O2 now putting data cap on ALL existing customers

bigturnip

People who took out a contract before February 2010 had the unlimited data, subject to excessive use, as part of their contract and shouldn't lose it, if they do then in my opinion the change in terms is of significant detriment to warrant termination of the contract without penalty, whether o2 see it like this is another matter.

Between February 2010 and 23 June 2010, the unlimited data was in the contract as a promotional offer that could be withdrawn at any time, contractually I would say there is very little you can do if o2 impose a cap on you. However considering o2's press release about the new pricing which clearly states "Existing customers will continue under their present terms, unlimited data usage with an Excessive Use Policy" I think o2 have at best mislead customers with post February 2010 contracts and especially those who signed up for a 3GS between 10-24 June under the impression they would get unlimited data. I don't know what users who signed up between February 2010 and 9 June 2010 can do, they signed the contract and if they were told anything different about unlimited data they would have to prove it was miss-sold, the press release will go some way to help the case of those who signed up between 9 June and 23 June.

For those who signed up after 24 June the unlimited data was clearly sold as a promotion until the end of September, after which a cap would be imposed.

o2 are surely just shooting themselves in the foot if they impose a cap retrospectively, in theory it means that anybody who signed up before February 2010 can leave their contract immediately with a subsidised iphone and everybody who signed up before 24 June 2010 will be unhappy and jump ship at the next available opportunity.

I can remember when one2one (now T-Mobile) first offered free evening and weekend calls on stupidly cheap contracts, it cost them millions, obviously they kept it quiet and tried to move everybody onto new contracts by offering them great upgrade deals, but for the ones who stuck with the contract one2one had to buy them out of their contracts, in some cases for a stupid amount of money. That was 15 years ago and we're supposed to have more protection as consumers now, obviously not.

gjchester

boo_star wrote: »

They have obviously been sneaky and started using FUP's that the customer was unaware of when they signed the contract.

Just like all thw Mobile companies there has been a fair use policy in place for years, just never enforced. Now they are enforcing it.

And to be fair top the Mobile Co's it's in every contract, it's just people tend not to read them in the rush to get the latest shiny toy.

boo_star wrote: »

I suppose as an English Scholar I am an idiot.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/unlimited
I am not the idiot here, it's the companies that freeload on the term "Unlimited" that are to blame.

Quite right, but the issue isn't about the term uinlimited it's about how it can be used and how it has been challenged and appoved as OK.

The ASA have repeatedly ruled that Unlimited can be limited.
Vodafone were the latest one ( http://www.asa.org.uk/Complaints-and-ASA-action/Adjudications/2009/12/Vodafone-Ltd/TF_ADJ_47835.aspx)

The issue is why has the ASA constantly approved the word unlimited when it's not, And this also applies to the unlimited broadband at home where there is a cap.

gjchester

bigturnip wrote: »

o2 are surely just shooting themselves in the foot if they impose a cap retrospectively, in theory it means that anybody who signed up before February 2010 can leave their contract immediately with a subsidised iphone and everybody who signed up before 24 June 2010 will be unhappy and jump ship at the next available opportunity.

Not really, there has always been an fair use policy now it's just defined better. No change to the contract jsut a clarification.

Anyway as all the other companies have put in caps where will you go? No matter who you use there will be a limit and you will have to pay if you go over it.

daindian

T mobile have a 3gb fup for android phones like mine

Rycall

Spoke to O2 earlier who said that as of October all contracts will be subject to a fair usage policy of 500mb. I then called Ofcom who confirmed that O2 can indeed do this so long as they give the customer 30 days notice.

seaniboy

And 30 days notice as per Ofcom is required as it is a "DETRIMENTAL" change of T&C, 30 days notice from o2 = 30 days notice to o2

Andyblizz

Rycall wrote: »

Spoke to O2 earlier who said that as of October all contracts will be subject to a fair usage policy of 500mb. I then called Ofcom who confirmed that O2 can indeed do this so long as they give the customer 30 days notice.

Will customers on old "unlimited" data contracts be forced to move to a capped limit once there minimum term has expired.

Posted by: Andrew | 10 June 2010 at 05:15 PM

Hi Andrew - if you're on an existing contract then you're welcome to stay on that for as long as you like. If you upgrade to a new phone however you would need to move to a new tariff.

Posted by: O2 | 10 June 2010 at 05:20 PM

From O2 website

http://blog.o2.co.uk/home/2010/06/offering-fair-and-transparent-access-to-mobile-data.html



If they do put a cap in place. And they give 30 days notice to existing customers. The exsiting customer can walk away from there contracts. And that will be a massive number of iPhone users with subsidised handsets.

O2 in the past have not changed contracts retrospectively for the changes to 4-1 MMS and 4-1 Abroad texts.

And i would imagine this will be the same.


I think the line you have been told relates to all contracts after 24th June 2010 which do at present have unlimited data but wont from October. And this is clearly stated in the T&C's

Rycall

I've just called customer service again and was told the same thing. I have used 3gb in the past month apparently and the message was a warning to cut my usage down because after September I will be subject to a 500mb fair usage policy.

If there's any way I can get out of my contract because of this I'll take it

Colinb_3

As mentioned above, I got this same text yesterday:
O2: Your data usage is exceptionally high and is affecting the service for other customers. This is against our excessive use policy. To comply with our policy you need to dramatically & immediately reduce your usage. One way to do this is by using your home broadband Wi-Fi or public Wi-Fi hotspots such as BT Openzone and The Cloud. Don't forget you get unlimited Wi-Fi on all our data tariffs. Please go to o2.co.uk/datainfo for more information. If you do not immediately moderate your usage we will have to stop you from using data on your mobile.

When I emailed them to state my position (not a very contented one!), I received the following email today:

Thanks for emailing us about Free Unlimited Data on your account.

I'd like to inform you that Free Unlimited Data is applicable until 30
September 2010. From 01 October 2010 you'll get 500MB data allowance on
your tariff. As you'll exceed your data allowances you'll be charged
£1.00 including Value Added Tax per day. The charges per day of the Data
service are as follows:

1) 26p excluding VAT for viewing 7 pages in a day
2) 43p excluding VAT for viewing 15 pages in a day
3) 98p for more than 15 pages and as much as pages you like to view or
browse on a daily basis.

We've brought this data changes because:

- We have a small number of customers, who are using a lot of data on
our network, when it?s busy this can lead to congestion.
- We're confident that introducing fairer pricing will help us to ensure
all customers get an improved experience, ensuring the best possible
overall experience for the greatest number of people.
- Lastly because 97% of customers use less than 500MB data, which is our
smallest available data allowance.

As you've Data Roaming Monthly Cap Bolt On on your account. It allows
you to access the Internet in abroad till your roaming Internet charges
reach to £40.00.

I'd like to tell you that with the Data Roaming Monthly Cap Bolt On:

- You'll be not be charged more than £40 for roamed data in one billing
month.

- You'll receive SMS alerts if their data roaming charges reaches £20.00
and then £40.00

- You'll then be stopped when they reach £40.00.

- The £40.00 roamed data cap can't be used in conjunction with any other
roamed data product.

You can opt out of the data roaming cap at anytime. If you want to use
more, you can have a Data Abroad Heavy User Bolt On. You can access the
Internet till the roaming Internet charges reach up to £120.00.

If you wish to add the Data Abroad Heavy User Bolt On, please reply to
this email and we'll be happy to help you.

For more information about the Data Roaming Monthly Cap Bolt On and Data
Abroad Heavy User Bolt On, please visit the link below:

I'm sorry for any inconvenience that may have been caused.

Thank you for your email and have a nice day.


Personally, I consider this to be a major change to my contract. Unlimited + fair usage ≠ 500mb limit. The new limit isn't a flexible 'fair' usage cap. It's a completely different arrangement.

Andyblizz

Colinb wrote: »

As mentioned above, I got this same text yesterday:
O2: Your data usage is exceptionally high and is affecting the service for other customers. This is against our excessive use policy. To comply with our policy you need to dramatically & immediately reduce your usage. One way to do this is by using your home broadband Wi-Fi or public Wi-Fi hotspots such as BT Openzone and The Cloud. Don't forget you get unlimited Wi-Fi on all our data tariffs. Please go to o2.co.uk/datainfo for more information. If you do not immediately moderate your usage we will have to stop you from using data on your mobile.

When I emailed them to state my position (not a very contented one!), I received the following email today:

Thanks for emailing us about Free Unlimited Data on your account.

I'd like to inform you that Free Unlimited Data is applicable until 30
September 2010. From 01 October 2010 you'll get 500MB data allowance on
your tariff. As you'll exceed your data allowances you'll be charged
£1.00 including Value Added Tax per day. The charges per day of the Data
service are as follows:

1) 26p excluding VAT for viewing 7 pages in a day
2) 43p excluding VAT for viewing 15 pages in a day
3) 98p for more than 15 pages and as much as pages you like to view or
browse on a daily basis.

We've brought this data changes because:

- We have a small number of customers, who are using a lot of data on
our network, when it?s busy this can lead to congestion.
- We're confident that introducing fairer pricing will help us to ensure
all customers get an improved experience, ensuring the best possible
overall experience for the greatest number of people.
- Lastly because 97% of customers use less than 500MB data, which is our
smallest available data allowance.

As you've Data Roaming Monthly Cap Bolt On on your account. It allows
you to access the Internet in abroad till your roaming Internet charges
reach to £40.00.

I'd like to tell you that with the Data Roaming Monthly Cap Bolt On:

- You'll be not be charged more than £40 for roamed data in one billing
month.

- You'll receive SMS alerts if their data roaming charges reaches £20.00
and then £40.00

- You'll then be stopped when they reach £40.00.

- The £40.00 roamed data cap can't be used in conjunction with any other
roamed data product.

You can opt out of the data roaming cap at anytime. If you want to use
more, you can have a Data Abroad Heavy User Bolt On. You can access the
Internet till the roaming Internet charges reach up to £120.00.

If you wish to add the Data Abroad Heavy User Bolt On, please reply to
this email and we'll be happy to help you.

For more information about the Data Roaming Monthly Cap Bolt On and Data
Abroad Heavy User Bolt On, please visit the link below:

I'm sorry for any inconvenience that may have been caused.

Thank you for your email and have a nice day.


Personally, I consider this to be a major change to my contract. Unlimited + fair usage ≠ 500mb limit. The new limit isn't a flexible 'fair' usage cap. It's a completely different arrangement.

Reply to the email with the link from there own website. see above.

And then see what they say.