I made the mistake of purchasing an item of slightly over $100 in value using Global Shop Direct’s ‘convenient’ monthly payments…NEVER AGAIN. My credit score dropped by 300 points as a result of THEIR incorrectly entering my payment details, which were provided to them SEVERAL times, which invariably meant that the payment was ‘declined’ even though my bank confirmed that no payment attempt had been made on my account which had more than enough funds in it to cover the payment. As no payment attempt had been made, none had been declined either!
So back to Global Shop Direct, kindly a friend offered to phone them as disability prevents me from doing voice calls, but after 3 hours of being on hold because of their ‘unusually high call rate’…she had to reluctantly give up. I logged onto their online chat service the next day, half an hour before their start time, the waiting time then was 5 minutes 32 seconds. FIVE hours later after keeping the window open, the wait time was still 5 minutes 32 seconds and yet NO human had obviously ventured into Live Chat to respond to my enquiry.
There is a lot of publicity about the dangers of ‘Buy Now Pay Later’ sites, and yet I’ve used these regularly, for purchases a lot bigger than the one I made with Global Shop Direct. The difference is that with BNPL sites I can log in, immediately see what payments are due, and pay them when I can afford to immediately verifying that my card details are correct and even changing my payment details if needed.
With Global Shop Direct they claim it’s for customer security that one can only PHONE them, wait for hours on hold hearing how valued they are as a customer blah blah blah…and when one does get to speak with a human and provide their card details, one has no control over WHAT information they use to process or rather not process the payment. Surely it’s time that more investigation was done into companies such as GSD!!
In addition, after contacting my local MP, who provided me with relevant links to report this to authorities, I receive emails from those authorities that it is not covered by their authority, one even suggesting that it’s fortunate that a good credit score isn’t needed to enter Heaven! Okay, I’ve no intention of buying property etc and I am ‘old and disabled’ but still, why should a company like GSD still be able to decimate anyone’s credit score because they are incapable of entering the payment details they’ve been given several times…even better why can’t GSD stop relying on the ‘security’ of having a phone number and instead make it possible for their customers to access their accounts online and pay when they have the ability to instead of relying on the ‘friendly customer service team’ to enter their details each time
A selection of reviews for Global Shop Direct.
https://ieatwords.com/listings/global-shop-direct
Caveat Emptor On Steriods.
If you know which reporting agencies have reduced your credit score, you can lodge a dispute directly with them outlining the circumstances you have experienced which led to the score reduction. The OAIC also provides some information as well…
Thanks phb, I’ve used every link you suggest, giving them all the details and the ONLY response I’ve got is that " those details are outside of their regulation" and of course the added benefit that a good credit score isn’t needed for Heaven!
The Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) may be the place to lodge a complaint if GSD are covered by them. You could also seek to raise a case with your State/Territory Civil & Admin Tribunal to get some resolution to all the issues. Even if GSD is not a member of the Australian Direct Marketing Association (ADMA) the ADMA have a system whereby they will contact the company and request compliance. The following is from an ADMA submission to a Inquiry https://docplayer.net/15465721-4-case-study-self-regulation-in-direct-marketing.html
" If ADMA becomes aware of an alleged breach of the Code by a direct marketer who is not a member, ADMA will bring that matter to the attention of the company concerned and seek compliance.
In order to reduce the scope for non-members to free ride on the benefits arising from the implementation of the Code:
• only ADMA members have the right to bear the “Direct Marketing Code Compliant” seal; and
• a public awareness program has been undertaken with the support of member publishers, cataloguers and mailers, to assist consumers to recognise Direct Marketing Code Compliant companies."
Once again grahroll, I have contacted EVERY organization about this issue and NONE are interested, all of them have told me that my issue does not fall within their area of expertise. I’m over it which is why I am now posting here and on FB to warn others not to fall for the same thing!
I don’t think your Civil and Administrative Tribunal would say they aren’t interested just from an enquiry. You should of course seek legal advice before commencing an action there to determine your rights, possible reasons for action and possible outcomes. You can obtain legal advice from a number of Community Legal Centres for free, every State and Territory have them and we have listed some on this site at Free Legal Advice Centres.
ADMA may not be interested nor may AFCA as GSD may not be a member of any of these.
VCAT lists what it will entertain here.. The other state CATs will be similar.
A company that is basically incompetent, unresponsive, and impossible to contact does not appear. Let’s assume they get interested anyway, the possible outcomes are quoted as ‘you may go to a mediation or compulsory conference to try to reach an agreement. Or, you present your side of the story at a hearing.’
Consider how this problem would be heard, especially if GSD was disinterested, and what is the best case outcome? The CAT directs GSD to do what?
Contacting the credit bureaus directly and lodging a dispute is the best course of action.
Here are the bureau contacts. If OAIC does not have ‘jurisdiction’ but did not refer you to the credit bureaus they were derelict. Their page has the contacts.
and this company might be helpful (I know nothing about them but they have contact details for the credit bureaus and some topical information.)
https://www.clearscore.com/au/learn/credit-score-and-report/what-are-the-credit-reporting-bodies/
Again grahroll, I hate to ‘burst your bubble’ but NOBODY was interested and as I can’t afford to pay for legal representation none of the community services are either, in fact they were the ones who assured me that I don’t need a good credit rating to enter Heaven!!!
My reason for posting on CHOICE and on Facebook is to warn others not to bother buying from GSD. I’ve exhausted every available option, I’ve been working at resolving this issue for months…thank you for your comments.
In the US when there is a dispute/problem resulting in a reduced credit rating the consumer can lodge a dispute. The credit score does not change but it is flagged as in dispute and any company getting the credit score will see the flag and can then see the consumer’s side of it.
Does anyone know authoritatively if ours do likewise?
Your suggestion is a good one and I am not arguing with that advice at all. If the Credit bureaus don’t respond favourably what then?
If it is possible to be heard in a CAT and the complaint is lodged and GSD are not interested, the outcomes could be a direction to fix the Credit report, it could also involve compensation for any costs and time incurred or it indeed could fail. If the case is won and then GSD then do not carry out the requested actions the matter could be more formalised by the aggrieved getting the outcome certified in a Court of Law eg Magistrates Court. I advised that getting legal advice first was the way to go before trying to commence an action, this will allow clear knowledge of whether a case could be actioned or not. I think the action might be able to be covered in the Goods and Services part:
What we can help with
- Faulty or poor quality products or services
- Repairs, refunds, returns or exchanges
- Breach of contract (could it be considered a Breach by GSD of their obligations)
- Haven’t been paid for a service
- Unpaid money
- Unfair contracts
- Loans, franchises and leasing agreements
- Uncollected vehicles or goods
- Product sold with a debt or money owing
- Not as advertised
- Not fit for purpose
- Misleading or deceptive conduct
- Cancel the sale of a car I bought for less than $40,000
- Other breaches of Australian Consumer Law
I know I’m not a lawyer so my advice is/was contact a proper legally trained person who can give good advice on the matter. At least that will offer some certainty as to what can be done.
Considering the potential ramifications of a poor credit score versus the costs of a silk (even if free there are costs of various types) this is a uniquely ugly problem.
Maybe @jezemeg8 could contact one of the TV investigative shows as a long shot?
Yes a very ugly problem, I would hope the free advice might give some more solid idea of what to do. If the ramifications are more cost with little hope of an outcome then the choice of don’t proceed may be the best option. Contact with the Credit Bureau is as you suggest the best start but even before that is undertaken getting some free legal advice might help frame how to proceed even with that contact. I’m sure Community Legal Centres often deal with how to try to rectify poor credit rating (and Blacklisting) issues that arise from problems like this.
ACA or similar as well could at least make GSD offer a compromise rather than attract bad publicity that might cost them much more than it would to make the problem disappear.
@jezemeg8 I’m sorry that some of the Community Legal Advice Centres were unsympathetic to your request. That seems quite a poor response in my opinion by them. The few times I have had contact with a Community free service I have had only professional advice even if it wasn’t what I wanted to hear. Perhaps the management of that or those centres need to be made aware of the poor response given to you.
Thank you PhilT and to grahroll and others who’ve responded. As I’ve said I’ve exhausted all avenues already. I’m an aged pensioner on Centrelink only, I have NO money to even think of getting legal representation. Yes, I’m aware if I win then costs would likely be awarded against GSD, but I still have to pay to begin with and unfortunately I also have the need to eat and take my essential medications as well… Again, I write here and elsewhere ONLY to warn others not to be a victim of GSD!
Did you formally contact GSD through their online webform?
It might be worth raising it also by mail, their postal address is hidden at the bottom of the T&Cs in section 11 is:
PO Box 97, Rozelle NSW 2039 Australia
I would be putting it in writing exactly the circumstances that lead to your credit rating being impacted…that being an error on their part…and that they need to reverse the report to the credit agency. I would give them 20 business days to respond after posting the letter. In the letter you need to indicate that you plan to take the matter further if they chose not to respond.
Address the letter (I would be sending two separate ones with a CC to the other at the bottom) to:
Jamie Dow - Managing Owner - Global Shop Direct
and
Jeff O’Halloran - Operations Manager - Global Shop Direct
Let us know what response you get.
Yes, I attempted to contact GSD via their online site and by snail mail BEFORE I began contacting all the other relevant organizations set up to help consumers…no one is interested and TV stations haven’t bothered to reply to any of my enquiries either…
This entire matter has had an adverse affect on my already poor health so I’ve abandoned doing anything further, four months of contacting people by all means available is enough…I put up my post here to warn others of doing business with GSD. I have also posted my experiences elsewhere… my health is far more important than pursuing this further…again, thank you for your help but so far you’ve not offered any suggestions that I’ve not already pursued and had rejected!
We dealt with GSD about 6 years ago. It was many weeks before we got a refund on a faulty product. From then on we have never dealt with them. And never will. Just give them a wide berth.
Another thing which looks potentially useful would be the Facebook page “Global Shop Direct Complaints”. Have you put your issue there?
