The European Court just rules that calling customer service
cannot be more expensive than normal phone calls. In the case of the German
company Comtech, this electronic web shop used a paid 0180-number to reach its
helpdesk. The German organization fighting against unfair business practices
appealed to the District Court of Stuttgart to put an end to these additional
costs for the caller. The District Court referred the case to the European
Court in Luxembourg.
The case related to the interpretation of a European Directive
which states that customers of a company's customer service should be able to
call for the standard call rate. But what exactly is the “standard rate” remains
unclear.
The general principle is that service should be free of
charge.
The European Court ruled that customer service should not be more expensive
than a “fixed line call of cell call”. It does not really matter if a company
makes a profit or not regarding the additional telephone costs. Higher costs
discourage customers to request information, to claim the product warranty or to
cancel their subscription, as explained by the Court.
“We are happy with this ruling”, stated the Consumers Association.
“Service has to be free of charge. That is a point of principle.” Companies
should only charge normal call rates, which many companies already do.”
This post was written by Tip Top Lawyer.
