Barry, at 16:02 on Jun 07 1995, you wrote to Bill Grimsley...

BT> Just butting in here (as usual!), Bill.

And why not?  Everybody else does.  :)

BT> I've been offering a couple of discount systems, which seem to be all
BT> very respectable and above board - Netex, for Australian calls via Optus
BT> or Telecom, and Kallback for international calls.

Yeah, I've seen your ads recently.  Nice to see that you appear to be only
flogging the product, and not the sales rights to others (or are you?).

BT> Netex are resellers who buy in bulk and get a substantial reduction.
BT> They can afford to pass most of this to subscribers and still do very
BT> nicely by earning a small percentage of a lot of bills!

BG> So you say.  As they don't currently exist, I'm yet to be convinced.

BT> That's your prerogative.  With Netex & Kallback, it's a very small
BT> gamble - a one off $25 registration fee to sign up for both.  And, if
BT> you didn't save that much out of your first bill, why would you bother
BT> anyway? 

I wouldn't presume to comment on Netex or Kallback (whatever happened to
correct English, BTW?), as I've seen no literature upon which to pass
judgment, but the First Netcon docs were decidedly dodgy, and was only one
step removed from a totally illegal pyramid scheme, purely by virtue of
making the agent purchase something from the catalogue in order to qualify
for their commission.

Any previous comments related specifically to First Netcon, no one else.

BG> Sure, but I'd be far more concerned about the possibility of the reseller
BG> no longer being around, if and when they ever did.

BT> Good point.  However, we have copies of letters from Telecom and Optus
BT> explaining exactly what would happen if Netex went down the gurgler.

Does the subscriber therefore assign billing rights to Netex in total then,
and how often are accounts issued?  Monthly or quarterly?  And is it only
the actual call charges which are rebated (not line rental)?

BT> Basically, you would just revert to the Telecom/Optus service and cease
BT> to get your rebate.

As mentioned earlier, what happens if, for example, a subscriber pays their
monthly account to Netex, who then disappear to South America or wherever? 

I'm not suggesting that this would happen, but is there any protection in
place to cater for such a possibility, or does the poor old consumer end up
having to pay Telecom or Optus again?

Regards, Bill
@EOT:

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