Hallon may hide the customer service phone number
The Patent and Market Court does not agree with the Consumer Ombudsman, KO. The mobile operator Hallon did not do wrong by hiding the phone number to customer service.
The Consumer Agency believes that customer services in companies generally need to improve in helping consumers, for example, when one wants to terminate a subscription. Against this background, the Consumer Ombudsman, KO, took the mobile operator Hallon to court. KO argued that the company violated the marketing law by hiding its customer service phone number on the web. The company’s chatbot also did not want to give customers a phone number and responded to those who asked that the company could only be reached digitally.
More complicated but allowed
The court has now concluded that although it becomes more complicated for consumers to try to find a phone number, those who are already customers of Hallon have the phone number in the agreement. The court does not think it is so complicated that it can be considered a violation of the marketing law. Therefore, KO cannot require the company to display its phone number on the web.
–We believe that the company should be just as easy to contact when you have questions or want to terminate a service as when the company wants to sell something to you. Today’s ruling unfortunately does not strengthen the position of consumers, says Kristofer Johannesson, Deputy KO.
Chatbot response gets reprimand
However, the court considers that the chatbot “Hallon’s” response is misleading. When asked for a customer service phone number, the response was: “We are a digital operator which means we do not offer customer service over the phone.” The company has changed the response.
The ruling is linked to a penalty of half a million kronor. A penalty is forward-looking and can be imposed if the company were to violate the prohibition.