The Office of Competition and Consumer Protection ordered Canal+ Polska to refund the money to customers who signed a contract under the advertising campaign between October 10, 2019 and April 23, 2022. Therefore, customers who realize that they have been misled, will terminate the contract before the expiry of the validity period, after the decision becomes final, the amount of the charged claim will be refunded. However, all those who filed complaints will then be refunded the fees they paid for using the service, the statement said.
“During the process, several hundred recordings of sales calls were analyzed in which Canal+ offered customers a parallel contract that they did not know about until they started paying. President of the Competition and Consumer Office. Protection was concerned about hiding the real purpose of the conversation, Canal+ consultants called subscribers and announced the granting of an additional package or a free gift, which in fact was only a “bait” to sign a new long-term contract. Some customers noticed additional charges and contract changes only after a long time. After speaking with the consultant, the TV was provided free of charge for the first few months. After the expiration of the free period, the user “did not have the opportunity to terminate the contract and had to pay the costs arising from both contracts”, – the statement says.
Users have been misled
According to the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection, in order to encourage the customer to make an immediate decision, consultants indicated that the circumstances of the connection were special (for example, that they contacted the rewards department) or informed about the limited number of packages. . Moreover, during the negotiations, the initial prices, i.e. the prices of similar packages offered to new subscribers of Canal+, increased by up to 50%. This made the offer presented in the phone conversation seem more attractive than it actually was.
“The consumer must be provided with transparent and honest service from the entrepreneur, which will allow him to conclude the contract fully consciously. Constructing sales call scripts in such a way as to hide the real purpose and real costs of the salesperson's phone call with the customer. It is not allowed to be associated with the offer “I emphasize that all the main elements that influence the consumer's decision must be transparent and honestly presented,” the president of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection, Tomasz Krostny, was quoted as saying in the statement.
The Competition and Consumer Protection Office emphasized that in the case of distance sales, honest information about the purpose of the contact at the beginning of the conversation allows the customer to assess whether he is interested in the offer. Most of the sales call records analyzed by the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection did not indicate that the purpose of the merger was to conclude a new contract. Instead, the customer found out that it was about giving, for example, an additional package of TV channels or an additional decoder.
Information about the decision of the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection must be sent to affected customers by mail and email, on the Canal+ website and on Canal+ social media. The decision is not final and the entrepreneur has the right to appeal it in court, it was also indicated.
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