Warning: Vocus Group who own Dodo & Club Telco attempting to bully ADSL clients to move to Dodo NBN

This is very dodgy and deceptive behaviour…I would now think twice of moving to DoDo based on this as I wouldn’t have any trust in the company (namely, they aren’t very honest and I chose not to support companies which blatantly do the wrong thing)…

I suspect they are relying on most people not having time and the effort to search for a new ISP when changing over to the NBN, especially if there is insufficient time (one month) to do searches etc. It is the worst form of pressure sales tactics.

If the call centre had advised that there was an error in the letter you received (namely the time to cut off) and apologies, then this could be a simple clerical error…in which the wrong notification was sent But for the call centre to go along with the deception and still trying to mislead customers, is wrong and they should be pulled up on it.

Like @postulative indicated, it does fall into the category of misleading and deceptive conduct under the ACL.

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The online enquiry feature of ClubTelco no longer exists (has been removed). The Vocus group are removing the options as the ClubTelco business is wound down. Will it expire as a business on 9 December this year, well it is quite possible and it won’t matter whether NBN Co give you 18 months of copper wire connection. They are 2 entirely different matters in this regard. If it was Telstra who we know are not ceasing to operate as a Telecom we could argue it was deceptive, it is harder to argue that because ClubTelco are/have ceased Telecom operations that they are being deceptive. That they want to offer DODO or iPrimus or one of their other linked Telco businesses to their clients is just business and ensuring they try to keep the clients that will be cut off due to ClubTelco’s demise in this area.

In this regard I have emailed them to see if I can get a clear statement of when ClubTelco will be entirely ceased as a Telecom business, noting that they do no longer offer packages of any type to new clients in this market (which should perhaps hold a warning for existing customers).

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It would be interesting to know what is happening to their existing NBN customers on contract on month by month packages. I wonder if they will be rolling these customers over to Dodo automatically or did they also receive the 9 December 2019 letter saying that their services will cease and their customers needs to go elsewhere. OR will Dodo keep the subsidiary billing live in the interim (Dodo making accounts and billing).

If they have rolled them over, why didn’t they do the same for ADSL customers…

If they send existing NBN customers letters of service termination saying they need to go elsewhere, then this is very poor customer service.

I suspect that what will happen to these customers is that Dodo will take over the billing and contracts of the subsidiaries until such time that the customer numbers dwindle to a point that they roll customers automatically over to Dodo. I could be wrong but have seen this done in other service industries. These existing NBN customer may not know that the Vocus group will cease operating as a separate entity unless they go to the website to obtain information for some reason.

I wonder if any of vocus group NBN customers have had any correspondence from the group indicating what is happening to their existing NBN package … as it would be good to know.

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ADSL is different to nbn™. Once nbn™ is live in an area no new ADSL contracts can be made (unless they argue the ACMA & ACCC line re poorer service in remote areas). So a change from ClubTelco to a DODO contract is not allowed. A shift from ClubTelco nbn(service) to DODO nbn™ service does not come with the same restrictions.

The ClubTelco site also advises that they do not sell nbn™ services anymore and to contact DODO as their sister company.

" ClubTelco no longer sells ADSL, NBN, Home Phone or Mobile services. However, our sister company, Dodo, have some great plans. Check them out here.

About Vocus Group

ClubTelco and Dodo are both part of the Vocus group. After years of working within Australia’s telecommunications industry, Vocus realised there was a better way. Our mission was to build a telco for people like us, innovating to deliver awesome services and products with a team that treats our customers the way we want to be treated.

About Dodo

Dodo keeps your home services simple by supplying high quality internet, energy and mobile plans all in one place. Since 2001, it’s been their mission has been to challenge the big guys and give Aussies a better option. An option that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg.

Dodo provides customers with internet that works the way you want it to, energy with discounts that don’t disappear and mobile plans that are jam-packed with data.

Call Dodo on 1300 137 104 to arrange your switch today. (Monday – Friday, 10am - 7pm AEST)"

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But I would imagine that running ClubTelco through Dodo would be…I might be wrong…namely Dodo issuing bills under the ClubTelco trading name.

It would be a like one company taking over another and keeping the trading name going for continuation of existing contracts and maintain existing customers.

On the otherhand maybe there are to few ClubTelco ADSL customers to make it worthwhile…the costs to maintain the trading name exceeds any potential benefit.

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Possibly could but it would be a different ABN and that could cause ructions with NBN Co who have that rule re no new ADSL contracts to bolster their business.

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For clarity it is not the Vocus group ceasing operations, it is their Club Telco subsidiary brand.

Vocus Group brands including Vocus Communications, Dodo, iPrimus, Engin and Commander are unaffected in Australia.

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After dealing with iPrimus for a few years and experiencing what varied from ordinary to appalling service once Vocus took over, I can imagine the real problem is a mob of seriously over-employed people using an (probably?) off-shore call centre that has been very poorly briefed and not trained in ‘events of the day’ they were expected to handle.

Hence the original letter was sadly wanting in context and detail, and the call centre was deaf, dumb, and blind employing people qualified to read scripts and probably little more.

Roll on and poor @meltam was put into panic mode to arrange a replacement service under the limitations @grahroll noted re NBN services vs new ADSL services.

Can an authoritative person be contacted? I don’t know but that is one thing it is possible the TIO might be able to arrange?

When a business ceases operations their service is going to cease operations, and subcontracts such as may be in place with Telstra will also cease. There is no window in the circumstance and if Club Telco ceases business in a month, their service will also.

As for the TIO, as @grahroll noted a company going out of business cannot be forced to continue operation as far as I am aware, and the contractual issues with NBN re competing new ADSL services could be problematic.

Relying on any information from the internet re NBN connectivity at your premises should be taken as advisory. Contacting NBN by phone usually results in better if not the absolute best information possible.

My reading of the bottom line is @meltam should be reviewing and arranging NBN service yesterday because of the possible or probable weeks to months delay in getting an NBN tech scheduled to his residence to finalise the service if a site visit is required.

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True, if they wanted to make everyone’s life difficult.

Also, from @meltam last post, it appears when push comes to shove, they can keep ClubTelco’s taps on meaning there must be a practicable solution which ClubTelco/Dodo are unwilling to roll out universally for some reason,…

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In the context of @meltam’s experience what are the odds that statement was honest and would have any affect, or made to get off the phone?

Maybe, but what are the chances? At a technical level even if the Telstra copper is maintained what switches and servers is it going to talk to?

So many questions, so much conjecture, some assumptions, but reality is ???

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Error 651 error?

I expect that ClubTelco ADSL will have some functionality somewhere in Australia until potentially all localities go NBN live…assuming they have customers in the very last area. I can’t imagine them giving ADSL customers, still without a NBN option, a bump letter…on the otherhand…

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Really? They never used to. I was with them for a few years on ADSL and they didnt really mind if you had a BYO. OTOH that was when Simon Hackett still owned Internode so long before the iiNet-TPG takeover.

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That is specific to NBN VOIP, not internet service.

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:-P. I know that. I was talking about their ADSL Voip which was called Nodephone. (And yes, I know that has all changed too, along wth the management nd ownership). To be more specific, you could have internode voip with your BYO modem.

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No offence intended, it was not clear if you were commenting on the old and new, stating your experience in isolation, or questioning ‘if’. I expect that one could have a 3rd party VOIP service that should work fine via internode’s NBN internet service. Everyone is not happy to have multiple providers and some of us have our limits to how far we will go when there are good, comparatively simple options.

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While I don’t expect them to do anything, being ever the optimist, I did put in a complaint to the ACCC.

I argued this with the Supervisor, and suggested it was staying within the same organisation, so not a new contract. He just said that this was not possible. No reason could be elicited from his script.

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Different ABNs so strictly different Companies, both owned by a parent company higher up the chain but similar in other businesses where the risks of one or more company/companies can be largely shed from the rest of the group by creating another limited liability company. Qantas and Jetstar are an example of this, while Qantas is the parent, if Jetstar failed then Qantas would be shielded from the losses and only lose the value of the shares invested in the Jetstar company.

DODO to take on the ClubTelco brand could do so but they would still not be DODO rather they would be a wholly owned subsidiary company, a lot of shuffling that the VOCUS group probably doesn’t want or need to undertake. TPG group has a number of subsidiaries like the VOCUS group do but we see them treated as separate entities:

Each trade separately and have management structures like all Companies do.

This means if you take up a contract with in your case DODO because ClubTelco are no longer supporting ADSL (or any telecommunications provision for that matter) it is a new contract with a different company. Under nbn™ rules/laws this means as you are in a nbn™ ready area that they cannot offer you a “new” ADSL contract. Even if you tried to swap to as an example Telstra, they could not offer you ADSL, they just aren’t allowed to.

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@meltam, Tamás how is it going? Made any decisions on your next provider? Has the drama wound down? Have you been able to authoritatively confirm whether you are going to be shut off or not when Club Telco stops business?

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I see your Newcastle and raise you a Bob Hudson JL Budgerigar …

“to get on in this world you’ve got to be a galah …”

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I have never heard that before and I certainly don’t want to hear it again.

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