MSE News: Orange to raise monthly mobile costs

ACG

disappointedwithorange wrote: »

Any rise is materially detrimental, whether it is 1p or £1m. OfCom told me they hadn't been consulted, for what it's worth. And even if their T&Cs state that, the Act represents our rights as customers, which Orange can't override.

Can you get something in writing from ofcom which we could all use to go to orange with?

Im in the same boat, i cant stand orange customer services. They used to have geordies who were a good laugh. Now you can be speaking to people all over the world who although can speak english they dont understand it.
Also the fact theyre doing what theyre doing makes me think i dont want to be with a company like that.

premierfella

I have no interest in trying to escape my contract on the cheap. But I would expect the regulator to be crystal clear in public on whether this latest move by Orange is allowed or not.
If it is, fine - customers have to stomach it and then take it into account when their contracts end.
If it is not, it shouldn't be up to customers to pursue this issue on an individual basis - it should surely be the regulator that takes up the issue with Orange?

Jend

I too have had a text and have spoken to Orange - I was told that head office had had a letter from the government announcing a Price Index Increase and that they had to do it, I've sent the following to Downing Street: I have just been informed of a Government Price Index Increase to my mobile phone bill by Orange - is this instead of changing the rate of VAT? will it apply to everything that the government can stipulate all businesses increase their costs by 4.34 per cent?

disappointedwithorange

@human writes

Apologies for incorrectly referencing it. It is indeed Comms Act 2003. The General Conditions section 9.6 reads:



9.6 The Communications Provider shall:
(a) give its Subscribers adequate notice not shorter than one month of any modifications likely to be of material detriment to that Subscriber; (b) allow its Subscribers to withdraw from their contract without penalty upon such notice; and
(c) at the same time as giving the notice in condition 9.6 (a) above, shall inform the Subscriber of its ability to terminate the contract without penalty if the proposed modification is not acceptable to the Subscriber.

disappointedwithorange

OfCom need complaints to act. See this tweet from Paul Lewis (BBC):


@paullewismoney
Paul Lewis
Ofcom disagrees with Orange's interpretation of its rules but needs complaints before it can investigate - complain to Ofcom 0300 123 3333

Wilt

Jend wrote: »

I too have had a text and have spoken to Orange - I was told that head office had had a letter from the government announcing a Price Index Increase and that they had to do it, I've sent the following to Downing Street: I have just been informed of a Government Price Index Increase to my mobile phone bill by Orange - is this instead of changing the rate of VAT? will it apply to everything that the government can stipulate all businesses increase their costs by 4.34 per cent?

It's the Retail Price Index and is a measure of the increase in price of goods bought by an 'average' family. It isn't an instruction from government on how much prices must be increased, but how much they have increased (for various reasons).

atlantis187

I hope they dont start on T-Mobile customers next.

We had great difficulty trying to keep our 3GB data allowance earlier this year when they sneakily tried reducing it.

Everything/Everywhere must not be very profitable then since they merged.

wal7067

I've been a loyal Orange customer for over 20 years and have never heard of anything like this bfore. i certainly won't be renewing my contract with Orange and will be going elsewhere.:mad:

shandoli

TBH this inflation excuse is a joke. Me as a consumer isnt responsible for a company's profit margins. I can understand the price hike going forward for NEW contracts but I really doubt they will get away with rising existing customer's prices.

What If I rang orange and said "sorry, inflation is also effecting me and my savings are worth much less today than they were when I signed up with you. I will be paying you 4% less from now onwards"

You think that would fly?

Stuart_W

daleski75 wrote: »

I think a lot of people would use this as an excuse to get out of their contract .

But you can't.

Orange have stuck to their T&Cs. They are allowed to raise prices by an amount no more than RPI no more than once every 12 months. It is what we all agreed to when we entered into a contract with Orange.

Originally_Posted_by_www.orange.co.uk/planupdate wrote:

Can I cancel my contract because you're increasing my monthly service charge?
No, our Pay Monthly terms and conditions allow us to increase charges by up to the RPI figure in any 12 month period. The increase in the price plan charges is less than the 5.4% rate of inflation as measured by the Retail Price Index (RPI) in October 2011.
We can increase prices at any time on giving proper notice. In this case, the increase is less than the current rate of inflation and our terms and conditions state that we can do this without giving you the right to cancel your contract without paying the disconnection fee.
You'll find the details in section 4.3 and 15.1 here