Mobileworld Operating Pty Ltd trading as Crazy John's
Type	Private
Founded	1991
Headquarters	South Melbourne, Victoria,  Australia
Key people	John Ilhan
Industry	Telecommunications
Products	Mobile
Employees	600 full time
Slogan	Your mobile experts
Website	www.crazyjohns.com.au

Crazy John's is a mobile phone retail chain in Australia started by late Australian businessman John Ilhan. Crazy John's is the largest independent phone retailer in Australia, employing more than 600 people with over 120 retail stores. A private company is a company that is independently owned. ... Year 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the 1991 Gregorian calendar). ... South Melbourne Town Hall. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... John Ilhan is an Australian Muslim of Turkish descent. ... Copy of the original phone of Alexander Graham Bell at the Musée des Arts et Métiers in Paris Telecommunication is the assisted transmission of signals over a distance for the purpose of communication. ... Several examples of non-folding mobile phones. ... This article is about work. ... Look up slogan in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A website (alternatively, Web site or web site) is a collection of Web pages, images, videos or other digital assets that is hosted on one or several Web server(s), usually accessible via the Internet, cell phone or a LAN. A Web page is a document, typically written in HTML... Chain stores are a range of retail outlets which share a brand and central management, usually with standardised business methods and practices. ... John Ilhan is an Australian Muslim of Turkish descent. ...

Originally a dealer of Telstra Mobile, Crazy John's is now a Mobile Virtual Network Operator through the Vodafone network, dealing directly with customers and offering its own competitive mobile phone deals and plans. Telstra Corporation (ASX: , NZX: TLS, NYSE: TLS) (formed from Telecom Australia) is an Australian telecommunications and media company under private ownership, with a dominant position in landline telephone services, a large share of mobile phone services, domestic consumer (including dial-up access, 50% of Broadband internet broadband cable modem, satellite... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Vodafone Group Plc is a mobile network operator headquartered in Newbury, Berkshire, England, UK. It is the largest mobile telecommunications network company in the world by turnover and has a market value of about £84. ...

History

Crazy John's opened its first store in Brunswick, Victoria, in 1991. By 1998, there were fifteen Crazy John's stores in Victoria, and the retailer was ranked in the top ten of Telstra's mobile dealers. Brunswick is an inner suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. ... Year 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the 1991 Gregorian calendar). ... Victoria may refer to: // Victoria of the United Kingdom, aka Queen Victoria, former British monarch Victoria (Australia), a state in Australia Victoria, British Columbia, the capital of the Canadian province Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory Victoria may also refer to: Victoria (name) Main disambiguation page: Victoria of the United... Telstra Corporation (ASX: , NZX: TLS, NYSE: TLS) (formed from Telecom Australia) is an Australian telecommunications and media company under private ownership, with a dominant position in landline telephone services, a large share of mobile phone services, domestic consumer (including dial-up access, 50% of Broadband internet broadband cable modem, satellite...

The name Crazy John's came about through people constantly telling Ilhan his marketing ideas were "crazy", and the name stuck. Crazy John's came to prominence when it was the first company in Australia to offer $1 mobile phones.^[1]

Crazy John's currently serves 500,000 customers across Australia.^{[citation needed]}

Telstra legal disputes and defection

Crazy John's was originally a dealer for Telstra Mobile, Australia's largest mobile telecommunications provider, with 500,000 customers providing close to 10 percent of Telstra's mobile revenue. Telstra Corporation (ASX: , NZX: TLS, NYSE: TLS) (formed from Telecom Australia) is an Australian telecommunications and media company under private ownership, with a dominant position in landline telephone services, a large share of mobile phone services, domestic consumer (including dial-up access, 50% of Broadband internet broadband cable modem, satellite...

In 2003, Telstra sent a letter by facsimile to Crazy John's demanding payment of $A21,283,642.61 it said was for the overpayment of trailing commissions,^[2] a percent of customers' phone bills. In the letter, Telstra hinted that, if the demand was not paid for, its contract as a Telstra dealer could be adversely affected.^[3] Crazy John's paid the $21 million, and immediately filed suit to demand it be refunded. Crazy John's claimed that Telstra's accounting system, MICA (Mobile Integrated Customer Accounts), used to bill its 8 million subscribers, was not able to provide the information required to produce an accurate bill and, therefore, support their payback demand. Insert non-formatted text here For the machine that sends, receives, and produces facsimiles, see fax. ... ISO 4217 Code AUD User(s) Australia, Kiribati, Nauru, Tuvalu, Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, and Norfolk Island Inflation 1. ...

Industry analysts believed that Telstra may have been wanting Crazy John's to take a cut to its trailing commission, suggesting that Telstra believed Crazy John's could not make the payment, and it might be willing to renegotiate its commission percentage in lieu.^[4] However, Crazy John's was able to make the payment, and the situation reversed: instead of financially forcing the dealer to negotiate, Telstra was in a position of being sued and required to justify its $21 million demand, which Crazy John's believed it could not do.

In May 2005, Telstra issued a second, $12 million demand, again for more alleged overpaid trailing commissions. Crazy John's applied for an injunction in the Federal Court in Melbourne to prevent Telstra from going ahead with this second demand. This was dismissed by Justice Mark Weinberg, Crazy John's paid the amount, and rolled the figure into its original refund demand, bringing the total to $33 million.^[5] In Melbourne, the Federal Court is housed with other federal courts such as the High Court and the Federal Magistrates Court in the Federal Court Building on the corner of La Trobe Street and William Street The Federal Court of Australia is the Australian court in which most civil disputes...

At the same time, company founder John Ilhan announced his intention to dump Telstra in 2007 when its contract expired, and instead would buy its own airtime from a wholesale source and serve customers directly, rather than passing them on to Telstra. Ilhan said he was "fed up with Telstra's bullying" and that it "isn't competitive any longer".^[2] Telstra, on the other hand, began threatening to not renew the exclusive reseller agreement it had with Crazy John's when it ended on 1 July 2007, if didn't agree to new terms that included less commission per customer. Telstra did just that, giving the required two years notice in July 2005.^[6] is the 182nd day of the year (183rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ...

After announcing his intention to defect from Telstra at the end of its contract, Telstra created a new company, BQ Communications, to compete against Crazy John's. In affidavits lodged in the Supreme Court of Victoria, Crazy John's claimed that Telstra was poaching Crazy John's staff to start up the company – including Bill Asermakidis, the former national sales manager – and "raping" its customer database by taking price lists and the names of customers.^[7] Telstra denied many of the claims made in the affidavits, but not the new company. The Supreme Court of Victoria is the superior court for the State of Victoria, Australia. ...

On 1 July 2007, Crazy John's made the transition towards becoming a Mobile Virtual Network Operator through the Vodafone network.^[8] The deal allowed Crazy John's to deal directly with mobile phone handset manufacturers and offer its own competitive mobile phone plans. Just days before the switch to Vodafone, Telstra sought a court injunction to prevent Crazy John's from using confidential information in contacting Telstra's customers to sign them up to new contracts.^[9] Crazy John's agreed to limit the amount of customer information it can use after its contract ended.^[10] is the 182nd day of the year (183rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Vodafone Group Plc is a mobile network operator headquartered in Newbury, Berkshire, England, UK. It is the largest mobile telecommunications network company in the world by turnover and has a market value of about £84. ...

Marketing and sponsorship

Crazy John's is the major sponsor of the South Dragons in the NBL. The South Dragons are set to debut in Australias National Basketball League (NBL) for the 2006-07 season. ... The National Basketball League is Australias top-level professional basketball competition. ...

In 2003, Crazy John's bid for the naming rights to Subiaco Oval, in Perth, Western Australia, but soon lost it due to community action.^[11] Subiaco Oval, known colloquially as Subi, is the highest capacity sports stadium in Perth, Western Australia. ... Location of Perth within Australia This article is about the metropolitan area of Perth, Western Australia. ...

References

2008 (MMVIII) will be a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Anno Domini (common) era, in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 8th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 251st day of the year (252nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2008 (MMVIII) will be a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Anno Domini (common) era, in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 8th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 166th day of the year (167th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2008 (MMVIII) will be a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Anno Domini (common) era, in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 8th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 328th day of the year (329th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2008 (MMVIII) will be a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Anno Domini (common) era, in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 8th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 269th day of the year (270th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2008 (MMVIII) will be a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Anno Domini (common) era, in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 8th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 303rd day of the year (304th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2008 (MMVIII) will be a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Anno Domini (common) era, in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 8th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 299th day of the year (300th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2008 (MMVIII) will be a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Anno Domini (common) era, in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 8th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 183rd day of the year (184th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... 2008 (MMVIII) will be a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Anno Domini (common) era, in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 8th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 178th day of the year (179th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... 2008 (MMVIII) will be a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Anno Domini (common) era, in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 8th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 180th day of the year (181st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... 2008 (MMVIII) will be a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Anno Domini (common) era, in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 8th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 179th day of the year (180th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2008 (MMVIII) will be a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Anno Domini (common) era, in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 8th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• Crazy John's