ΔThe support lines for telecommunications customers will now operate free of charge in accordance with the new obligations imposed on providers by the new regulation of general licenses of telecommunications providers, as stated by the Consumer Ombudsman.
This obligation now burdens all five telecommunications providers in the country, and was adopted after reports and consumer complaints about providers' charges during e.g. fault reporting.
Based on the obligation imposed, consumers should contact the following numbers in order to report faults or request information about them.
- 13811 for its subjects Cyta Hellas,
- 13731 for its subjects Forthnet,
- 13700 for topics Wind Hellas,
- 13788 for him OTE (landline),
- 13738 for Cosmote (mobile),
- 13840 for Vodafone
Calls to these numbers will be free of charge, "in order to avoid possible high charges associated with the use of other service lines," said the relevant announcement of the Consumer Ombudsman. The line is required to operate from Monday to Saturday, at least 16 hours a day, for both on-net and off-net calls.
The obligation for the telephony companies arises from the entry into force of the second stage of the regulations of the new regulation of general licenses of telecommunication providers (Government Gazette 4262 / Β / 2017). In accordance with the regulations of the new regulation adopted by National Telecommunications & Post Commission (EETT) the public telecommunications service provider serves consumers through one or more telephone lines. The same regulation also provides that during the operating hours of this line are included the working hours, while the waiting time may not exceed five minutes.
It should be noted that to date the charging system for telecommunication troubleshooting services has not been regulated, with the result that most providers apply charges. In fact, for out-of-network calls, that is, from one provider to another that were next to be made if one provider's network was down, it was quite expensive.
Many consumers even complained that there was no substantial consumer support as they were often faced with bots having difficulty explaining the problem or contacting a representative to help them. The problem was particularly acute in elderly consumers who, unable to be served, made multiple calls to report faults and receive information with corresponding charges.
