Carphone Warehouse Vodafone RPI Increases

bp90

Dear Money Savers,

I recently noticed that my Vodafone bill has increased by £1.66 per month, from £42 to £43.66. The RPI increase indicated by Vodafone is 3.2%. Clearly, this doesn't add up. When I looked into it, it soon became clear that having signed up for my contract at Carphone Warehouse, I was actually on a £52 plan with a £10 discount applied - now the increase of £1.66 makes sense, as this is 3.2% of £52. My issue is with the fact that I didn't realise I had signed up to a £52 plan with a £10 discount, the price was always quoted as £42! I realise that the difference is small i.e. £1.34 versus £1.66, but that's hardly the point. It means that my percentage increase is nearer 4%.

What do you all think? Is this sneaky? Should Carphone Warehouse make it clearer that the price being quoted is actually after the application of a discount and that RPI increases will be on the pre-discounted price?

All the best,

bp90

mobilejunkie

Of course; of course. Good luck trying to get either "organisation" to do anything about it.

d123

bp90 wrote: »

Dear Money Savers,

I recently noticed that my Vodafone bill has increased by £1.66 per month, from £42 to £43.66. The RPI increase indicated by Vodafone is 3.2%. Clearly, this doesn't add up. When I looked into it, it soon became clear that having signed up for my contract at Carphone Warehouse, I was actually on a £52 plan with a £10 discount applied - now the increase of £1.66 makes sense, as this is 3.2% of £52. My issue is with the fact that I didn't realise I had signed up to a £52 plan with a £10 discount, the price was always quoted as £42! I realise that the difference is small i.e. £1.34 versus £1.66, but that's hardly the point. It means that my percentage increase is nearer 4%.

What do you all think? Is this sneaky? Should Carphone Warehouse make it clearer that the price being quoted is actually after the application of a discount and that RPI increases will be on the pre-discounted price?

All the best,

bp90

So what price did the contract you signed say the line rental was?

If it says £52 and you signed it, you don't really have cause to complain, you are supposed to check what you're signing.

bp90

You're absolutely right! However, the contract, in this case, does state £42.00. I think this is an incongruity between the Carphone and Vodafone systems. Carphone sell this as a £42 contract but Vodafone recognises it as their equivalent £52 bundle with a £10 discount.

I think I'll see if I can use this to nullify my contract, as I'm finding the Vodafone network incredibly poor in comparison to EE - the network I moved from.

All the best,

bp90

20aday

OP you could argue you were mis-sold the tariff but in terms of cancelling the contract due to RPI you'd be unable to I'm afraid; unless the increase was above the rate of inflation it's in their Terms and Conditions that they'll increase it every April based on the figures published in the preceding February.

gycraig_2

20aday wrote: »

OP you could argue you were mis-sold the tariff but in terms of cancelling the contract due to RPI you'd be unable to I'm afraid; unless the increase was above the rate of inflation it's in their Terms and Conditions that they'll increase it every April based on the figures published in the preceding February.

The arguement op has is that he signed a 42 quid contract but is being charged the rpi increase of a 52 pound contract

bp90

Just to keep you up-to-date...

This is currently with the Vodafone Deadlock Team. They still insist that I'm on a £52 plan with a £10 discount. On a call with a senior advisor, it was even admitted that if it was a £52 plan, my contract would state £52 - my contract definitely has £42 written on it. I was never informed that the plan was £52 and my signature isn't on anything that even mentions £52. Here's hoping that the Deadlock team agree with me, otherwise it looks as though I'll be contacting the ombudsman. If anyone has any advice regarding this process, please let me know.

All the best,

bp90

Browntoa

as far as I'm aware ALL the operators rewrote their terms a while back to allow RPI increases without invoking a break clause , your FULL tariff is used for the calculation , then any discount applied , so you will get £10 off the increased price




for example


https://www.vodafone.co.uk/explore/costs/rpi/




Retail Price Index (RPI) annual price adjustments

All new Pay monthly contracts taken out on or after 5 May 2016, and Mobile Broadband contracts taken out on or after 28 September 2016 (including upgrades), have an annual price adjustment in line with the Retail Price Index (RPI).
The Retail Price Index (RPI) is a widely recognised measure of the UK’s general level of inflation and is used by many industries as a guide on whether to adjust prices, and by how much.
For consumer contracts, we use the RPI figure published by the Office for National Statistics in March and apply the change in April each year from 2017. Business Premier plans use the figure set in January, and apply the change in April each year.
If you’re on an existing contract purchased before 5 May 2016 or a Business Premier plan purchased before 5 June 2016, it'll still be covered by our Fixed Price Promise, so you won’t see any RPI adjustment.


2017 RPI changes

The RPI figure published in January 2017 is 2.5%. If you’re on a Business Premier plan that started after 6 June 2016, you’ll see this change from your April bill.
The RPI figure published in March 2017 is 3.2%. If you’re on a Pay monthly contract taken out on or after 5 May 2016 or a Mobile Broadband contract taken out on or after 28 September 2016 (including upgrades) you’ll see this change from your April bill.


Frequently asked questions

Does this mean the Fixed Price Promise is finishing?

For new and upgrading customers yes, but we’ll continue to honour our Fixed Price Promise to customers who purchased a Pay monthly bundle before 5 May 2016 until the end of their contract.


http://www.o2.co.uk/prices


Retail Price Index (RPI) and your Pay Monthly airtime tariff

Each year, your Pay Monthly airtime tariff will be adjusted according to the Retail Price Index (RPI) rate of inflation. This rate is announced in February and your bill will be adjusted by this amount in April.

RPI is a widely recognized measure of the general level of inflation and several industries use it as a guide on whether to adjust prices, as well as by how much. If you're on O2, RPI can impact your Pay Monthly tariff, including your O2 Refresh Airtime Plan (but not the Device Plan), your sim only tariff, standard tariff and mobile broadband tariff.

For Business customers, RPI can impact all eligible mobile voice monthly line rental charges, Business Essentials airtime plan (not device plan), SIM only tariffs, mobile broadband tariffs and Pop Up Office tariffs.

This year's RPI was published on 14 February and is 2.6%.

If you have joined or upgraded before 13 February 2017, we'll be sending you a message soon telling you about the adjustment and how it impacts your contract. If you joined or upgraded after this date, we'd have told you about it before you'd signed up.

From April onwards, as well as changes to your monthly airtime bill, we’ve also increased charges for calls outside your monthly allowance (not applicable to business customers). Charges for international calls and other additional services have also changed – unless you have a business tariff or mobile broadband tariff.

bp90

Hi Browntoa,

I completely understand what you're saying and I agree that you are correct. The reason for my dispute is that my full tariff is only £42, as per the contract, but Vodafone claims that I am on a £52 tariff despite this not being in my contract or having been communicated to me in person at Carphone Warehouse.

Kind regards,

bp90