MSE News: Orange to raise monthly mobile costs

diogenes19530

As a matter of interest here is the reply that I have received from the CEO's office. I would point out that this refers to only one of the three contracts that my family has:

"Thank you for your email addressed to Mr Olaf Swantee, Chief Executive Officer, Everything Everywhere Ltd. I have been asked to respond on his behalf and keep him informed of the outcome.
We do understand that increases are never welcome but Orange feel we are unable to postpone this increase any longer.

Our terms and Conditions do allow for one price increase within a 12 month period. The actual increase is in response to the Retail Price Index (RPI)of 5.4% announced on 15 November 2011 but at 4.34% our increase is indeed less than that of the rate of inflation. Again this increase will not be applied until 8 January 2012 and in relation to your current service plan your monthly plan this will mean a small rise from £15 to £15.64 (inc VAT).

Your reference to Material Detriment placed against the rate of inflation shows Orange have not exceeded but in fact kept their price increase under that of other companies and indeed the rate of inflation.

I acknowledge you feel the spirit of the law should allow customers to disconnect without cost but Orange feel equally that we have resisted this increase for as long as possible and must therefore advise that you would not be able to leave the agreement early without cost to yourself.

I trust you appreciate why Orange are required to keep in step with the current economic climate but trust this issue will not taint your relationship with us and look forward to providing you with many more years of valuable service.

Yours sincerely


Alan Holcroft[FONT=&quot]Executive Office "

As my contracts expire in June 2012 I have merely stated that I will consider my options for renewal. I also pointed out that there are very few people in this coutry likely to get a pay award of 4.34% in the near future.

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Pilks

conversation.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/orange-pay-monthly-price-rise-cancel-contract/

Cant posts links but put should be able to find the site.

Hi all, we have been in contact with Ofcom in an attempt to get some clarity on the action those of you affected by this rise can take. They have sent us the following statement:

Ofcom has considered the complaints it has received about the recent rise in Orange’s prices and acknowledges that many consumers feel unhappy with these changes.

However, having assessed the complaints against the relevant consumer legislation, Ofcom has decided, on the evidence available, not to proceed with an investigation at this time as this price rise is not likely to be a breach of current legislation.

Whilst we do not believe that there is a case for us to investigate this general matter, whether or not individual consumers suffer material detriment will depend on the individual circumstances in each case, and customers can still contact Orange if they think they have or will suffer material detriment and be prepared to provide evidence to support their claim. Further, where a customer has concerns that Orange has not met its terms and conditions the relevant dispute resolution body, CISAS, may be able to consider this.


We also note that the UK benefits from a competitive market for mobile services and would encourage consumers to consider their options. Ofcom accredits two mobile price comparison sites Mobilife and Billmonitor which can help consumers find the best deal for them. Consumers should, however, check whether any charges apply for leaving their contract early

Steve__M_3

diogenes19530 wrote: »

As a matter of interest here is the reply that I have received from the CEO's office. I would point out that this refers to only one of the three contracts that my family has:

"Thank you for your email addressed to Mr Olaf Swantee, Chief Executive Officer, Everything Everywhere Ltd. I have been asked to respond on his behalf...

I acknowledge you feel the spirit of the law should allow customers to disconnect without cost but Orange feel equally that we have resisted this increase for as long as possible and must therefore advise that you would not be able to leave the agreement early without cost to yourself.
[FONT=&quot]

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So Orange are admitting that they have been aware for a long time that a price rise was inevitable.

Yet they took no additional action to highlight the T&C to people buying new contracts. Indeed I expect they probably ramped up efforts to get as many new customers in before their deadline.

(Once again the T&C do not explicitly say they are permitted to raise plan prices, they state your rights *if* the terms change *resulting* in a price rise for each individual customer - so please no more "Didn't you read the T&C then?" comments).

jb66

I've asked them to reduce my allowance by 4.34% instead

Guys_Dad

Pilks wrote: »

conversation.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/orange-pay-monthly-price-rise-cancel-contract/

Cant posts links but put should be able to find the site.

Hi all, we have been in contact with Ofcom in an attempt to get some clarity on the action those of you affected by this rise can take. They have sent us the following statement:..............................................................
..........................................................................
We also note that the UK benefits from a competitive market for mobile services and would encourage consumers to consider their options. Ofcom accredits two mobile price comparison sites Mobilife and Billmonitor which can help consumers find the best deal for them. Consumers should, however, check whether any charges apply for leaving their contract early

Thanks for this. Not necessarily good news, but at least something official from OFCOM. (As against the verbal advice given to some)

It seems very strange that OFCOM is doing a Pontious PIlate here and not investigating. But it does severely put a hole below the water line of those MSE members who were relying on OFCOM's regulations overriding Orange's increase clause and saying absolutely that Orange's clause was illegal.

Incidentally, there are some really pertinent posts on the link supplied by Pilks (#805) questioning OFCOM's useless role in this !

If OFCOM don't feel that their regulations have been breached - or don't feel inclined to do anything - then Orange wiil have even more reason to stick to their guns.

I hope that those of you who flamed DUTR and others for advising that the Orange t&c were legal might think on.

Mhadf

It wasn't so much flaming him as asking to tone it down abit from the grief that everyone was joining with an opinion on the increase.

Thanks for the link,
While ofcom are saying that as a group it's not a breach so they won't investigate, feel free to do their job for them and do it by yourself...... I guess they want to stick to doing surveys.

Whilst we do not believe that there is a case for us to investigate this general matter, whether or not individual consumers suffer material detriment will depend on the individual circumstances in each case,

premierfella

OFCOM are thus effectively giving the green light to this practice (I understand their reasons - fighting Orange would be costly and OFCOM would lose anyway).

I would expect a regulator worthy of the name, having come to that decision and seen a significant number of complaints from customers who were not aware of this term (for whatever reason - the reason isn't of importance) to at the very least take some action to ensure that customers in the future are made aware of the potential for the price of the contract to increase during the minimum term.

This should be referenced somewhere in the core monthly plan tariff details where it would be obvious for customers to see and should be included as a footnote in all mobile phone advertising which makes reference to contract plan prices. It is insufficient for a condition which means that the advertised price can be increased without the customer being able to avoid that increase because they are tied to a contract term to be referenced only in the small print - that must surely be obvious to the regulator?

On the basis of the recent actions, I suspect I'd best not hold my breath for such changes.

mwang

Not only should customers vote with their feet, we should push OFCOM to regulate for a change in the law so that customers who opt for pay monthly contracts will not have their charges raised during the contract period. Either that or we should be allowed to terminate our contracts without penalty and no "material considerations" or "excessive" conditions worked into our contracts.

This is a dangerous slippery slope and other mobile providers will be watching with interest to see how this situation pans out.

As consumers, we are already severely disadvantaged. I will be voting with my feet and leaving Orange when my contract ends too.

robbies_gal

i just posted on the other thread surprised by OFCOM but on the other hand it would cost them too much oh we can still complain though cant we

fat lot of good that will do

Pilks

"Whilst we do not believe that there is a case for us to investigate this general matter, whether or not individual consumers suffer material detriment will depend on the individual circumstances in each case"

My gripe with this is that there is no upper or lower limit attached to section 9.6 and that by saying individuals can claim if they feel they suffer is confusing Material Detriment with Financial Hardship.

Either the price rise is of material detriment to everyone or its isn’t to anyone. It should be nothing to do with individual circumstances and nothing to do with if you can afford it or not. A little like stating we can steal off individuals if they can afford it.

I thought section 9.6 was there to specifically stop company's from locking people into contracts then changing what they supply for what price. Increasing your monthly price but not increasing your contracted minutes/text/data etc is the same as reducing your minutes/texts/data and keeping your monthly price the same. Both are materially detrimental to the customer, regardless of who the customer is and if they can afford it or not.

So Ofcom, are you saying that section 9.6 is only applicable to those who cannot afford detrimental changes to their locked in contracts and they have to prove that they cannot afford the change.

If so then the wording of section 9.6 should be changed to mean exactly this, cos at the moment, Ofcom, you should just scribble that section out as it is just nonsense and b*llocks!