What do I do?

[punch*drunk]

My dad is suffering from dementia, last weekend we were camping and his phone went flat. He recharged when he got home and coincidentally was contacted the same day by telemarketers claiming to represent Telstra.

The first I knew about it was him telling me Telstra will be sending him a letter  about his phone....he cant remember anything else about the call, but I have checked the number and its definitely telemarketing.

So what do I do? Try and ring them and fix it up now or wait it out until the letter comes. Bearing in mind I'm not the account holder and I'm not 100% sure what, if anything, he's signed up for.

Is there some kind of cooling off period with these things or will he be locked in if I dont get onto it straight away?

This is the number that he was called by   http://www.reverseaustralia.com/lookup/0894244710/

[punch*drunk]

I'm sure they mentioned Telstra and I think he went along with it thinking it had something to do with his phone going flat, thats kind of how his mind is working at the moment. He had thought the phone was broken and possibly thought this was something that needed to be done to fix it. I guess he's going to be susceptible to this kind of thing now.

Dont know how to fix that though, he's on the do not call register and I cant block interstate calls because he has family interstate. There were a few fixes on the page I linked to earlier so i will go through that and maybe ring telstra next week and see if they have any suggestions.

Thanks for all the help guys 🙂

[debra9275]

I hope you get it sorted Punch. Maybe once the papers arrive and you know who they are, you can tell them not to contact him again

[azureline**]

My OH has his dad's enduring power of attorney, it is easy to get if your dad has a dementia diagnosis, usually power of attorney stops when someone dies...unless it is the enduring one. Check with his solicitor? and regardless, he cannot be held to a contract if he has dementia.

I am sitting here trying to organise insurances and registrations etc, for my father in law, atm, some wise family member burned all his papers last month when she had a tanty.......:|

[kengillard]

aren't families fun Az????

[azureline**]

No Gill they are not!!! :^O I am fast getting fed up........ really fast. She was also told the cost of a nursing home....did not believe it and has now phoned the home to ask them....:O and has informed family members that it costs $300 a week.......:|

we wish.....I just paid the account for it and the pharmacy account......

sorry to hijack punch....

[punch*drunk]

No worries Az, I'm sure I'll be back to pick everyones brains over the next few months as each drama unfolds, beginning with the fact they are probably going to take his license away from him 😞

Luckily there's just my older sister and I to handle everything and we dont disagree on much usually, my younger sister wont get involved at all. In fact I'm still handling most of her affairs for her after the seperation from the abuser. I kind of feel like I'm raising 3 families at the moment :_|

[nicnacs_4u]

No worries Az, I'm sure I'll be back to pick everyones brains over the next few months as each drama unfolds, beginning with the fact they are probably going to take his license away from him 😞

Luckily there's just my older sister and I to handle everything and we dont disagree on much usually, my younger sister wont get involved at all. In fact I'm still handling most of her affairs for her after the seperation from the abuser. I kind of feel like I'm raising 3 families at the moment :_|

Don`t forgot Punchy if you need any help/advice please lmk:-)

[punch*drunk]

Don`t forgot Punchy if you need any help/advice please lmk:-)

Thanks nics :-x

Unfortunately I think we will be looking at nursing homes a lot sooner than we were expecting, not quite yet, but it wont be that far away. Very sad for someone whose not even 70 yet 😞

[lyndal1838]

Punch, the POA should be a completely separate document to the Will, even if they are kept together.

If you need to put the POA into effect you will need to get the original document from the solicitor and take it to places like your father's bank and anywhere else you may require to use the POA.

Ring places like the health fund and insurance company to ask if they require a copy to be sent etc.

By rights every provider of services that you may have to deal with should sight the original document, but many are happy to be sent a copy...you can not just ring up and say 'I have POA..."

[polksaladallie]

I would never try to deal with telstra (or any other business) on the telephone if I have a problem.  I write a letter, and then they are forced to act on it, and you have a copy if you have to follow up.

I recently had a fee problem with telstra, and could not sort it out by talking to someone in the Philipines, so I wrote a letter, and was contacted by an Australian person, and the fee was waived.  Possibly because I was determined and persisted.