How are "in contract" price rises factored into what is presented on the MSE Cheap Mobiles site...

IanRoyTurton

I have an issue that I CANNOT do accurate comparisons using this site.  Sorry.

Many (most?) supliers have these iniquitous "in contract rises". Yes, I know they tell you before. So what ? It is cartelised isn't it?  3.9% PLUS inflation? Wish I could get my pension going up like that!   

But the issue is when I see deal x at 'a' upfront then 'b' per month it isn't really that cost is it? These are often 24 month contracts. So if I take it out now (black Friday time, ish) - and I am locked in - then there going to be TWO prices rises to the monthly cost.  I assume (might be a bad assumption) that the cost I'm paying is part phone, part airtime. But these are NOT split out. So how do i check ONLY the airtime cost is being incremented?  Can't trust suppliers can we?  Surely that can't be incrementing the phone elements by these amounts?

These increments (why 3.9% plus inflation? Ofcom being useless, again?) are significant.  Could be 13% year one at current likely inflation, then another 13% on top of that for year 2. 

Frankly, I expect better from MArtin ;-)

grumbler

IanRoyTurton said:

Frankly, I expect better from MArtin ;-)

Better how? The comparison refreshed daily? Weekly? The exact total price depends on the day when  the contract starts. And inflation can be unknown even for the first price rise, let alone the second.

Neil49

I really don't know what the OP expects given that he's talking about unknown factors in the future. 

I think it's time to get the crystal ball out again. 

BUFF

I don't know about other suppliers but O2 split out 'phone & airtime.
Personally, unless you want to live on the bleeding/fashionable edge all the time I would say buy your 'phone outright one way or another & go sim free.

molerat

BUFF said:

I don't know about other suppliers but O2 split out 'phone & airtime.
Personally, unless you want to live on the bleeding/fashionable edge all the time I would say buy your 'phone outright one way or another & go sim free.

These unjustifiable "because the useless regulator allows it" rises apply to SIM only contracts as well.

mjm3346

"These increments (why 3.9% plus inflation? Ofcom being useless, again?) are significant.  Could be 13% year one at current likely inflation, then another 13% on top of that for year 2. "

The inflation rise is just standing still money the extra value to them is only the 3.9 %

BUFF

molerat said:

BUFF said:

I don't know about other suppliers but O2 split out 'phone & airtime.
Personally, unless you want to live on the bleeding/fashionable edge all the time I would say buy your 'phone outright one way or another & go sim free.

These unjustifiable "because the useless regulator allows it" rises apply to SIM only contracts as well.

I know but I didn't address that, only the alleged not splitting out part (demonstrably wrong at least for O2).

The suggestion of buying outright & going sim only was because in my experience that works out the cheapest way overall esp. now that most 'phones are good for more than 2 years. Also, if you get a 12 month sim only contract at the right time you can avoid/reset the RPI increase. Or of course get a rolling 30 day contract.

armith

To be honest the Mobile Finder tool is probably not the best thing on the MSE site. The forum is better for finding information about deals. When White Mobile announced they were (effectively) shutting down I decided to move. The tool suggested a load of options but I ended up going with one that isn't on the site - RWG. It might cost me 10 to 20p a month more than the recommended cheapest but, for me, the simplicity of RWG (£3.50 a month for unlimited calls and texts and a bit of data) and the promise of "no price increase until at least 1st January 2024" swung it. 

SIM-only is such a hugely competitive market that it's actually quite difficult to find a bad deal.