A WOMAN has been charged by China Telecom a total of almost 16,000 yuan (US$2,312) for nine years of Internet services, which she thought she had canceled almost a decade ago.

    The Southern Metropolis Daily reported yesterday that the woman, surnamed Zhang, had opened Internet connection with China Telecom in 2006 for her dormitory room in Pingshan District in 2006. She said she renewed the six-month package twice and applied to terminate the service 18 months later.

    However, Zhang didn’t know until 2016 that the service operator kept charging her 150 yuan per month for nine years after she had submitted her termination application. After failing to negotiate with China Telecom for a refund, Zhang complained to the city’s consumer council.

    Zhang said she stopped the service by calling the operator’s customer service in the second month of 2007, since she was to move to Futian District.

    The woman used a debit card to pay for the six-month package service and used another bank card to pay for her new Internet service in Futian. She didn’t pay attention to the previous card after moving to the city center.

    Last year, Zhang found that the transaction records on the previous card showed that she had been charged 150 yuan each month. She later found out that it was China Telecom that had charged her every month without informing her.

    In response, China Telecom said that the company only kept phone records for two years, which means that there was no valid evidence to prove that Zhang had called to terminate Internet service nine years ago.

    China Telecom said all package services would be turned into a monthly-pay service if a user fails to apply to renew or terminate the original service after it expires. (Zhang Qian)