Hi guys,
I found on Salt website this offer https://www.salt.ch/en/young/ so I decided to go for the 20 CHF/month one. But there is a trick which is not mentioned anywhere that the discount is valid only for first 12 months not for the entire period of the contract of 24 months. You find this out only after you receive you contract by mail.
The moment I read this I called them and they transferred me from department to department for 50 minutes and in the end they said that this cannot be canceled and the only offer they can make is to pay 39.95/month for the entire period which is even more than what I got in the first place (12x20 + 12x49.95 = 839 CHF and the new offer was 24x39.95=958.8) so of course I declined.
Do you know if there anywhere where I can complain about this?
Mihai

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I'll agree the offer is misleading.

1 Subscription
20.00/month Swiss Young
Everything unlimited in Switzerland
24 Months
2 SIM Card & Phone

But it does say, as you go to the next step online.

Special Offer

12 months promotional offer

Discount
CHF 29.95/month

I saw that bit, too.

I don't see it on that page, but I went through subscriptions and on this page it's clear that the deal is only for 12 of the 24 months:

https://www.salt.ch/en/plus-swiss/

This is a typical tactic of mobile providers, where you get a discount for only a certain amount of time even though the contract is longer. Usually it's a bit more transparent though.

In addition, I clicked your link and started the process to see what it looks like as you go through the sign-up details. On the second tab, Devices, it also says the discount is only for 12 months:
https://shop.salt.ch/en/devices/#%20

You can complain all you want, but you probably won't get anywhere.

Edit - Others type faster and are less wordy.

If you just choose the abo and then fill in your data for the contract you will never get to that step.
Now that you pointed out I can see there is a step on top but the registration process doesn't take through that step.

Another thing I know in EU you have 30 days to change you mind for anything you buy, isn't there a similar law here? I actually called the 10 minutes after making the request

Check the contract itself. Some contracts have a specific clause exempting them from any cooling off period.

14 days and not 30 (and also not for anything you buy), and nope that only works here if offered by the seller.

Problem you'll face is that during the process you clicked on the box where you agreed to the terms and conditions which you could see online if you wanted but you chose not to read them.

I am not going to any process, I will just pay and that's it this is just to warn other about it.
And by the way I read the terms and conditions but those are general, there is nothing stipulated there about the prices and discounts.
The only place where it's written is that step on top which you don't see if you just fill in the data and press next. Second step is to choose the number you want.

If you can proof that in no way you were informed about the limitation of the offer or were pointed by them to a page that contains this info during the process you should document this properly so you have proof (make a video of the whole process for example) and tell Salt to go to hell.

Another option would be to just pay :P

If you're truly unhappy, the contract will contain a clause about how to get out of it early. Usually pay some penalty fee, and if you got a phone with it, pay for that.

Still, 12 months of a 29.95 discount is pretty nice. Maybe keep it for the first 12 months and then pay the penalty fee to cancel, and you'll still come out ahead.

Imagine few guys sitting around a table and discusssing "How can we mislead people to think they are getting a good deal while we cheat them either by hiding real cost, or charge them excessively for options they will for sure need (such as roaming) and do every other trick possible.



And yet expect brand loyalty.



This is what these mobile operators are doing everyday.


Not many industries are as horrible as telco.

I would say it is a misleading offer.

One thing you can try is to write a nice registered letter about the issue to.
Depending on what you want request the discount over the full 24 months or to be released from the contract. In the later case you can cite Art. 24 Abs. 1 Code of Obligations https://www.admin.ch/opc/en/classifi...index.html#a24

Dr. Pascal Grieder (CEO)
Salt Mobile SA
Rue du Caudray 4
1020 Renens

plus a CC (mentioned in the letter) to

Stiftung für Konsumentenschutz
Monbijoustrasse 61
Postfach
3001 Bern

or

Fédération romande des consommateurs
Case postale 6151
1002 Lausanne

__________________
"I think so, Brain. But where are we going to find a gallon of whip cream and three yards of lederhosen at this time of night? Narf!"

I've gone it through. At first i thought just another whining user who generally does not read anything first, but me too agrees the offer is definitely misleading, because is does not detail out the conditions first.
Go to salt.ch, choose english, then select on top the picture/part "less than 30 years old? more info", select the +swiss abo for 20 CHF/mt and you get directly to the subscription part entering personal data. The i info popup on that page also is unclear as it states "contract term 12/24 months" ??
OK one might argue, why subscribe at all if you do not even see the duration terms, but IMO it remains misleading.

I would guess you possibly might get a confirmation of "invalidity of the process" if you go through the hassle and report it to the swiss telecom schlichtungsstelle (mediation office): https://de.ombudscom.ch/schlichtungs...kommunikation/ with better "success prospect" than calling the konsumentenschutz (they don't have any jurisdical power).
This requires you've tried first to reach an agreement with the provider (eg full discount over the entire contract period or to be released from the contract)



I also think Art. 24 as stated above does apply here.

They have. Unlike the common man, they can actually sue in cases of misleading advertisements. Art. 10 Abs. 2 Lit. b UWG https://www.admin.ch/opc/de/classifi...index.html#a10

Before you can do that you must have tried to resolve the dispute unsuccessfully. The definition and formalities can be found at: https://de.ombudscom.ch/praxis-zu-de...raussetzungen/
If you start the process too early you can get billed with up to CHF 500!

As the article confirms, that is not juridical power. They just can (try to) sue (as not directly affected, but on behalf of such), just like any other common private person, without any additional rights. Might have another weight, but it ends there. The "tool" of the konsumentenschutz is to complain and appeal (in many directions, as we know ...) what may gain some gravity in collaboration with the media.
The ombudscom, while being "just" a mediation instance, IMO definitely has more (being governamental) weight in such cases.

I would pay up, but also mention it on their Twitter / FB page - i.e. letting potential users know to be careful before they click.

It is definitely a well designed trap. I was almost into it, too.

I highly doubt this. IMO it is just a poorly designed web site, there isn't more in it. Depending which "clicking path" you take to those offers, you can either see the conditions of the offer or not.