Consumer Agency Reports Mobile Phone Service Damage Claims
Ranks Top 1-2 Annually
"Must Keep Written Contract with Verbal Explanation Details"
Recently, there have been numerous cases where elderly consumers, relying solely on verbal explanations from agency representatives, have signed up for mobile phone services and suffered damages due to contract terms that differed from the explanations, prompting a need for caution.
According to the Korea Consumer Agency on the 31st, from 2021 to October of this year, the number of damage relief applications related to mobile phone services by elderly consumers aged 65 and older reached 542 cases. Mobile phone services consistently rank first or second annually among the categories with the highest number of damage relief applications from elderly consumers. In particular, from 2021 to 2023, these cases accounted for more than 15% annually, and as of October 2024, they accounted for 12%, indicating a high incidence of damage.
The most common reason for applications was "breach of contract," where the subscription conditions explained by the business differed from the contract contents, accounting for 33.2% (180 cases). This was followed by "contract cancellation/termination and penalty fees," where excessive penalty fees were charged upon contract termination requests, at 19.4% (105 cases); "unfair practices," where paid additional services were subscribed without consumer consent, at 17.2% (93 cases); and "withdrawal of subscription," where cancellation requests were refused, at 11.4% (62 cases).
A significant portion of the damage occurred because elderly consumers with limited digital literacy failed to fully understand detailed contract terms beyond the monthly billing amount at the contract stage, or because verbal agreements such as discount benefits were not properly documented in the contract.
In particular, many cases involved situations where, contrary to explanations that new mobile phone service subscriptions would be cheaper than existing ones, higher fees were charged, or where businesses had agreed to bear penalty fees for canceling existing contracts but failed to properly fulfill this commitment. Since it is also difficult for elderly consumers who suffered damages to prove these issues, the settlement rate for damage relief applications was only 35.1%.
The Korea Consumer Agency urged consumers to verify that the verbal explanations match the contract contents at the time of subscription, ensure that agreed terms such as discount benefits are properly recorded, and to receive and keep a physical copy of the contract to prevent damages.
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