This is the compelling story of a group of ordinary small business owners who found themselves in a David-and-Goliath struggle against one of the country's largest corporations—Telstra. For years, these dedicated individuals faced a barrage of phone issues that severely compromised their ability to run their businesses effectively. Time and again, when they reported the problems, Telstra responded with the dismissive phrase "No fault found," even though compelling evidence, meticulously documented in this publication and available on our website, clearly demonstrated that faults did exist, as illustrated in AUSTEL’s Adverse Findings.

The situation grew more dire as Telstra and its legal arbitration defence team resorted to manipulating the judicial process through dubious and unethical tactics. They intercepted critical faxes, failed to deliver crucial Freedom of Information documents—sometimes months, or even years late, and often riddled with extensive censorship that rendered them nearly unintelligible. They even destroyed vital documentary evidence while fabricating information that cast doubt on the legitimacy of the COT Four's claims.

Throughout this chaotic arbitration process, the arbitrator overlooked the key issues at the heart of our claim. Despite our persistent efforts to draw attention to these points, we found ourselves met with silence and indifference. Meanwhile, the regulatory bodies tasked with oversight—Austel, representing the government's interests, and the TIO, advocating for the telecommunications carriers—failed to rein in Telstra’s activities, appearing to collude in the struggle against our pursuit of justice.

This series of events highlights a profound breakdown of justice, far exceeding the initial concerns of simple phone malfunctions. We were merely asking for reliable phone service—an essential tool for conducting our businesses smoothly and efficiently.

Like most telephone users, each COT member once assumed that Telstra’s skilled technicians could easily detect and resolve their phone faults. Yet, the refrain of "No fault found" persisted, and the problems continued without resolution, echoing through our arbitration proceedings and into the years that followed, leaving devastating impacts on our livelihoods. The situation was perplexing: in a world where nearly everyone relied on telecommunication, how could a system designed to serve the public go so profoundly wrong? What was truly happening behind the scenes?