Orange has levied a fee for Internet access for all our 3rd generation phones even if we are fastidiously frugal and never use it. So here’s some great news! No longer will the customer of a cellular phone package in Israel need to pay for services he or she does not want.

Please read this important article by The Jerusalem Post’s Judy Siegel-Itzkovich about the new regulations coming into effect.

3:00 PM comes, no technician. 4:00 PM, then 5:00 PM. You’ve just wasted half a day before your fix-it guy comes waddling in at quarter to 6.

Tzvi Szajnbrum

Tzvi Szajnbrum, a lawyer who runs the helpful Voleh (that’s “virtual oleh”) website aimed at helping new immigrants to Israel, summarized the new law and has given me permission to reprint his comments here on my blog.

He points out that we’re only talking about service in your home or workplace, not service you receive at a store. And the law is primarily during the warranty period.

Here are the main provisions according to Tzvi:

1. The provider must stipulate a day and an hour the service will be given.
2. The waiting time for a technician cannot be longer than two hours more than the given time. The grace period is two hours only.
3. The provider is entitled to offer the consumer to wait for a phone call in place of giving a specific time, on condition that the waiting time of the consumer in his home will not be longer than 2 hours. The provider must also clarify to the consumer that this method is only a suggestion, and the consumer is not obligated to accept this.
4. The provider is entitled to notify the consumer until 8:00 PM the day before the specified day of arrival of any change of time of services or a cancellation.
5. The above-mentioned rule was not made to infringe on the rights of the consumer. Any existing rule concerning the rights of the consumer before this new law came into effect will not be affected. As an example: the law stipulates that from the moment the consumer asks for a technician to repair a washing machine, the provider has 3 working days to provide this service. For a freezer or a refrigerator, it is one day. So let’s say on Sunday the consumer asks for service to repair a washing machine. The date is settled for Wednesday morning. In this case, the provider cannot call on Tuesday until 8 pm to cancel the visit for Wednesday, because this will clash with the consumer’s rights to receive this service within 3 days.

In breaching the above rules, the consequences for the providers are:

1. The consumer is entitled to compensation without having to prove any damages. To clarify this point, let’s say the consumer has two refrigerators. One breaks down and the consumer calls for a technician, who does not appear within the specified time. Even though there were no damages to the consumer, because he could easily use the second refrigerator, he is still entitled to the compensation stipulated by law.The consumer will be entitled to more compensation if he had actual unlimited damages of any kind. In this case, the consumer is obligated to give proof of the damages. As an example, the consumer did not have a refrigerator in working condition and the technician did not arrive in the stipulated time, and as a result there was an actual loss (the food spoiled, etc.). In this case, the consumer can sue the provider by the Law of Damages for unlimited damages, if he can prove it.
2. A delay of more than 2 hours of the stipulated time of arrival (4 waiting hours in total), entitles the consumer to compensation of 300 shekels.
3. A delay of more than 3 hours of the stipulated time of arrival (5 waiting hours in total), entitles the consumer to compensation of 600 shekels.
4. If the time specified was according to what was said in clause 3 above (waiting for a phone call) and there was a delay for more than 2 hours, or the provider did not explain to the consumer that he has the right to refuse this proposition, this entitles the consumer to 300 shekels compensation.
5. The provider is entitled to offer monetary compensation, products or any kind of coupon, etc., for the same amount, but only with the agreement of the consumer. The burden of proof that the consumer agreed to anything other than monetary compensation is on the provider.
6. In the case that the provider could not anticipate any delay in providing the service, or could not know in advance (for example, if the technician had a bad car accident on the way to the consumer’s home or extreme and severe weather conditions that prevented the technician from arriving) then the provider is exempt from providing compensation.

How do you actually receive your compensation?

When claiming compensation (and not the damages stipulated in paragraph 7), contact the provider by phone or fax. Always keep a record of all paperwork, phone calls, etc. If the provider refuses to pay, the consumer can either contact our organization and we will write a letter or you can sue using the Small Claims Court.

You can visit Tzvi’s website where there is an enormous amount of valuable tips and tricks from family law to driver’s training. Thanks Tzvi!

The new 41.32 agorot price per kilowatt hour is a 9.6% reduction from the previous price of 43.59 agorot. Commercial and public institutions will see an even higher drop of 16.3%.

The change was meant to happen back in April, 2009 but was postponed. There was a fight this time too, but the Manufacturers Association, the Federation of Israeli Chambers of Commerce and the Israel Consumer Council pushed for the cut. It’s intended to reflect the real cost of production (which is a requirement).

But just because the rates are dropping, please don’t run to use more! Using the same amount of electricity could afford you a 9.6% reduction in your bill without lifting a finger, the best possible savings!

The reason is what’s being called the “Hallmark Clause.” According to the regulations of the Council for Cable TV and Satellite Broadcasting, reported in today’s Jerusalem Post, any time a service provider decides to remove a channel from their listings, customers have the right to cancel their subscription, provided they cite the removal of the channel as the reason.

The Hallmark channel was removed last week, triggering the clause, but ironically it wasn’t HOT and YES that wanted to drop Hallmark. Hallmark’s parent – NBC Universal – pulled it off the airwaves due to lack of revenue.

Another reason you might want to consider dropping your tie to cable or satellite: there is proposed legislation that will allow the two to broadcast commercials. If advertising on Channels 2 and 10 is any indication, that means a lot of long and intrusive breaks in the middle of movies and TV shows. Yech.

When we first made aliyah, we couldn’t believe that, not only did you have to put 60% or more down on a mortgage, but that it wouldn’t help reduce your income taxes. We kept waiting for the day when Israel would “see the light” (and indeed, now-faltering insurance giant AIG did enter the Israeli market a number of years ago, though we never took advantage of its services).

The problem in countries other than Israel is that these mortgage tax breaks encouraged citizens from the U.S. to Australia to place a disproportionally large share of their savings into property, wrote Pinchas Landau in The Post. “This was entirely rational behavior, because the tax system had been rigged to encourage them to do so.”

But when the economy crashed, property investments tanked big time and with them went trillions of dollars of consumer wealth. A more balanced investment strategy would have been far more prudent, Landau claimed. Such as the way things are in Israel.

Nevetheless, Landau’s perspective seems a bit off when looking at wealthy neighborhoods in Jerusalem and the north of Tel Aviv. Still, the vast majority of Israelis’ property holdings are much more modest.

To compare with one of the worst hit U.S. cities, Holon is not Hollywood (Florida, that is).

From a household budgeting perspective, this would seem to be good news. The drought tax was instituted this past summer as a way to encourage Israelis to use less water in the face of years of too little rain and the steady receding of the Sea of Galilee, Israel’s main water source. The tax allotted each household a certain number of cubic meters of water use per month, based on the number of family members at home. Use beyond the maximum level resulted in tripled rates.

In our house, the tax has worked wonders. By dramatically changing the way we shower and wash dishes, in particular, not only has our water bill dropped to its lowest amount ever, but we feel like we’re contributing to a vital national need.

The freezing of the tax is apparently coming from Knesset members who are giving in to their constituents grumbling about how the tax affects families and individuals but not businesses or government gardens. The media has also been highly critical. But dropping the tax is expected to create a NIS 1.2 billion hole in the national budget.

Usually I’m the first to applaud a change in the law that results in lower prices for consumers. But I’m torn here. There are times when the greater good outweighs individual financial concerns, and this clearly seems to be one of those cases.

Of course, one could argue that citizens should be cutting down on their water use voluntarily to help the country with its “liquidity” problems. But we all know that unless there’s a mountain being held over one’s head, the average Israeli is unlikely to give up a long hot shower so that there’s something left to drink in another year.

Should we start a counter protest – an anti-populist crusade to keep the tax intact?

——————-

UPDATE: since I wrote this article, the government has proposed increasing the regular water rates by up to 40% in the coming months. While this will clearly curtail excess water use, it seems to me to be vastly less fair than a tax that rewards specific behaviors. I’ll keep you posted as to what the government ultimately chooses to enact.

The line up sounds very interesting:

• Darron Green will explain how Israeli banking differs from other countries
• Disgruntled customers will share their tales of woe, including Maale Adumim resident Irwin Blank
• Mercantile Bank’s Matti Munk will address some complaints
• JP economics editor Sharon Wrobel will tip us off on how to work the system

The show airs Thursday Oct. 29, between noon – 2:00 PM Israel time.

To listen, go to www.rustymikeradio.com and click on the “Listen Live” button. To join the discussion, click the “chat” button on the Rusty Mike Radio website.

If you miss the episode, it’s available as a podcast at: http://rustymikeradio.com/podcast/rm_podcasts.php?action=frontpage&search_string=nettie

Obviously I haven’t heard the show yet, but I’ll be listening!

Last week, the cable television provider HOT doubled its fine for early termination, from NIS 240 to NIS 480. But that’s not all. The company is charging you NIS 45 per month for the amount of service you received before your contract is up.

So, for example, if you have a two-year contract and you want to end your service after only one year. HOT will charge you NIS 45 x 12 or NIS 540 – on top of the NIS 480 cancellation fee. That’s a total of NIS 1,020!

Over at YES, the fines are already high  – at NIS 402. The monthly cancellation “extra” hasn’t been implemented, but I wouldn’t be surprised if YES can’t resist keeping up with the Hotties.

Haaretz suggests that HOT’s increases stem from the competition involving a new digital television converter which will give viewers digital quality access to the free channels (1, 2, 10, 33 and 99) for no charge. The fine increases supposedly will bandage the hemorrhaging.

My advice: check when your contract expires. If you’re getting close to the end and you want to cancel, that’s the time. With so much available online, maybe you don’t need expensive cable. And if you do decide to keep your cable or satellite access, don’t be afraid to renegotiate with your provider. We just did that with YES and got the monthly bill down NIS 25 just for inquiring about termination fees!

That doesn’t mean that things will improve overnight. Unemployment generally lags behind increases in spending, as it takes time for companies to gear back up after months of sustained layoffs.

“Can we sit back and relax now? To a certain extent,” Fischer said in a separate interview with The Jerusalem Post. “But we should not exaggerate. Over the next two years we are likely to feel the repercussions of the crisis.”

How did Israel pull out so quickly? In part, because we didn’t have a sub-prime mortgage crisis. I used to bemoan the fact that we couldn’t put 5-10% down and own a house. In Israel, 60% down was the rule. But that seems downright smart these days.

We also didn’t have any banks fail during the crisis. BOI chief Fischer bought millions of U.S. dollars – what’s known as an expansionary monetary policy – which shored up the shekel to dollar exchange rate in favor of Israeli exporters. Fischer expects that today’s NIS 3.7 to the dollar will go up soon.

Ironically, another reason Israel fared relatively well: the national elections earlier this year. “The entire nation was being run until mid-year by the budget for 2008,” Fischer told Haaretz. That meant no new spending could be authorized. “Even if it wanted to, the government couldn’t squander money.”