TELSTRA TARGETS ORION IN COURT

Written by Adam Gosling

Thursday, 27 October 2005

Telstra has launched legal proceedings against Orion Telecommunications alleging the junior telco has been harassing customers and churning them without consent. Telstra says it has taken the legal action after attempting to negotiate a commitment from Orian that it would cease the alleged illegal activities and after notifying the ACCC of the issue last week. The proceedings are lodged in the Federal Court against Orion Telecommunications Limited and its subsidiaries Southern Cross Telco Holdings Ltd, Southern Cross Telco Pty Ltd and Orion Telecommunications Australia Pty Ltd which use the Southern Cross Telco and Orion Telecommunications brands. Telstra says it has had more than 40 complaints from customers alleging misleading telemarketing marketing activity, including the unauthorised transfer of Telstra customers' services. Orion retails mobile and fixed line telephony services Telstra claims Orion has also been misrepresenting its relationship with the number one telco and that its sales representatives have been “unduly harassing” customers in their telemarketing activities. Telstra Legal spokesman, Rod Bruem, said the company had been concerned for some time about the complaints of customers regarding alleged high-pressure sales tactics and misrepresentations from some sales staff. "The capacity for this type of activity to undermine the good will of customers and blemish the reputations of all the companies doing the right thing means that a stand must be taken,” he said "Telstra has attempted to deal directly with Orion regarding its alleged misleading sales tactics for some time but unfortunately to no avail. We have commenced legal proceedings as a last resort.” In a statement Bruen said that Telstra had developed a consumer marketing campaign to educate customers about the pitfalls of dealing with telemarketers seeking to churn its customers. Telstra claims that some telemarketers “often confuse customers” by implying that they are working for a Telstra division or subsidiary before recording them agreeing to “something they may not have understood or realised”. The ACMA recently introduce “Cooling Off” periods to cover such cases. Related news items Consumers Want FMC: Companies Don't See The Benefit -02/10/2007 Consumer Advice For Premium Mobile Services -03/09/2007 Sydney Airport Network Improved For APEC -03/09/2007 Telstra To Launch MVNO In NZ -12/08/2007 Now Every Kiwi Has A Mobile, What Next? -08/08/2007 Newer news items TELSTRA TO DEPLOY NEW 3G GSM NETWORK -14/11/2005 ACCC SAYS OPTUS TERMINATION UNREASONABLE -08/11/2005 OPTUS OFFERS SIM BACKUP -02/11/2005 VODAFONE 3G LAUNCHES -31/10/2005 TELSTRA MAY SELL HONG KONG CSL -27/10/2005 Older news items OMBUDSMAN FINGERS MOBILES FOR COMPLAINTS -25/10/2005 83% OF LOCAL COMPANIES OFFER VPN ACCESS -25/10/2005 US NUMBERS ON FIXED-MOBILE SUB -25/10/2005 VODAFONE 3G AFTER HALOWEEN -16/10/2005 DRAFT CREDIT MANAGEMENT CODE -09/10/2005 Tag This Now: