Greenwash billing ripoff: so what makes Optus any different?

Stan Beer
Sunday, 05 April 2009 17:42

Opinion and Analysis

In Optus' case at least, the money is going straight into the pockets of Optus and nowhere else.

Yes, Optus can argue with justification that encouraging people to go online will help the environment. But if the carrier is serious about being a good Green corporate citizen, it should contribute at least some of its resulting savings and extra income to Green causes.

Those of us old enough can remember a time when we were told that the move by big oil companies to self-service petrol stations would lead to lower petrol prices. We were also told that the introduction of ATMs and Internet banking would lead to lower bank charges.

The last time I looked the petrol that I pump myself, after which I check my oil and water and wash my windscreen, is as expensive as ever. The bank not only pays almost zero interest on my online cash account, it hits me with a monthly accounting fee on each account and charges me if I use an ATM that doesn't belong to the bank. Meanwhile, bank staff are being laid off by the thousands.

I now get most of my bank statements online, my bank is in the business of using my cash to finance loans and its accounting systems are automated, so why am I being charged instead of getting paid for them having control of and using my money?

Getting back to Optus and the other carriers, I already pay to use their services (in my case not Optus), so why should I pay extra for the privilege of being billed the way I've always been billed?

Here's some suggestions for the Communications Minister and the ACCC, if you're serious about stopping Australian consumer rights from being abused in the telecommunications space, send a please explain to Optus and the other carriers who want to charge us for a service that we're already paying for.