Phone script reveals how Acquire Learning talked job seekers into expensive diplomas

COURT documents reveal the script used by an education company to talk job seekers into $52,000 diplomas.

Acquire Learning

A VOCATIONAL education company is facing court action over allegedly harvesting resumes using fake job listings then marketing expensive private college courses to job seekers.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission instituted proceedings in the Federal Court on Thursday against Acquire Learning & Careers Pty Ltd for allegedly engaging in unconscionable conduct, making false or misleading representations and breaching the unsolicited consumer agreements provisions in the Australian Consumer Law.

The Acquire Group was founded by former AFL boss Andrew Demetriou’s nephew, Tim Demetriou, along with group managing director John Wall and chief executive Jesse Sahely.

Mr Demetriou joined the group’s advisory board as executive chairman last July.

There is no allegation of any wrongdoing by these individuals.

The action relates to Acquire Learning’s conduct in telemarketing VET FEE-HELP funded courses between July 2014 and March 2015. The cost of the diplomas ranged from $19,000 to $52,000, on which Acquire was paid a percentage as commission by the training company.

News.com.au first revealed allegations against Acquire in November last year, including its telemarketing tactics.

Court documents reveal how Acquire’s telemarketers, which it dubs ‘Career Advisers’, were trained to “talk to and engage in as many customers as possible and book the maximum amount of enrolments possible and end up receiving the biggest salary possible”.

Telemarketers were offered incentives such as cash and prizes based on the number of enrolments they made, and were encouraged to inform job seekers that “placements are limited”. According to court documents, telemarketers read from a script which included statements such as:

• “We are all about helping people land their dream job and most importantly finding that job in your local community. We currently have xx amount of job vacancies which may or may not suit your background, experience and skillet, let’s take a look”

• “It’s my job to get you into one of those roles / a role like that”

• “Don’t worry — were [sic] not sending you back to school or anything like that”

• “We’ve also been told by Careers/AIPE that if you get that organised with me today you’ll be provided with an iPad/tablet/notebook”

• “After everything we’ve discussed I’m going to assume this is something you’d want to take advantage of, correct? If yes: Fantastic! It’s my job to get that organised for you, it’s just done through a quick online enrolment form. If unsure: But you do want to find employment, correct? But you do want a better job, correct?”

They were also provided with a list of “frequently raised objections”, which included the following responses:

• “This is something that will enable you to have a successful future and stability in your life”

• “It will give you the edge over other applicants applying for jobs in your industry”

• “I think you should give it a go for at least a couple of months, correct?”

• “Statistically people who do this course are earning an extra $10,000 per year on average”

• “I have done this course before and trust me, you can do it!”

• “All we want to do is give you the piece of paper you deserve so that you have the right to success like everyone else”

The ACCC alleges telemarketers made calls to job applicants using personal details obtained by Acquire from job application forms. It is alleged that the purpose of the calls was not disclosed, and that job applicants were “led to believe the purpose of the call related to employment opportunities”.

According to court documents, one job applicant who was called in July 2014 was allegedly told the call was “in regards to your recent job search online”, and that the telemarketer had “an opportunity to run past you in regard to potential employment”.

The woman, who had been looking for work for five months, was allegedly told she had been “handed over as a reference” from a job advertiser who was “not able to place you ... so they’ve passed you on to us so we can help you out”.

The woman was allegedly told Acquire was not calling from the government but “we’re affiliated with some of the government incentives, though”, and that the government would fund “the entire course cost”.

The telemarketer allegedly told the woman the proposed VET FEE-HELP course was “going to make you more employable ... put you in the top eighth percentile of people going for similar jobs”, and that it would make her “eligible to go for a management position”.

Another woman, who was called in July 2014, had been looking for a job as a kitchen hand. She informed the telemarketer that she had “a little bit of a disability ... just reading and taking it slowly”.

The telemarketer allegedly said, “So you’re looking to get into hospitality. And that is something you’re looking to progress — work your way up into a management role?” To which the applicant replied, “Sort of, not really. I don’t have the experience for that.”

Many consumers who signed up for VET FEE-HELP courses as a result of calls from Acquire Learning have subsequently had their enrolments cancelled, and the debt annulled.

“The ACCC alleges that Acquire Learning engaged in unconscionable conduct, including by taking advantage of vulnerable consumers and using unfair sales tactics to pressure consumers to enrol for a course and apply for VET FEE-HELP assistance,” ACCC Chairman Rod Sims said in a statement.

“The ACCC is alleging that Acquire Learning’s telemarketers signed consumers up to courses without taking into account their individual circumstances and misled consumers about their suitability for the course and how the course would improve their employment prospects.

“Acquire earned commissions from telemarketing to prospective students. The students did not receive the promised employment prospects and were left with a significant VET FEE-HELP debt.”

Acquire is now the fourth company caught in the ACCC’s firing line as it cracks down on abuses in the $2.4 billion vocational education sector.

The watchdog and the Department of Education have already instituted proceedings against Unique International College, Phoenix Institute and Empower Institute, following joint investigations with NSW Fair Trading.

In a statement, Acquire Learning group managing director John Wall said the court action related to “alleged historical matters” and “are not a reflection of Acquire Learning’s current practices which, we firmly believe, represent an industry-leading approach to regulatory compliance and student fairness”.

“We have been working closely with the ACCC and will continue our discussions towards achieving a settlement in this matter,” he said.

“Over the past 18 months, we have taken measures that have led the industry in lifting compliance standards and the ACCC has been informed of these developments. The ACCC is aware of our robust and stringent compliance program and our commitment to continuous improvement.

“We have formal disciplinary processes to address any compliance breaches by staff, rigorous controls over who our staff can contact and a Customer Commitment Checklist that must be completed and signed by students to help ensure they understand the facts relating to any course they want to do.

“We have also fully supported moves to introduce tougher regulation of the sector, including cooling off periods, multiple census dates and other measures designed to protect students and promote greater openness and transparency.

“Acquire Learning does not send out door knockers and we don’t target disadvantaged communities. We refer applications for enrolment to the relevant education provider and the provider is responsible for the enrolments.

“We will continue to work with the ACCC to address any allegations about past conduct which are not in line with our current compliance and review systems, and continue to make improvements to protect students.”

The ACCC is seeking declarations, injunctions, pecuniary penalties, orders for compliance program audits and costs. The matter is listed for a case management conference in the Federal Court in Melbourne on 4 February 2016.

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