[jevgeni]

First of all, as a European, I'm not sure what you are talking about. Try cancelling your mobile contract in Germany early.

Secondly, I might want to buy/subscribe to things that come from companies outside of EU.

[mrweasel]

I thought it was an EU regulation, but perhaps not. In Denmark you can't bind customers to a mobile contract for more than six month. You can sell them a phone and have them pay that off for 24 months, but that different, you can pay that off at anytime, for a fee.

That's also why you're not getting a new phone from your carrier every two years like most Americans seems to do.

[selectodude]

Phone subsidies have completely disappeared in the United States. Phone companies will finance your phone over 24-30 months but you can cancel the contract (and the interest free financing) at any time.

[ghaff]

It's sort of interesting that, if you had told people 5+ years ago that phone subsidies were going away, a lot of them would have predicted a lot of doom and gloom for Apple and other smartphone makers. In fact, I bet if you looked around, you could probably find articles and reports to that effect.

[pjmlp]

Depends if you are willing to have some support from Verbraucherschutzzentrale or not.

I can tell you that my almost impossible to resign contract from Vodafone got quickly sorted out with their help.

[pdimitar]

Most people aren't aware of these extra entities that can help protect their interests. So to them the system has failed and I can see their point.

Navigating your rights as a citizen and/or consumer shouldn't be a thing. It should be an automatic action.

[pjmlp]

That I fully agree, most aren't even aware of their work rights, having had a quite good works council on my first employer really opened my eyes to care about the German legal system.

[rglullis]

Still, it's not some universal right given by the wonderful democratic utopia that GP claims to live on, is it?

[pjmlp]

Last time I checked everyone is free to ask for their help.

Now if we are discussing that their support should be gratis, ok that is another matter.

[rglullis]

The point is that - if we were to take seriously the claim that consumer rights are well protected by the governments outside of the US - their help shouldn't even be needed.

My feeling living in Germany is that consumer protection rights goes as far as the "right" for some bureaucrat to keep their job. It's a constant feeling they create the problem so that they can sell the solution and get people to be oh-so-thankful for it.

[pjmlp]

I see if differently, the EU governments have made it possible that such kind of help exists, and is actually empowered to protect us.

In US, as far as I am aware it isn't even possible to have such kind of help, and those organizations that do try to help, just go through the same endless court sessions as hiring a random lawyer would do, plus having to pay them way beyond the almost symbolic "Gebühren" that you pay here.

So while the situation isn't perfect, it could be much worse.

[logifail]

> Try cancelling your mobile contract in Germany early

Don't many operators offer mobile phone contracts that are effectively a subsidy for the low up-front cost of the device[0] ?

"Apple iPhone 12 for £49.99 upfront cost" plus you pay the rest of the cost of the phone over the life of the contract.

[0] https://www.carphonewarehouse.com/mobiles/pay-monthly.html