Consumer wins claim, name taken off blacklist
KOTA KINABALU: A consumer who has been harassed by a legal firm appointed by a telecommunication service provider here was vindicated when the Consumer Claims Tribunal granted his claim in full.
The telecommunication service provider which was not represented at the hearing has been instructed to clear the consumer’s name from being blacklisted and to pay the latter RM317 within 14 days.
Henri Roman was a subscriber for four months before he terminated the service and paid RM187.50 as final and full settlement in June 2018.
To his surprise, in December 2018, a representative from the legal firm had contacted Henri demanding payment for July to October 2018 bills within three days or face a lawsuit.
In May 2019, Henri had tried to sign up with another telecommunication service provider but had failed to do so as his name had been blacklisted, forcing him to lodge complaints with various agencies and file a claim at the tribunal.
In another case, a complainant succeeded in her claim against a resort in Melaka.
On 10th of June 2019, Hashima saw an advertisement on the resort’s official Facebook page. When she clicked on the link for online ticket purchasing, RM21 and RM26 were the prices displayed for each child and adult to enter its water theme park. However, on the payment page, the prices were RM25 and RM30 instead.
She made an enquiry to the resort but they insisted the promotion had ended on 5th of June 2019.
Hashima still had to buy those tickets as their villa stay at the resort has been confirmed and no cancellation and amendment is allowed, forcing her to buy those tickets RM32 more expensive in total.
She also printed a screenshot of the resort’s advertisement which had posted the same misleading advertisement on the 12th of June 2019.
The resort’s representative was absent at the hearing but had mailed a cheque of the full amount Hashima had demanded for which was RM176.70. While this month’s consumer tribunal hearing saw many cases adjourned to the next hearing session, a consumer won her case when the President of the tribunal, Yong Pei Yi, instructed a service centre to pay Martha binti Jirus RM170 within 14 days.
This is due to the unsatisfactory LCD screen which the company had installed for Martha who was promised the LCD screen to be an original item.
Even after installing it the third time, the consumer still was facing problem with it forcing her to demand for a refund.
At the hearing held on Monday, the Consumers Front of Sabah (Cfos) had brought a group of Form Four students from SMK Pekan Telipok as part of the NGO’s consumerism awareness program.
Thirteen students and a teacher had the chance to have a real feel being at the tribunal and witnessed for themselves how cases are being heard.
This field trip is the third of its kind and Cfos plans to organize more such activity since the outcome of every field trip is always very positive.