Ajust Action Report

Data and stories of consumers fighting the system – and winning.

31 August 2026

Tom Kaldor

The memberships nobody signed up for and The Good Guys living up to their name

Numbers Story Cheat code (A)just for fun Wins club

Power in numbers

What people did on Ajust this week

885

people took action

▲ 57% on last week

302

case plans we prepared

▲ 69% on last week

$109,029

at stake in those plans

▲ 74% on last week

5599

Biggest win

Chris’s refund for an electric cargo trike that tipped over twice on ordinary suburban driveways – paid in full after the business tried to deduct “repackaging and inspection” fees from a refund it had already confirmed in writing.

Spike alert

Uber – 4% of all Ajust complaints this week, against a two-month average of 1%. Five of the twelve cases are Uber One memberships people say they never joined.
Big W – 2.3% vs 0.8%. Mostly online orders: missing items, a wrong address, a delivery that still hasn’t come.

Under control

DoorDash – nine cases a week on average over the past two months, and as many as 15 in July; this week less than 1% of complaints.

Story of the week

The membership you never joined

Eleven people came to Ajust this week about a membership they say they never signed up for: Uber One (five cases), Dick Smith FIRST (three) and Kogan FIRST (three). Over the previous two months we saw about two a week. We’re used to seeing Kogan and Dick Smith; the Uber One spike is new.

The shape is the same every time: a free trial pre-ticked at checkout, or a membership bundled into an order, that quietly renews at $9.99, $96 or $129.

The surprise charge. “Uberone charged and did not sign up”. “I didn’t order anything that’s the problem they just took $129”.
The mystery. “why am I paying 10 dollars amount each month?” Dick Smith’s own explanation to one customer: a 14-day free trial that began with an order in August and renewed by itself.
The runaround. Uber’s help channels sit behind a login, so it can feel like more effort to question the charge than just pay it. Dick Smith sent one customer a “satisfaction survey” before the refund had arrived. We assume they were not satisfied.

Amounts this small are designed not to be noticed, or to feel like more hassle to chase than they’re worth. Either way, the money stays with the business.

Parliament has noticed. The Unfair Trading Practices law passed in July – and from 1 July 2027 businesses will have to spell out renewal terms before you sign up, remind you before a free trial turns into a paid plan and let you cancel online if you joined online.

What you can do:

Don’t wait for the new law. If this is you, act now – it takes one email, not an afternoon.
Check your statements for small recurring charges from brands you shop with, and look for a “membership” or “trial” line in recent order confirmations.
Put it in writing: “I did not knowingly agree to this membership or its renewal. Cancel it and refund the charge.” With Ajust’s help, Colin got his $129 back from Dick Smith within three days, and Debra’s $129 came back from Kogan the next day.

Consumer cheat code

The shop is on the hook too

When a product fails, many people go to the brand that made it. But if the manufacturer says “not covered”, “user damage” or “not repairable”, is that the end of it? Under the Australian Consumer Law, the shop you bought it from has to fix the problem too, not just the manufacturer – and the shop is often the easier door. It wants to keep you as a customer and it has pull with the manufacturer that you don’t.

4+ weeks

of the manufacturer saying no

4 days

for the retailer to say yes

The move: write to the retailer’s customer care, attach the manufacturer’s own words, and ask for the remedy:

“I bought this from you. The manufacturer says it can’t be repaired. Under the consumer guarantees, I’m asking you to replace it.”

Or ask for a refund.

The payoff: Anne’s three-year-old $2,969 ASKO oven had corroded on the inside walls, two of the three spots behind the rack runners where nothing could have been dropped on it. ASKO said it was “not repairable”, told her to keep using it “at your own risk”, blamed her for the damage, then offered a refund minus 20%. We took it to The Good Guys, where she’d bought it. Within a week the Albury store had come back to her with a replacement oven, a fresh 10-year warranty and free installation. “I know I would not have achieved this outcome without it.” Credit where it’s due: once it landed on The Good Guys’ desk, they agreed in days what the manufacturer had refused for weeks.

(A)just for fun

Too old for Netflix, not too old to bill

Netflix told Leo his TV was too old and stopped streaming to it. His card, apparently, was still in great shape: the monthly charge kept coming. Our agent took it to Netflix’s live chat. Seventeen minutes later the subscription was cancelled and $20.99 was on its way back. The TV still can’t stream classic episodes of Seinfeld for Leo, but at least it’s no longer costing him money.

Wins club

People who won this week

N’s $590 refund from Target for 16 returned items, sorted on Target’s own live chat: “Man u are awesome”
P’s $228.48 from ReadySet travel insurance, which had charged the excess per person instead of per claim
Peter’s $138.33 back from SynGas for a $73.97 radar detector he never ordered – they refunded in US dollars, and the exchange rate did the rest
Debra’s $129 Kogan FIRST charge refunded in full, after Kogan first offered only the “unused portion”
Colin’s replacement Braun shaver from JB Hi-Fi (a different Colin to the Dick Smith one above), ten days after a lost online order was first refused
Scott’s nib health policy cancelled and his outstanding claims paid
Ken’s $10 Uber cancellation fee back after the app froze and the driver never came
Jeannette’s $9 from Kmart for a missing pair of travel compression socks
M’s shed, finally built after seven months of no-shows from a Queensland installer
Diana’s five stars after a hotel refund won through her bank: “The whole procedure went smoothly”

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