Contract your mobile phone here – the top spot to seal the deal.
In the first half of 2025, the Consumer Advice Center Hamburg reported an unusually high number of complaints about mobile phone contracts, particularly those concluded in retail stores. The center, based in St. Georg, recommends consumers to consider online mobile phone contracts whenever possible.
The specific pitfalls associated with mobile phone contracts concluded in stores, as reported by the Consumer Advice Center Hamburg, include a lack of transparency, pressure to purchase, and less flexibility compared to online contracts. On the other hand, online contracts often involve "dark patterns" designed to make it difficult for consumers to cancel or change their plans, hidden fees, and complexity of digital terms.
The Consumer Advice Center Hamburg did not mention any specific mobile phone companies or retailers associated with these issues. However, they did note differences between contracts from mobile phone shops and those concluded online. In retail stores, several documents may be presented for signature during the contract process without it being clear to the affected parties that these are additional mobile phone contracts.
Consumers have a legal right of withdrawal of 14 days with online contracts, which does not apply to contracts signed in the store. This means that consumers often have to pay for contracts concluded in retail stores, even if they were deceived. The center also reported that three out of four contracts with different terms were concluded in mobile phone shops, according to the affected parties.
Julia Rehberg from the Consumer Advice Center Hamburg stated that even if it's only a few problematic shops, the damage to consumers can be significant. People with limited German skills, elderly people, or those with mental impairments are particularly affected by the issue of hidden mobile phone contracts in retail stores.
Almost half of all complaints about forced contracts in mobile phone contracts are due to contract conclusions in stationary retail. Only a small fraction of complaints about problematic mobile phone contracts fall on online contracts, according to the Consumer Advice Center. The center did not specify the exact number of complaints received in the first half of 2025.
If someone was alone in a retail store and signed a contract, they often cannot later prove that they were deceived. The Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband (vzbv), a major consumer organization in Germany, could provide insights into pitfalls specific to mobile phone contracts. For specific details from the Consumer Advice Center Hamburg, additional investigation would be necessary to access their reports or statements for 2025.
Finance and business insights reveal that retail stores are the source of nearly half of all complaints about forced mobile phone contracts, as reported by the Consumer Advice Center Hamburg. On the other hand, online contracts in the mobile phone business are riddled with "dark patterns," hidden fees, and complex digital terms, according to the center's findings.
