Peter Couper, the former Chief Financial Officer of the company and OnQ, is facing criminal charges according to a report in The Age this morning. The report indicates that others will be charged as well.
While there is still no solid news for newsagents in relation to the Bill Express equipment, my (non lawyer) opinion is that the equipment has been abandoned and can therefore be used how and where I like.
The only other closure I would like is into the behaviour of the ANF Board leading up and immediately after the decision to endorse Bill Express. The due diligence the ANF claimed to have done was not done and no one has been held accountable for letting so many newsagents down.
i placed all my bill xpress gear in the big green filing box out the back of the shop and you wouldn’t believe it some guy in a big truck with forks on the front of it took it away ,damm didn’t even get his rego
Shaun S,
That sounds so terrible.
I have two sets of bill express equipment, one of them is unused. I will send you one to help out !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The Grand Final looked great on the BE screen on Saturday, customers made many comments.
Max that would be fantastic do you have the big screen model ? i only had the small screen , see if only they had given me the big screen that bad man in the truck with the forks would not have been ab;le to take it away .
Shaun S,
Sorry I only have the small screen. I do have two sets of eftpos looking machines and two sets of cords and two modem looking things and two of just about everything else. Half of the used equipment was not even connected. I don’t know what a lot of it was supposed to do except fill in an empty space…….
ooops i threw all mine out ages ago, except the screen, i just assumed it was old crap and no one would want it back. i know roughly what part of the dump i threw it in if thats any help 🙂
Rick,
It would probably still work as good as it did before
i threw everything out already. except 1 big screen. waste of space. besides their contract is with old owners…i dont have any contracts with bill express.
how come the great ANF did’t say much more about bill express fiasco?
Ed, the ANF made a series of blunders following about Bill Express especially in 2003 and then again in 2007/08. The organisation has never acknowledged these nor have they apologised to newsagents for the considerable cost on the channel of the blunders.
We took over our business just in time to be among the first to join Bill Express. Coming from LPO’s we recognised and valued the potential of this business and trusted the ANF to have performed due diligence prior to recommending BE. We lost all faith in the national and state newsagency bodies and now belong to none of them. The ANF have a lot to answer for as they backed right away from BE when the rot set in. If a new model arose we would look at it again but be far more cautious about it.
My 32″ BenQ LCD tv has been displaying my security camera output since Bill Xpress went bad. Customers can’t help but notice they are on camera when they walk into the shop as it’s “in their face” Thanks BillXpress…and no thanks for your threats of old!!
Did anyone watch ABC Four Corners last night (1 November) about scams in the Telco industry involving “free” equipment. Just a variation on the Bill Express model that has apparently caught out many, many small business operators. And big finance companies are in it up to their necks!!!
Bruce, I was riveted to the show. The parallels with Bill Express were extraordinary.
watch macquarie bank squirm out of this
It just shows how toothless the ACCC is when it comes to the big boys. Maquarie basically told the chief of the ACCC to pull his head in and he does nothing but make threats that he will not back up.
The ANF Board never admitted anything, they pushed out a stand in CEO to do their bidding and when things got a bit hot they did what they had done before…cut him off in the hope the heat wouldn’t come back on them. Interestingly enough, most of the Board at the time when shit hit the fan didnt have contracts anymore with BE so didnt have much to lose. They were, and still remain very much out of touch with ordinary newsagents.