If customers are dissatisfied with their mobile phone contract, they can terminate it after the minimum contract period has expired. But what many people don’t know is that mobile phone providers also have this right. The network operator O2 has currently made use of it and terminated thousands of customers. But why?
The Germans’ thirst for data has grown enormously in recent years. As a result, the so-called unlimited tariffs became very popular. You can use them to surf the Internet as much as you like without any restrictions. O2 offers several of these tariffs for different usage scenarios. However, O2 has now given notice of termination to many customers who have booked these unlimited tariffs.
O2 sends cancellation notices to customers with unlimited tariffs
The unlimited tariffs with a real flat rate include the O2 Unlimited Basic, Smart and Max, which differ primarily in the speed offered and are specially designed for use with smartphones. The network operator also markets so-called HomeSpot tariffs as an alternative to DSL or cable connections. The O2 my Home S and M also offer unlimited data volume and are implemented via mobile communications.
A whole range of customers who have booked one of the aforementioned unlimited tariffs from O2 have now been given notice of termination, such as the telecommunications portal telephone tariff reported. According to the information, around 3200 users should be affected. The letters of termination were therefore already sent on May 22nd.
If the period of notice has expired in the cases concerned, the provider may also terminate current contracts from his side. He only has to adhere to the notice period agreed in the contract. The one-month period stipulated in the current Telecommunications Act, TKG for short, only applies in favor of the customer. Existing contracts can continue to be used as usual until termination.
O2 does not have to justify the termination of the unlimited tariffs. Accordingly, one can only speculate about the reasons for this decision.
Have users surfed too much?
The assumption is that the customers affected by the termination have claimed their unlimited tariffs a little too much. In other words, you surfed too much. In his Conditions O2 reserves the right of extraordinary termination if there is reasonable suspicion that customers are misusing the services. This can be the case, among other things, if
- permanently maintain voice or data connections or
- Use the connection for automated data exchange between end devices (machine-to-machine, M2M).
As mentioned, O2 does not publicly state the reason for the termination of the unlimited tariffs in the cases mentioned. What the customers have done that O2 terminates the contractual relationship with them is therefore unclear and can vary from case to case. What is striking, however, is the number of terminations that the network operator has announced in one fell swoop. We asked the seller about this.
In a statement, O2 only stated that in the communications industry it happens again and again that mobile phone contracts are terminated by the provider within the existing notice periods. “These are ordinary terminations in accordance with the legal provisions of the TKG and are therefore a standard process,” says the company.
Can those affected take action against the termination?
By calling 0800 5111444, those affected are free to complain about the termination of their unlimited tariffs by O2. Whether a complaint leads to the provider continuing the contractual relationship is rather questionable. According to the information available to teltarif, both customer advisors and shop employees should be instructed not to withdraw the cancellation under any circumstances and not to offer those affected a new unlimited tariff. A switch to alternative offers is probably possible.