An unemployed woman with cerebral palsy and an intellectual disability was signed up to 24 Optus contracts for multiple phones, smart watches and tablets over 15 months, the consumer watchdog has alleged in a lawsuit claiming the telco sold hundreds of vulnerable people phones and plans they could not afford.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission launched a federal court case against Optus in October alleging the telco had engaged in unconscionable conduct, in contravention of Australian consumer law, in its dealings with 429 customers – 363 of which were served at Optus’s Darwin stores.
The regulator’s 347-page statement of claim, filed in the court and obtained by Guardian Australia, details the alleged sales tactics of some Optus staff that led to the ACCC taking action. There were 24 examples of alleged unconscionable conduct by Optus employees, the claim states.
In one case, the woman with cerebral palsy and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) was allegedly entered into 24 contracts with Optus between January 2022 and April 2023 – the majority in the Optus Palmerston Gateway store or the Optus Casuarina store in Darwin. The ACCC said the woman has impaired decision-making capacity.
In that time she was sold an iPhone 13 Pro Max, two Apple Watch Series 7 in two separate contracts, a Samsung Galaxy A13, a Samsung Galaxy GS22, a Samsung Watch 5, two Samsung Tablet A8s in two separate contracts, a Huawei modem, a Galaxy Samsung GS23, an iPhone 14, along with mobile plans and accessories.
At the time she was signed up to the 24th contact, Optus had already issued at least 31 text messages, 30 emails and four letters to her regarding missed or late payment on one or more of the contracts.
The ACCC has alleged staff should have known she lived with disability and health conditions, and that the disability support pension was her only source of income. The regulator alleged a former disability carer for the customer was a member of Optus staff in the stores that sold the products.
A number of the allegations in the court document included people with intellectual disabilities being sold products they did not need, including people without a car being sold car chargers.
In one case, a homeless man who was deaf and mute, and communicated via Australian sign language because his hand was amputated, was allegedly sold by Optus Westfield Marion in South Australia a new Samsung Galaxy phone, a $65 per month Optus plan and a $480 accessories bundle including wireless chargers, screen protectors, a speaker and a wallet case. He was living on the disability pension, the court papers alleged.
The ACCC alleged staff should have known the man, who has since died, had limited use for technology such as phones because of the amputation of part of his fingers and hand.
A number of the cases detail customers living with dementia or Alzheimer’s that the regulator alleges staff should have been aware of.
One man with Alzheimer’s who could only reliably remember his own name and date of birth, and had his phone number taped to his phone, collapsed in the Rosebud Optus store, in Victoria, in January 2020 after attempting to have the phone contract he signed up for cancelled. It would take a further year and a half for his case to be resolved, and he died less than a year later, the court document said.
The document detailed a number of allegations about mobile plans sold to First Nations people for whom English was a second or third language, and who lived in remote parts of Australia where there was no Optus coverage. It also included references to internal emails and a report that Optus was cognisant of this potentially being an issue for the telco after Telstra was fined $50m for similar practices in 2021.
A spokesperson for Optus said the company was deeply sorry for all affected customers and the alleged misconduct was unacceptable and out of step with Optus’s values.
“The majority of the misconduct identified occurred at three licensee-operated Optus stores and disciplinary action has been taken, including terminating staff who were determined to be responsible,” the spokesperson said.
“We are remediating affected customers – providing refunds, waiving outstanding debts and enabling them to keep devices. We are working hard to fast-track any outstanding remediation as a matter of urgency.”
The new chief executive of Optus, Stephen Rue, has launched an internal review, including investigating individual cases to stop the types of alleged misconduct revealed by the ACCC, the spokesperson said.
Optus said a specialist care team that provides support to vulnerable customers has been given more resources.
