Telstra apologises after sending debt collector after wrong customer in case of mistaken identity

Telstra has apologised and says it will review its procedures after a West Australian man was wrongly “harassed” over a $2,000 unpaid bill incurred by a customer with the same name.

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Porongurup man Jason Jordan said a case of mistaken identity resulted in debt collectors calling him and his wife multiple times demanding payment of a Telstra mobile phone bill.

It was only when Impact Financial Services (IFS), the telco’s debt collector, disclosed the details of the Telstra customer they were pursuing did he realise what had occurred — the bill belonged to a Jayson Jordan residing 400 kilometres away in Perth.

Despite the mistake, Jason Jordan said the debt collectors phoned and emailed him and his wife multiple times over the course of a week.

“Impact has somehow mis-identified me as being the other customer with the slightly differently spelt name and have been harassing me relentlessly to pay this debt off,” Mr Jordan said.

Mr Jordan said the debt recovery agency initially contacted his wife, saying they wanted to speak to her husband about an important legal matter.

“And I have no idea how they got a hold of her details. She’s not a Telstra customer. She’s with an entirely different company,” he said.

“So, she’s freaking, I’m freaking. I don’t owe anybody money.”

‘Aggressive’ debt collectors

“It’s just a strange situation,” Mr Jordan said.

“Their name is spelt very, very similarly to mine”.

Mr Jordan said IFS, based in Sydney, sent him an email attaching the other Telstra customer’s personal details.

“It’s got how much he owes them. It’s got his home address. It’s got his full name on there,” he said.

Mr Jordan said IFS staff were “very aggressive” on the phone, asking for personal details, and he could not understand why he was being pursued.

“They assumed that I was this person and wouldn’t give me any details about what the debt is until I identify myself,” he said.

“So I get in contact with Telstra and I asked them, ‘Do I owe you any money?’ Telstra says no.

“I’m very confused at this point. What’s going on?”

Telstra has issued an apology over the sharing of a customer’s details with the wrong person.(ABC News: Michael Franchi)

A text message from IFS shed light on the situation.

“They still wouldn’t tell me anything,” he said. “But then they sent me an SMS.”

The spelling of Jason was different.

“And that’s the point at which it clicked for me that they’re obviously chasing another customer with a very similar name,” Mr Jordan said.

IFS did not respond to multiple requests for comment from the ABC.

Telstra engages debt collectors

A Telstra spokesperson said when customers fall significantly behind in bill payments, it has a debt recovery process that sees it try to contact the customer directly and reach a resolution.

“In some cases, Telstra employees may do this, and in other cases we use the services of other companies to help,” the spokesperson said.

Telstra says it will continue to work with Impact Financial Services despite the mistake.(AAP: Joel Carrett)

The Telstra spokesperson said mistaken identity was not a common occurrence and both the telco and its debt recovery partners worked hard to minimise it from occurring.

“However, Telstra are now reviewing our processes and procedures to see what we can do better in the future, and we apologise to Mr Jordan for this incident occurring,” the spokesperson said.

Telstra said it and IFS had now stopped pursuing the matter and Telstra was reviewing its debt recovery processes and procedures.

“This has been a somewhat unusual situation,” the spokesperson said,

“And we will continue to work with Impact Financial Services into the future”.

Editor’s note: Jason Jordan previously worked for ABC Great Southern as a casual radio producer.

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