Telco Standard Form Contracts

'Looking at the Fine Print: Standard Form Contracts for Telecommunications Products and Consumer Protection Law in Australia' by Jeannie Marie Paterson and Jonathan Gadir in (2013) 37(1) The University of Western Australia Law Review 45 comments

Consumer contracts for telecommunications products are usually 'standard form contracts', which means that they have been prepared by providers and presented to consumers on a 'take it or leave it basis'. In an ideal world, this lack of an opportunity for consumers to negotiate the terms of their contracts would not necessarily result in one-sided contracts that are balanced against the interests of those consumers. Ideally, consumers would shop around and select between providers not only on the basis of the products offered by them, but also on the basis of the contract terms accompanying those products. The reality is that this almost never occurs.