Dear Readers, clients and friends,
I wonder if you remember the article posted a few months ago regarding the intolerable abuses committed by some Telecom providers in Spain, and more specifically, the problems that several of our clients –including myself- have experienced with the company “Orange” in particular.
In my own case, Orange incurred in blatant breach of contract, as they failed to install the ADSL in my office, after more than two months of persistent phone calls, personal visits to the shop as well as strong legal letters. Despite all my efforts, all the attempts to reach an out of court settlement failed due to the stubbornness and arrogance of Orange, which gave me no other alternative than to take them to Court last July 2015.
Anyway, the good news is that just before Christmas, I have received a favourable Court’s decision (please see below), which obliges Orange to pay me a financial compensation of 1.000 Euros plus legal interests, for all the damaged caused.
This recent landmark decision (as well as some other recent ones) prove that at the event of dispute,- as an European Consumer, – it will be easier to seek compensation in Court, for the damages that the infringement or failure may have caused you.
The problem is that some well- known Telecoms companies usually take advantage of their predominant position in the market, and also from the fact that for most people it is really a nuisance to file a complaint. As a result, they will not hesitate to put as much as obstacles in your path in order to discourage you to exercise your rights (like for instance their unbearable and useless call centres!)
Nevertheless, you must never surrender to the abusive practices frequently employed by these arrogant telecom companies, and you must never allow them to abuse your legitimate rights!
Remember that being European citizen grant you with fundamental inalienable rights and consequently all these dubious practices are totally abusive and contrary to the European and Spanish Consumer’s legislation.
Therefore, in conclusion, at the event of a dispute with a telephone company, we are glad to give you the following useful preliminary advice:
First: Keep track of all your phone calls and/or e-mails sent to the Telecom Company.
Second: Complaint written letters are always more effective than phone calls, as they will be stronger evidence at the event of a Court dispute.
Third: Double check that your personal details are not unlawfully included in a Debt Registry. The High Court considers that including the personal details of a customer in a bad debtor list without fulfilling all the requirements (or alternatively the failure to remove the records once the debt is paid), can be considered as a serious illegitimate intrusion in the rights to honour, privacy and image, (according to art. 9.3 of the law 1/1982, May 5), empowering you to claim substantial damages against the telecom company.
Fourth: Make sure to keep a safe record of all your invoices and preferably try keeping all your payments are up to date, in order to avoid a possible counter-claim from the company against you.
Finally and more importantly, at the event of dispute, do not despair. Please, at the first sign of trouble, do not hesitate to contact us and we will be delighted to help you. We are experts in dealing with all kind of consumer’s complaints, so we will be very glad to give you accurate advice about the most advisable ways of preventing those abuses and claiming compensation.
We hope this information is useful and should you have any additional question, please visit our website: www.ricorabogados.com
Remember that you can also follow us in Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/ricorabogados),
Linkdin and our google business page: (https://plus.google.com/…/10169…/101699650134478147323/posts)
Alternatively, you can also contact us by e-mail at ricorsolicitors@yahoo.co.uk and we will reply back to you as matter of urgency.
Thank you very much for your attention and permanent support and we look forward to helping you!
Mr Oscar Ricor “NON-PRACTISING ENGLISH SOLICITOR IN ENGLAND AND WALES”, under the “Solicitors Regulation Authority” (SRA) SRA number 519196 and practicing Spanish Solicitor.
