Three have raised prices; cause to cancel contract?

barmeepbanameepninibom

hi

i got an email today from three saying they're raising their prices in july and that there's nothing i can do about it. however, i read through their terms and conditions and i saw this:


4. Variations to your agreement or prices
4.1 We may vary any of the terms of your agreement,
including our Packages, on the following basis:
(a) any updated Packages and new terms will be
available on our website and on request to Three
Customer Services;
(b) we will let you know at least one month in advance
if we decide to:
(i) discontinue your Package; or
(ii) make any variations to your agreement which
are likely to be of material detriment to you; or
(iii) increase the fixed periodic charges for your
Package (if applicable) by an amount which is
more than the percentage increase in the Retail
Prices Index Figure (or any future equivalent) in
any twelve month period.
You can end the agreement for such variations as
explained in Section 10.
Subject to the above, you will not be able to end the
agreement if such variation or increase:
(i) is due to changes to the law, government
regulation or licence which affect us;

and in section 10:


10. Ending this agreement and
Disconnection of Three Services
10.1 You may end this agreement in the following ways:
(d) Within one month of a materially detrimental
variation to your agreement. You can end the
agreement within one month of us telling you about
a variation to your agreement (which includes your
Package) which is likely to be of material detriment to
you. You must give notice to Three Customer Services
within that month and your agreement will finish at
the end of that month once we receive your notice. (A
Cancellation Fee will not be charged.)

what exactly do they mean by material detriment? when i signed this contract back in december 2010 i was meant to be paying £25 a month; in january they raised the price because of the increase in VAT which i agreed with since it was beyond three's control. now, however, they're raising the price because the RPI has increased and so they're trying to fob this off on consumers.

this current attempt to increase the price is of material detriment to me since i'm on a limited income (i claim benefits).

should i contact a consumer rights group or could one of you kind people help me?

akabee

Can I cancel my contract early?
Three won't allow customers to leave their contract early without penalty as its terms state inflation-linked price rises are allowed. In this case, Three used March's 3.6% rise in the retail prices index inflation.
Three blames rising inflation, which has resulted in rising costs for its business.
It says in an email to customers: "We know that increases are never welcome, so it's not a decision we've taken lightly and we’re confident that your plan still represents excellent value for money."
The company refuses to say how many of its users are affected. However, pay-as-you-go customers are unaffected.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/phones/2012/05/three-to-raise-mobile-prices

barmeepbanameepninibom

yeah thanks but that doesn't actually answer my question.

from Ofcom:

If a communications provider wants to alter a contract’s terms and conditions, they must consider, among other things, whether the change will be of material detriment to their customers.

Under General Condition 9.3, communications providers must provide customers for whom a change is likely to be of material detriment with one month’s notice of the change.

Customers must also be informed that they are entitled to terminate their contract without penalty if the change is not acceptable to them.

grumbler

This has been discussed for a long time recently when Orange and T-mobile have done the same:
MSE News: Orange to raise monthly mobile costs
MSE News: Orange won't face price hike investigation but door open for complaints
Avoid the Orange Price Increase
Orange Price changes ?

T-Mobile to hit pay monthly users with price hikes
T mobile price increase

coinxoperated

Hi - I've had an email today from 4 mobile saying my bill is going up by £1.25 a month due to inflation.

Can they actually do this? Surely, I took out a contract with a specific cost, therefore how on earth can they just up the cost?

Surely it would make the contract invalid as I have not agreed to the price hike?

Any advice on what to do would be great!

Basil1234

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/phones/2012/05/three-to-raise-mobile-prices

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/53268923#Comment_53268923

reclusive46

coinxoperated wrote: »

Hi - I've had an email today from 4 mobile saying my bill is going up by £1.25 a month due to inflation.

Can they actually do this? Surely, I took out a contract with a specific cost, therefore how on earth can they just up the cost?

Surely it would make the contract invalid as I have not agreed to the price hike?

Any advice on what to do would be great!

It says in the contract they can raise it to match inflation increases.

barmeepbanameepninibom

According to Ofcom:

If a communications provider wants to alter a contract’s terms and conditions, they must consider, among other things, whether the change will be of material detriment to their customers.

Under General Condition 9.3, communications providers must provide customers for whom a change is likely to be of material detriment with one month’s notice of the change.

Customers must also be informed that they are entitled to terminate their contract without penalty if the change is not acceptable to them.

I'm not a lawyer but surely one can disagree to a change in the contract?

Guys_Dad

grumbler wrote: »

This has been discussed for a long time recently when Orange and T-mobile have done the same:
MSE News: Orange to raise monthly mobile costs
MSE News: Orange won't face price hike investigation but door open for complaints
Avoid the Orange Price Increase
Orange Price changes ?

T-Mobile to hit pay monthly users with price hikes
T mobile price increase

And Vodafone as well.

There was so many posts on the previous network increases, the regulator didn't want to know and you are flogging a dead horse. The best you might do, as others did with the other networks, is try to secure a reduction, but then that would mean talking to 3's customer services department!!!!!!

nap999

I've just had an email from 3 saying they are going to put up the price of my monthly mobile contract, can they do this?

Quentin

Yes, you must have given them your address, and agreed they can email you regarding your account.