Mobile Carriers in the Crosshairs

How a Drei customer got his service fee back

Domestic providers have recently been charging customers an annual service fee of 27 to 35 euros. Many are asking: What exactly is this for?(Bild: stock.adobe.com)

“Krone” reader Ali T. from Gänserndorf is delighted just before the holidays to have recovered money he thought was lost: The 50-year-old has been a customer of the mobile phone company Drei for years and never realized that an annual “service fee” was being charged. When he discovered an opportunity online through a litigation funder to reclaim the hated fee, he joined the effort—and ultimately received more than 160 euros.

“I’m very satisfied. It’s nice when justice prevails,” says Ali T. about his fight over the service fee. It took a long time for a lawyer from Graz, hired by a major litigation funder, to push through the refund: Ali T. had contacted the lawyer last year. “And now we’ve won.” Although Drei does not want to let the word “win” stand unchallenged. A company spokesperson emphasizes that while the customer successfully fought to get his money back, he did not win a court case. There were letters from the lawyer, and the company paid voluntarily “to avoid further legal costs.” However, a court ruling on the mobile service fee is still pending.

For Ali T., however, what matters most is that part of the service fee he paid is now back in his account. The initial hurdle was low: “We had to submit bills from the past few years and provide some information,” Mr. Ali reports. He is satisfied with the attorneys who handled the case, who retained a 34% commission for their services. The case raises questions, however: With these initial successes, do telecom companies now face an avalanche of lawsuits? Is this the end of service fees? Krone+ investigated.