Spontaneously popping into a mobile phone shop on a shopping spree to look around for a new contract: that’s not a good idea at all. Consumer advocates explain why.
Before you set foot in a mobile phone shop, you should consider at home what volume of data and phone minutes you actually need every month. Only those who know their own needs can realistically assess offers and prices, explains the consumer center (VZ) North Rhine-Westphalia.
Product information sheets that shops have to hand out help when assessing and comparing different offers. However, they should not be missing from online offers on the Internet. The information sheet for a tariff contains all the important data and costs of a tariff, but no discounts or additional options.
Not without a summary
Before the contract is signed, customers must therefore receive a contract summary, either digitally or in paper form. This has been regulated by law since December 1, 2021. It not only has to contain the contact details of the mobile phone provider and essential characteristics of the individual services to be provided.
Any activation fees and the term as well as conditions for renewal and termination must also be found therein. At this point you should also check carefully whether verbal promises from the sales pitch can be found exactly in the summary.
Hardly any shop puts them out
But this summary is not so easy to get. On World Consumer Day (March 15), the consumer advice center randomly visited 198 mobile phone shops in North Rhine-Westphalia. Sobering result: The contract summary required by law was handed out in only 6 shops. Several telecommunications companies have been warned.
But the summary is not everything. Before agreeing to a contract, interested parties should be able to take note of all the documents that are important for the contract, advise consumer advocates. In addition to the contract summary and the contract form, this also included the service description, the price list, the General Terms and Conditions (GTC) and the product information sheet already mentioned.
Revocation is difficult if not impossible
The big disadvantage of telecommunications contracts concluded in the shop: they usually cannot be revoked afterwards. This is only possible within 14 days for contracts that have been concluded online or over the phone.
However, consumers can contest a shop contract, terminate it extraordinarily or claim damages if they have any doubts as to whether it came about lawfully. For example, because they have been fraudulently deceived. Even those who find out afterwards that the promised services are not being provided should have legal options checked.
New freedom after minimum term
But even if they are fundamentally dissatisfied with the regular tariff conditions, consumers have had better cards since December 2021, i.e. improved cancellation conditions. New contracts can still be concluded for up to 24 months. After the minimum contract term has expired, however, they can be terminated at any time with one month’s notice, explains the consumer advice center.
The automatic extension for a further year, as was common practice until the end of 2021, is no longer permitted. Incidentally, this regulation also applies to old contracts, i.e. to contracts that were concluded before December 1, 2021.
reading tip: Mobile phone tariff comparison 2022: Find the best provider
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