The Consumer Protection Commission on Friday asked for a number of international phone cards to be withdrawn from sale because they do not provide any guarantees to consumers once they are purchased.
No guarantee
"The biggest problem is that these cards do not guarantee a refund mechanism. That means consumers would not be entitled to get their money back if the company was to suddenly cease trading," said Jason Lee (
According to a survey conducted by the Consumers' Foundation on international phone cards, which are popular among the nation's foreign laborers, 13 of them did not provide a guaranteed refund mechanism for consumers.
These phonecards also did not show the issuing company name, phone number, company address and other information that would allow consumers to make an inquiry should they have questions about the products.
Also consumers using the cards were not informed of the remaining minutes on the phonecard, but instead were instructed that they should use up any remaining minutes within 12 to 18 months.
Withdrawn
The 13 withdrawn international phonecards are Baby Card, Wind Call, King David, Beauty Card, Yawho call, Philippines International Card, Excellent Card, Sun Card, 1-top, 2 Net, Lover Card, Smart2call and Nice Card.
Foreign laborers are the major consumers for international phonecards, the foundation said.
"We asked these companies to withdraw their own products and re-produce qualified phone cards for sale," Lee said, in his capacity as a member of the committee. "We want to make sure the legal rights of consumers, either foreign or domestic, are protected."
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