Any customer support must be reachable by normal landline or mobile phone tariff. The District Court of Munich banned an expansive 0180-service previously used by Sky after the Consumer Center of Bavaria filed a complaint against the Pay-Tv-Channel (Judgment of 01.08.2018, Case No. 37 O 15341/17, not yet final). The judgment relates to the use of a 0180-6 number (20ct per call from landline, max. 60ct from mobile).
The corresponding EU-guideline affects purchase contracts, service contracts and any kind of contracts related to water, gas, electricity, district heating and digital content. Online- and stationary trade are affected as well. According to German rights these guidelines do only apply to contracts including a payment by the customer.
In a similar case in 2017, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) had already ruled against the online retailer Comtech in favor of the customers and prohibited a 0180 number as a customer hotline, as the costs are higher than the “basic rate”.
A call from the German landlines using Comtech costs 0.14 Euro per minute and up to 0.42 Euro from the mobile network. Lawyer from Stuttgart called in the ECJ on this because a EU-guideline demands a basic tariff, but do not specify what is meant.
If merchants were allowed, the ECJ said, to charge higher rates than the rate to normal local numbers, consumers could be discouraged from calling to obtain information about a contract or to assert their rights.
Calls at the standard rate must be possible for all questions about the contract concluded (e.g., about the right of cancellation or questions about the warranty). However, the call may be more expensive if it is not about the purchase or contract itself, but about support (e.g., the operation of devices or general information about products).
Customer service is mandatory, but does not have to be offered by phone. It would also be permitted to offer only an email option as customer service. However: If a telephone contact option is offered, the above-mentioned cost rules must be adhered.
