Forte/Truscom/Finance

Hi Loftygal

I have not contacted them yet, but I will first thing Monday morning.

Hopefully enough people get on board to make it worth while.

Originally posted by rogerm Currently it is Enterprise finance. Is this the sanme as EFS that is discussed in this forum?

Yes Rogerm, EFS is Enterprise Financial Solutions.

I too have been stung, there's plenty of interesting reading on this forum.

I was originally contacted by Fresh Telecoms and signed up to a 60 month contract with them on the promise of cheaper call rates and new equipment including a so called "free" plasma tv. My contract was signed in 2007, so I still have a few years to go.

The confusing part to me is the amount of companies involved in my particular deal. I thought I was signing up with Fresh Telecoms only, but then Emerald Communications took the main role, Danning Pty Ltd took out a contract for the equipment we received at might I say a highly inflated price, and EFS were behind the finance.

The call credits I was promised have since ceased and Southern Cross Telco has now taken over my account, but what I find strange is that SCT's name was always on my Emerald bill. I didn't query it at the time, but now I feel like I have no option but to continue paying the $596 monthly fee for the equipment worth perhaps $5,000 tops for fear of a bad credit rating and difficulties down the track if I cease payments.

EFS want approximately $25,000 paid to them to release us from the contract.

As if business isn't difficult enough without these unscrupulous people to deal with!!     

Yes I'm waiting to hear back from Peter Moon. He is definately in the know and has taken some cases to VCAT.

I emailed Attwood Marshall and they replied saying They would discuss taking on WorldTel matters at the next Partners meeting

Mikail and others, if you look back at page 10 on this forum, you should see a post from Thunder. He is gathering a large group of us, in the hope of us being able to get somewhere as a group. I haven't heard of any real class action yet, one was supposed to start last year with one vicitm's solicitors, but I think it fizzled out, at least I haven't heard anything from them all this year.

So has anyone had any success in dealing with this and is there a class action going?

Here is a post from Whirlpool forum discussion I found helpful;

If your unhappy make sure you don't stop paying the finance company because they will take you to court and win (as the contract is a stand alone agreement) take the provider to TIO, TIO will make them stop billing you until it is sorted out. But once you are in a contract with a finance company then it is really hard to get out. Another tip if you are having issues. Ask the finance company for a copy of the FINANCE INVOICE that the vender sent to the finance company for settlement of the deal. And have a look if you receiveved all the equipment (go through it line for line) that you didn't recieve all the equipment that they STATE you recieved if this is the case then bingo you tell the finance company they come have a look and if you are correct then the contract is void. I wouldn't reccomend getting out any other way, as you have signed a contract. Also if there is equipment on the invoice that you don't understand the use for ring the telco involved and get them to tell you what it is used for and then maybe call the supplier and ask then as well... the equipment may be filler and not even there.... I work in a finance company and see this all the time this is why we don't deal with telcos any more. A lot of other options that I have been seeing in the market are putting equipment you need on finance and paying maybe 90 dollars a month and then saving money on the better rates... hope this helps... but at the end of the day some telcos do work but I have never delt with worldtel so I can't speak for them
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You can find this discussion at,
http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies-archive.cfm/850593.html

I followed this advice today and the finance company wants to know "who advised me to ask for this information"

Glad I found this discussion. I got done over by WorldTel. Here is a copy of one email communication I had with them;

--------------
Sent: Thursday, 12 June 2008 2:44 PM
     To: j.ayoub@worldtel.com.au
     Cc: frances@worldtel.com.au; manel@worldtel.com.au
     Subject: Re: The Gully Pizza House

     

     Dear Francis,     

     Thankyou for your email dated 29 May 2008. The email has not clarified anything, yet raises more questions!

     @Joe

      Joe, You called me on 27th May 2008 at work. It was after 6pm as I can recall. You can call me at any other time next time other than when I'm at work. During the course of our conversation you accused me of trying to robb you blind. No Joe, not robb you at all.

     My ongoing querie with Worldtel since January 2008 has been to seek clarifaction as to what the item descrbed as "Special Calls" is on our account. This querie has not been clarified by anyone at Worldtel.

     I ask you to read this email in its entirity as I have included an email from Joe dated 14 January 2008. In this email Joe list the services for which we must pay. I forwarded this to you on 15 May 2008 so as to clear up the International sms issue but it seems it has cleared up nothing at all. Francis' email dated 29 May includes a longer list of charges I must pay for not previously advised.

     Can you please compare your emails below and confirm amongst yourselves that my querie has been in relation to the "Special Calls"
item on our account. What is a "Special Call"?

     How is it that I can be advised of one thing on 14 January and then different terms on 29 May 2008, when all was agreed upon and understood back in January! The ongoing concern I have is that of the "Special Call" charge I keep on receiving. I have been told a number of times now that they are calls being made to information services, ie...1900 telephone numbers. This is not the case. I have put this down so it is on record and so you can act upon it.

     If this querie is a matter of non-importance to you, then I say, it is to me.

     If I pay you the outstanding account and have not heard from you, it will be the last payment I make to Worldtel.

     I look forward to you prompt reply.

------------------

They locked me into a contract with CAFG. I had not received contracts from Worldtel or CAFG.

I changed banks. This was the only way I could get the payments stopped.

My call to ACCC got me the same answer..... We advise you to get independent legal advise. We will note your complaint......

Now Capitol Finance has emerged and is calling in the debt of the finance contract. I had never heard of Capitol Finance before. Told them I never received copy of said contract. They would not send it until I sent them a fax requesting discovery of said contract which arrived last Friday.

This whole situation stinks. A Matt Bromley at CAFG knows exactly what this is all about and told me in a telephone conversation that they are an innocent party to all this like me. I told him they need to go back to Worltel to get their money back as I never agreed to $13,000.00 worth of finance for business equipment. (Yes folks WorldTel took me to the cleaners for $13,000.00.)He said there were many people in the same situation. I told him he would have to face class action on the matter if they proceed to push. (Guess what??? They're pushing)

Who else is having problems with these @#$%^&@#$%^&!

Hi, I was wondering if anyone was taking Axsiom/Clear Telecoms/CIT to court as a group or privately? Is anyone having any success? I signed a contract with them back in 2006 and wasnt aware of what I was exactly signing up for.
I have spoke to the ACCC and they arent helping people individualy. There case could go on for years? or 1 day, they dont know. In the meantime, we still have to pay.
They told me to contact my lawyer. My lawyer said, as I signed the contracts, then I am liable. Anyone else having any success?

Thunder,
A letter of demand is only that, a letter of demand. It is a long way from you actually being in court. Have you asked EFS to provide you with a copy of your contracts? You may find some discrepancies...others have with some companies. Have you confirmed that the Delivery Acknowledgement you will have signed (required by EFS to release funds to the dealer when they delivered the equipment) matches the contracts you signed, or indeed the equipment that was actually delivered? Was the contract you signed with the dealer framed in such a way that you potentially were unable to, anaware of, access other lenders services as an alternative to EFS? If not it might be construed to be 'exclusive dealing' which the ACCC case is about at the moment as far as I understand. Have you exhausted these questions yet. Atleast requesting a copy of hte ocntracts, if not done so yet, would be a good starting point. Of course class action is a great stick to have to hold behind your back.

EFS is one of the financial institutions being charged by the ACCC, see below:

"Australia's competition regulator has announced it is taking 28 parties, including telcos, to the Federal Court for exclusive dealing and misleading conduct.

The companies, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said in a statement today, were Clear Communications, the Axis Telecoms and WorldTel groups and the National Telecoms Group.

There were also some related finance companies and employees of the telcos which have been singled out for allegedly being knowingly concerned in the dealings.

The telcos allegedly used a "bundled services deals" business model to enter into a contract with small businesses to provide them with services.

Although the businesses considered the equipment for the services to be free, covered by the cost of the contract, the equipment was allegedly not free, but instead rented out by finance companies unrelated to the telcos. The ACCC considered this arrangement to be exclusive dealing, which goes against the Trade Practices Act.

The telcos have also been accused of misrepresenting the bundled deals by saying the equipment was free, that the charges for the telco services and bundled services deals would not exceed a specified amount per month, that the only contractual agreement being made by the customer was with the telco, that the price of calls would be lower than that of the customers' existing providers, that the fixed line services will be ported to the telco within a short period of time and that the telco would supply mobile services using the customers' existing numbers.

The ACCC said it was seeking court orders, including fines against some of the respondents, and requirements to publish corrective advertisements as well as to write to each customer who entered into the bundled services deals, advising them of their rights.