Other members' photos are blurred, and between November 2019 and June 2023, basic users could only receive one message, and only send one message, one emoji, and one image-based ice-breaker prompt. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion 'Dating is only possible when one upgrades to a paid premium membership,' Bigos said. eHarmony argued that the pages where free dating was represented in their entirety do not convey the misrepresentation that the ACCC alleges. Bigos said users were hooked into continuing to use the platform after investing time setting up their profile. The ACCC took the court through the sign-up process. It alleges customers were not given the full payment charge of the plans they were signing up to at the point of purchase. Plans of between six months and two years charged in monthly instalments would incur an extra fee in some cases if the user did not pay the total amount upfront. This additional charge information was displayed when a user would hover their mouse over the plan. The ACCC argued the 'from $x' listing is not sufficient, and users could not calculate the price until further along in the subscription process. The regulator has also argued that eHarmony represented that users could cancel their account if they have second thoughts, but it was misleading because consumers could not get refunds for unused amounts. Both parties agreed eHarmony did not refund users for cancelled subscriptions. The case is expected to run until Friday.
BBC News
26-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Energy firm Octopus sorry for chasing Hartlebury man over 6k wrong bill
A man has accused energy firm Octopus of "relentlessly" pursuing him for almost four years for another person's gas bill of more than £6, repeatedly alerting the firm to the error, Peter Holden, 67, of Hartlebury, Worcestershire, said since August 2021 he was sent monthly energy bills and had been chased by debt firm's pursuit continued despite staff admitting Mr Holden was charged for a meter that shared the same serial number, due to an error in industry being contacted by the BBC, Octopus Energy's commercial director said he had personally apologised to Mr Holden and they would organise further training for staff to avoid the mistake being repeated. "It's been very frustrating that I've not been able to get them to stop sending these bills," Mr Holden said."It's been very stressful because they've put that debt in the hands of debt collection agencies on three occasions to try and get that money from me - even though it's not my debt."Since 2021, the erroneous account's outstanding balance rose from about £1,500 to more than £6, being sent several final notices from debt collectors, a firm visited Mr Holden's home for the first time in February. An Octopus customer himself, he claimed the energy firm had put more resources into pursuing him for the bill than in trying to find the missing gas meter."The people I speak to on the phone or on email are apparently interested…but seem powerless to make any difference to stop this happening," he one occasion in September, Mr Holden received an email from an Octopus staff member offering a "sincere" apology for the distress the email assured him he was not liable for the debt and would not receive further communication, bills continued to be sent to Mr Holden's house. Mr Holden said he had complained to the Information Commissioner's Office after receiving bills in which he was personally named. "Octopus seem like they have an information management problem," he firm insisted letters were sent to "the occupier".In September, Mr Holden also wrote to Octopus' chief executive, Greg Jackson, to complain but said he had not received a reply from the boss' office until last week."We sent Peter a number of letters addressed to 'the occupier' which were about the debt of another customer," said Mario Lupori, commercial director at Octopus."It was a complex situation where another account of ours had the same technical details as Peter's meter and it took us too long to fix."After personally apologising to Mr Holden, Mr Lupori said he would stay in contact and hoped to restore his faith in the company. The energy firm said Mr Holden's personal details had not been shared and his credit score had not been affected. Follow BBC Hereford & Worcester on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X, and Instagram.
