A customer who wanted to terminate their contract with Elisa told ERR about their unanticipated discovery: while most matters can be handled through the company's self-service portal, they were unable to cancel their contract online.

As a result, they had no choice but to visit an Elisa store in person, where the customer service representative confirmed that this is indeed the rule — that contracts with the company cannot be terminated without coming in person.

Elisa telecommunications services director Evelin Tulp said that it is a widespread practice in the telecom sector for communication between the customer and service provider regarding contract terminations to be handled in person.

"This is because experience has shown that this is an action that requires more detailed explanations and assistance from the service provider," Tulp noted.

She added that when a customer wants to cancel their service contract, it is extremely important to understand the customer's reason for doing so.

"Usually it isn't because a customer no longer needs the service, but rather that their needs have changed, or they need help using the service," the Elisa representative explained. "Therefore, we want our specialists to consult with and assist them. Hence, we recommend that customers contact us either by phone or by visiting one of our stores."

She also mentioned that Elisa has a vast service portfolio, and each process has been carefully chosen based on customer needs in terms of which channels these processes are carried out through.

"For example, there are actions that can't be done [online] and even require that a tech visit the customer's home — such as shifting the customer's internet connection to fiber-optic cable," Tulp explained.

Telia clients can mail in rented devices

ERR inquired with Telia, another major telecom in Estonia, whether they have any services that can only be canceled by physically visiting one of their stores.

Telia connectivity services director Evelin Neerot said that they have tried to make signing up for, temporarily suspending and canceling various core and additional services as simple and convenient as possible.

However, she did not directly confirm whether or not any of their services require an in-store visit to change.

Neerot pointed out that several of Telia's core services, including TV and home internet, can be modified or canceled through their self-service portal, adding that devices such as routers and TV set-top boxes rented to the customer can be returned to the company by package terminal.

According to the company's website, mobile phone contracts cannot be canceled or paused online; in these cases, customers must contact Telia by phone or visit one of their stores.

"Mobile services can be terminated with Telia by phone, for example, but we're also developing a solution to offer this option in Telia's self-service portal," the representative added.

Tele2's website states that contracts with their company can be canceled either by visiting a Tele2 store in person or by phone or online customer service chat, but in this case, the customer must know their account password.

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