MSE News: Plans to improve mobile phone switching revealed 28 July 2015 at 1:55PM in Mobiles 9 replies 1.3K views

Former_MSE_Helen

Ofcom has today launched a consultation on how to improve mobile phone switching...

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Plans to improve mobile phone switching revealed




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gt94sss2

Not asking for a code means you don't need to contact your existing provider, which may encourage switching.

However, the disadvantage with NOT asking for some sort of code when you want to switch landline or mobile provider is that it means your existing firm can't offer you a special deal to stay.. or price match/beat the offer you want to change too - which many people may prefer instead.

As such, many customers will thus be worse off under the new system as they won't be able to negotiate in the same way..

Regards
Sunil

molerat

Maybe when more start switching the providers will become proactive in offering deals rather than seeing their existing customer base as cash cows.

eagle

I think number porting needs to be reformed to make it even faster than the one day that it takes and agree with OFCOM that only one network should be contacted to move. When I changed banks, I didn't tell my old bank I was leaving, just went to my new bank and signed up and they did everything else for me.

More needs to be done however when things go wrong and the number only partially moves across. There are countless posts on the forums here that seem to point to a trend. I'm not aware of what has technically gone wrong at one of the two networks' ends, but people have reportedly received calls on their old network whilst only being able to make outgoing calls on the new network which would be quite hard to work with for some individuals (owing to the fact that two phones need to be carried temporarily, among other things too).

Finally, I agree with the post by molerat that networks need to do more to retain existing customers and to reward loyalty. Competition is not always about being able to move elsewhere.

diamonds

Frankly slamming happens when the outgoing telco is not involved with customer agreement of a PAC... why the whole system can't be automated via text example: PAC to 100 industry wide and the PAC is then sent to the customer, this gives networks 2 hours to produce a PAC (and thus a window for negotiations to stay after the reply with PAC)

grumbler

What about PAYG for which ID is hardly ever checked?

Can I buy a new SIM card for £1 and then call the provider asking to port my worst enemy's number to my new sim?:think:

Even worse if this enemy is at the start of 24-months' contract and will be hit by the ETF :dance:

If the providers start requesting ID proofs for PAYG, this hardly can be called 'improvement'.

Road to hell is paved with good intentions............................. of our beloved Ofcom.

MSE wrote:

You have to do the legwork and plan accordingly so you're not stuck paying two contracts for longer than necessary.

Guy_Anker wrote:

The process to switch mobile phone provider is convoluted and admin-heavy, and customers need to keep on top of the switch to avoid paying twice

I don't see how the new system can change anything in terms of paying twice as most providers still require 30-days' notice.

reddwarf2002

Just remember that anything that is oversimplified to help the thick and the lazy usually comes at a premium for everyone else. Just look at the simplification of non-geogrphic charges and what it has done to call charges.

Having to phone up the existing network means that the customer can negotiate a better deal, if one is available.

mobilejunkie

How true. The road of good intentions is littered with such examples... credit cards, banks (apparently the do-gooders would prefer us all to pay charges so existing charges aren't "hidden"), pensions (at least up until the more recent reforms, which may eventually produce an army of numbsculls who ended up getting conned, taxed or spending too much too soon and then come on forums like this to blame eveyone else for allowing them the freedom to make bad mistakes) and so on.

reddwarf2002

In order to 'simplify' all call charges (not just non-geographic) all OFCOM needed to do was ensure that every telecom provider had a way to turn on (or off) a call rate announcement at the begining of every call so the caller knew exactly how much that call was going to cost. But, ofcourse, that would be far too easy...

bbb_uk

The problem is also going to be any early termination charges, for those still in contract.

If I'm with Orange and want to move to o2, and ring o2 who then arrange to port my number without me contacting Orange. Suddenly, I get an early termination charge because I got dates mixed up and thought I was out of contract when I wasn't.

Even if you did know you were still in contract, it's difficult to know what the early termination charge is as this information is generally not easy to find at all.