EE increasing international call rates

Isaac88

Hi all,

I'm currently an EE pay monthly customer, on a fixed 24 month contract.

I received an email from EE today stating that they were increasing international call rates - as I have family in Australia this would severly affect me. They are increasing the cost of international calls from £1.00 a minute to £1.60 a minute.


I have called their customer service team and requested to have my contract cancelled with no cancellation charges, as per the 2014 Ofcom ruling, and as per their own contract terms, which state:

8.4 A Cancellation Charge and/or an Additional Commitment Service Cancellation Charge won’t apply if You are within the Minimum Term and:



8.4.1 Our entitlement to operate the Network ends at any time; or

8.4.2 Your access to Our Network is permanently disrupted and in accordance with point 4.5 Your Monthly Charges are reduced by 100% for the remainder of Your Minimum Term; or

8.4.3 You are a Consumer and the change that We gave You Written Notice of in point 12.3 is of material detriment to You and You give Us notice to immediately cancel this Agreement before the change takes effect; or

8.4.4 We have given You Written Notice of an increase in a Price Plan Charge that is higher than the annual percentage increase in the Retail Price Index (RPI) as calculated in point 7.4; and

8.4.5 You give Us notice to immediately cancel this Agreement before the change takes effect.

They gave me some nonsense about how because I have only made 2 minutes of international calls so far in my contract (I'm currently 4 months in) it wouldn't really affect me, and so I can't get out of it.

I get a feeling that this is quite clearly a load of rubbish - is that correct? Or do they have a valid defense?

dealer_wins

Use whatsapp/skype/voip at both ends, cost is £0 per minute

Ian011

Isaac88 wrote: »

I received an email from EE today stating that they were increasing international call rates - as I have family in Australia this would severly affect me. They are increasing the cost of international calls from £1.00 a minute to £1.60 a minute.

I hope you haven't been paying that sort of money for international calls. There are plenty of ways of making these calls for a few pence per minute or less.

johnbremner

I'm going to call them tomorrow as these price hikes will certainly affect me.
Its easy to suggest WhatsApp and similar apps but free usage of them relies on having free data access eg WiFi who for somebody like myself that travels abroad frequently due to work requirements - is hard to come by.

Could anybody have a look at my post in a similar thread and help me out in regards to my argument for Material Detriment? If their only reason for now allowing a fee free cancellation was that you haven't used much data then im pretty sure my bills support that I do frequently use these services.

Edit: (Question) In the process of cancelling under material detriment, if they try to go the way of saying I should take out another price plan, what should I say in response?

johnbremner wrote: »

Hi Guys,

So I've too received this E-Mail, quite frankly its the last straw.
At the time of Purchase I was happy with the contract - personal work circumstances changed which requires me to travel abroad to the USA/Canada. at my last stint overseas, I had Family trauma at home which resulted in me having to maintain frequent contact with home.

I feel like this 60% hike is definitely going to negatively impact me in the coming weeks months ahead as I prepare for another trip out there.

I've attached a copy of my last bill from when I was out there (shocking I know) Feel Free to jest at it. (Sadly I can't attach links yet but total bill with OOB charges was £710)

Now I'm looking for some help in being able to piece together a formal cancellation request on the grounds of these price hikes,

I know they are out of bundle charges but surely they come under the bracket of services sold along side the contract and material detriment applies?

Any help would be massively appreciated on this guys.


Best,

John Bremner

dealer_wins

Talk about choosing the wrong price plan lol

johnbremner

dealer_wins wrote: »

Talk about choosing the wrong price plan lol

I totally agree. But at the time of taking out the contract i had no reason to even think about OOB charges, but now I do.

Just looking for a bit ammunition to challenge the price hikes.

simax

Why on earth don't you buy roaming bundles? 120 mins for £20 works out at 16.7p/min if all used? And you can stack them in multiples. Paying OOB rates for roaming at your level is borderline lunacy.

IDD rates from the UK can be reduced for free to 60 countries (inc USA) with the calling abroad add on. 5p/min for calls to the USA with that.

Roger1

If it were me, I'd be thinking of leaving at the earliest opportunity.

A couple of ideas:

http://www.togglemobile.co.uk
UK-Australia 3p/minute landlines, 9p/minute mobiles when you use their local number. You can have a permanent Oz number for £5 a year. Other markets at similar rates. You'd need an unlocked phone for Toggle. No contract.

http://www.three.co.uk/Discover/Phones/Feel_At_Home
When in Australia, as a Three user, you may be able to call the UK within your plan at UK rates but not if you make too much use of the service. Other markets too. With or without contract.

In both cases, check the details first.

Ian011

There are numerous dial-through providers that offer 03 access numbers with no further charge for the onwards international leg of the call. Many of those include Australia as a valid destination.

boatman

johnbremner wrote: »

I'm going to call them tomorrow as these price hikes will certainly affect me.
Its easy to suggest WhatsApp and similar apps but free usage of them relies on having free data access eg WiFi who for somebody like myself that travels abroad frequently due to work requirements - is hard to come by.

Could anybody have a look at my post in a similar thread and help me out in regards to my argument for Material Detriment? If their only reason for now allowing a fee free cancellation was that you haven't used much data then im pretty sure my bills support that I do frequently use these services.

Edit: (Question) In the process of cancelling under material detriment, if they try to go the way of saying I should take out another price plan, what should I say in response?

Its none of their business if you do or don't take out another price plan, this is about your current contract and whether you accept or reject the changes.
As has been pointed out they already increase line rental by RPI every year, these other increases will impact you heavily on top of those, sounds like you have every right to leave. Write a special delivery(better than recorded delivery) letter to them stating you wish to terminate your contract as you will suffer material detriment because of the intended price increases.

johnbremner

Called today - The advisor couldn't put me through to cancellations because I didnt agree to the cancellation fee - despite it written in contract 8.4.3 / 12.4.2/3 that I'm not required to if Material Detriment occurs.

I believe EE admitted Material Detriment due to the fact they offered me various add-ons that would 'alleviate' situation but still cost extra per month.
Disagreed with this on the basis that no option provided by EE would incur no extra cost to me.

Reached a Manager who discussed discounts for calling abroad none of which I agreed to me - that as somebody who frequently travels I will be at the peril of these increases.

Came off the phone to find the Calling Abroad Add-on had been added to my account despite not explicitly agreeing to this - it does incur a monthly cost to use this add on. Why Was this added?!?!

EE stated that they believe no material impact was placed upon me due to it being my choice to use the, - I stated that it was unavoidable as I had not only signed up to the EE Core Subscription and its RPI increases but also to the EE Eco System and service - of a locked phone - and that because of these Material Detriment occurs through any price increase over and above the agreed RPI increases that occurred in March 2016.

I opened a complaint with the manager and was told there was no complaints department - and stated I would be issuing a complaint in writing and passing on this complaint to Ofcom.



Next Steps? on wording the Email? or should it be a letter? I need out of this contract. I cant afford to be at any more financial peril. due to price increases.