about ‘free’ telephone at AOPs
Four Dutch providers have reached a settlement with Consumentenbond and ConsumentenClaim for incorrectly claiming that mobile phones were free with a subscription. Customers can receive compensation, although it is not known how much that is.

The Consumentenbond and ConsumentenClaim say that they have ‘broadly reached agreement’ with the four largest providers in the Netherlands. KPN, T-Mobile, Tele2 and Vodafone settle a collective lawsuit that the two Consumer Organizations had brought against them. As a result, the court case itself is no longer there.

The case revolved around the ‘free’ mobile phone that customers received with a subscription. Almost all providers advertised with such a device, but the consumer organizations denounced that method. ConsumersClaim calculated last year, for example, that nearly one fifth of the Dutch paid for the telephone after the subscription expired . The two organizations therefore started a lawsuit against providers in early 2018. They were supported in this by a ruling from the Supreme Court . The highest court in the Netherlands said in 2014 that providers violated the law by mentioning a complete price for subscriptions. The Consumers’ Association initially tried to have the providers voluntarily adjust the practices, but that did not happen.

It is not yet clear how high the settlement amount is. “We are not quite there yet, but I am confident that we will come out”, writes Sandra Molenaar of the Consumers’ Association. “That’s great, because it saves a large group of consumers an expensive and time-consuming trial in one go. That is a great result.” Up to September 2019, more than 50,000 victims were joining the collective of the Bond to claim an allowance scheme. The amount of the settlement is divided among them.