Have you ever used an IC card?
If you still have a balance on your IC card
What should I do?
Recently, Mr. Zhao, a consumer in Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province, reported to the "China Consumer Daily" 3·15 Consumer Voice all-media interactive platform that he bought 5 IC calling cards for public phone booths in China Telecom in the early years, and now has a balance of 166.5 yuan. I plan to return the card because of the current demand for less poop, but I didn't expect the twists and turns......
Can I get a refund for the balance of my IC card?
10,000 customer service and business hall are inconsistent
Mr. Zhao told the reporter of "China Consumer Daily" that the date of the five IC cards of China Telecom was between December 1995 and November 2001, with a total face value of 280 yuan, and the card face was not marked with an expiration date.
▲ Mr. Zhao's five calling cards. Courtesy of the consumer
So Mr. Zhao called China Telecom 10000 customer service, on August 21, the other party customer service staff said that the IC card sold by China Telecom can be returned, the corresponding fee is settled, and the remaining money is returned in the business hall, "The return method is subject to the acceptance of the business hall." ”
Subsequently, Mr. Zhao went to China Telecom (Chengdong Business Hall) on Shengli Road in Zhenhai District, Ningbo City, and added the WeChat of the staff because the other party was in a meeting. Afterwards, the customer service staff of Ningbo Telecom called Mr. Zhao and said that he could only replace the card with a new one, and could not refund it to the fixed telephone balance or refund it directly.
▲ The business hall where Mr. Zhao went. Courtesy of the consumer
"I don't need to change the card." Mr. Zhao said. In desperation, he complained through the 12345 hotline. On August 22, China Telecom Ningbo Branch replied to Mr. Zhao: "At present, the IC card business has not been delisted, because the card in your hand has been purchased for many years, and the specific amount in the card can no longer be verified, so Telecom will apply for the same amount of 201 cards, and the original IC card will be recycled, and I have contacted you for explanation." Your request for a direct return of the card cannot be met, and the two parties have not reached an agreement on how to deal with it......"
▲China Telecom Ningbo Branch's reply. Courtesy of the consumer
"Before, the customer service staff of China Telecom told me that I could go to the business hall to handle a refund, and I couldn't check the balance after tossing around, and I couldn't change to a fixed line or refund." Mr. Zhao questioned the inconsistency of China Telecom's statement, "If you can't check the balance, how can consumers calculate the fee when they call in a phone booth?" How are the deductions and remaining balances calculated? ”
The consumer checks the balance through the IC card payphone
Telecom customer service said that only the same amount of 201 phone cards can be replaced
In order to further check the balance in the IC card, Mr. Zhao finally found a public phone with a working IC card for inquiry. The photos provided by Mr. Zhao show that the balances of the five IC cards are 50 yuan, 40.1 yuan, 34.8 yuan, 33.3 yuan and 8.3 yuan, respectively, for a total of 166.5 yuan. "Obviously, the balance can be found on the telephone, why can't China Telecom find it?" Mr. Zhao said.
▲ Mr. Zhao inquired about the balance on the street phone. Courtesy of the consumer
On August 25, the reporter called China Telecom's customer service hotline for consultation. The customer service staff said that according to the way the IC card was handled at that time, the relevant situation needed to be handled through the public phone booth outlets.
On August 26, the reporter came to the China Telecom (Fengke Road Business Hall) in Fengtai District, Beijing and provided the staff with a picture of the IC phone card, but failed to check the balance. The staff said that the data of the foreign card could not be found, and they needed to find the local telecom operator to deal with it.
Subsequently, the reporter contacted China Telecom's online customer service in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province to inquire about Mr. Zhao's complaint handling, and the other party replied: "The IC card cannot verify the specific amount left in it for a long time, and you can apply for a replacement of the 201 card of the same denomination (the old card is handed in)." According to the work order record, 3 sheets can be replaced for 50 yuan + 1 sheet for 30 yuan. ”
▲ China Telecom's online customer service reply. Profile picture
The operator is suspected of forced consumption in disguise
The refund process should be uniformly informed
Ye Lin, president of the Beijing Consumer Rights Protection Law Society and professor at the Law School of Chinese People's University, said in an interview with a reporter from China Consumer Daily:
Due to the continuous progress of communication technology, the public telephone sets that provide services on the market are gradually reduced, so that the convenience of consumers to use IC phone cards is greatly reduced, and there is still a balance in the IC phone card with stored value, as long as it does not exceed the statutory statute of limitations, the consumer has the right to return the balance in the card for refund.
The operator replied that the balance could not be verified, but the consumer could find it on the street telephone, and the operator's behavior was a sign of dishonesty. It does not support refunds, only provides a plan to replace the 201 card, and the operator is suspected of constituting a disguised forced consumption, and the consumer has the right to refuse.
Wang Jiucheng, the chief lawyer of Beijing Li Dao Law Firm, said:
The practice of applying for an equivalent amount of 201 cards for consumers without respecting the wishes of consumers is suspected of violating Article 40 of the Telecommunications Regulations, which stipulates that "telecommunications operators shall not engage in any of the following acts in telecommunications services: restricting telecommunications users from using their designated services in any way", which is suspected of infringing on consumers' right to independent choice and fair trade.
If the customer service staff of the operator carefully and completely listens to all the information truthfully told by the consumer, and replies that the refund can be handled in accordance with the company's system, it shall be deemed that the operator has made a commitment to the consumer's demands, but the consumer fails to return the card and refund the fee after arriving at the business hall, and finally replies to the consumer with a card replacement plan. This reflects that the application of the internal management system of the operator is not uniform, the application of the system by different functional departments is connected, and the communication is not close enough, etc., which cannot become a shield for infringing on the rights of consumers, and consumers cannot become the "victims" of the operator's profits.
Wang Jiucheng suggested:
As a public facility, the public telephone booth should still play its due function if it is not completely canceled. Major operators should promptly investigate, overhaul, maintain, transform and upgrade the use of public phone booths and phone cards to ensure that they can be used normally.
At the same time, a unified notice shall be made on the validity period of the phone card, the process of replacement, upgrade, and refund of the card.
Produced by the New Media Editorial Department of China Consumer Daily
Source: China Consumer News · China Consumer Network
Reporter/Ducco
Editor/Pei Ying
Producer/He Yongpeng, Ren Zhenyu
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