Vodafone price increases - get out of contract

turbo.jet

Hi,

Not sure if this is the right forum, but I am most definitely a DFW so I thought I'd start here.

I received a text today from vodafone advising their prices (like EVERYONE'S!!!) are going up.

Details of the price increases are here -

double u double u double u vodafone dot co dot uk forwardslash yourbill (I'm new and can't post links)

My question is this -

As Vodafone are essentially changing my contract, does this give me grounds to end my contract?

qpop

It's hard to say.

Orange announced a similar price-rise a year or two ago and it was carnage (I was working in an Orange store at the time) - thousands cancelled and took out a new one straight away. In fact Phones 4 U were advocating it (ever the honourable sales-force...)

I would hazard a guess that if you ring them and ask they'll ask you to prove it's to your detriment. I don't think you need to under contract law but ring them first and ask.

turbo.jet

The increases are minimal, and I can afford it. It will equate to something less than a pound a month. However I'm just wondering if I can seize the opportunity to end the contract.

qpop

The thing is there is nowhere on their website breaking down what call charges were if you signed up before May 2011 - you have to call customer services to find out that info.

Basically at Orange we were told that as the rises were more than 10% more expensive, this gave a get-out clause in the contract, and if the rises were less than 10% you couldn't cancel. I took the opportunity to cancel at the time.

If anyone can find the pre May 2011 call charges I'd appreciate them being posted here, so we can do an informed like-for-like comparison, and work out how much it will theoretically set you back. Then you can call them to discuss cancelling the contract.

Contract wording would be useful too.

edit: see below post

qpop

OK I've done some research and plotted the changes, obviously these are only my changes, but it may be of use to others:


Old New % change
Monthly bill £35.75 £36.00 0.69%
all l/l and voda mob (/min) £0.20 £0.35 42.86%
Other UK networks £0.35 £0.35 0.00%
0845, 0870 £0.20 £0.14 -42.86%
0844, 0871 £0.35 £0.35 0.00%
0800, 0808, 0500 £0.20 £0.14 -42.86%
Charity numbers £0.00 £0.00 0.00%
Voicemail in UK £0.20 £0.35 42.86%
Standard text £0.12 £0.12 0.00%
Picture message £0.36 £0.37 2.70%
Video message £0.60 £0.62 3.23%
Calls to Europe £1.00 £1 0.00%
Calls to rest of world £1.50 £1.50 0.00%
Text message to abroad £0.24 £0.25 4.00%



Their contract (to me) reads:

7.
Changing charges and terms

a.
We may occasionally change or introduce new charges. If we believe any change in our charges will not disadvantage you, we may include it without telling you. However, if we increase our charges, we’ll give you at least 14 days’ notice.

b.
We may change or withdraw services at any time and we may change or introduce new terms to this agreement at any time. If we do, we’ll give you at least 30 days’ notice of these changes. If such changes are to your significant disadvantage you may have a right to end this agreement under clause 11b and we’ll tell you if you do.

and the important bit:

11.
Ending this agreement

a.
Either you or us may end this agreement by giving the other 30 days’ notice in writing. Your notice must include your mobile number and the signature or appropriate security details of the account holder. You must pay the charges during the notice period.

b.
You may end this agreement by writing to us if:

(i)
we don’t do something fundamental that we should have done under this agreement (for example, if there is a complete failure of the network for 7 days in a row due to something we have done), within 7 days of you asking us in writing;

(ii)
we tell you that there will be an increase in the line-rental charge by more than the increase in the retail price index (worked out as a percentage) since the last line-rental increase and you write to us before the increase applies;

(iii)
we increase your charges in the UK which have the effect of increasing your total charges (based on your usage in the previous month) by more than 10% and you write to us before the increase applies; or

(iv)
we change this agreement to your significant disadvantage including changing or withdrawing services (we will tell you if this is the case) and you write to us within one month of us telling you about the change. This does not apply if the change or withdrawal relates to services which you can cancel without us ending this agreement.

So, in conclusion, unless you've gone significantly over your bill calling Vodafone/landline numbers, as much in that your overall bill would increase by 10% based on last months bill, you can't cancel it under the contract agreement.

turbo.jet

Bummer... but thanks so much for doing all that research - I REALLY appreciate the effort!