Scams in Germany: A SIM Contract Case — Part 3/3
So in part 2, I made a contract with Vodafone, but not MyHandyDeal. The problem is, if there’s no contract, there’s no obligation. I was paying the full monthly fee to Vodafone, and hoping that MyHandyDeal would keep their words and pay me a monthly credit, as they claimed on their website.
If you haven’t read the previous stories yet, go ahead with the following links:
The truth revealed
According to MyHandyDeal, their business model works as follows: they act as an intermediary and made a contract with an internet provider. The end customer gets the SIM card, and MyHandyDeal gets the mobile phone. Therefore, they transfer the credit to the customer to compensate for the mobile phone.
With little surprise, two months after I made the contract, I still didn’t get my credits from MyHandyDeal. Their business works more like the following: trick the customer to make a contract and never transfer them the credit, and get a free mobile phone!
Of course, as soon as they got what they wanted, they disappeared.
I continued to send them emails to ask for the credit, and they came up with ridiculous clauses that were never there:
Not every customer is entitled to the credit. In order to receive the credit, the customer must send an e-mail with the title “Credit — (order number)” to the email address gutschrift@myhandydeal.de within five days after the conclusion of the contract.
Final battle
I sent numerous emails to MyHandyDeal but to no avail. I also called Vodafone but they also pushed me away. I also did some more detailed research online, and found out that many people also fell into prey and never got their money back. But why in the world did I not read the reviews before I even made the contract?
Vodafone asked me to contact zoozzy GmbH, which they claim was the company that made the contract. That’s when I found out there’s another company operating behind MyHandyDeal.
Deeply frustrated, I decided to go to the legal consultation service at Studentenwerk München as a last resort.
The lawyer impatiently heard my case and made it clear that there wasn’t much he could do. It was a very bitter moment for me. On the one hand, I was mad at myself for being so foolish and falling into the trap. On the other hand, it seemed like nobody cared: The lawyer was not interested in my case, the German government allowed such things to happen, and Vodafone did not give a darn.
I know that at the end of the day, I was the one responsible for what had happened. But I just wished that the world wasn’t as evil as this.
Lesson Learned
- Always be alert and inform yourself of common tricks scammers use.
- Always read the reviews before making a decision.
- Never make a contract without a contract, or when things just seem very sketchy.
- Never rely on the legal system and believe that you will get the justice you deserve.
I hope at least the story was a bit entertaining to you although it was my misery 😂.
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