consumers who don't want to use the remaining ic card balance and can't transfer or refund it question china telecom's forced consumption
2024-09-10
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source: china consumer news
figure 1: mr. zhao checked the balance of a card by inserting the card.
figure 2: mr. zhao’s 5 ic cards.
"the customer service staff of china telecom told me that i could go to the business hall to refund the ic phone card. after i went there, i could neither check the balance nor get a refund. they only gave me a card replacement plan. the key is that i don't plan to continue using the public phone card." recently, mr. zhao, a consumer in ningbo city, zhejiang province, reported to the 3.15 consumer voice all-media interactive platform of china consumer news that he bought 5 ic phone cards of china telecom that can be used in public phone booths in the early years. now there is a total balance of 166.5 yuan. because there is not much demand for it, he planned to refund it, but he didn't expect that there would be many twists and turns. the reporter conducted an investigation on this.
different opinions on whether refunds can be made
mr. zhao told the china consumer news reporter that he had recently found five china telecom ic cards at home. the cards were issued between december 1995 and november 2001, with a total face value of 280 yuan. the cards did not have an expiration date. "i don't need these cards anymore, so i plan to transfer the money to my family's fixed-line phone balance after checking the balance, or just return the cards for a refund," mr. zhao said. he called china telecom's customer service hotline because he didn't know if his idea could be realized.
in the recording of the call between mr. zhao and china telecom's 10000 customer service hotline on august 21, which was provided to reporters by mr. zhao, the customer service staff said: "if you really want to cancel the ic card issued by china telecom because you don't use it, just like a mobile phone card, you need to settle the corresponding fees and the remaining money will be returned at the business hall. the return method is subject to the acceptance of the business hall."
afterwards, mr. zhao went to china telecom (chengdong business hall) on shengli road, zhenhai district, ningbo, and was told that the relevant staff were in a meeting. he added a staff member on wechat and sent the picture of the ic card to the other party. "afterwards, the customer service staff of ningbo telecom called and told me that i could only replace the card with a new one, and could not refund the money to the fixed-line phone balance or directly refund it." mr. zhao told reporters.
"i can't use the new card either." mr. zhao said. in desperation, he complained through the 12345 hotline. on august 22, china telecom co., ltd. ningbo branch replied to mr. zhao: "the ic card business has not been delisted. in view of the problem that the ic card usage area is gradually decreasing, since the card you have purchased has been in your hand for many years, the specific amount on the card can no longer be verified. therefore, considering your feelings, telecom will apply for a 201 card of the same amount and recycle the original ic card. we have contacted you to explain, but you do not accept it and ask telecom to directly return the card and refund the cash. your request cannot be met and the two parties have not reached a consensus on the handling of the matter..."
"before, the customer service staff of china telecom told me that i could go to the business hall to get a refund. after all the trouble, i found out that i could neither check the balance nor switch to a landline or get a refund." mr. zhao questioned the inconsistency of china telecom's statements. "moreover, if the balance cannot be checked, how do consumers calculate the charges when making calls at a phone booth? how do they calculate the deductions and the remaining balance?"
telecom only provides card replacement solution
in order to further check the balance in the ic card, mr. zhao decided to find a china telecom public telephone booth in the local area to check. mr. zhao found an ic card public telephone on the street of zhaobaoshan street. although he could not make calls, he could check the balance. the pictures provided by mr. zhao showed that the balances of the five ic cards were 50 yuan, 40.1 yuan, 34.8 yuan, 33.3 yuan and 8.3 yuan, totaling 166.5 yuan. "the balance can be checked on the telephone on the street, but why can't china telecom check it?" mr. zhao said.
on august 25, the reporter called china telecom's customer service hotline to inquire about ic phone card balance inquiries and other related issues. the customer service staff said that there was no way to check the balance in the introduction of the ic card, and according to the ic card application method at the time, related matters had to be handled through public telephone booths.
on august 26, the reporter went to china telecom (fengke road business hall) in fengtai district, beijing and provided the staff with a picture of the ic phone card, but was unable to check the balance. the staff told the reporter that they could not find the data of the out-of-town card and needed to contact the local telecom operator for processing.
afterwards, the reporter contacted china telecom zhejiang ningbo online customer service to inquire about the outcome of mr. zhao's situation. the customer service staff replied: "the ic card is old and the exact amount of money left in it cannot be verified. please apply for a replacement of a 201 card of the same denomination (the old card should be handed in)." the reporter asked how much the 201 card should be replaced with, and the customer service staff said: "the previous work order record was 3 50 yuan cards + 1 30 yuan card..."
suspected of disguised forced consumption
"nowadays, everyone uses mobile phones, wechat, and phone calls to communicate. if the operator takes back the ic card and replaces it with a 201 card, wouldn't that be the same thing again?" mr. zhao told reporters.
reporters found that in recent years, consumer complaints about ic cards are not uncommon. on a complaint platform, a consumer complained to china telecom, saying that he bought a 100-yuan ic phone card more than 20 years ago and never used it, hoping that the telecom company would recycle the card and refund 100 yuan. after many communications, china telecom agreed to refund 20 yuan. the notice on the quality of telecommunications services in the second quarter of this year released by the ministry of industry and information technology showed that in the second quarter, complaints involving service disputes accounted for 34.3% of the complaints from telecom users nationwide, and complaints involving marketing, charging, and tariff disputes accounted for 49%.
"due to the continuous advancement of communication technology, the number of public telephone booths providing services in the market has gradually decreased, which has greatly reduced the convenience of consumers using ic phone cards. there is still a balance in the ic phone card with stored value. as long as the statutory limitation period is not exceeded, consumers have the right to return the card and refund the balance." ye lin, president of the beijing consumer rights protection law society and professor of the law school of renmin university of china, said in an interview with the china consumer news that the operator's reply was that the balance could not be verified, but consumers could check it on the street phone. the operator's behavior was a manifestation of dishonesty. the operator did not support refunds and only provided a solution of replacing the 201 card, which was suspected of constituting disguised forced consumption, and consumers had the right to refuse.
wang jiucheng, chief lawyer of beijing lidao law firm, told reporters that the operator's claim that the specific amount of money could not be verified because the ic phone card held by the consumer was too old was contrary to the fact that the consumer could display the balance by inserting the card into the public phone booth. the operator may have deliberately concealed the truth and was suspected of falsely informing consumers. the operator did not respect the wishes of consumers and applied for 201 cards of the same amount for consumers, which is suspected of violating article 40 of the telecommunications regulations, which states that "telecommunications business operators shall not engage in the following acts in telecommunications services: restricting telecommunications users to use their designated services in any way", and is suspected of infringing on consumers' right to self-selection and fair trade.
wang jiucheng suggested that as a public facility, public telephone booths should still play their due role if they are not completely cancelled. major operators should promptly check, inspect, maintain, renovate and upgrade the use of public telephone booths and phone cards to ensure that they can be used normally. at the same time, they should make unified notifications on the use period, replacement, upgrade, and refund process of phone cards. major operators should also strengthen internal unified learning, training and management, and have consistent standards and treatments externally, attach importance to the study and application of legal provisions, and must not violate regulations or infringe on consumer rights.
(all pictures in this article are provided by consumers)
