Free mobile phone subscriptions on Black Friday are a huge hit, but there is also criticism

“Mobile phone plan prices plummet on Black Friday – one plan beats them all,” said Watson’s headline last Tuesday. The reason for the headline was a unique Black Friday offer from the Swiss telecom company Quickline. “All mobile subscriptions are free for two years!” the company advertised.

At the beginning of last week, all mobile phone subscriptions were even free for new customers; only an activation fee of 40 francs had to be paid. After two years, the regular subscription price applies again, namely 10 to 70 francs per month, depending on the subscription you choose.

Telecom expert Oliver Zadori from the Jungle Compass comparison service wrote: “In the twelve years I have worked for dschungelkompass.ch, I have never seen such a cheap way to use a mobile subscription for two years.”

The offer hit: “We were able to give away approximately 7,000 mobile subscriptions to new customers and approximately 3,000 subscriptions to existing customers,” writes Quickline communications manager Iva Krüttli in response to Watson’s request.

Telecom expert criticizes Quickline

Price comparison expert Zadori is still annoyed. The reason: the telecom company let the free offer expire on Wednesday, two days before the actual Black Friday, and replaced it with a less attractive offer. “Quickline ended the campaign and did not even inform Jungle Compass about it,” criticizes the founder of the price comparison portal.

«I usually receive reliable information about rate changes or special offers from the providers. “I am very surprised that a promotion that was pre-announced as Black Week and ran for eight days was stopped after less than three days,” Zadori told Watson.

Quickline confirms that the tempting offer was only available to new customers for just under three days, from 8:30 AM on Monday morning to 5:00 PM on Wednesday. When asked, the company indicates that existing customers have been able to benefit from the free subscriptions “since the beginning of November”.

When asked how a virtual product such as a subscription could be sold out before Black Friday, the company spokeswoman replied: “The offer was declared a limited offer. As part of our 30th anniversary, we wanted to offer existing and new customers a special offer. The maximum amount was reached after just a few days.”

That’s what consumer protection says

André Bähler, head of politics and economics at the Consumer Protection Foundation, writes when asked: “The term ‘while supplies last’ is not objectionable from a legal point of view. It would still have helped customers if Quickline had stated the maximum possible number of subscriptions from the start.”

Whether it is a lure offer depends on how many subscriptions have been given out for free. With 7,000 or 10,000 subscriptions, speaking of a purely tempting offer would not do it justice.

Nevertheless, it can be said: a clear announcement until when an offer is valid is more consumer-friendly than an indefinite period “while supplies last”, especially because mobile subscriptions, unlike physical products, cannot suddenly be sold out.

For Zadori, who has been analyzing the Swiss telecom market for more than ten years, it ultimately leaves a bad taste. “You could have written ‘for the first 7,000’.”

According to its own statement, Quickline’s telecommunications network has approximately 400,000 customers, mainly in Mittelland and Valais. Since 2022, the provider of TV, internet, fixed and mobile communications has been trying to gain a foothold throughout Switzerland. The supposed plan to raise awareness with the campaign for free mobile phone subscriptions may have worked.