MSE News: O2 to hike its prices by 2.7% - can you leave your contract penalty-free?

DUTR

GolfBravo wrote: »

Yes, at the moment definitely not the most cost effective. Not even close.

When I renewed my old contract with O2 (September 2012) it suited me quite well. But my circumstances changed (lots of int. calls now). In the age of Skype and free international landline calls (TalkTalk) paying 60p, or even 40p, per minute is simply ridiculous. It just shows how greedy O2 really are.

In the future will definitely buy my phone upfront and then go PAYG, and then keep switching for best offers and good network.

It's not really about greedy though, whether you are self employed or have an employer, none will be standing without making a profit and as you know profits are taxed.
Years ago mobile phones were for the very rich only and thanks to the profits us at the bottom of the pile can enjoy ownership or usage, indeed it is often wiser to purchase the handset outright then you are not totally held to ransom at the networks.
And if you feel agrieved about them profiting then always buy the handset outright, and just pay for the airtime services you use, there are plenty of options to suit all users out there.

ChilliP2012

Just had a response from the CEO's office:

Dear xxxx

Thanks for your email to Ronan Dunne.

I’m sorry you’re unhappy with the announcement about our price change. This is in line with the Retail Price Index (RPI) inflation rate that was announced on 14 January 2014.

As we said in the announcement, we want to give customers the best possible service, for the best possible value. With the current Retail Price Index (RPI) rate of inflation at 2.7%, the cost of everything is going up. As a result, we’re adjusting the price of Pay Monthly Tariffs in line with RPI.

We're completely modernising our entire network and investing £1.5m every day on replacing and upgrading equipment to ensure our 2G and 3G networks continue to deliver the best experience for our customers. In just 5 months our 4G network is live in 13 cities and over 120 surrounding towns giving access to over 18 million people in the UK, that's 30% of the UK population. In the last year, we’ve also launched O2 Refresh and we continue to offer extras such as O2 Priority Moments, O2 Gurus, O2 Wifi and O2 Recycle.

A price rise is never welcome but it is covered in your Pay Monthly Mobile Agreement, which comply with applicable law and regulation. Ofcom’s recent “fixed means fixed” guidance applies only to new contracts made after 23rd January 2014 and the terms and conditions you agreed to when you signed up stated that we are entitled to increase your monthly subscription charge by no more than RPI and no more often than every 12 months. These terms are compliant with the body of general consumer protection law. Our advertising has also said ‘tariff prices may go up' since January 2013.

An increase of this kind does not entitle you to end your airtime agreement mid-contract without paying the remaining months of your subscription.

You’ll see the price increase from your March 2014 bill. There’s more information about this on our website here.

We trust this provides you with an adequate explanation of our decision.

Regards



O2 Executive Relations

Kind of expected this response, so now I've fired a response back to them quoting GolfBravo details given earlier on this thread. I am happy to fight them and if I lose, no big deal, if I win then I win.

Regardless of all the bickering that's going on about this, there is still no harm in trying. I'm not criticising people for bickering, they are, after all, entitled to their opinion.

parrysite

I got this response:

Dear Josh

Thanks for your email to Ronan Dunne.

I'm sorry about your recent experience. We’ll look into this and contact you soon.

We aim to resolve complaints within five working days. If you need to call us sooner, our number is 0845 330 0683 and we're open from 8am until 6pm Monday to Friday.

Kind regards

Jane Fakhrane

davethorp

ChilliP2012 wrote: »

Just had a response from the CEO's office:

Pretty much word for word to the response I got

DUTR

ChilliP2012 wrote: »

Just had a response from the CEO's office:



Kind of expected this response, so now I've fired a response back to them quoting GolfBravo details given earlier on this thread. I am happy to fight them and if I lose, no big deal, if I win then I win.

Regardless of all the bickering that's going on about this, there is still no harm in trying. I'm not criticising people for bickering, they are, after all, entitled to their opinion.

Well done for trying and not just talking about it, yes as you say a box standard PR reply just the name will be changed.

NittyGritty

AndyBSG wrote: »

Just been in touch with O2 myself telling them I want to cancel.

They quoted that RPI increases were covered in my contract so I hit them with the fact that the call charge increases weren't included and under CISAS regulations these represent a material detriment to me meaning I can cancel without penalty.

As soon as I said that they rolled over and i'll no longer be an O2 customer in 30 days.

Off to EE where my £37.15, 24 month contract will be replaced with a £22, 12 month sim only contract which gives me an extra 4GB of data and is a 4G one

have you had written/email confirmation or any form of confirmation that you can cancel/cancelled and wont be charged any termination fees yet?

parrysite

What did your original email to them say?

Here is mine:

Dear Ronan Dunne / O2,

I am writing to you concerning my Pay Monthly contract (under number 07XXXXXXX) and the way in which it was sold to me by one of your colleagues in the Liverpool Central Station branch.

Around 14 months ago I was sold a 24-month contract with an iPhone 5. When I bought the phone, 4G was a relatively new introduction to the market and O2 did not yet sell 4G contracts. However, due to my high internet usage I wanted to make sure that I’d be able to get 4G as and when it came out.

With this in mind I specifically asked your sales representative two questions. Firstly, whether I would be able to upgrade my contract to add 4G, and if the phone was capable of receiving 4G, and secondly, would my contract price remain the same throughout?

To both of these questions I was assured that my price would remain fixed, and I’d have the option to add 4G to my handset at an added monthly cost later down the line.

Neither of these answers are apparently true. With this in mind, I am requesting the cancellation of my contract without penalty for the following reasons:

1. The contract, point of sale material, and the salesperson did not make it clear that a price rise would or could occur during the contract. In fact, the salesman said it specifically wouldn’t. In his own words “If it does, we give you the right to cancel as long as you let us know within 30 days of us notifying you of the increase."

2. Raising prices in line with the Retail Prices Index causes me material detriment because (a) my own income has not risen by 2.7% and (b) in March 2013 the Office for National Statistics said RPI is no longer a national statistic which can be relied upon. The official measure of inflation is the CPI which rose by only 2%.

3. As well as the 2.7% rise inline with RPI, your out-of-bundle international calls have risen by a whopping 50%. As someone who makes frequent use of these calls, this will put me at further material detriment especially considering my normal bill will also rise 2.7%.

4. Therefore I am free to leave the contract without penalty under EU law.

5. So far my attempts to speak to any of your staff to resolve this matter have been futile. The wait for calling your support line was over an hour. Instead, I was recommended to use the online chat system. Both times I was pointed to o2’s website multiple times, before eventually being ignored by both representatives until I disconnected chat. As part of my contract, I was told that I would have access to top class customer service and online help. Clearly this represents neither.

If a member of your team could be in touch to arrange the cancellation of my contract without penalty, I would be most appreciative.


Sincereley,

streather

I shot them an email to the complaints address just now, should i forward the email to Ronan Dunne's email as well?

So far I tried chatting with them via the web chat and over the phone, I've been straight up lied to on chat, they've closed the chat window on me 3 times because I didn't reply quickly enough to them and I spent 2 hours 40 minutes in the queue for a customer service agent to answer over the span of 2 phone calls (i gave up after an hour the first time).


I was mildly annoyed before, now I'm kinda angry, so I am more than happy to push this as far as I can.

ChilliP2012

streather wrote: »

I shot them an email to the complaints address just now, should i forward the email to Ronan Dunne's email as well?

I would always go straight to the organ grinder and not the monkey. I'm not being derogatory by saying that, it's just a saying. I always tend to contact a CEO or someone senior with complaints similar to this. Not that I complain often.

So I would say fire it off to good old Ronan as well.

I remember back in 2007 when I worked for O2, that the emphasis on the frontline advisors were to put the customer first. Sadly it seems that since Ronan took over from the previous CEO (can't remember his name) it's money first.

-Edit-

Previous CEO was Matthew Key

dazzaofdagenham

DUTR wrote: »

It seems your distance will only be as far as the keyboard, but if you feel that is the most efficient way to use your energy then knock yourself out.



Probably not as much as your pride, especially when you want to obtain the latest shiny handset on credit.

Yes that's very true....however this was my first contract bought this ways, and my first go on O2

I liked the HTC one Nd it's a very good handset....however I've learnt O2 data in my area is average and the areas I go to even worse.

And according to them the area I work is a FULL 4G area.....very very slow on 4G