Yahoo Finance Attention, Optus customers: Are you owed a refund?
The ACCC is encouraging Optus customers to check their texts and emails for a possible refund from the major telco.
In early February this year, Optus was slapped with a $10 million fine from the Federal Court for charging customers for digital content they never realised they were purchasing.
Optus has already contacted and offered refunds to nearly 400,000 customers, but only a quarter of those people have taken up refunds that are worth $6.7 million.
“Optus committed to providing these refunds, and will continue to contact customers over the coming months,” ACCC Commissioner Sarah Court said.
“Many of the affected customers were charged for content that they never wanted and never used, and from which they found difficult to unsubscribe.
“In some cases children unwittingly incurred charges,” she added.
Optus has also committed to reviewing future complaints about its direct carrier billing (DCB) service and to dealing with these complaints in good faith, according to the competition watchdog.
Optus has previously admitted that it had known customers were being wrongly charged since at least April 2014, yet didn’t immediately put in place safeguards, and fobbed off enquiries or complaints about the service to third party developers.
Related story: FINED: Optus cops $10 million penalty for charging customers for digital content they never meant to buy
Related story: Optus to refund $2.4m to some customers
Related story: Optus, Vodafone, Telstra customers: Your loyalty is costing you ‘hundreds’
I think I’m entitled to a refund from Optus. What do I do?
If you think you’re due a refund, Optus is reaching out to customers on this matter, so you should keep an eye out for texts or emails from the telco.
But if you haven’t been contacted by Optus yet, you can call them on 133 937.
How did customers not realise they were being charged?
Optus’ DCB service allowed customers to buy digital content from third-party developers, with the charges automatically added to customers’ mobile accounts.
But the DCB service was automatically enabled for Optus customers, and it only took one or two clicks to purchase content.
Due to the way the DCB is set up, it means customers inadvertently or unknowingly bought and was charged for content they didn’t want or use.
Optus has since stopped offering DCB services, aside from a handful of services for one-off content such as TV shows, magazines and gaming, which require express customer agreement before purchasing.
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