Before I get into the next article, I wanted to ask everone about sharp practices.
For those who don’t know, sharp practices are those practices which might be technically or barely legal but are highly unethical. They also go against the NDIA code of conduct.
I am curious about what participants are experiencing since I am seeing an increase in sharp practices being used by providers in facebook groups and in other forums.
Some examples include:
limited time discounts
adding charges after an agreement is made
charging more for a good or service once it becomes known it is for NDIS
coercion into extra hours, shifts or activities to meet worker needs
misleading advertisement on whether items are covered by NDIS
Unsolicited direct messaging or contact
If anyone has experienced any of these or others I would love to talk about it, how you handled it, whether a complaint was made and the type of service or goods.
Some on here do not wish to be identified in these kinds of discussions so I will also put up an anonymous poll you can select items on if you do not wish to talk about it.
Wow, this is such an important conversation to have. I’ve definitely experienced some of these, especially the unsolicited messages from providers trying to sell their services. It’s so invasive and makes me feel like just a dollar sign to them. I ended up blocking a few of them, but it left a sour taste.
No, I wasn’t aware that we could report them for simply sending an unsolicited message on Facebook. I probably wouldn’t have bothered with it if I did know though. Its easier to just block someone.
Yeah exactly my point. I wouldn’t complain unless it was about something really worth our time. We’re already overwhelmed and there’s never enough time in a day. We will save our NDIS complaint mana for a rainy day
Honestly, it’s the coercion into extra shifts that really grinds my gears. A friend of mine had a provider almost guilt trip them into extending hours because a worker was struggling financially. It’s such an awkward position to be in because you want to help, but it’s not the participant’s responsibility to fix those problems.
Eventually they left. But they liked the provider, so stuck around for far longer than they should have. Its kind of like a bad relationship. People stay in it for longer than they should because they justify the bad behaviour of the person they’re in a relationship with. They’re also invested emotionally and the idea of going to a different provider can seem like a lot of effort and stress. There’s also the fear of ending up with someone worse.
After several issues arose over time and with some convincing and support, my friend left. Without the convincing and the support though, they would never have left.
I think the support is one of the biggest factors. I have met a few participants who felt like they had no choice but to handle everything on their own and it made all of their choices seem more daunting.
One provider I dealt with actually changed the terms of the agreement after we signed it. They said it was an ‘updated policy’ and tried to charge extra for things that were included before. I didn’t have the energy to fight it then, but looking back, I should have reported them.
