Switch your phone or internet provider

There are a number of situations where you might consider switching your phone or internet provider:

• You may have your own reason to change (for example, end of contract, price, network coverage, customer service, choice of device).
• A telco may approach you to change providers.
• Your telco may sell its business.
• Your telco may move to a different network.

Switching telcos should be easy. If your contract is about to end, or you’re looking for a better deal:

• Check your current contract. You may have to pay a fee for ending the contract early.
• Compare details such as pricing and features on telcos’ websites. Look for the Critical Information Summaries to help you compare.
• Find out how to keep the same phone number, if that’s important to you.
• Make sure you understand the terms and conditions in your contract before you sign. In most situations, you can’t change your mind afterwards.

If your service doesn’t work as it should, contact your telco to report a fault.

If you are not happy with the outcome, complain to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman.

Your service can only be transferred to a new telco if you agree to do so. Before the transfer, you must be given the following information:

• that the service can be transferred
• whether you should expect any interruption to your service during the transfer
• that there may be consequences of ending your service with your current telco – for example, a cancellation fee
• that you should receive a notice when the transfer is completed
• contact details for making a complaint about the transfer
• how you can find out that the transfer has occurred
• any other terms and conditions of the transfer.

Scammers sometimes pretend to be telcos to try to get access to your number. Be very wary of anyone cold calling you to sell you a better telco deal and pressure you into a quick decision. Great deals that are only available for a short time could be a scam.

If you are interested in the deal being offered to you, follow these steps to protect yourself:

• Ask them to send written confirmation of the deal, including a copy of the contract, to you before you finalise it. Use these details to verify the identity of the telco.
• Ask for a Critical Information Summary. Take time to read and understand the terms and conditions before you agree to a contract.
• Do not share your date of birth, driver’s licence number or other personal details until you:
  • are confident the deal is legitimate
  • have reviewed all the information
  • have agreed to the transfer.

If you have been transferred without agreeing, or you were misled during the sales process

If you think you have been signed up to a new telco without your permission, or you have signed up based on misleading or inaccurate information, there are still steps you can take to protect yourself.

If the transfer hasn’t yet taken place:

• Contact your original telco and tell them you do not want to be transferred.
• Contact the telco that signed you up and cancel your contract if you are in a cooling-off period and tell them you do not want to be transferred. The cooling-off period occurs within 10 business days from and including the day after you signed it.

If the transfer has taken place:

• Ask the telco to give you a copy of your agreement and cancel your contract if you are in a cooling off period. If you are not in a cooling off period, you can still ask them to cancel the contract if they gave you inaccurate information about the deal that you relied on to transfer to the telco.
• If you did not authorise the transfer, contact your original telco and ask them to help you transfer back.

You should keep records of the actions you take and the responses you receive from the telcos.

Complain about the transfer

• Lodge a complaint with the telco that signed you up if you did not authorise the transfer or the telco gave you misleading or inaccurate information.
• If you are not happy with the outcome, complain to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman. You can also complain to the ACCC about being misled.