“If the offer sounds too good then it probably is, if people start offering television sets to buy telephone calls you need to be wary straight away,” former Telstra Countrywide general manager Gavin Priestley said.

Mr Priestley’s comments come in the wake of revelations in yesterday’s Central Western Daily that finance companies are pursing Orange business people Glenn Kelly, Hazel King and Rebecca Lynch for tens of thousands of dollars.

As an incentive to signing a five year contract with a communications company, the trio entered into a second contract to receive “free” equipment like mobile phones, cordless phones and plasma televisions.

Soon after the phone company went into administration, leaving the business owners without a phone service.

They also discovered the “free” equipment had actually been funded through a finance company that’s now demanding monthly payments.

In Mr Kelly and Ms King’s case, Enterprise Finance Solutions (EFS) is seeking payments of $30,000 and $22,000 respectively.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has instigated Federal Court actions against EFS, claiming the finance company was knowingly concerned in or had aided and abetted exclusive dealing with two different phone companies.

Mr Priestley said he knew of other victims from similar situations in Orange.

“Without being too critical the signs were there that something was wrong from day one, when someone offers to throw in a plasma telly you’ve got to start wondering about the offer,” Mr Priestley said.

He also believed more people in rural and regional centres like Orange sign up to the so-called “bundled service agreements” than business people in metropolitan areas.

“Firstly, country people sometimes have more time to sit down with these people (the salesperson who offer the deals) and secondly, city people are less inclined to listen to these kind of offers,” he said.

“Country people are quite often less inclined to be rude and tell them to go away, a lot of Sydney people are mindful of the collapse of various telephone companies.”

A meeting of victims of failed telecommunications deals will be held at the Wests Leagues Club in Sydney from 9am tomorrow.

Further information is available at www.telco-finance-scams.com.