It heralds a bitter defeat for Vodafone: two courts have already ruled against the provider. According to the judges, Vodafone is demanding too much money from former customers. There are hundreds of dollars for each. But the last word has not yet been spoken.
Vodafone loses in court: money is taken out of the pocket of former customers
Vodafone has to take a beating in court: the Internet and mobile service provider based in Düsseldorf has lost in two proceedings. According to the judges, the company has former customers paid too much money for rental equipment that was not returned.
As a rule, you will get a router for rent from Vodafone or other providers if you conclude a contract for fixed-line Internet or cable. The costs for this will appear in the billing of your monthly contract price. If you quit, it applies to the return the rented equipment to the provider. Those who fail to do so have to pay a lot.
The regional courts in Düsseldorf and Munich have now ruled that Vodafone and Vodafone Kabel have charged their former customers too much money. Up to 250 euros have you demanded according to the terms and conditions – and thus far more than the corresponding devices would have been worth at the time of return (source: Verbraucherzentrale NRW).
According to the judges, Vodafone should not be guided by the new price when pricing non-returned devices.
Instead it depends on the price of a used device. “If you do not return a rental or rental device that has been used for years, you can no longer be obliged to pay the new price in a lump sum,” says the consumer center. The judgment from Düsseldorf is already final, but the last word has not yet been spoken in Munich.
What you should pay attention to when setting up your WLAN with your own router:
Rented routers cost customers dearly
At best, Vodafone would have to amend corresponding contractual clauses in the future. It would be conceivable, for example, to have a sliding Reclaim value based on the time of return, or Vodafone could offer routers for sale right away.
However, one should hardly be interested in the latter. Because that would be much better from the customer’s point of view. Even without the high return costs, rental equipment is much more expensive than self-purchased ones. With their own router, customers can save a lot.