{"id":87249,"date":"1999-12-31T00:24:00","date_gmt":"1999-12-30T13:24:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/smartoffice.com.au\/allphones-45k-sting-for-contempt-of-court\/"},"modified":"1999-12-31T00:24:00","modified_gmt":"1999-12-30T13:24:00","slug":"allphones-45k-sting-for-contempt-of-court","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.strixdevelopment.net\/smartoffice\/1999\/12\/31\/allphones-45k-sting-for-contempt-of-court\/","title":{"rendered":"Allphones $45K Sting For Contempt Of Court"},"content":{"rendered":"

Phone franchise has been fined over attempts to block franchisees wishing to exit its network.

Allphones, which has bases throughout Australia, has been stung with a $45,000 fine for contempt of court by Justice John Nicholas in the NSW Federal Court yesterday. <\/FONT><\/DIV>

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The Federal Court penalised Allphones Retail Pty Ltd $45,000 for contempt of orders following action by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, the body confirmed today.<\/FONT><\/DIV>

<\/FONT><\/DIV>
Justice Nicholas found that the conduct by a number of Allphones’ senior personnel was both ‘serious’ and ‘deliberate’, having<\/FONT> breached two undertakings given to the court in October 2008.  <\/DIV>

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These prohibited the company from withholding consent to the assignment of an Allphones franchise, if the franchisee would not sign a deed releasing Allphones from liability.<\/FONT><\/DIV>

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An order also required Allphones to give the ACCC 7 days’ written notice of its intention to withhold consent to the assignment of an Allphones franchise, on the basis that the new franchisee must enter into a new franchise agreement.<\/FONT><\/DIV>

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At the time the previous case was heard in 2008, Allphones was involved in another legal action with the ACCC for unconscionable conduct, which it was found guilty of and fined $3 million, which was to be shared between 55 franchisees, SMH reports.<\/FONT><\/DIV>

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 “This decision sends a clear message that the ACCC and the Court regard breaches of court orders very seriously,” ACCC Chairman Graeme Samuel said today.<\/FONT><\/DIV>

<\/FONT><\/DIV>
“Those who act in contempt of court can expect to be vigorously pursued by the ACCC,” he warned.<\/FONT><\/DIV>

<\/FONT><\/DIV>
Allphones website contains the following advertisement looking to attract potential franchisees:  “This is a chance for highly motivated, dynamic people to invest in a business with an established customer base, proven product and service offering, strong market position and a well recognised, highly valued brand.”<\/FONT><\/DIV>

<\/FONT><\/DIV>
The mobile giant acknowledged that its conduct was both wrongful and culpable, and apologised to the Court and franchisees. <\/FONT><\/DIV>

<\/FONT><\/DIV>
Justice John Nicholas found the company breached the 2008 court orders on four occasions and fined $15,000 for each breach. <\/FONT><\/DIV>

<\/FONT><\/DIV>
 <\/DIV>”The conduct engaged in contrary to the undertakings was deliberate. It was engaged in by a number of the respondent’s senior personnel who – it may be inferred – were aware at all relevant times of the terms of the undertakings provided by the respondent to the Court,” the judge said. <\/FONT><\/DIV>

<\/FONT><\/DIV>

<\/DIV><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Phone franchise has been fined over attempts to block franchisees wishing to exit its network.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":41,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-87249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-gallery","hentry","category-archive","category-management","post_format-post-format-gallery"],"yoast_head":"\nAllphones $45K Sting For Contempt Of Court - Smart Office<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/staging.strixdevelopment.net\/smartoffice\/1999\/12\/31\/allphones-45k-sting-for-contempt-of-court\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Allphones $45K Sting For Contempt Of Court - 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