Slamming
Under Slamming means the unwanted change of telephone service provider as a result of misleading advertising . Telephone sales , which violate the “ Act against Unfair Competition ” (UWG) , are often carried out with the help of customer data collected for advertising purposes.
Especially in the highly competitive reseller - market make use of telecom operators this approach to win customers. After the monopoly positions of the former state-owned telephone providers ceased to exist in many countries in the course of privatization in the 1980s , various other companies emerged as their competitors. In order to win customers for themselves, they (or their marketing agents) informed the former monopoly that a customer had decided to switch to the corresponding company, although the customer had not expressed such an intention. The necessary customer signatures for this change were obtained by adding small print to competitions or promotional offers .
Similar practices are also known to some extent from providers of mobile communications services.
Advertising with a telephone call to a consumer without his prior express consent constitutes an unreasonable nuisance and an administrative offense and can according to 20 UWG can be punished with a fine of up to 300,000 euros. The competent administrative authority is the Federal Network Agency .
Individual evidence
- ↑ How the term "slamming" came to be coined , Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission. Archived from the original on May 18, 2013 Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Retrieved December 4, 2012.
- ↑ Competition headquarters : leaflet "Slamming"
- ^ Phone scam hits thousands , Daily Mail. April 25, 2005. Retrieved March 19, 2007.
- ↑ Miles Brignall: Orange slammed as users see red , The Guardian. July 23, 2007.
