The Consumers’ Foundation lashed out at telecom service providers yesterday for penalizing mobile Internet subscribers who terminate their contracts early because of poor or ineffective service.
The foundation said that it received, on average, one complaint every nine days last year about disputes over mobile Internet services. Most of the problems involved slow or nonfunctional Internet connections, hidden charges and disputes over billing.
The foundation recently conducted a review of the mobile Internet service contracts offered by several telecom companies.
FIVE COMPANIES
It found that five operators, including Taiwan Mobile and Far EasTone, require customers to pay a penalty if they choose to prematurely terminate their contract because of difficulty connecting to the Internet arising from technical problems on the operator’s side, foundation vice chairperson Joann Su (蘇錦霞) said.
Su said this was comparable to “restaurants charging customers for dishes that were ordered but the restaurant was unable to prepare.”
Data released by the National Communications Commission as of the end of last year showed that 18 million people used their mobile devices, such as cellphones or 3G wireless cards, to connect to the Internet. This means an estimated 67.5 percent of all cellphone users could potentially be affected by these unfair telecom practices.
CHEAP COSTS MORE
The foundation used the cheapest mobile Internet plan of NT$200 a month offered by Chunghwa Telecom as an example. It estimated that if 5 percent of all mobile Internet customers (900,000 people) had trouble with their Internet connection but were forced to follow through on the two-year contract to avoid penalties, the company would make NT$4.3 billion (US$134 million) without providing Internet services to these subscribers.
“Telecom companies should offer compensation or refunds if customers purchase 3G wireless cards or Internet service plans but cannot use them, as it is the companies that were unable to deliver the goods or services that were promised in the contract,” foundation chairman Hsieh Tien-jen (謝天仁) said.
Su said the foundation even received a report saying that after a customer died, the telecom service provider demanded that the person who inherited his assets also inherit the service plan, or pay a penalty for terminating the contract.
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