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Consumer advice center in Frankfurt: The federal association examined online providers of paid term contracts
Photo: Jan Huebner / IMAGO
The cell phone contract can be concluded quickly and easily online - but what happens if you want to cancel it?
The Federal Association of Consumer Organizations (vzbv) has checked the websites of providers of telephone, electricity or fitness contracts and still sees deficiencies in around 20 percent of all providers.
One in five companies have not yet integrated a cancellation button on their website, even though this has been a legal requirement for a good 20 months, the newspapers of the Funke media group wrote on Saturday, citing a vzbv study of 1,200 websites.
The telecommunications industry has the greatest need to catch up: 40 percent of companies lack an online cancellation button.
vzbv speaker Dietlinde Bleh called on the remaining providers to finally include the cancellation button.
“There is still a need for action on the part of the providers.” If this is not the case, consumers would even have special termination rights with these companies: “If the termination button is missing or is difficult to find, consumers have the right to terminate the contract without notice. «
Since July 2022, a law has stipulated that paid term contracts concluded online can be canceled online without much effort.
These include mobile phone, fitness studio, electricity supply contracts or subscriptions to media or streaming services.
Overall, the new law has had a positive effect so far, said vzbv expert Bleh.
It has become much easier for consumers to terminate existing long-term obligations.
abl/AFP