Teachers
If you would like copies of sort it to use in class email your contact details and quantity required to publications@fos.org.au (supplied free of charge).
If your school is in Victoria, you may also be interested in a free sort it student workshop we are hosting in May as part of Law Week 2010. For more details click here.
Finally, more educational resources are currently in development. If you would like to receive more information about these resources when they become available, sign up to our mailing list.
sort it
sort it is our publication for young consumers. It is a joint initiative of the Financial Ombudsman Service in partnership with the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman.
We thought it would be useful to put together case studies of real disputes that young people have brought to our organisations so you can see the types of things that can go wrong and how they can be sorted out.
Mobile phone and credit card debts can be crippling. If something has happened that is not your fault it's important to know that there are a number of places, including our organisations, where you can go for help in sorting it out.
Ombudsman services are, for consumers, a free alternative to going to court and we are completely independent. We don't take sides!
Some of the issues we explore in sort it are:
- Premium text messages
- Signing contracts for friends
- Payment arrangements
- Capped mobile plans
- Internet scams
- Taking out a loan for someone else
- Charging back credit card transactions
- Getting into debt
- Credit files
- What to do if things go wrong
- Useful resources (see the panel for more on this topic)
Click on the image below to view/download a PDF copy of sort it. If you would like to order a hard copy (free of charge) email your name and address to publications@fos.org.au.
Useful Resources
In sort it we suggest a number of places where you can go for more (free!) information to help you understand your rights, find out how to complain, and better still pick up some tips on how to stop things going wrong in the first place.
Here on the sort it homepage we can go one step further and give you some weblinks for these organisations.
A good place to start is your local Consumer Affairs or Fair Trading office. Use the search tool on consumer.gov.au to find your State or Territory office.
Some have dedicated areas for young consumers including:
The following sites also offer useful information. Full details are on page 20 of sort it.