"Be Cautious of Impulse Purchase through Telemarketing"

There is an increase in consumer complaints as telemarketing surges.

In particular, telemarketers get contracts signed after giving false information and obtaining the consumer’s credit card PIN while on the phone, making a contract without the customer’s agreement. Thus, special caution is necessary.

According to the Korea Consumer Protection Board (KCPB) yesterday, from the beginning of the year until October, there were 20,263 telemarketing complaints and 70.6 percent of them were about book and discounted memberships.

Language books or certificate exam books comprised most of the book complaints. According to the result of KCPB’ analysis on 1,067 cases of books and discounted membership-related victims, it is reported that 641 cases (60 percent) made the contract in confusion due to the seller’s sweet and persuasive language. Following this were contracts signed with freebies or free service (15.4 percent), exaggerating products’ or service’s information (15.4 percent), and extending the finished contract (9.2 percent).

KCPB requested, “Telemarketing complaints can be reduced only when you take care of your personal credit information including credit card numbers and when you restrain the impulse to buy,” and added, “It is hard to cancel the contract and often it takes a lot of time.”

bonhong@donga.com