The issue of 28-day billing by telephone operators, which has no longer existed for a few years (2018), continues to produce consequences today: TIM has just published very important information on its official website, which on the one hand do reference to a sentence of Court of Milanon the other at methods of disbursement of reimbursementswhich will be up to the fixed network customers affected by the billing at 28 days starting from the month of April 2017.
Information on the illegitimate conduct of TIM and on the right to reimbursement
In recent days, a very important note has appeared at the bottom of the homepage of the official TIM website. The information provides a summary of the sentence of the Court of Milan (actually dating back to October 2021) which, following the outcome of the action brought by the AMC, recognized the illegitimacy of the conduct held by TIM and the right of damaged consumers to be reimbursed.
Here is the full text of the note published by the operator with the salient points highlighted:
“The Court of MilanEleventh Civil Section, following the outcome of the ordinary action promoted by the Consumer Movement Association, has prevented TELECOM ITALIA SPA from adopting, using and effects in fixed telephony contracts (or other services offered in conjunction with fixed telephony) stipulated with consumers, of clauses that provide for renewals and payments on a time basis of 28 days / 8 weeks. The adoption and use of this periodicity, starting from 01.04.2017, has harmed and harms the collective rights and interests of consumers, provided for by art. 2 Consumer Code (1: right to adequate information and correct advertising; 2: right to commercial practices based on principles of good faith, correctness and loyalty; 3: right to correctness, transparency and fairness in relationships contractual) also with violation of the minimum information content and the principle of transparency, provided for in favor of consumers who are users of telephone services by Articles 70 and 71 Electronic Communications Code.
Such conduct also results in a misleading unfair commercial practice, prohibited by art. 20 Consumer Code, as the adoption of this frequency (28 days), different from that of use, is contrary to professional diligence and is capable of appreciably distorting the economic behavior of the average consumer, making it difficult to evaluate offers and the comparison between them, also for the purpose of exercising the right of free withdrawal, provided for by law in the event of unilateral change of the conditions of the service by the telephone operator.
The illegality of the conduct described above entails the right of each consumer who has sufferedas part of a fixed telephony contract (or other services offered in conjunction with fixed telephony), the adoption of the billing periodicity of 28 days / 8 weeks, to the repetition of sums unduly paid“.
Reimbursement procedures proposed by TIM
Scrolling further down the home page and expanding the Useful information section, we find the note published by TIM on 11 February 2022 on the subject of “Refunds for billing 28 days for landline customers“.
In it, the operator recalls the reimbursement due to fixed network customers who received bills 28 days after March 31, 2017, therefore starting from April of the same year. Refunds can be requested either by contacting the number 187 or through the MyTIM Area (it is not necessary to be a customer yet to apply).
For TIM customers, the operator has also provided some alternatives to reimbursementconsisting of the free use for six months from the date of activation (with automatic deactivation) of one of the services offered that is not yet active on your line. The request procedures are similar to those of the reimbursement and TIM specifies that the acceptance of one of the services in promotion involves the waives the right to request a refund of the eroded days.
Here are the services offered:
- TIMVISION – TIM TV with lots of content available;
- Who is it – to view the caller’s number on the home phone display;
- Extra Voice – for unlimited calls to national landlines and mobile phones;
- International voice – for unlimited calls to landlines in the United States, Canada and Western Europe;
- Max Speed - to make the most of the Internet connection and surf up to 100 Mbit / s (for customers who already surf with FTTCab technology up to 30MB, call the fixed line Customer Service 187 to check compatibility with your offer).
More details on reimbursement criteria and promotional services are available by calling Customer Service 187.
For all telephone offers of TIMyou can visit our dedicated page.
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