More and more people in Germany are falling victim to so-called subscription traps. The operators of these traps offer a wide variety of services ostensibly free of charge, only to charge high costs afterwards.
The services offered include route planners, free SMS services, intelligence tests, search engine optimisation services, genealogical research, mobile phone tracking, etc.
Particularly perfidious are those services which a visitor uses unnoticed when using a mobile phone and which are paid for automatically by the mobile phone provider.
Most mobile phone providers in Germany have concluded contracts with such dubious companies and the respective user agrees to the debiting of such amounts upon conclusion of the contract by accepting the general terms and conditions.
If you fall into a subscription trap on the Internet and are invoiced accordingly by the operator, you should instruct a lawyer who will first check whether this is actually a so-called subscription trap.
If this is the case, the lawyer will object to both the conclusion of the contract and the payment obligation.
However, if further reminders are sent, these can initially be ignored. Only when a reminder is issued must action be taken in any case.
If you have actually fallen into a subscription trap, in most cases there is no legally valid contract between the parties, as no concurring declarations of intent have been made.
Even if, in exceptional cases, a contract has nevertheless been concluded, it can often be contested.
In the case of distance selling contracts, cancellation may also be possible.
The costs of your own legal action can also often be claimed against the operator of the subscription trap or the lawyer collecting the money.
Important Note: The content of this article has been prepared to the best of our knowledge and belief. However, due to the complexity and constant evolution of the subject matter, we must exclude liability and warranty. Important Notice: The content of this article has been created to the best of our knowledge and understanding. However, due to the complexity and constant changes in the subject matter, we must exclude any liability and warranty.
If you need legal advice, feel free to call us at 0221 – 80187670 or email us at info@mth-partner.de.