No penalties for cancelling internet contracts - but users must give five days notice

[webfact]

No penalties for cancelling internet contracts - but users must give five days notice

 

Image: Daily News

 

BANGKOK: -- An issue that many Thais seem to be unaware of has been investigated by Daily News Online.

 

Most locals are under the impression that internet providers can charge penalties for those who cancel 12 month contracts for their phones.

 

But an online lawyer - tanaiwirat.com - citing various legislation has stated that internet providers cannot legally charge for a contract being broken. So long as five days notice is given.

 

Also in the event of an interruption in service a claim can be made for the return of money paid up front. This must be paid within 30 days and if it is not then interest must be paid by the company on the sum.

 

Lawyer Wirat said that it was an issue that many consumers were unaware of as penalties were just accepted.

 

Source: Daily News

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2016-09-08

[Gary A]

My True internet at my house in the boonies quit working. I had been using it for a couple of years. My wife went to the local True office and the genius working there told her that she needed to upgrade the package. She did that and we still had no Internet. Six calls to True did no good at all. Three trips to the local office also did no good. True insisted that there was nothing wrong with my service.  I wasted money and bought a new 4G air card and still nothing. The post paid was in her name so I told her to just cancel the account. The same moron told her that it could not be cancelled. I went to that office and made an ass out of myself. I doubt the guy knew what a F'in moron was but he did know I was upset. My wife took me by the arm and led me out of the office. She ended up driving fifty kilometers to a bigger True shop. She canceled the account and had to pay for an extra month. AIS may not be a lot better but at least it works here. Our post paid AIS package is forty GB with a bonus ten GB 4G. There is no 4G here so that ten GB cannot be used. It cannot be converted to 3G. Kind of stupid but that is in the package.

[DipStick]

I apologise if this is slightly off topic, earlier this year I rented a cottage in North Devon, on arriving I realised that there was no internet provided so I went into the nearest Vodaphone shop and was advised to buy a "dongle" which I did.

on getting back to the cottage, I plugged it in and hey Presto very strong wifi through the the property. I don't want to strip it down, but I am assuming inside this dongle is a .vodaphone SIM card, which is the heart of the unit. 

Now, if I took this dongle to Thailand and went to a True outlet, would they be able to take out the .vodaphone sim and replace it with a True card, thus giving me wifi in Bangkok.

i would really appreciate any sensible answers.

[12DrinkMore]

58 minutes ago, DipStick said:

I apologise if this is slightly off topic, earlier this year I rented a cottage in North Devon, on arriving I realised that there was no internet provided so I went into the nearest Vodaphone shop and was advised to buy a "dongle" which I did.

on getting back to the cottage, I plugged it in and hey Presto very strong wifi through the the property. I don't want to strip it down, but I am assuming inside this dongle is a .vodaphone SIM card, which is the heart of the unit. 

Now, if I took this dongle to Thailand and went to a True outlet, would they be able to take out the .vodaphone sim and replace it with a True card, thus giving me wifi in Bangkok.

i would really appreciate any sensible answers.

 

The only sensible answer is that based on the information you have posted nobody can say.

 

The only way to really know is to bring it to Thailand and try it. But I would not hold your breath. 

 

[klauskunkel]

1 hour ago, DipStick said:

I apologise if this is slightly off topic, earlier this year I rented a cottage in North Devon, on arriving I realised that there was no internet provided so I went into the nearest Vodaphone shop and was advised to buy a "dongle" which I did.

on getting back to the cottage, I plugged it in and hey Presto very strong wifi through the the property. I don't want to strip it down, but I am assuming inside this dongle is a .vodaphone SIM card, which is the heart of the unit. 

Now, if I took this dongle to Thailand and went to a True outlet, would they be able to take out the .vodaphone sim and replace it with a True card, thus giving me wifi in Bangkok.

i would really appreciate any sensible answers.

Once I find out what a 'dongle' is I shall provide you with a sensible answer. For now I'm assuming it's some kind of Australian marsupial, but I have doubts about its pluggabilities.

[hansnl]

It might depend on the frequency bands your dongle can work, but chances are that with a Thai Simcard in it, it will work in Thailand.

[manfredtillmann]

1 hour ago, klauskunkel said:

Once I find out what a 'dongle' is I shall provide you with a sensible answer. For now I'm assuming it's some kind of Australian marsupial, but I have doubts about its pluggabilities.

always 'tail first', klaus.

a usb plug - in, i take it.

 

we had a 3bb contract for a couple of years, cancelled it in writing to sign up with 'true'... to this day we get monthly bills, up to thb 4000 or so, now. they go into the compost straight away.

[mtls2005]

Hard to understand what this article is really about?

 

My best guess is that is specifically about post-paid (contract) mobile phone/data plans, associated with a packaged promotion which includes a discounted phone. Typically these involve a significant discount on the hardware, sometimes approaching 50%, in return for signing up for a 12 month plan, in the 600 + ish range, and you may have to prepay up to six months in advance. The "lawyer" seems to be saying that consumers may have more rights than they are aware of, but they may have to return the phone? I would think that any contract has been reviewed by in-house legal teams and meets any/all consumer rights requirements, but who knows?

 

I suspect  the Vodafone dongle is locked to Vodafone, but maybe it could be unlocked? You could buy another unlocked dongle and use it anywhere, including Thailand.

 

This set-up is also used here, for Thai's traveling to Japan. They rent a dongle, which has a mobile data SIM inside, and offers WiFi (locally, uplink is 3G/4G), and use it for a trip to Japan (where it is still challenging to buy your own SIM). These are usually a bit less expensive than roaming on a Thai SIM.

[nickmondo]

How good are True?

Hua Hin residents will be able to relate to this as they will know the area......

I live on the outskirts of Hua Hin, had True Fiber fitted to house.

30 meg download no problem, browser worked fine, e mails etc..

I watch tv on the internet (various, but mainly UK stuff via different magical set ups) but would not stream.

At the time I also had a 3 meg supply from 3BB which was left from previous owner, but was being removed, and the tv worked fine.

So explained this to them, but their techies could not understand.

I took my laptop to True Arena in Hua Hin (residents will know it) and the internet tv worked perfect with only 5 meg.

So I went to True Office in Market Village, and I asked them if True Arena had normal internet supply via the phone line or fiber optic.

"Where is True Arena" was the answer from the girl there.........and she asked her mate.......and neither of them had heard of it.................now if you live in Hua Hin, you will know how gob smacked I was.........i was lost for words.

I then asked them to look up True Arena on their database of clients and asked again if it had normal internet via the phone line or Fiber...........3 of them got together in a huddle, discussed it for a few minutes......they then said........SAME SAME.

They believed that internet via the phone and Fiber was one and the same..........................

Nuff said...........

by the way, I finally got them to solve the riddle and it was a ROUTING problem, so if any of you have the same thing happening, just call the free helpline for faults and tell them its a ROUTING problem.

 

[Searat7]

True's policy (at least in Bangkok) has been that you need to have internet service for a minimum of 12 months.  Nice to know that is not the case. Their policy on cable tv requires minimum service of 6 months. I wonder if that is legal too. 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

I'm not sure what the Thai lawyer guy is talking about above.

 

But, when we signed up with 3BB for fiber internet service in BKK a few months ago, I spoke with 3BB's staff at length, and at several levels, to be clear on their early termination policy.

 

Their original service term for a new customer is supposed to be 12 months. And, during that initial year, if you want to move to a new location where they also offer service, they'll move the service for you, no problem.

 

But, if you want to simply end the service before the end of the first year, their policy is that you're responsible for paying them back any new service promotions/discounts you received at the outset, such as them waiving the fee for the router they provided and waiving the regular installation fee. But, either way, you wouldn't be responsible for any of the unpaid months of basic internet service left in the initial year.

[Jiu-Jitsu]

10 hours ago, DipStick said:

I apologise if this is slightly off topic, earlier this year I rented a cottage in North Devon, on arriving I realised that there was no internet provided so I went into the nearest Vodaphone shop and was advised to buy a "dongle" which I did.

on getting back to the cottage, I plugged it in and hey Presto very strong wifi through the the property. I don't want to strip it down, but I am assuming inside this dongle is a .vodaphone SIM card, which is the heart of the unit. 

Now, if I took this dongle to Thailand and went to a True outlet, would they be able to take out the .vodaphone sim and replace it with a True card, thus giving me wifi in Bangkok.

i would really appreciate any sensible answers.

 

Which one?

 

[sumrit]

15 hours ago, DipStick said:

I apologise if this is slightly off topic, earlier this year I rented a cottage in North Devon, on arriving I realised that there was no internet provided so I went into the nearest Vodaphone shop and was advised to buy a "dongle" which I did.

on getting back to the cottage, I plugged it in and hey Presto very strong wifi through the the property. I don't want to strip it down, but I am assuming inside this dongle is a .vodaphone SIM card, which is the heart of the unit. 

Now, if I took this dongle to Thailand and went to a True outlet, would they be able to take out the .vodaphone sim and replace it with a True card, thus giving me wifi in Bangkok.

i would really appreciate any sensible answers.

 

If the dongle is locked to Vodaphone you'll need to get it unlocked first. Then it will work in Thailand. An unlocked dongle will work anyway. But, if you're only in Thailand for a short time, why not just tether from your phone?

[mtls2005]

Based on

 

"Most locals are under the impression that internet providers can charge penalties for those who cancel 12 month contracts for their phones."

 

 

my guess is that this "article" and the "on-line" legal expert, are referring to mobile phone contracts, rather than fixed-line broadband internet contracts? (The big photo of the phone was sort of a giveaway?)

 

Obviously there are two issues:

 

1.) the contract you sign, which details most contingencies including cancellation.

2.) the 'legality' of all the terms in that contract vis-a-vis all the various/sundry laws/regulations here.

 

I think it's safe to say the item #2 is malleable here in Thailand, given the  status of the aggrieved party.

 

Edited September 9, 2016 by mtls2005

[DipStick]

10 hours ago, Jiu-Jitsu said:

 

Which one?

 

 

The right hand one

[Jiu-Jitsu]

8 minutes ago, DipStick said:

 

The right hand one

 

The one on the left is easy to unlock for free. The other one, I can't identify exactly. It's sometimes described as a Huawei E5573, but I have one of those and it's not the same.

 

Vodafone may charge you up to £20 to unlock it to all networks if it isn't already unlocked. I can try to generate a code for free, but have no idea as to whether it will work.

You could just buy a 3G MiFi for Thailand for £10 to £20, but if you need 4G speeds, you may be able to pick one up for a bit more, but then in that case you can pay Vodafone for the unlock code.

 

The problem, if you can call it that, is that your MiFI doesn't transceive on the 2100GHz band in order to use LTE(4G) in Thailand. It does use 1800GHz, so there some be some access, but that can't be guaranteed in all areas.

 

So, you can only be sure of 3G access in Thailand. I have a Huawei 5573 320s, which does transceive on the 2100GHz  LTE frequency proper, so can get 4G everywhere it is available.

 

Will take another look later.

 

 

[DipStick]

53 minutes ago, Jiu-Jitsu said:

 

The one on the left is easy to unlock for free. The other one, I can't identify exactly. It's sometimes described as a Huawei E5573, but I have one of those and it's not the same.

 

Vodafone may charge you up to £20 to unlock it to all networks if it isn't already unlocked. I can try to generate a code for free, but have no idea as to whether it will work.

You could just buy a 3G MiFi for Thailand for £10 to £20, but if you need 4G speeds, you may be able to pick one up for a bit more, but then in that case you can pay Vodafone for the unlock code.

 

The problem, if you can call it that, is that your MiFI doesn't transceive on the 2100GHz band in order to use LTE(4G) in Thailand. It does use 1800GHz, so there some be some access, but that can't be guaranteed in all areas.

 

So, you can only be sure of 3G access in Thailand. I have a Huawei 5573 320s, which does transceive on the 2100GHz  LTE frequency proper, so can get 4G everywhere it is available.

 

Will take another look later.

 

 

JJ thanks very much for your input. As stated I purchased this in the UK, however I reside in China and travel frequently to BKK where I have an apartment which again has no wifi connection, this mainly because I spend very little time actually in BKK perhaps a day or two a visit, so it's not really sensible to pay out for a service that will not be fully utilised, hence my questions on whether this box would work there.

[Jiu-Jitsu]

8 hours ago, DipStick said:

JJ thanks very much for your input. As stated I purchased this in the UK, however I reside in China and travel frequently to BKK where I have an apartment which again has no wifi connection, this mainly because I spend very little time actually in BKK perhaps a day or two a visit, so it's not really sensible to pay out for a service that will not be fully utilised, hence my questions on whether this box would work there.

 

As far as I can see, without having the MiFi at hand, it can be unlocked using the procedure for the Huawei E5573.  A bit more convoluted than the model on the left, it would involved downgrading the software(firmware) on the MiFi, running the unlocking software and then replacing updated software(firmware). You'll need a laptop/PC with Windows 7 upwards.

I don't know whether you consider this outside your capabilities. Otherwise, you can get Vodafone to send you the unlocking code for £20 if it is locked. You'll know if it is locked if it doesn't work with anything else but Vodafone SIM.

 

 

 

[bkkcanuck8]

On 9/8/2016 at 8:47 PM, Searat7 said:

True's policy (at least in Bangkok) has been that you need to have internet service for a minimum of 12 months.  Nice to know that is not the case. Their policy on cable tv requires minimum service of 6 months. I wonder if that is legal too. 

The last contract that I delved into was a 1 year contract, but you were able to end it early but you were liable for things that were "subsidized" such as the free installation, and other services that were buried in there as part of a 1 year contract.  With fibre those charges would likely be much higher.

[cme]

On 9/8/2016 at 8:36 AM, DipStick said:

I apologise if this is slightly off topic, earlier this year I rented a cottage in North Devon, on arriving I realised that there was no internet provided so I went into the nearest Vodaphone shop and was advised to buy a "dongle" which I did.

on getting back to the cottage, I plugged it in and hey Presto very strong wifi through the the property. I don't want to strip it down, but I am assuming inside this dongle is a .vodaphone SIM card, which is the heart of the unit. 

Now, if I took this dongle to Thailand and went to a True outlet, would they be able to take out the .vodaphone sim and replace it with a True card, thus giving me wifi in Bangkok.

i would really appreciate any sensible answers.

My wife took a European vodafone dongle to Thailand and then put a DTAC Sim in it, it didn't work. She then went to the local DTAC office and they confirmed that it wouldn't work.

[Jiu-Jitsu]

27 minutes ago, cme said:

My wife took a European vodafone dongle to Thailand and then put a DTAC Sim in it, it didn't work. She then went to the local DTAC office and they confirmed that it wouldn't work.

 

It just needed to be unlocked to all networks. Often done just by inputting a numerical sequence.