MSE News: Orange and T-Mobile customers face yet more price hikes

waterdragon

What about miss selling.
This is a transcript of an internet chat.
[FONT=&quot]Diana:[/FONT][FONT=&quot] Hi there, my name is Diana. I am part of the dedicated T-mobile Online Sales Team. How can I help you with your T-Mobile order?
[/FONT][FONT=&quot]Diana:[/FONT][FONT=&quot] Hi Paul
[/FONT][FONT=&quot]Paul:[/FONT][FONT=&quot] Hi I am looking to take out a contract at £15.5 a month for 24 month. it is at the very top end of my budget. Is the monthly cost fixed for the full 24 months[/FONT][FONT=&quot]
[/FONT][FONT=&quot]Diana:[/FONT][FONT=&quot] yes it is fix for the full 24 months
[/FONT][FONT=&quot]Diana:[/FONT][FONT=&quot] If you need to cancel the contract you need to pay the remaining amount for the period left along with the cancellation fee £25.00
[/FONT][FONT=&quot]Paul:[/FONT][FONT=&quot] So you can't put a price increase on the monthly price plan until the end of the contract[/FONT][FONT=&quot]
[/FONT][FONT=&quot]Diana:[/FONT][FONT=&quot] I will assist you the best way forward
[/FONT][FONT=&quot]Diana:[/FONT][FONT=&quot] Please ignore the above typo
[/FONT][FONT=&quot]Diana:[/FONT][FONT=&quot] We will not incresase the price
[/FONT][FONT=&quot]Paul:[/FONT][FONT=&quot] Ok tha thats good to know thanks[/FONT][FONT=&quot]
[/FONT][FONT=&quot]Diana:[/FONT][FONT=&quot] Is there anything else I can help you with today?
[/FONT][FONT=&quot]Paul:[/FONT][FONT=&quot] No thanks[/FONT][FONT=&quot]
[/FONT][FONT=&quot]Diana:[/FONT][FONT=&quot] Thank you for chatting with us today. You can rate my services at the end of this chat by simply clicking the 'End Chat' button.
[/FONT][FONT=&quot]Diana:[/FONT][FONT=&quot] Bye and take care


[/FONT]

robbies_gal

i was given a cheaper tariff to change to but they wouldnt let me go on the works tariff as they said i already had a discount and the system wouldnt let it be processed-dont know what that was about

sshariff

robbies_gal wrote: »

i was given a cheaper tariff to change to but they wouldnt let me go on the works tariff as they said i already had a discount and the system wouldnt let it be processed-dont know what that was about

The same happened to me. I had a Phones4u £7.5 discount on a panther 36 tariff. Customer services told me on 3 occasions before that their system wouldn't let it to be processed! A few days earlier I asked to be put through to disconnections instead of speaking to customer services and it was then I used the clause 4.3.1 that I had actually signed up for! The person then removed the Phones4u discount and then put on their own £7.5 discount to the works 36 plan. This meant I got unlimited minutes now to my plan instead of the original 600 minutes.

Bottom line is their system does not allow them to keep third party discounts but does allow them to add their own discounts. You need to call them again and ask for disconnections and then quote the original 4.3.1 exit clause which does prevent Orange from hiking the prices.

boatman

There was a time when you were lucky to find anything less than a 2 year deal, it is better now, I think you would struggle to find anybody saying 'yes please i'd like a 2 year contract'. As for Tesco, yes they are using this whole thing for marketing, good on them, but at least they are offering what people want..

anna2007

Lifes_Grand_Plan wrote: »

Go for it mate, nothing at all to lose. I doubt they will rollover and let you leave without charge but that doesn't mean they are correct.

Would love to get my wife out of her T-Mobile contract but her increase is only 3.17%....

The 3.3% increase is across the board - have you added VAT onto your wife's monthly plan charge (less any monthly discount)? If you work out 3.3% of this figure, it should correspond with the monetary price increase on your wife's letter. And as long as her letter's dated April, she should be allowed to cancel without penalty under clause 7.2.3.3, as the March RPI is only 3.2%. If T-Mobile's letter is dated March, then the 3.3% is correct and there's no right to cancel, unless you pay the cancellation charges.

I think it's important to act quickly if your wife wants to cancel, with a phone call to CS quoting the above clause. The terms allow T-Mobile to give written notice to your registered email address, or by SMS referring you to info on their website. It's possible they could issue an amended notice via one of these methods and close the loophole.

Good luck!

robbies_gal

sshariff wrote: »

The same happened to me. I had a Phones4u £7.5 discount on a panther 36 tariff. Customer services told me on 3 occasions before that their system wouldn't let it to be processed! A few days earlier I asked to be put through to disconnections instead of speaking to customer services and it was then I used the clause 4.3.1 that I had actually signed up for! The person then removed the Phones4u discount and then put on their own £7.5 discount to the works 36 plan. This meant I got unlimited minutes now to my plan instead of the original 600 minutes.

Bottom line is their system does not allow them to keep third party discounts but does allow them to add their own discounts. You need to call them again and ask for disconnections and then quote the original 4.3.1 exit clause which does prevent Orange from hiking the prices.

right got you-will give it a go but now ive accpeted new tariff not sure what they will say

sandsy

As RPI is no longer an official national statistic, it seems a fairly unsound basis on which to base a price increase

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/finance/ianmcowie/100023471/new-fears-about-inflation-as-ons-quietly-downgrades-rpi/

timbouk

sandsy wrote: »

As RPI is no longer an official national statistic, it seems a fairly unsound basis on which to base a price increase

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/finance/ianmcowie/100023471/new-fears-about-inflation-as-ons-quietly-downgrades-rpi/

For the sake of this argument it is technically irrelevant, RPI is what's quoted in the T&C's

anna2007

It's maybe more relevant for customers with contracts taken out from October 2012, as the revised terms at 7.2.3.3 mention not only RPI, but any other statistical measure used by Government to measure inflation. RPI, although still being reported, was cancelled by the ONS in February as a national measure and has been replaced by RPIJ, which at 2.7%, is well below T-Mobile's 3.3% increase.

I thought it was relevant enough to mention in my cancellation/complaint letter, but still used the price increase being higher than current RPI as my reason for cancelling.

d123

I had an answer from a woman at the Orange Exec Office (yes, idiots are emailing from Orange for a T-Mobile issue).

They are actually going to try and lie their way out of it, using false figures and outright deception.

Their reply:

I have spoken with our Legal Team who have confirmed when the price increase is worked out we are increasing your charges by 3.23%. Due to this we are not in breach our agreement and therefore your request to cancel your contract free of charge is declined.

Not withstanding the fact that 3.23% is still in excess of the 3.2% RPI, any fool with a calculator can see that she is lying, the increase is £1.18, the charge is £36.00, the increase comes out at 3.278 which rounds to 3.3%.

Their own letter admits the increase is 3.3%.

I have emailed jackie.o'leary and Olaf.Swantee and made a complaint about the letter writer lying to me, I've asked for the matter to be dealt with by someone else as well.

Anyone wanting to add another complaint, perhaps even an OFCOM complaint, the T-Mobile terms stipulate they have to tell you when the increase is above RPI and of your right to cancel, they have breached this as well.

From the terms

We will tell you if the increase will be more than the increase in the RPI. You must tell us you want to cancel before the increase happens;

If they continue to refuse, it looks like deadlock letter or wait 8 weeks and go to CISAS, this isn't like the Orange change of terms dispute that CISAS can said was a business decision, this is a direct breach of the cancellation clause.