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

greentomato

I have had a text to say my monthly place will increase by 3.3% with a 6 month credit as I only recently took it out.
However when I look at the plan I have (Pay monthly, SIM only, Panther 15.50) on the Orange website, the price is still saying the same as when I took it out. If they have increased their prices, why doesn't the website reflect the new prices? Am I missing something here? Does this mean that existing customers have a price rise, but new customers pay the old prices?

Lifes_Grand_Plan

greentomato wrote: »

I have had a text to say my monthly place will increase by 3.3% with a 6 month credit as I only recently took it out.
However when I look at the plan I have (Pay monthly, SIM only, Panther 15.50) on the Orange website, the price is still saying the same as when I took it out. If they have increased their prices, why doesn't the website reflect the new prices? Am I missing something here? Does this mean that existing customers have a price rise, but new customers pay the old prices?

Got the same text today... really annoyed as I only took the contract out 14 days ago :mad::mad:

Surely they must have known 14 days ago that they were planning to increase prices, so why let me take out a contract on the basis of an agreed lower price??!?!?

The thing is, I am wondering if the 6 month credit would preclude me from cancelling under the "3.3% is more than the allowed 3.2% line"

Arr rubbish, just checked the link above and noticed that 2 days ago, an updated RPI figure was released and it is now back up to 3.3% so I can't use that route anyway.

Interestingly, just noticed that the "From 10th April 2013 we are increasing some of our prices....." yet I received the text today..... surely they have to give me advance notice, not e-mail me a week after the increase?

Lifes_Grand_Plan

I guess no one is progressing this any more and have all given up?

lukat

The RPI published in April for the month of march is again 3.3%. :mad:

Even though T-Mobile didn't know about this until the 16th of April when it was published, they argue that because they wrote to us in April and the terms mention the RPI for the month BEFORE the month in which they send customers notices, then the March RPI of 3.3% they didn't know about is the correct ne.

They are either lucky it is the same as the RPI of January 2013 on which they based their increase, or they have strong ties with the Goverment and the rate for March was falsified to accommodate them...

If anyone can find a flaw please let us know.
There is the fact that the RPI is to be discontinued... and has been deemed even by the Government to not to be a reliable statistic to judge the rise of inflation etc...

lukat

I went through the same issue:

Refusal to cancel when calling.
And then a letter referring to the more recent RPI.

See link:

theinquirer.net

/inquirer/news/2264454/tmobile-allegedly-breaches-its-cancellation-policy

Cessnita

Hi Guys

I'm particularly sensitive to this type of issues regarding random tariff increases. I'm coming from a country where inflation is the first word children learn in the cradle.

Anyway, I wrote to CISAS (cisas.org.uk) following the guidelines of the OFCOM website...

Transcriptions of my letter is at the end of this, what was interesting is the TYPE of response CISAS offered to my letter. I guess someone more wiser in the legality of regulatory terms can throw some light on this issue. To my trained eyes, they are all just a bunch of Mafioso trying to squeeze as much money as possible from us.

Seb

---

Letter from CISAS to me:

Your Ref:
23 May 2013

Dear Mr XX

Rejection Reference No: 17584

Thank you for your recent application to the above scheme.

Unfortunately we are unable to help you in this matter as your complaint concerns a business decision taken by the
company you are complaining about. Business decisions fall outside the scope of our scheme and we have no power to deal a complaint of this nature.

We suggest you contact your local Citizen’s Advice Bureau who may be able to advise you how to pursue your complaint.

We are sorry we cannot be of further assistance on this occasion.
Yours sincerely

Jordan Yates
Case Administrator

---

Just in case you are interested, letter from me to CISAS before 9/5

Summary of the claim:
have contacted TMobile upon receiving a letter saying that they will increase the tariff of my plan from the 9/5/13 due to inflation related issues. They have said on the letter that the RPI increase was of 3.3%. However, when I checked the National Statistics Website to corroborate that information I have realised that the increase at the time the letter was received was only 3.2%!

Since their T&Cs stipulate that any cancellation has to be dealt with ONLY by calling customer service, I have dialled 150 ending up with a Customer Service advisor NOT PRESENT in the UK.

I stated very clearly that the price increased was OVER the official RPI obtained on the ONS website. They have informed me that they didn't have the possibility of checking and corroborating what I was saying. They have also told me that the Ofcom had approved the tariff increase. They have also told me they couldn't advice me any further.

They hanged up the phone twice on me.

Until today I have been trying constantly to have my contract with T Mobile cancelled without having to pay any penalty as stated in their own T&Cs. (7.2.3.3). According to their terms and conditions this can only be done on the phone but I always end talking with people outside the UK that have very little idea of what the RPI index is. Even one of them have told me that they were given an script to handle this kind of 'calls' after I spent 30 minutes on the phone begging to be transferred to someone that can help on this situation.

My complain I guess now has two different arms:

1st. I feel completely trapped and powerless on this situation. Although I understand that it good for business to move call centres away from home this also may represent a big complication when dealing with domestic issues. It seems that T-Mobile has made practically impossible for Customers to voice their concerns when it comes to their own T&Cs! Does a customer representative taking a call on foreign soil have enough legal attributions to discuss domestic legal procedures over T&Cs? Wouldn't T-Mobile also specify on their own T&Cs that cancellations could also be made in person or writing to an specific address located in the UK? After all, the T&Cs are regulated by English law... Because the only way of contacting them is by phone dialling 150, I have made sure (appealing to all possible human sensitivity) that every call (and argument) has been properly register on THEIR database.


2nd. The tariff increase has been sufficiently discussed in the media and in ALL consumer forums. At the time of receiving the letters communicating the tariff the ONLY official information available was the ONS website and therefore any customer (like me) wishing to check the veracity of the information provided by T-Mobile would have found that the RPI used on the letter was HIGHER than the one provided by the government.

Among all my calls to T-Mobile, one customer advisor told me that T-Mobile usually have meetings with the government and that's why they have 'better' information than the customers. Can anyone say anything worse??? Another one told me I could try returning the phone and see if they (T-Mobile) can re-sell it and pay the penalty for cancellation with that money. I have found any possible excuse under the sun from the call centre representatives but never a solution since they are actually powerless to make decisions themselves. They can only say what the computer screen tells them to say. Brilliant strategy from T-Mobile to keep us all trapped until the 30 days previous to the change of the tariff applies!

This situation has escalated to a point of nearly boiling. I have been a loyal customer of T-Mobile for the past 8 years and honestly, this is the first time I come across such a tremendous lack of respect, ethics and moral in the 23 years I have been a mobile telephone user...

I really feel trapped in this injustice and believe if I tell you that it has taken me a lot of consideration to write to you but I simply don't know where else to go.

I hope this summary is clear enough of the problem I am currently having. If necessary, please contact me at any time on my email or mobile number.