Following his death in 2007, Ilhan's widow Patricia sold her stake in the company to Vodafone Australia, now a part of TPG Telecom.

By 1998, there were fifteen store locations in Victoria,[1] and the retailer was ranked in the top ten of Telstra's mobile dealers.

In 2003, Telstra sent a letter by facsimile to Crazy John's demanding payment of A$21,283,642.61 it said was for the overpayment of trailing commissions,[6] a percent of customers' phone bills.

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.

[6] 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.

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.

[2][15] 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.