MSE News: T-Mobile to hit pay monthly users with price hikes

Fulham_Mark

grumbler wrote: »

I don't see any difference unless the monthly rate was different from £506/24

I can see your point. But surely it is different when people are using phrases like "the total you will pay over 2 year is X" not "currently the total will be X".

I'm not saying the man on the phone was devious, just that he was probably unaware that prices could rise and was therefore making inaccurate promises and comparisons.

Anyway we got to an 18month contract which drops to a few pounds a month after so I am better off that picking a 24month contract now.

brightonman123

surely any initial contract price should be honoured for at least the first year, of a (2 year) contract..?

they make a big deal of keeping US to terms..

Guys_Dad

brightonman123 wrote: »

surely any initial contract price should be honoured for at least the first year, of a (2 year) contract..?

they make a big deal of keeping US to terms..

I would agree. Ring them up and speak nicely. See if you can get as good a result as some others on this thread have done.

grumbler

brightonman123 wrote: »

surely any initial contract price should be honoured for at least the first year, of a (2 year) contract..?
.....

I agree that this is the only fair and reasonable way of doing this if the rise is justified by the inflation rate. However, the lawyers writing T&C and enforcing them know neither of the words 'fair' and 'reasonable' . Neither do Ofcom.

suecoo66

badaz52 wrote: »

What worries me is how lax this country is on companies T&Cs. I mean yeah sure we don't read them and just sign when in reality we should read them BUT when you agree to pay them a set tariff price for 12/18/24 months it shouldn't be even possible for them to get away with having a clause saying they can put up rates so long as it's no more than inflation.

It seems that a company can insert any clause into its T&Cs whether fair or unfair.

End of the day I don't care why they need to put their prices up and as those of us earning over £21,000 have had our pay frozen as in no increases because of yearly inflation I don't see how they have the right to do it AND have the right to say it is not of material detriment to their customers. My pay isn't increasing but everything else is and thats OK? please....

Utterly disgusting.

Whats worse is I am with Orange on dolphin 35 now paying £36.50 a month, my letters of complaint have been ignored AND if you go to Orange's website for new customers it is nowhere near £36.50 a month HANG ON I thought they were being forced to increase because of rising business costs? new customers aren't getting the increase and Ofcom allow them to get away with this just because it says so in their T&Cs. T&Cs have to be in line with law and due to the nature of a mobile phone contract having a minimum term this increase plain and simply should not have been allowed.

When my contract is up I'm leaving Orange and going on a rolling monthly contract, yes It will probably mean I won't get a new handset every 12 months or so but who cares is it worth all of this?

Just another note, it isn't worth treating T-Mobile with any difference to how Orange dealt with the issue, they won't care.

I earn nowhere near £21k and I've had a pay freeze for about 4 years. I don't agree with the rise either and I've filled in the complaint form as when you email the address quoted in T Mobile complaints procedure you get an automated response from their DO NOT REPLY box saying they are no longer using this email address.
I've also emailed CISAS to inform them of the rise and that T Mobile are stating that terminating your contract early will incurr an early termination fee.
:mad:

boatman

Their terms and conditions say they can increase by RPI but am i right in thinking that the communications act says that if the contract is changed to your 'detriment' then you have the right to cancel, surely the law overrides their T&C's??

premierfella

It does, but I think the Communications Act refers to "material detriment". Both OFCOM and the mobile networks who have thus far gone down this questionable route will take account of your circumstances if you can evidence material detriment (which would only cover a very small group of customers).

Everyone else has the options of begging the network to cut them a deal or just stomaching the increase until their contract end date. Any other actions are probably a waste of a combination of time, effort and cash.

boatman

Has anybody heard of any updates with regard to the price increases, perhaps someone has had some progress with the 'unfair contract terms"??

seanbr0wn

Hi All,

As we know the price increase from 9th May is 3.7%. However, as per T Mobiles Terms and Conditions (Clause 7.2.3 and 7.2.3.3) it says the following :

A Cancellation Charge won’t apply if You are within the

Minimum Term and:





7.2.3.3. The change that We gave You Written Notice of in

point 7.1.4 is an increase in Your Price Plan

Charge (as a percentage) higher than any

increase in the Retail Price Index (also calculated

as a percentage) for the 12 months before the

month in which We send You Written Notice and

You give Us notice to immediately cancel this

Agreement before the change takes effect.

The Office for National Statistics states that RPI for March 2012 was only 3.6% (this website wont let me post direct links but google it)

Therefore, basically, their T&C's say that if RPI is less than 3.7% ay ANY point in the 12 months prior to the price increase (which it is) then you can cancel your contract without an early cancellation fee (if you signed up before February 2012 which most people have). It is saying that the price increase at 3.7% would be unfair to its customers as the increase is above RPI basically.

Consumer rights MUST be taken seriously and the fat cats at the top shouldn't be allowed to keep all the cream !!! So cancel..it's in plain black and white, although you may have to go through the complaints procedure located at the bottom of the contact us page on the t mobile website (again this site wont let me post the direct link aarrgghh)

Sean

Guys_Dad

First decent case I have read, Sean.

See http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/index.html and follow the links to the spread sheet and then the RPI section.

The wording

Here are the RPI % increases from the government statistics site for the last 12 months

4.4 Feb 11
4.0
4.5
4.5
4.2
4.4
4.5
5.2
5.0
4.8
4.2
3.6 Jan 12
3.4
3.5
Now, T-Mobile have the wording in their t&c that lets you cancel in the following scenario

The change that We gave You Written Notice of in point 7.1.4 is an increase in Your Price Plan Charge (as a percentage) higher than any increase in the Retail Price Index (also calculated as a percentage) for the 12 months before the month in which we send you Written Notice and you give Us notice to immediately cancel this Agreement before the change takes effect.

Jan, Feb and March all fall below the 3.7%

Seems like that's the get out!