Kogan Mobile may be in breach of a new consumer telecommunications code registered in September. Source: Supplied
Kogan may be in breach of the new telecommunications code which was registered in September. Source: news.com.au
KOGAN Mobile may be in breach of the new telecommunications code if it kicked customers off its prepaid mobile service for using their phones too much, a consumer watchdog has said.
Elise Davidson, spokeswoman for the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN), told news.com.au that Kogan was "falling afoul" of the Telecommunications Consumer Protections Code, introduced in September, which states that a product cannot be called unlimited if it is not actually unlimited.
As of March 1, telcos and resellers were required to make available a Critical Information Summary (CIS) - a two-page document which outlines all contract details – to customers before they sign up to a service.
Kogan has a fair-use policy, which stipulates that its customers can not use more than 400MB of data per day. However, it does not appear to have a CIS, where this detail about data usage should be listed.
"It is disappointing to see that Kogan does not have this critical information about its usage ... which is another requirement of the new TCP code," she said.
Brisbane customer Joel Campbell was given 90 days to find a new phone service after Kogan claimed he was not using the mobile service for "personal use", it was reported by news.com.au earlier today.
Ruslan Kogan, CEO and founder of the online retailer-turned telco, told news.com.au that Kogan Mobile was not to blame.
"Kogan Mobile procures and on-sells an Unlimited Plan with 6GB/month data from Telstra's partner," he said.
"Telstra's partner is under significant pressure to restrict excess usage on the Telstra Network. This pressure is not being applied by Kogan Mobile.
"It is not Kogan Mobile, but Telstra's partner, that administers the Acceptable Use Policy."
News.com.au has since been contacted by a number of dissatisfied customers who say they have also been disconnected from prepaid services for allegedly violating the personal-use policy.
Queensland pensioner Neil Gill told news.com.au that he was booted from Kogan Mobile's prepaid service after three months because it considered him to be using the phone for business reasons.
"I made a heap of phone calls," he told news.com.au. "I always do. But I'm a pensioner. I don't own a business. Kogan kicked me off and told me to port my number to another service."
He says he barely texts and is unable to access the internet on his Nokia 2G phone. However, he says his girlfriend lives some distance away so he spends hours talking to her on the phone every day.
Mr Gill said he received no communication from Kogan that he was to be blocked from the service, and only found out when he was unable to top-up his prepaid balance.
"I rang Kogan, and the strangest thing is it took me two hours to get through," he said. "It's pretty ironic considering they booted me off for sitting on the phone for too long but they expected me to wait on the line for two hours to talk to them."
The pensioner says he has given up and moved to an Aldi plan, though his Kogan sim card is still active. He said he was planning to lodge a complaint with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO).
Another Kogan customer, who wished to remain anonymous, told news.com.au she was in the process of finding a new telco after she was kicked off her prepaid mobile plan.
"I have no problems at all with Kogan Mobile having a fair-use policy, just that I have not breached their conditions, my user stats support me and I object to them cutting off my service with no notice and making false and serious allegations about me," the customer said.
She provided news.com.au with an email from Kogan which stated that Telstra had been "investigating her phone usage" since January and found that she was not using the service for personal use.
She said she was not using her phone for business purposes as she was unemployed.
CEO, Ruslan Kogan told news.com.au that "Kogan Mobile is currently resolving the issue".
"Kogan will provide a comment before the end of the week," he said.
Elise Davidson from ACCAN said Kogan was "exercising poor customer service".
She said that Kogan's website made it "impossible" to make a complaint about service.
"Customers need to be able to have recourse to complain," she said.
Kogan was not willing to comment further on individual cases as it could violate privacy. However, a spokesman said the company stood by a statement Ruslan Kogan submitted to news.com.au earlier today.
"This was an issue that affected a tiny number of uses, almost all of the nearly 100,000 are happily enjoying the service," the spokesman said.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) would not tell news.com.au whether it was investigating complaints about Kogan Mobile but said that it was actively monitoring all of the telcos compliance with the new code.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission told news.com.au that Australian Consumer Law (ACL) prohibits conduct by a business that is misleading or deceptive.
If customers are unhappy with a service they should first try to contact the business, and if that fails consumers should contact the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsmanm the spokesperson said.
"If you continue to have difficulty seeking a resolution, you may the wish to contact your local Fair Trading Office or the ACCC," the spokesperson said.
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