Starting in September 2023, the problem of mobile phone arrears has plagued a left-behind elderly man in Yangxin County, Huangshi, Hubei Province. At the end of December, his mobile phone owed nearly 1,000 yuan, but it was not down. Mr. Luo, the son of Luo's father, learned about the incident from afar, and paid 600 yuan twice, but found that the mobile phone was still down. Mr. Luo complained that the telecommunications company had not fulfilled its obligation to inform and had not notified them in advance of the timely adjustment of the tariff package. After the Jimu News reporter intervened in the matter, the person in charge of a communication company in Yangxin County said that it would be handled properly. On January 3, Mr. Luo told reporters that the communications company had refunded 622 yuan in phone bills.
Daddy Luo is a 75-year-old left-behind elderly man, because his children are working in other places, he and his wife usually live in their hometown in Wangying Town, Yangxin County, Huangshi. In order to make it easier to contact his children, he applied for a phone card many years ago and has been using this number to keep in touch with his children. However, on December 22 last year, Mr. Luo received a message that the phone card was in arrears, and there was no prior notification. Mr. Luo said that he had paid 600 yuan for his father's mobile phone twice, but found that the phone was still down. After consulting customer service, he learned that his father's number was close to 1,000 yuan in arrears. Mr. Luo questioned why the telecommunications company had to keep so many numbers in arrears uninterrupted, and he believed that the telecommunications company had a certain responsibility for not notifying them in advance of the adjustment of the tariff package. However, after many communications, he did not get a satisfactory solution.
Father Locke said that although he uses a smartphone, he usually only uses it to make and receive calls, and it is not clear why such a high fee is incurred. He recalled that as early as February last year, due to inquiries after the shutdown, it was found that the communication company had overcharged more than 190 yuan, and after Mr. Luo found out, the communication company also returned the overcharged money to him in a timely manner. However, this time the cost was as high as nearly 1,000 yuan. The customer service of a telecommunications company said that they did not receive Mr. Luo's complaint, and they did not have the authority to shut down in arrears. The head of the communications company said that Locke's package is 129 yuan per month, including 2,000 minutes of talk time. Since it is an old customer, they gave Daddy Luo a monthly return fee of 50 yuan, so in fact, he only needs to pay 79 yuan per month to enjoy 2,000 minutes of talk time. The customer service explained that the call and data are two different packages, and if the traffic is exceeded, the call time will be reduced. Daddy Luo actually didn't use up the call time, but the traffic did exceed, so it caused the excess cost. The customer service said that the communication company will definitely remind the customer to adjust the package, but it may be that the old man did not pay attention to the information. The customer service said that they did not have the authority to deal with the matter and that it had to be resolved by the Yellowstone City Company.
The Jimu News reporter contacted the person in charge of the communication company's Huangshi City Company, and the other party said that the relevant person in charge of Yangxin Company would be arranged to deal with the reporter to deal with the matter. The person in charge of Yangxin said that they had communicated with Mr. Luo many times, but Mr. Luo did not sit down for a detailed discussion and could not clarify his demands, so there was no way to solve the problem. Mr. Luo said he was willing to pay for the package, but the telecommunications company should be responsible for the excess. Father Luo also disagrees with the telecom company's explanation, believing that as two elderly people in their 70s, even if they use smartphones, they are only used to make and receive calls, and will not use other functions. Suddenly faced with such high fees, he felt that the communications company was "playing a ghost". After learning of Mr. Luo's appeal, the relevant person in charge of Yangxin Company said that he would properly handle the matter and satisfy the customer.
In the end, after the intervention of the reporter, the communication company refunded Mr. Luo's 622 yuan fee to solve the problem of arrears. This incident tells us that as a telecommunications company, it should strengthen the obligation to inform users, warn users of changes in fees in advance, and provide services to adjust tariff packages in a timely manner. At the same time, users should also pay attention to their phone bills, understand and adjust their tariff plans to avoid unnecessary disputes and cost problems. It is also necessary to strengthen the supervision and management of telecommunications companies to ensure that they fulfill their obligation to inform in a timely manner and protect the rights and interests of users.