Can big companies disregard customers with impunity?

08 มกราคม 2560

Customers to sue Pay TV giant TrueMove for only 3 days notice before popular TV channels cut, breaking broadcasting regulations.

CONSUMER PROTECTION & THE LAW

Can big companies disregard customers with impunity?

Online Reporters

7/01/2017

Can big powerful companies with monopoly powers make changes that hurt their customers with impunity? (avoid all penalties and punishment)

Can they break the law by failing to inform their customers of these changes in a timely fashion?

Can they then decide by themselves what penalty they will pay for breaking the law?

Apparently, at least one large Thai corporation thinks the answer is "yes".

However, the company may not get away with it.

A special type of lawsuit, a class action lawsuit, may make it possible for many small and powerless customers to join together and sue the big powerful company.

WHAT HAPPENED?

First, TrueVisions, the pay TV subsidiary of giant True Corporation, reportedly failed to reach an agreement on higher fees sought by HBO.

Then suddenly two days before the end of the year, TrueVisions cancelled HBO and five affiliated channels: HBO Hits, HBO Signature, HBO Family, Red by HBO, and Cinemax.

HBO is home to such popular TV programs as the Game of Thrones.

After the cancellation customers may just have to download Game of Thrones off of illegal bit torrents or pirated DVDs. If the largest pay TV company in the country won't offer them legally, who will?

LAST MINUTE CANCELLATION

TrueVisions first informed subscribers about the cancellations on Dec 29, 2016 and removed the channels three days later on on Jan 1, 2017.

A 2013 broadcasting regulation requires pay-TV operators to inform their subscribers in writing 30 days before the change.

Truevision instead gave the cancellation notice in a little hardly noticeable message at the bottom of the television screen (a screen crawler).

Most customers only learned of the change when an NBTC commissioner revealed it to the media.

IF LAW BREAKER BIG ENOUGH, CAN DECIDE ITS OWN PENALTY?

True decided to replace the popular cancelled channels with cheaper channels of its own choosing.

These include Warner TV, Sony Channel, Paramount, Fox Action Movies, Celestial Classic Movies and Food Network HD, all went on the air on Jan 1, while True Films HD 2 will go live in March.

True has also decided to thrown in an upgrade of the packages of 300,000 affected subscribers by one step for a month, and 1,000 True Reward bonus points to the most affected group, those on the Platinum package.

CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT TO THE RESCUE

Online class action platform Fongdi.com said the compensation offered by TrueMove was inadequate and unfair.

Furthermore, TrueMove had used the canceled channels to promote sales which seems to make the cancellation somewhat akin to a bait-and-switch.

Bait-and-switch is when high quality goods at low price are advertised and offered, but are replaced by cheap low quality goods at the time of sale:

"The seven substitute channels are of lower quality than the six cancelled ones, which TrueVision had used to promote sales," Fongdi.com said.

As of 5pm Saturday, more than 1,000 True customers had signed up to initiate the litigation against the pay-TV operator at Fongdi.com.

The class action lawsuit seeks to accomplish two things:

1. Demand fee reductions for subscribers in proportion to the value of lost channels, possibly 200 to 500 baht a month for the Platinum package.

2. Seek to demand that TrueVisions pay a fine in the form of payments to subscribers who cancel, possibly the equivalent of one month's fees.

WEBSITE SET UP FOR EVERY VARIETY OF CLASS ACTION SUIT

Fongdi.com founder Peerapat Foithong told VoiceTV on Friday that the website was not set up for this case alone.

"It was online before this case but this is the first one that affects many people, including me," he said.

The NBTC, meanwhile, plans to meet with TrueVisions executives and customers on Tuesday in hopes of reaching a mutually acceptable solution.

If the big company does not receive any meaningful punishment for disregarding customers and broadcasting regulations, will it not be likely to do it again?

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/1175969/truevisions-may-face-crowd-suit

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