Mark Hawthorne and Jesse Hogan shed more light on the Bill Express mess in part one of a two part excellent report in The Age today. While the report will not help newsagents financially, it will help us understand the extent to which we were duped. It is also good to see further detail on the interest being shown by ASIC – they now have a five member team on the case.
For newsagents, the Bill Express mess will not end until there is closure on status of the equipment rental agreements newsagents entered into with parties associated with Bill Express. My understanding is that newsagents owe around $20 million. Many newsagents have cancelled direct debit arrangements and face a showdown with the finance company, Mobius.
While there have been threats of legal action against newsagents to recover lease payments, none has been commenced to my knowledge. The group of newsagents behind the Class Action are ready to defend any action by Mobius on this front. Any newsagent being pursued should know that fellow newsagents will rally to support mounting a defence.
Personally, I am lucky with Bill Express. I signed a four year equipment lease. Yes, I did not thoroughly read the agreements. I joined late and expected others had. Dumb, I know. My equipment contract ended at the start of this year. They tried to get me to sign an extension for the plasma advertising screen they installed – I was one of the first trial sites. I refused to pay – the $5,000 charge for a screen which cost under $1,000 to purchase was nonsense. Also, by that time, I was skeptical of the model and some of the practices being used by the company. Bill Express never pursued me.
My personal position aside, I will help any newsagent out of the Bill Express mess in any way I can.
That is a great article, it’s still unravelling.
So many losers in all of this, I think Mobius should lose too, what do they really have over us?
I’m happy to see they will be going to court, 48 companies being run out of the one address!!! “Please explain” says the Judge.