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Have you ever allowed yourself to be pressured into a quick purchase by an expiring countdown? Are time-limited special offers that are repeatedly extended actually permitted? What happens when companies work with artificial scarcity?
What is it all about?
The Federal Association of Consumer Organizations sued the mobile phone provider sim24.de for misleading advertising. The company had repeatedly advertised mobile phone tariffs with temporary special conditions on its website – initially as a “Valentine’s Day tariff” and later under the name “Power Surf tariff”.
The offers were always accompanied by a prominent countdown, suggesting to consumers that the offer was only available for a few more hours or days. However, the tariffs were repeatedly extended or continued under a new name.
The concrete advertising practice
On 13.02.2025, sim24.de advertised a “Valentine’s Day tariff” with 50 GB data volume for EUR 9.99 per month. The advertisement showed a countdown with the statement “until 14.2.2025, 11.00 a.m.”.
On 14.02.2025, the company extended the offer until 18.02.2025. After this period expired, a new offer followed on 18.02.2025 with the “Power Surf tariff”, again with 50 GB for €9.99 per month and a term of 24 months, this time with a countdown until 21.02.2025.
The tariffs were identical in terms of content. They always offered 50 GB monthly data volume at high-speed, flat rate to all German fixed and mobile networks, a provisioning fee of EUR 0, a monthly package price of EUR 9.99 and a minimum contract term of 24 months.
What does the court say?
The Hanau Regional Court sentenced the mobile phone provider with Judgment of 05.11.2025 – Ref. 6 O 27/25 to refrain from such advertising. The advertising was anti-competitive.
Advertising with time-limited special offers is generally permissible. However, it becomes misleading if the company continues the promotion beyond the specified period. This is exactly what happened here, as the mobile phone provider extended the offer several times and continued it under a different name.
However, the consumer will not expect the offer of 50 GB per month at €9.99 with a 24-month contract term to be available again until 18.02.25 immediately after the end of the countdown. In this respect, they will be disappointed in their expectations. It cannot be ruled out that a customer might not have decided to take out a contract or would have looked into the offer more extensively if he had known that he would actually have more time available than he was told in the first promotion.
The judges criticized the fact that the advertising creates artificial time pressure and urges consumers to make hasty purchasing decisions. Consumers are deceived in their legitimate expectations when they later discover that the supposedly one-off and very limited offer was actually available several times.
Even though the tariff offered from February 18, 2025 was no longer called the “Valentine’s Day tariff” but was advertised as the “Power Surf tariff”, this did not change the fact that the services offered remained identical. The court saw this as a continuation of the original promotion under a new name, which aimed to achieve the same misleading effect.
Conclusion
The ruling shows that you have to be careful with time-limited special offers in e-commerce.
Retailers and advertisers should note that time-limited special offers must actually end after the deadline. Extensions of the same offers must be well justified and must not be planned from the outset.
The repeated use of artificial scarcity is legally problematic. Countdown timers create a special level of trust that must not be disappointed.
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