Consumer advocates warn against fraudsters and dubious representatives who will take advantage of the imminent loss of the additional cost privilege. The shady characters are now going door to door and trying to sell residents overpriced contracts. This is reported by the MDR, citing consumer advocates.
Unnecessary or overpriced contracts
The MDR summarizes the scenario that the unwanted visitors have at the front door like this: “A new cable contract! Strike now! If you miss the chance, you’ll soon have no TV at all. With these or similar words, representatives are apparently currently trying to talk people into contracts at their front door. Representatives who, for example, pose as authorized sales partners of Vodafone”.
The problem is that those affected sign a contract that they don’t even need. Because residents will be able to receive their television even after July 1, 2024 and even without TV cable. For example as IPTV via the Internet connection. Or via satellite. Or those affected actually want to continue to receive their television program via cable TV, but pay more than actually necessary for such a hastily signed contract.
This is what consumer advocates advise
If someone – perhaps a so-called “media consultant” – actually rings your doorbell and tries to get you to sign a contract: Do not sign anything and do not let the representative into your apartment. Instead, either request that the representative hand over the documents to you so that you can examine them at your leisure and alone. Tell the representative that you will contact them if necessary. After handing over the documents, close the door. Or close the door immediately and refuse to talk. This is especially true if the representative refuses to hand over the documents to you and instead demands to discuss the matter with you immediately.
14-day cancellation
If you still sign a contract with such a door-to-door transaction and later regret it, you still have a chance. Because with door-to-door sales you have a right of withdrawal for 14 days.
Even greater dangers arise when the doorbell rings
But things can get even worse: under the pretext of wanting to check the cable TV contracts that are about to expire, the fraudsters gain access to the apartment. Another often used pretext: The fraudsters claim that they have to check the cable connection in order to gain entry into the apartment. There the unwanted visitors can then commit theft or even worse.
Additional cost privilege: What the loss means for tenants and landlords
