Mobile operators in the sights

How a Drei customer got his service fee back

Most recently, domestic providers collected a service fee of 27 to 35 euros a year from customers. Many people ask themselves: What for?

(Bild: stock.adobe.com)

Just before the holidays, "Krone" reader Ali T. from Gänserndorf is happy about money that he thought he had already lost: The 50-year-old has been a customer of the mobile phone company Drei for years and never realized that a "service fee" was being charged every year. When he discovered an online litigation financier's option to reclaim the hated fee, he joined - and ended up receiving more than 160 euros.

"I am very satisfied. It's nice when justice prevails," says Ali T. about his fight for the service fee. It took a long time for a lawyer from Graz, commissioned by a large litigation financier, to push through the reclaim: Ali T. contacted the lawyer last year. "And now we've won." However, Drei does not want to leave the word "win" unchallenged. A company spokesperson emphasizes that although the customer successfully won his money back, he did not win a court case. There had been letters from lawyers and the customer had paid voluntarily "to avoid further legal costs". However, a court ruling on the mobile service fee is still pending.

For Ali T., however, the most important thing is that part of the service fee he paid is now back in his account. The initial hurdle was low: "We had to submit invoices from the last few years and provide some data," reports Mr. Ali. He is satisfied with the lawyers who carried out the work, who retained a 34% commission for their services. However, the case raises questions: After initial successes, are the telecom groups now threatened with an avalanche of lawsuits? The end of service fees? Krone+ has investigated.