O2 RPI

SarahSarah30

Hello, 

I wanted advice. I took a contract out with o2 on 22nd March. They applied the RPI increase on 1st April which really surprised me within 8 days, I thought it would have been applied the April after (maybe a little naive). I hadn't realised until I received a bill and feel i've been missold as its now added a considerable amount onto my bill compared to what i signed up for. O2 said they will not resolve. Does anyone have any advice?

Thank you

jon81uk

Nothing in the O2 tersm says they wouldn't do that.

Pay Monthly Mobile Agreement | Terms and Conditions | O2

P1Fanatic

It catches a lot of folk out and yes its in the T&C's but I don't know how Mobile Operators get away with these RPI +X% raises annually, especially like in the OP's case where its within the 2nd month of a new contract. Imagine if Sky TV or Broadband operators were doing that?

Grumpy_chap

P1Fanatic said:

It catches a lot of folk out and yes its in the T&C's but I don't know how Mobile Operators get away with these RPI +X% raises annually, especially like in the OP's case where its within the 2nd month of a new contract. Imagine if Sky TV or Broadband operators were doing that?

Sky did do that to my Mum.

All totally outrageous

LittleMissDetermined

It might be worth raising it as a compliant to O2, because for it to be added to your bill you must have been told about the RPI price rises at the point of sale (no matter how you took it out).  If they neglected to inform you, you should be able cancel your contract without termination fees.  

If they did inform you, they have the right to reject your complaint and you will need to see out the length of your contract at the increased rate.

StevieJ

I noticed their were some decent deals to be had in March (as shown on MSE). I decided to wait until the price increase had kicked in but found that all the deal prices shot up after the increase. The same deals are now back down again. Their seems to be a sweet spot around mid to end of April where you (more or less) only have one price increase during your contract (2 year) and still get a decent deal. I feel sorry for customers that signed up at full prices in mid March and then had the price increase applied.

username

Grumpy_chap said:

P1Fanatic said:

It catches a lot of folk out and yes its in the T&C's but I don't know how Mobile Operators get away with these RPI +X% raises annually, especially like in the OP's case where its within the 2nd month of a new contract. Imagine if Sky TV or Broadband operators were doing that?

Sky did do that to my Mum.

All totally outrageous

A lot of broadband operators are doing that, the ones that do not are few and far between - mainly the smaller or independent providers.

It appears to be allowed because OFCOM are fairly toothless. I can just about fathom an inflationary increase, but why add the arbitrary percentage as well? It stings badly in the tough economic times.

grumbler

username said:

Grumpy_chap said:

P1Fanatic said:

It catches a lot of folk out and yes its in the T&C's but I don't know how Mobile Operators get away with these RPI +X% raises annually, especially like in the OP's case where its within the 2nd month of a new contract. Imagine if Sky TV or Broadband operators were doing that?

Sky did do that to my Mum.

All totally outrageous

It appears to be allowed because OFCOM are fairly toothless. I can just about fathom an inflationary increase, but why add the arbitrary percentage as well? It stings badly in the tough economic times.

Absolutely. And any fixed extra percent added annually results in exponential growth of the real price (adjusted for inflation). E.g. annual extra 4% means 48% increase over 10 years.

In my case, Vodafone, it's "additional 3.9% to continue essential investment in our network as we expand coverage".

P1Fanatic

Its very misleading - most people taking out a new contract in say March would have no idea it was about to increase the next month after signing a 1 or 2yr contract. The cost of network investment and maintenance should be built into the price quoted. You dont buy a car on finance and after 1 year they go oh its increasing due to RPI and cost of development etc.

[Deleted User]

They should be honouring the contract until it ends and this goes for everyone including TV, Broadband and phone companies. What is the point in having a "contract" if they can just raise the price when they feel. Absolutely shocking.

jon81uk

Deleted_User said:

They should be honouring the contract until it ends and this goes for everyone including TV, Broadband and phone companies. What is the point in having a "contract" if they can just raise the price when they feel. Absolutely shocking.

Because the terms of the contract state they can raise the prices by RPI plus 3.9% each April. They can’t raise it when they feel, only by when the contract states they can.