Consumer protection accuses Sunrise of unfair competition
Published: Friday, Sep 6th 2024, 08:30
Back to Live Feed
The Foundation for Consumer Protection believes that the telecommunications company Sunrise is treating its customers unlawfully. According to the foundation, it has taken Sunrise to Zurich District Court for allegedly violating the Federal Act against Unfair Competition.
According to a press release, the foundation's aim with the lawsuit is to have certain clauses in Sunrise's General Terms and Conditions (GTC) prohibited by the courts. Two clauses bother the foundation: Firstly, the fact that companies such as Sunrise have a so-called inflation clause.
It states that Sunrise can increase prices if the national consumer price index rises. However, if inflation falls again, the company is under no obligation to adjust its tariffs downwards. An extraordinary right of termination is also excluded.
According to the Stiftung für Konsumentenschutz, other telecommunications companies also do this.
Secondly, Sunrise is "doubly unfair", the foundation continues: customers of this company can only cancel their contract by telephone and chat. A written termination is invalid. Many Sunrise customers have reported to the foundation that canceling with Sunrise is "very time-consuming and grueling".
The lawsuit against Sunrise was filed after an arbitration procedure failed to produce an agreement.
Provisions have advantages according to Sunrise
A Sunrise spokesperson told the Keystone-SDA news agency on request that it was true; there was no right to early termination in the event of a price adjustment. It is also true that Sunrise customers can only cancel by telephone and chat.
The vast majority of customers welcome the simple termination via telephone or live chat because it saves them having to write a letter and go to the post office. The chat history can be saved locally on the computer.
Sunrise regularly lowers its prices or offers more services at the same prices, in line with the strong competition in the market.
The GTC provision on the obligation to terminate by call or chat was reviewed by the District Court of Bülach ZH at the end of 2022 and by the Zurich High Court in July 2023. The courts had found this provision not to be abusive within the meaning of the Unfair Competition Act.
The Federal Court did not enter into an examination, said the head of the Sunrise PR department, Rolf Ziebold. The company assumes that the inflation clause in the general terms and conditions is also legal.
©Keystone/SDA
English 
German 
French 
Spanish 
Arabic