Unused Minutes Unfair?

kentishplato

I have been in conversation with an o2 executive over the issue of the failure to roll over unused minutes at the end of the month. The excuse given was that they used to roll over minutes but decided to make packages cheaper for the benefit of the consumer and discontinue rolling over minutes. This is hogwash! They no way operate for our benefit it is for theirs, witness the massive profits each and every year ....you wont see a phone company going bust this year on any year for that matter. The mobile phone companies operate a cartel and all operate this policy in tandem. But i believe it constitutes an unfair contract because they dictate the terms on a monthly contract which are in exchange for a fixed sum i.e £20 they will provide say 400 minutes. But should you exceed the minutes they will charge you which is fair enough but i believe it is unfair that having paid £20 for a set amount of minutes any minutes unused within a restricted time are lost this amounts to o2 and other companies "having their cake and eating it." I cannot think of any other contract that is so unfair and have wondered about the legality of the issue does anyone have any legal points of view on this matter?

Empty_pockets

Completley agree. Thats why I went back to PAYG. Complete visibility in your charges and whatever you pay for, you get. It's a far better system.

redux

How could they give rollover minutes on a contract with only a month's notice?

eco21

i really dont mind the non rollover of minutes.
I choose a tariff with enough minutes for me, with extra minutes incase.

I dont use 99 minutes a month and choose a 100 min tariff, better choosing a more expensive tariff (few more pounds) and get a good load or more minutes.

You choose the tariff, and you can change your tariff if you need more minutes

You (in theory) get 200mins a month, not 2400 a year and use them on a monthly basis. I believe my phone bills and deals have became better over the years, subject to a lot of different reasons and would rather have my non rollover minute contract than my rollover minute contract.

MissWorzel

I agree with eco on this one... I've never known contract phones to roll-over minutes/texts anyway. But have only been using them for about 4 years.
If you find you're not using your alloted minutes, why not go on a cheaper tariff, then pay for the extra minutes/txts you DO use, rather than what you DON'T?

proplusplus

why not go for a £15 contract with fewer minutes if you don't use them?

also - if you sign a contract saying £20 for X mins and X texts & no roll-over... don't be suprised that they don't roll-over.

almost all networks have adopted this approach. instead of offering say 200mins, 200 texts with rollover, most customers expressed they'd prefer 300mins, 300texts and no rollover.

proplusplus

ArsenalFC

MissWorzel wrote: »

I agree with eco on this one... I've never known contract phones to roll-over minutes/texts anyway. But have only been using them for about 4 years.

Wrong they used to do this, I was with Orange only a few years ago and they do this. Yes I do think it's unfair and minutes/texts should be rolled over.

kentishplato

Thanks but you all miss the point which is: When the phone companies were desperate for new customers they wanted to present a fair contract to customers and what better way than to rollover used minutes to the next month. So why change this practice? To disadvantage the customer of course to the benefit of the phone companies. Wake up and smell the coffee rip off britain is taking us all to the cleaners and all this passive i dont mind stuff is just making us all lambs being led the sacrificial company slaughter. You are all on here to save money not give it away so any fight against an attack on consumers pockets is a just fight not something to walk away from. Do you really believe it is right to change something that benefitted the customer so that the change benefits the company instead? What we have here is another version of Bank Charge syndrome whereby when challenged they change the rules so they dont lose out as you will all have found out by now. Oh and thanks Arsenal F.C for your intelligent and informed reply. i was beginning to get very despondent when i read these passive "its alright" replies. This is an issue that i believe along with all the utilities and banks that are screwing the wealth from this country needs to be challenged.

Lardyvegan

If you are rolling mins/texts over, then you're on the wrong tariff, change it to get less, and pay less...

kentishplato

To Lardyvegan you miss the point as well!! Changing to a lower tariff solves nothing! The issue is still there. If you go over the minutes you pay through the nose but if you dont use the minutes you lose them. If they were rolled over you would not pay so much if you exceeded the normal tariff Is it only Arsenal F.C and a couple of others that can see this?

Old_Gold

Well there you are Kentish. Plenty on here to tell you that you are wrong. It should be about choice but it appears you are wrong about yours. I also was told by orange that customers preffered a lower tariff or more minutes depending on how they spin it. If they were acting in our interest then they would give us the choice. I had 200 minutes and although this was increased to 225 I cannot control my time as much as I could do before and I am sure there are plenty like me.
I suppose the companies will also tell us that it is for our benefit that most if not all charge a full minute for the first minute now instead of per second.