Consumer advocates have filed a class action lawsuit against the Düsseldorf DSL provider 1N Telecom. Those affected can join the lawsuit free of charge, as the Federal Association of Consumer Organizations (vzbv) announced. The aim is to get back money that 1N Telecom had claimed without authorization.
From January 2023 to June 2025, more than 15,000 complaints about the provider were recorded by consumer advice centers, as the vzbv announced. 1N Telecom wrote to consumers offering a 24-month contract for landline and DSL Internet. Many of those affected only noticed after the 14-day cancellation period had expired that they had not received Deutsche Post Telecom had reacted but had concluded a contract with another provider.
If consumers subsequently prevented their telephone number from being transferred, 1N Telecom, according to vzbv, terminated the contract, regularly demanded an amount of almost 420 euros and had the money collected through debt collection. Many of those affected have already paid.
1N Telecom declined to comment
Consumer advocates consider 1N Telecom’s claims to be unjustified. With the class action lawsuit, vzbv wants to have the court determine that the claims asserted are inadmissible. Those affected can join the lawsuit by entering the lawsuit register at the Federal Office of Justice.
1N Telecom did not want to comment on the matter when asked. A company spokesman said the process is still ongoing.
Not the first court case
This is not the first time that 1N Telecom has found itself in legal disputes over its actions at the time. In 2023, the Düsseldorf regional court decided that 1N Telecom was no longer allowed to send advertising letters en masse to Deutsche Telekom customers.
The court ruled in the summer of 2023 that the cover letters to customers were misleading in their presentation and did not make it sufficiently clear that it was not just a matter of a change in tariff, but rather a change of telecommunications provider.
Even then, it found the flat rate compensation amount of just under 420 euros to be inadmissible. The class action lawsuit before the Hamm Higher Regional Court should now lead to consumers who paid this amount finally getting it back.
