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After receiving loads of complaints following a series of mid-contract price rise outrages, regulator Ofcom is said to be looking at the practise of networks including “price variation clauses” in their contracts which let them take more money off us whenever they like.
According to the Telegraph and retail watcher Which?, complaints concerning price rises of supposedly fixed price contracts number in the thousands, with consumers rightfully angered about the odd extra £1.30 a month that can pop up and automatically add itself to their mobile tariff bills.
We’ve recently seen both Orange and T-Mobile add between 3 and 4 per cent to some of their fixed price contracts, moves which might now see tougher regulation introduced across the industry. [Telegraph]
Image credit: Mobile masts from Shutterstock
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I’ve got no opinions on this matter.
Do we have the “Petrol from Air” article yet?
this only really applies to iPhones and S3 users.. i have the same contract as my mate in terms of specs but his is £4 more cos he has the s3 and its loads more if you want the iPhone.. so i have the oneX .. and i get more than my last contract for less.. but then i am on 3 now and not 02 and voda-con!.. (and yes signal is fine.. so far!)
This isn’t about charging less or more upfront, it’s about getting half way through your contract and having the prices changed while you remain locked in.
OIC.. i only skimmed it TBH.. well thats a stupid thing to happen and i agree.. much unfair!
I think I should be allowed to do it too, In fact I’m going to ring vodafone now and tell them that from christmas I’m only going to be paying them £10 a month for my service.
They shouldn’t be allowed to do this, you agreed to a price and it should be fixed. If you try to fight them on it then they just pass on your debts to a collector, you just don’t have any defense.
Why I always pay for my handset outright and Pay month by month instead of locking myself into a stupidly long contract.
me too – plus its amazing how little you find you actually need to use your phone when you pay as you go. I spend little more than £5 a month tops, and if i know i will using much more then i buy a goodybag. Contracts push up phone use while phone use drives up contracts…
I am forever getting £1.xx extra a month with Orange classed as “other” yet when I look at my itemised bill theres actually no charges on my bill, when ever I have rang orange I tend to get fobbed off with them saying it’s probably picture messages
Happened to me. Half way through my contract I was informed the price was going up. I wanted to complain but you just know there is a clause to say its fine in the contract. It’s just plain wrong. I signed a fixed price for a certain deal. I’m sure if I just sent Orange a letter stating that I’ve decided to pay less as there are better deals out there now, I Would be told to jog on
Three did the same to me. Although I think this may have been related to the change in VAT.