A false and misleading statement has cost Sprint Telco $10,800 after the competition watchdog issued it an infringement notice.
The notice was issued because the ACCC says it had sufficient grounds to believe that Sprint had told a consumer, during a telemarketing call when the consumer was transferred from Telstra to Sprint, that it was acting as Telstra's agent or with its approval.
The ACCC said this was not the case.
“Unauthorised transfers can result in unexpected costs to consumers such as early termination fees, cancellation fees, loss of discounts from bundling services and costs to reconnect with their original provider,” ACCC acting chair Delia Rickard said.
{loadposition sam08}“Consumers are entitled to make informed decisions about their choice of service provider. The ACCC will continue to act where consumers are switched, or attempted to be switched, from one telecommunications service provider to another without their express knowledge or informed consent.”
The ACCC said it and the ACMA had identified unauthorised transfers as a recurring problem, with a substantial number of complaints each year.
The competition watchdog called on telecommunications wholesalers and resellers to prevent unauthorised transfers from occurring, by recording entire sales conversations and improving business systems to identify unauthorised transfers.
The ACCC said it considered that such measures would cut down on unauthorised transfers and help in law enforcement.