MSE News: Orange to raise monthly mobile costs

Mhadf

At least quote the whole section. It continues to say that you have rights to termination if they increase charges, no minimum amount listed.
Oh and if the Governement say then they will change your number.

Yes they can increase charges, however if they do then you have the right to cancel without penalty, unless it's only on an addon service in which case the extra can be stopped instead.
Sounds reasonable, right? I'd say it was.
But placing a related term that limits that section in a different place entirely is not reasonable, or fair.

latecomer

I can honestly say I've not read the terms and conditions since I first took out a contract with orange in 2000 and hence have no idea whether that term allowing the increase was there at that point or added at some point later. Thats said I know i've never been told to read an updated version when upgrading which has always been done by phone.

I'm technically on a £25 a month tariff but its discounted down to £7.50 so I suspect that I'm going to be hit with a 25x4.34% = £1.09 a month increase which relative to the amount I actually pay is a 15.6% increase - considerably less palatable than 4.34%.

But the thing that actually really infuriates me is that I only agreed to this new price 6 weeks ago - why didn't they simply incorporate it into my deal and then I'd be none the wiser and still happy with the deal. As it is I'm really annoyed about the way its been done and I will phone up and make my thoughts clear when I have the time to do so.

Its really not about the money as its still considerably less than I was paying but more the way its been done.

And for those who claim this is really going to cause them financial hardship - unless you have suffered a dramatic drop in income during the term of your contract - perhaps you should re-think the amount of money you spend on your phone.

rant over.

kavos_wildcat

Some people are saying that the best way to go is to ask for alternative tariff to offset the change in price. Just wondered if any one has an I phone 4 and has managed this. It's just I pay 35 a month n don't use half as many minutes n texts that I'm allowed, but I'm not sure they would let me switch to an alternative tariff. Plus I am only 6 months into a 24 months contract

Cessquill

A lower tariff is all well and good - and is probably better for some people. However, to me that's akin to Orange saying "it's like this, we either charge more or give you less."

Contractually, they may well be allowed to do this (I've read so many conflicting reports about whether they notified OFCOM, whether OFCOM can/will do something about it that it's so muddy now), but at the end of the day it's a bit of a bad way to run things.

"Let's force all of our customers to go on longer contracts. Oh, hang on, these contracts we've sold are unsustainable."

(obviously a sweeping statement, but you get the idea)

Daft_Punk

Cessquill wrote: »

As a very quick aside to anybody of the opinion that this isn't a big deal - very rough calculations...

Average person spends £439/year on mobile phone (source, Billmonitor, April 2011). That equates to £36.58 / month. Orange have increased the bills by 4.3% to eight million customers (sources, original Orange text, news article on This is Money).

4.3% of £36.58 means that people will be paying on average £1.57 per month more. OK, no huge amount. However, in doing this, Orange have potentially netted £12.5m / month from existing customers.

Obviously these are only suggestive calculations, but you get the point. Harks back to everybody giving a little by turning off lights and switching to energy saving bulbs. Only this time, a corporation benefits rather than the environment.

I then got bored and worked out that they would need to lose 329,818 customers for this to cancel out, but that's just silly.

I fail to see the point of how much Orange will make on this as relevant at all. Of course they will make more money but they also have higher costs as does every other business.

They haven't netted 12.5mill they have increased revenue by that amount (maybe). They still have rising electricity costs all other things increased by inflation to deduct from that amount. Maybe you should wait until they release their annual results before jumping on the greedy board members band wagon.

Cessquill

Daft_Punk wrote: »

I fail to see the point of how much Orange will make on this as relevant at all. Of course they will make more money but they also have higher costs as does every other business.

They haven't netted 12.5mill they have increased revenue by that amount (maybe). They still have rising electricity costs all other things increased by inflation to deduct from that amount. Maybe you should wait until they release their annual results before jumping on the greedy board members band wagon.

And I fail to see where I mentioned any board members, the word greed, or the fact that my calculations were absolute.

In truth, I was doing it out of pure interest - wondering vaguely how much they stand to raise (since most people were more concerned about how much they'd personally lose), and as a knock on - why they needed to suddenly risk damage to their reputation rather than raise the prices via trickle-down contract renewals.

If they back-track on this, then such inflationary overheads will still be in place regardless, I was merely looking for a ball park figure of the amounts they might be dealing with.

One would have thought that a merger would reduce overheads in the long run, and maybe £12.5m a month raised (estimate) is quite a price hike, I don't know. Maybe they should switch energy suppliers

I did put the lines "As a very quick aside", "very rough calculations" and "Obviously these are only suggestive calculations", which might have done enough to suggest that my thoughts were not directly relevant or completely accurate.

They were just something to think about is all.

Jaxx_uk

So what do we think the chances will be of them letting us out of the contract early without penalty?

It seems the price increase is legal, but I gathered that they were going against OFCOM regulations which states if they do change the price of your contract, they have to give you the option to cease your contract with them without penalty, DESPITE what theire T&C's state?

Or is it a case of we have to wait to see if OFCOM pick up on the complaints, look into it and deem that they have gone against OFCOM regulations?

latecomer

I dont think you've got a hope in hell of them letting folk out of their contracts early - if it comes to that I'm sure they will back out of the increase and only put it on new contracts.

Adzm

I have an Iphone on an orange plan paying £35 / month going up to £36.50, I know it is only £1.50 but 3 things here......
1) If I was a new customer I can walk into an Orange shop, get the equivilant plan and phone and only have to pay £36.00. So new customers are better off.
2) What if I turned around to orange and said "I am going to pay you 5% less every month because I have not had a wage increase in a year and my wages are now worth 5% less than last year because of inflation."
3) If inflation was to go down (near on impossible I know so dont even go there) would orange reduce the cost?
I know it is in the terms and conditions but surely this is just not fair?

Guys_Dad

Mhadf wrote: »

At least quote the whole section. It continues to say that you have rights to termination if they increase charges, no minimum amount listed.
Oh and if the Governement say then they will change your number.

My post was simply to refer jesz to where he/she will have agreed to Orange t&c and further changes to the ones in force at time of signing, but Ok - I will quote the next para if you like

15.1 (b) We acknowledge that if we do increase the Charges, withdraw Orange Additional Services or introduce new mandatory Charges - or if your contractual rights are affected to your detriment - you may terminate your Contract in accordance with Condition 4.3. If you do not give notice within one month of our notifying you of any change(s), you will be taken to have accepted the change(s).

You really should learn how to read contracts.

The point as to whether or not 4.3 is fair/illegal is in dispute and needs either the Regulator or a court to adjudicate.

Mhadf wrote: »

Oh and if the Governement say then they will change your number.

Sorry, but that sentence defeats me !!