Activ8me fined $250,000 for false advertising

The Federal Court has ordered Activ8Me to pay $250,000 in penalties for false or misleading conduct related to its resold OptiComm FTTP services, following successful court action from the ACCC.

Activ8me (Australian Private Networks) was also ordered to refund set-up fees for some of its customers on the nbn alternative OptiComm FTTP network, and allow them to exit or switch plans at no charge if they choose.

The penalties were imposed after Activ8me admitted that between June and November 2018 the company made false or misleading claims in both direct mail and online advertising to potential customers of its retail OptiComm FTTP services.

The company had told customers that they could access speeds of “up to” 100 Mbps for $59.95 per month with no set-up fee.

But this was the price for the basic 12 Mbps download 1 Mbps upload plan, with Activ8me charging $89.95 per month for its 100 Mbps plans — and a $99 set-up fee was applied if customers did not sign up to a 12-month plan.

ACCC Deputy Chair Delia Rickard said Activ8me also made a number of other false or misleading claims related to price, inclusions of “unlimited” data, available speed and total minimum costs.

“The misleading representations by Activ8me were blatantly wrong and misled hundreds of customers into signing up to internet services which were at a different price or speed than they expected,” she said.

“Businesses are warned that misleading customers will result in ACCC action and potentially serious consequences.”

Rickard said during the time period in question 81,000 direct mail advertisements were sent to consumers, and 793 customers signed up to Active8me’s OptiComm FTTP plans.

The company has agreed to send each affected customer a corrective notice informing them of their entitlements under the court order, and to implement a consumer law compliance program.

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