Israel Consumer Council supports consumer access to taped conversations recording verbal financial undertakings

 

Many companies keep recordings of calls made to their telephone call centers, and use those recordings to document any transactions made through the call center operators. The Consumer Council has received numerous complaints indicating that these companies do not provide consumers with access to the recordings of their own calls, when such access is needed to prove claims of excessive or incorrect charging by the companies.

Proposed legislation, which passed a preliminary reading in the Knesset, would require businesses entering into long-term transactions on a verbal basis (for example, a telephone transaction to subscribe to cable or satellite television services) to record the calls in which they provide the required details regarding charges and conditions, and to allow consumers access to their recorded calls through the business’s internet website.

In addition, the proposed law also seeks to deal with a more common phenomenon, that of incorrect billing by businesses involved in ongoing transactions, by setting up a compensation mechanism that would award 1,000 shekels for each incorrect charge.

The Consumer Council supports this proposed legislation which it believes to be important, particularly since many consumers feel unable to file claims for overcharging.