This company preyed on seniors. Now he will pay a fine of PLN 8 million

The Office of Competition and Consumer Protection announced that the Court of Appeal, just like in the case of the court of first instance, upheld the decision on the penalty imposed by the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection on Telestrada. This decision is final.

PLN 8 million fine for Telestrada

Telestrada was fined by the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection at the end of 2020, after proceedings lasting over a year. The regulator, acting on the basis of many complaints about the company's activities, imposed a fine of PLN 8 million on it.

These complaints mainly described the fact that Telestrada representatives offered services mainly to people over 65 years of age, whom they contacted by phone and then came to their homes with ready-made contracts to sign.

– A man came to my house to extend the contract for an Orange landline phone. I asked him if he was sure he was from Orange. He said they had to switch from Orange to Telestrada because of the tax. I believed him, but it turned out that he was lying because we received bills from both Orange and Telestrada. I'm 89 years old and I can't pay two bills – one of the injured persons reported in court.

In the proceedings, the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection established that some Telestrada representatives actually acted in this way. It was also confirmed that the company was aware that it was illegal because it received complaints from customers and letters from city and county consumer ombudsmen.

Seniors are victims of Telestrada

– Firstly, Telestrada representatives misled their potential customers by suggesting that they represented their current operator, which was offering them a change to more favorable terms. (…) Secondly, the company did not provide consumers with contracts signed with them and their annexes – said Tomasz Chróstny, president of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection. – It is absolutely unacceptable to impersonate other entrepreneurs and use this to mislead consumers. In this case, a large group of the injured were seniors, so the entrepreneur's behavior should be condemned even more strongly. – added.