Consumers' group card debtors 'held hostage by contracts'

New conditions set by credit card companies have subjected parents, relatives and colleagues of defaulted cardholders to aggressive and persistent approaches, the Foundation for Consumers said yes¬terday.

The new conditions are being investigated to see if they are in violation of the Bank of Thailand and the Consumer Protection Board regulations, the foundation's manag¬er Saree Ongsomwang said.

She said these new conditions were included in contract agreements from May onwards and were almost automatically agreed upon by holders, who did not consider reading the small print.

"They [the credit card companies] already know that most people do not read contracts before signing them," Saree said.

She added that these credit card companies were holding their cardholders "hostage" and that her foundation was lodging a complaint with both regulators to look into these conditions and see if they are illegal.

"These unfair contracts violate our privacy rights," she said.

"Most cardholders complain that people from cardissuing banks and companies call their workplace or home to tell their colleagues or rela¬tives about their debts, which is a clear violation of privacy and the cardholder's rights."

In the wake of soaring commodity prices, the foundation has been field¬ing a rising number of complaints about lowquality services and goods.

The foundation's records from January to June this year show that the department has received 1,056 complaints about credit card debts; 108 for lowquality services; 44 for substandard goods, particularly DVD players and laptop computers; and 173 on insurance.

Last year, the foundation fielded a total of 2,382 complaints.

she said at the mid of this year, the foundation has received complains from people due to the substandard of services and goods while the last year the whole figure was 2,382 complains.

She said the figure of people who complain about dept is the number one figure for this year which is 1056 complaints. Follow by the complaint about the quality of service which is 108 cases. 44 blame about the standard of goods particularly for DVD and laptop computer. 173 complain about insurance.