Vodafone price changes October 11th

sjameson6969

OK, I see there is another thread about this however I think its pretty dead now!
Got my text about the price changes on 14th September, not a happy bunny.
Second time now the price on my contract has been increased, went on to the VF website today and a live chat window popped up, so I have saved the conversation for you all, I think there is definite grounds to cancel the contract early with out a termination fee, this chat is a bit long so bear with me! (apologies about the spelling too)



info: You are now connected with Angad.
Angad: Hello, you're chatting with Angad, one of Vodafone's online customer service specialists. May I take your full name please?
You: Stuart Jameson
Angad: Hello Stuart
Angad: How are you today?
You: Im not too bad thnaks
You: thanks
You: I am inquiring about the recent price increase
You: Can you discuss this with me
Angad: Yes, I will assist you in this case
Angad: To proceed further, can i have your mobile number, please?
You: Thank you,
Angad: For security reasons, may I confirm the 1st and 4th digit of your PIN
You: This is the second price increase since I have taken out my contract with Vodafone, grated the first one was a VAT increase.
You:
You: I fell this is very unfair, and any attempt to apply these charges should also be met with an option for me to cancel my contract without charge.
Angad: Stuart, let me explain you about the recent price increases.
You: OK
You: Are you still there
Angad: yes
Angad: Charges will apply to all legacy tariffs (with exception of a small amount of very old tariffs)
Angad: Line rentals will be rounded up to the nearest 50p
Angad: Out of bundle data rates will change to £5 per 250MB
Angad: 1 minute minimum charge applies to all out of bundle calls
You: Considering I go over my internet allowance alot, this will affect me considerably
Angad: You already have 1GB
Angad: and bt openzone
Angad: wi-fi
You: Exactly and I still go over it
You: Openzone is pretty much useless and I dont have home Broadband
Angad: Yes you will be charged
Angad: Stuart
You: Yes I will be charged more than I would have been under the old rates
You: My contract is being changed mid contract, with a detrimental affect to me, and financial loss.
You: This is grounds to let me cancel my contract with out fee. This is under the terms In consumer Regulations act 1999
Angad: Stuart, -Changes to the line rental is from 11th Oct 2011
Angad: We will not change the plan of all the customers
Angad: There is a procedure we follow
Angad: to change any plan on customers account
You: I received the text message though, so I am assuming that I am one of them
Angad: Before doing any change we always inform customers about this
You: Yes to give them an opportunity to cancel if it doesn't suit them presumably
Angad: Let me check
Angad: what I can do for you
You: Thank you
Angad: Sorry Stuart, as the business policy varies, so if you wish to cancel , you will be charged early termination fee.
You: I am not on a business policy
Angad: I do apologies for this
You: I dont understand why you would think this
Angad: As there are new changes in plan, your number , comes falls under these changes
Angad: Your price will increase
Angad: by 10%
You: Im totally confused, do you think im a business customer?
Angad: No you are not business customer
You: So my contract will increase by 10%, in the middle of my term? is that what your telling me?
Angad: Yes, from 11th october 2011
You: That is totally unacceptable and against all rules of fairness
You: Ofcom’s General Conditions of Entitlement under the General Authorisation, Condition 9 and 9.3 –which bind you: “9.3 Where the Communications Provider intends to modify a condition in a contract with a Consumer which is likely to be of material detriment to the Consumer, the Communications Provider shall: (a) provide the Consumer with at least one month‘s notice of its intention detailing the proposed modification; and (b) inform the Consumer of the ability to terminate the contract without penalty if the proposed modification is not acceptable to the Consumer.”
You: This is a direct quote from Ofcoms website.
Angad: I do understand, Stuart
Angad: But this new price plan change is for all Vodafone customers
You: That doesn't make any difference, if my contract is changed then by law I have a right to cancel without charge, its quite clear. This isn't a debate, I I was to take this to ofcom they would agree
You: I feel a deadlock letter is the only way I can sort this out
Angad: Stuart, the best I can arrange a call back from my Manager. He will explain you on this whole issue.
Angad: I do understand this issue.
You: Thats ok, can you arrange a callback then please? And can you make sure he reads this conversation to save me repeating myself?
Angad: Yes I will do that for you.
You: OK, is there a current call back time in place?
Angad: I have forwarded this issue to my Manager.
Angad: He will call you as soon as possible.
Angad: By today
You: Thank you, I look forward to his speedy response.
Angad: Definitely, we will do
info: A copy of this chat transcript will be sent to [email][/email] at the end of this chat.
Angad: Is there anything else I can do for you today?
You: Thanks again, no thats everything.
Angad: Thank you for chatting with us. To receive a transcript of this chat, or tell us how we did today, please click the "End Chat" button on the top right of the chat window.





Just wating on a response now from this 'manager'

qpop

The threads not dead, but here you go, this is the result of my research. Unless you get very lucky I don't think they'll let you.

I recommend you use this form: http://campaigns.vodafone.co.uk/guylaurence/ and you should get a phone call within 24 hours to discuss your problems.

---

I've done some research and plotted the changes, obviously these are only my changes, but it may be of use to others(The "old" charges are from when I signed up; August 2010):


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.

sjameson6969

qpop wrote: »

The threads not dead, but here you go, this is the result of my research. Unless you get very lucky I don't think they'll let you.

I recommend you use this form: http://campaigns.vodafone.co.uk/guylaurence/ and you should get a phone call within 24 hours to discuss your problems.

---

I've done some research and plotted the changes, obviously these are only my changes, but it may be of use to others(The "old" charges are from when I signed up; August 2010):


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:



and the important bit:



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.

That totally applies to me.
And I'm sure its the same for alot of people.

sjameson6969

I think the fact that they are increasing the data to £5 for 250 mb, (it was previously £5 for 500mb)
Alone is grounds to cancel, I go over my data all the time!

qpop

In that case, contact the CEO's office and make a good point.

I don't think you can get out of the contract for the data charges, I think you've missed the window. I seem to remember it was last month, and they just won't listen to you now. By NOT leaving when it happened, you've accepted the changes.

sjameson6969

The first I even knew about the data charges came from this conversation this afternoon, I received no text message or letter regarding this.

Another fault by Vodafone, I'll keep the thread updated with this anyway, cheers

sjameson6969

Just out of interest, any contact details for the ceo''s office?

qpop

Check the link in my first post, at the top.

moty1984

qpop wrote: »

In that case, contact the CEO's office and make a good point.

I don't think you can get out of the contract for the data charges, I think you've missed the window. I seem to remember it was last month, and they just won't listen to you now. By NOT leaving when it happened, you've accepted the changes.

The new data charges havent come in yet as im having a issue with that too as I go over my allowance. I took my contract out 2 month ago knowing if I go over my allowence it was £5 for 500mb quite acceptable but not for 250mb. My first 2 months I went over my usage by just short of 500mb so a £5 charge on top of my bill is ok but not £10 when th e new rules come out.