O2, Three and Virgin Mobile Price Hikes

BUFF

No, because the contracts were worded differently when taken out.

anotheruser

Not sure why people choose these operators.
They will continue to raise prices for as long as people will continue to go with them.

tastyfish

HaroldWren5 said:

Briskly said:

I Have a couple of phones where the Virgin contract has expired so I pay on a 30 day rolling basis and am free to leave. Looks like I will get hit by the 11.7% hike in April. They are currently offering some good SIM only deals. I can't get any sense out of thme as to whether these offer prices - which start at £6/m - will all be hiked by11.7% on 1/4. Don't want to sign up to this for an instant price hike. Grateful for any info or help. 

I was wondering the same thing. What is the cut off point where a new contract isn't subject to any hike?

I took out a new 18-month contract with VM mid-Feb before the 1st March price hike. All the new info they sent confirms the new monthly price for 18 months. There's no mention of increases due to any hikes. Best thing to do is check with them when you haggle.

Over £540 saved on BB/TV/LL over 18 months having downgraded from what would've been Maxit TV to Mixit!

TopTip
It's incredibly difficult to compare anywhere on VM website what channels are covered by each Mixit/Maxit TV package. There is a list here.

If you are are already on VM and considering reducing the number of channels but don't know which ones may be affected then do the following:
1. Before you call them add all your favourite channels to 'Favourites'
2. Call them and haggle for prices for both Mixit and Maxit packages. Make sure you stay polite and friendly!
3. Any changes to TV applied immediately. If any of your favourite channels are greyed out then you've lost them.
4. If that bothers you then remember you have 14 days cooling off during which you can ask them if you can go on the other package instead.

datlex

HaroldWren5 said:

Briskly said:

I Have a couple of phones where the Virgin contract has expired so I pay on a 30 day rolling basis and am free to leave. Looks like I will get hit by the 11.7% hike in April. They are currently offering some good SIM only deals. I can't get any sense out of thme as to whether these offer prices - which start at £6/m - will all be hiked by11.7% on 1/4. Don't want to sign up to this for an instant price hike. Grateful for any info or help. 

I was wondering the same thing. What is the cut off point where a new contract isn't subject to any hike?

I am intrigued too.  There must be a sweet spot where your price is actually fixed for a year.  But whether that the very apt date of 1st April is unclear.

flaneurs_lobster

datlex said:

HaroldWren5 said:

Briskly said:

I Have a couple of phones where the Virgin contract has expired so I pay on a 30 day rolling basis and am free to leave. Looks like I will get hit by the 11.7% hike in April. They are currently offering some good SIM only deals. I can't get any sense out of thme as to whether these offer prices - which start at £6/m - will all be hiked by11.7% on 1/4. Don't want to sign up to this for an instant price hike. Grateful for any info or help. 

I was wondering the same thing. What is the cut off point where a new contract isn't subject to any hike?

I am intrigued too.  There must be a sweet spot where your price is actually fixed for a year.  But whether that the very apt date of 1st April is unclear.

My current Vodafone contract ends 15 April, last payment on 25 March. No sign of a price hike for the last 15 days (yet). I'm guessing that the "sweet spot " to set up a new contract will be around 5 April? Any pricing for annual contracts must then be fixed for the year? 

datlex

Popped into an O2 store yesterday.  Guy in there told me that new contract on that day would be impacted by the April price rise.  However if take out after 27th then price rise will not apply.

Supatramp

 Been with Virgin for several years, but already suffered a nearly 2 day of no signal when an O2 mast went down.

Just switched to BT/EE and saved myself £60 a month.

joeypesci

Have been with Three for over 10 years ONLY because they were always cheap. On 20GB of data but I'm on WIFI all the time now. Only £10 a month. The contract ended some months ago and I've stayed on rolling at £10 a month but they've finally said they can't offer that any more so will put me on a new contract in 30 days. So time to move. I'm requesting a PAC code because their signal, in those 10 years has always been poor but they've always been cheap. So time to move. My partner is with Vodafone who has a very good signal where ever we go and in those places I always have a poor signal. So time to move away, the Vodafone contract will only be £10 for pretty much the same deal.

quartile

I wish I'd seen this thread before buying two phones on o2 contacts on the 23rd March. Now i discover that if i had waited one day i would have not be hit with an 11.7% raise.
Pretty unimpressed with both mobile phones direct and o2 as the deal was advertised as £23 pm not £26 pm after one day. 
O2 webchat just say it's in the t&cs.

flaneurs_lobster

quartile said:

I wish I'd seen this thread before buying two phones on o2 contacts on the 23rd March. Now i discover that if i had waited one day i would have not be hit with an 11.7% raise.
Pretty unimpressed with both mobile phones direct and o2 as the deal was advertised as £23 pm not £26 pm after one day. 
O2 webchat just say it's in the t&cs.

If you took out those contracts online or on the phone then you can cancel within 14 days without penalty (other than call charges). You might even be able to just cancel the airtime bit to save any hassle w/ returning phones. Worth a go to save £36/yr.