Tmobile price increase

Lifes_Grand_Plan

stoney73 wrote: »

Some minor changes, but nothing that would amount to much. Only thing I added in was some of what RandomCurve had posted, emphasizing the difference in how T-mobile behaved in applying the increase from 2012 to 2013.
I also tweaked the amount I was asking for in damages, from little to very little, emphasizing that I was being reasonable.

Good luck.

Excellent, thanks.

If it helps anyone else, I included the table below in my response to show the inconsistency:

d123

Just had a decision on my CISAS adjudication :T.

Decision
1. The claim succeeds.
2. I direct that the company should process the customer’s request to terminate his contract without penalty and back date this to 7 April 2013, waiving all charges incurred on the account after this date. Further, the company should provide the customer with his PAC.

Lifes_Grand_Plan

d123 wrote: »

Just had a decision on my CISAS adjudication :T.

WOOHOO!!!!!

Did T-Mobile defend your claim at all?

Did you put in for any compensation on top?

Great news, well done. I bet you are very smug, I certainly would be...

Man in the street 1, big bad corporate 0. :j

d123

Lifes_Grand_Plan wrote: »

WOOHOO!!!!!

Did T-Mobile defend your claim at all?

Yes, about 3 pages of waffle by their legal counsel.

Did you put in for any compensation on top?

No, just asked for a refund of all payments backdated to the 7th of April.

Great news, well done. I bet you are very smug, I certainly would be...

Man in the street 1, big bad corporate 0. :j

Yes, feels good, especially after having to deal with an extremely smug [STRIKE]cow[/STRIKE] woman at EE.

Mav1874

d123 wrote: »

Just had a decision on my CISAS adjudication :T.

What T&C's was your case based on? Pre or Post?

anna2007

d123 wrote: »

Just had a decision on my CISAS adjudication :T.

Me too d123 - woop-woop!! :j

Both contracts (one post-Oct & one pre-Oct) to be cancelled, backdated to 6 April
Any and all charges since this date to be refunded
Full £200 compensation claimed to be paid
Oh, and a written apology from a TM representative (what are the chances that this will come from Mr Swantee :wave: himself?)

What a fantastic feeling, to be reassured that these companies are not above the law, and that they can't treat their customers with such contempt and expect to get away with it!

Bye-Bye Mr Swantee - I will NEVER pay money over to your company again.

lazyjack

Just a quick post to say that I am very pleased to read that you have been successful in getting EE to adhere to their own T&C. Lets hope everyone else is just as successful.

Any decent company would have held their hands up when the mistake was highlighted, the way EE have handled this will leave their reputation in tatters. All because they were too greedy and weren't happy with a 3% increase.

EDIT: perhaps EE should be forced to write to all customers affected advising them of their right to cancel penalty free.

Chimper

Great news to hear CISAS have made the right decision. I hope they'll be consistent in their adjudications now.

I've a couple of days before I need to get my reply to T-Mobile's defence in, but will try and complete it tonight now.

Well done :T

daveuk1

d123 wrote: »

Just had a decision on my CISAS adjudication :T.

Congrats. Out of interest, did CISAS provide their reasoning behind the decision or just the decision itself?

RandomCurve

All below is an email I sent to Ofcom (and the media) on 10th May - I know others did to.



Do YOU ALL want it send again?

[EMAIL="graham.howell@ofcom.org.uk"]graham.howell@ofcom.org.uk[/EMAIL],
[EMAIL="vaizeye@parliament.uk"]vaizeye@parliament.uk[/EMAIL],
[EMAIL="enquiries@oft.gsi.gov.uk"]enquiries@oft.gsi.gov.uk[/EMAIL],
[EMAIL="News.london@ukmetro.co.uk"]News.london@ukmetro.co.uk[/EMAIL],
[EMAIL="home@guardian.co.uk"]home@guardian.co.uk[/EMAIL],
[EMAIL="which@which.co.uk"]which@which.co.uk[/EMAIL],
[EMAIL="editor@thisismoney.co.uk"]editor@thisismoney.co.uk[/EMAIL],
[EMAIL="home.news@thetimes.co.uk"]home.news@thetimes.co.uk[/EMAIL],
[EMAIL="Watchdog@bbc.co.uk"]Watchdog@bbc.co.uk[/EMAIL],
[EMAIL="uknewsplan@bbc.co.uk"]uknewsplan@bbc.co.uk[/EMAIL],
[EMAIL="news@sky.com"]news@sky.com[/EMAIL],
[EMAIL="james.smith@pressassociation.com"]james.smith@pressassociation.com[/EMAIL],
[EMAIL="ean@ft.com"]ean@ft.com[/EMAIL],
[EMAIL="News.desk@express.co.uk"]News.desk@express.co.uk[/EMAIL],
[EMAIL="geordie.greg@standard.co.uk"]geordie.greg@standard.co.uk[/EMAIL],
[EMAIL="newsdesk@men-new.co.uk"]newsdesk@men-new.co.uk[/EMAIL],
[EMAIL="mirrornews@mgn.co.uk"]mirrornews@mgn.co.uk[/EMAIL],
[EMAIL="news@the-sun.co.uk"]news@the-sun.co.uk[/EMAIL],
[EMAIL="steve.hawkes@the-sun.co.uk"]steve.hawkes@the-sun.co.uk[/EMAIL],
[EMAIL="paul.dacre@dailymail.co.uk"]paul.dacre@dailymail.co.uk[/EMAIL],
[EMAIL="news@moneysavingexpert.com"]news@moneysavingexpert.com[/EMAIL],
[EMAIL="itvplanning@itn.co.uk"]itvplanning@itn.co.uk[/EMAIL],
[EMAIL="news@channel4.com"]news@channel4.com[/EMAIL],
[EMAIL="news@five.tv"]news@five.tv[/EMAIL],
[EMAIL="executive.office@orange.co.uk"]executive.office@orange.co.uk[/EMAIL],
[EMAIL="olaf.swantee@ee.co.uk"]olaf.swantee@ee.co.uk[/EMAIL]

Is Ofcom awake yet?

Dear Graham,

Further to the email you received in early May (reproduced below) regarding the T-Mobile price rise where you were informed that 2 million customers were being "bullied" by T-Mobile into accepting a price rise above that which triggered a penalty free cancellation, but Ofcom had stated it had reviewed what was happening and T-Mobile had acted reasonably You may like to know that CISAS are now starting to rule in favour of T-Mobiles customers and allowing a penalty free cancellation back dated to April.

Can you explain to the customer how Ofcom was caught napping when you had received so many emails informing you of what was happening?

Also can you confirm what action Ofcom will now take? I would suggest that anything short of that suggested in point 3 in the original email under the heading " What will OFCOMs response be?" would be woefully short of what the customer expects in order to avoid Ofcom being viewed as nothing more than a puppet for the industry

Regards

X


Dear Graham from OFCOM,

I am writing in connection with the comment attributed your organisation in an article on MSE http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/phones/2013/05/t-mobile-users-attempt-to-escape-price-hike written by Helen Knapman on May 7th, with regards to the T-Mobile price rise advised to customers’ in April 2013. In that article OFCOM is quoted as follows:

“Telecommunications regulator Ofcom adds that it has examined EE's terms and conditions and says: "We consider the approach they [EE] have taken is reasonable and do not consider that we need to take further action."

Well 2 million other T-Mobile customers - would like to know what evidence you based that statement on.

I am NOT asking you to comment on my individual case, nor am I asking you to rule on if the T-Mobile increase is legal – that is something that will be decided in the courts. I am asking for two specific things:
1. On what evidence did you base your statement on? And
2. Should the courts subsequently decide that the price rise is indeed illegal (or more likely T-Mobile withdraw the price rise) what action will OFCOM take?

Evidence used?

Before comment on this case OFCOM would obviously have availed itself of the facts and is aware that there are TWO different sets of T&Cs in operation, but just to refresh your memory on what has been happening:
· On or around the 6th April T-Mobile wrote to customers imposing a price increase of 3.3% based on CURRENT RPI
· At that time the CURRENT RPI was 3.2% (February RPI published on 19th March)
Obviously customers now believe they have a right to cancellation as the price increase is HIGHER than CURRENT RPI.
When questioned by customers as to what rate has been applied to their contracts because it was unclear the response received (from customer services AND the Orange (?) Executive office) was as follows:
· First Response – it is January RPI 3.3% (published on February 12th)
· Second Response –it is March RPI 3.3% because we “anticipated” the March RPI (Position changed on 16th April - after March RPI is published (coincidence?) and 10 days after the letter price was letter was sent)
And for customers whose contracts started on or after the 1st Oct 2012 SOME are now being treated to a third reponse:
· Third Response - It is January, but this is because it was unreasonable to use February RPI as that would have given only 13 working days - so T-Mobile took 36 days (excluding weekends and Bank holidays to write). For reference in 2012 T-Mobile took an average of 7 days to send letters out, but as the REGULATOR you would have been aware of these facts!

Given that TM has total control of:
1. Its non-negotiated T&Cs;
2. Which RPI it chooses to use;
3. The date of the letter;
4. The wording of the letter;
5. And the date the price rise is effective.

Then how did you conclude it was reasonable that T-Mobile required up to THREE different attempts (Two of which have been “cleared by our legal department” and some were sent “on behalf of Mr Swantee) to answer the question – this on its own must warrant an investigation to ensure T-Mobile are not trying to side-step its’ legal obligations! –you are a REGULATOR!
1. What explanations did T-Mobile give OFCOM for this behaviour,
a. I assume you asked!
2. And how did you satisfy yourselves that the answer was genuine
a. surely you would not take it at face value –as you are the REGULATOR

When does “BEFORE” in a contract mean “AFTER”?
(when it is a T-Mobile contract REVIEWED by OFCOM)
One final thing on reasonable behaviour
· If customers have a contract that states T-Mobile have to use an RPI rate PUBLISHED in the month BEFORE the month in which the letter is sent
Why do OFCOM believe that if T-Mobile
· use a rate PUBLISHED AFTER the letter was received
This is REASONABLE behaviour?

I look forward to reading Helens next article on this where OFCOM explain how the above is a reasonable way for T-Mobile to treat their (ex) customers. Also any guidance that you could give as to what WOULD constitute unreasonable behaviour is most welcome.



What will OFCOMs response be?

If T-Mobile rescinds the price rise, or the courts rule it illegal what action will OFCOM take?
1. Say “all’s well” because the increase has been withdrawn?
a. I.e. DO NOTHING – where is the deterrent for companies not to behave like this if the REGULATOR responds so weakly? So this can’t be right!
2. Fine T-Mobile thereby swelling OFCOMS income?
a. So the customer who fought for justice gets NOTHING whilst the REGULATOR who did NOTHING gets rewarded – that can’t be right! Or
3. Require T-Mobile to:
a. Honour all the cancellation requests they have had back dated to the date requested plus £20 per communication for damages, and
b. Write to all customers who received the price increase letter explaining that between early April (when letters were sent) and May 9th (when price rise came into effect) customers DID have the right to cancel without penalty, and as T-Mobile never made that clear they are now giving those customers who want to a FURTHER 30 DAYS to terminate their contract without penalty – which will be BACK DATED to 21st April (mid way between when the letter was sent and when the right to cancel passed)?
i. Now that would be FAIR and is a DETERERRENT and the actions of a REGULATOR!


I look forward to your response



Regards


For further information on this email and the FULL STORY of just how badly T-Mobile has been treating its customers please contact [EMAIL="eerandomcurve@gmail.com"]eerandomcurve@gmail.com[/EMAIL]