Waching daily Jan 30 2018

Hello and welcome back to F.U Tube, the viewer complaint segment that puts the

F.U. in consumer, even though there isn't one.

Hmm that's consfusing.

Anyway first up tonight it's Chris. Chris owns a PlayStation 3 or PS3 but he's had a bit

of a run-in with the maker of PlayStation, Sony. Poor young fella.

Actually I'm 31.

Sorry, I just assumed. Anyway after over a decade using his PS3

recently Chris got a message when he tried to sign in saying that he'd been

banned due to violations of the PlayStation Network user agreement when

he'd done nothing of the sort.

Actually I did violate the Terms of Service.

Okay...

I modified my PlayStation 3 so I could play PlayStation 2 games I'd already paid for

including a favorite of my wife and mine, Simpsons Road Rage.

Chris says the Sony ban means he can't use 25 PS3 games and 45 PS4 games that he bought and paid for

I don't think Sony should be able to remove games I'd legitimately paid for.

That'd be like turning up at my house and taking all the discs I bought in the last 10 years.

Turning up at someone's private property, breaking into

it and stealing their stuff? Surely Sony wouldn't condone that sort of behaviour.

But this ban feels like grand theft to Chris and

clearly Sony is fine with it. But if a standard form consumer contract

has terms that are unfair, the Consumer Law voids those terms. For example a gym

contract that said the location of the gym could be moved up to twelve

kilometres was found to be unfair to consumers.

So let's look at the Sony Network User Agreement

and a quick squiz at the termination clause shows

Sony says it can do basically whatever it wants if it thinks that there's been a breach.

So Chris you are up against the most terrifying PlayStation

character of all, the lawyer.

Our decision is final, we will not enter into any further discussion.

And you're certainly not the only one who's got this gripe about

PlayStation either. An Irish gamer who lost seven years worth of games when he

was banned told The Sun that he is suing PlayStation.

Mind you, The Sun also reported this:

Mum fears a ghost keeps peeing in her toilet while she's at work.

These examples highlight just how powerless

digital media consumers can be. It's not just gamers, the same is true for e-books,

apps, online music services and many other online content platforms that are

cloud-based.

So is the PlayStation User Agreement an unfair contract?

Honestly Chris it's hard to say. Unfair contracts are a complicated area and ultimately

only a court can decide. But well, let me try and explain in a way that works for you.

The Consumer Law says that the contract could be unfair if there's a

significant imbalance in bargaining power,

HOMER SIMPSON: Hey Big Boy! Look at me!

if the term is not reasonably

necessary to protect the legitimate interests of the business,

Or if it causes detriment, which certainly seems to be the case for you Chris.

And it specifically mentions terms that let one party decide if the contract's been

breached which is exactly what the PlayStation contracts are.

Unfair Contracts cases are harder than consumer guarantees, but Chris we agree with you

that Sony depriving you of all those games that you paid for is unfair. So a

complaint to Consumer Affairs might be worth a try.

Who knows? The Consumer Law might help you get back in the game.

HOMER SIMPSON: Who's number one? We're number one! That's right.

And finally tonight it's Pauline. AGH!

Pauline didn't want her face on television but she's

okay with us showing her skeleton, 'cos her question's about Voltaren Osteo Gel.

Pauline noticed that Voltaren Osteo has exactly the same active ingredient

as Voltaren Emu Gel? Eww

EMU: It's Emulgel!

Oh! There's an L in it.

EMU: Idiot.

And another viewer Julie points out,

Osteo Gel and Emulgel come in the same size box and both cost $20.50.

The Osteo Gel is 75g and the Emulgel is 100 grams!

The only difference between ordinary Voltaren

and Voltaren Osteo is the "easy to open cap".

Jack compared the prices per 100g and as he says,

$7.50 extra is a lot to pay for a plastic cap!

But given that they come in the same size box and are the same price, the extra cost of

Voltaren Osteo's easy to use cap is

easy to miss!

The ACCC says Voltaren

Osteo Gel is misleading and deceptive to the 1.8 million Australians mostly

senior citizens who report having osteoarthritis. The ACCC

alleges that Voltaren did things like removing references to osteoarthritis on

the pack of regular Voltaren and it shows that when the ACCC raised

concerns, Voltaren didn't stop the Osteo Gel racket no, they just added more

disclaimer text on the pack and kept on selling their slimy product.

What? It's slimy.

EMU: Oi!

The gel, not the emu.

Now, Voltaren will respond to those allegations in court, but we couldn't help noticing that

Voltaren Osteo Gel is no longer listed on the Voltaren website. Voltaren told

us that they took it off their website in November 2017, just before the ACCC

legal action and they said:

VOLTAREN VO: We have recently taken the decision to

remove Voltaren Osteo Gel from the Australian market.

But we're told that doesn't mean they're withdrawing it from sale. So consumers who really want to pay

extra for bog-standard Voltaren with an easy to rip off-cap will still be able

to get it for a while yet. By the way there is a different product Voltaren

VOLTAREN ELDERLY VO: Voltaren Osteo Gel 12 Hourly

Or as I like to call it Voltaren up to 12 hourly.

It's only available from chemists and has double the active ingredient so it could

be the most effective and cost-effective treatment, but be careful the pack's quite

similar to the dodgy Osteo Gel. Both have the easy-to-use cap too. Voltaren really

loves that cap. Here's what they said when the ACCC started the court case:

We believe the design of the packaging helps people with

osteoarthritis open the cap more easily.

We actually asked some people with

osteoarthritis, which pack is easier to unscrew: Regular or Osteo Gel and

here's what they said:

This one was a bit easier to open

Much, much easier to open

Not a lot of difference

My arthritis is in my hips so neither of them make any

difference to me really.

And when we showed them how much extra you pay for

the easy to unscrew pack, here's what they said to Voltaren:

SCREW YOU VOLTAREN!

Goodnight!