The Ombudsman

A few days ago, I was hit with a massive text which said: "Please call 1300786987 urgently to avoid a temporary suspension of your services. Current months spend is 622.03. Thank you."

I called up, and found that I had used 300mb on mobile when the lady at the shop mixed up the sim card transfer process . She did not put me on Internet and as a result I have a $622.03 bill for the month (long story short).

So, I called up THREE, and told them my issue.

After a long conversation, I said: "Is there anybody who can help me, or I can speak to??"

Indian guy: "No, absolutely not. Vodafone and THREE are completely different services. I cannot help you, even if you speak to my supervisor, he will tell you the same."

I said: "Oh you can't help me.... Okay, I'm going to have to call the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman, okay?"

Indian guy: "Oh... can you hold on, let me talk to my supervisor." (Indian guy talks with supervisor)
Indian guy: "I have spoken to my supervisor, and I confirm that we can offer you $150 credit off your bill."

I: "Nup no good."

Indian guy: "Let me talk to my supervisor." (Indian guy talks with supervisor)

Indian guy: "How about $200 discount off your bill?"
I: "No good."

Indian guy: "How about $300 discount off your bill?" (like I was trying to purchase my bill, $300 off!)

I: "Absolutely not." And I hung up.

- Called up the Telecommunications Ombudsman (www.tio.com.au)

- Lodged my dispute.

- Immediately notified THREE of the dispute (and probably charged them for it)

- They immediately disallowed THREE to charge my account, which was due the next day.

- THREE called back the next day, to waive the debt + give me free 2GB data per month.

Conclusion:

For any type of complaint within Australia, there is always a certain type of Ombudsman ready and willing to take your dispute.

There's all types of ombudsmen.

Water Ombudsman, Energy Ombudsman, Insurance Ombudsman, Airline Ombudsman, Police Ombudsman, you name it, you got it.

Disputes lodged with an Ombudsman, will usually be resolved faster with better outcome, because the longer and unhappier the dispute process is between you and the service provider you are unhappy with, the more the Ombudsman will charge that service provider. +, the Ombudsman is always a free service.