THREE advertises plans without VAT - is that even legal?

ArminiusArminius

Hi, I recently  got myself a contract with Three for £22 per months, but when the first bill arrived, the charge was £26.40 -  apparently the price advertised was without VAT, so the actual price was 20% higher. 

It is not a business plan, is it even legal in this country to advertise without VAT?
 

There was no small print or anything like that. 

Should I dispute the bill or is Three correct. Any advice would be great, thank you. 

This the plan:

cymruchris

When I add your exact package to my basket - it says on the summary page - VAT included (right hand side) - so you might want to ask how they are adding VAT again. Have you checked you haven't signed up for any extras? (Although it would be unusual for extras to equal the exact value of the VAT).

You might have also been charged for a part-month - if your sign-up didn't fall within the chosen billing cycle - have you checked the dates the bill covers? (Again unusual that it would be the exact amount of the VAT - but stranger things have happened)

400ixl

OP's screen shot is the page before you add it to your basket. It doesn't show inc VAT on that page, but does on the next one as per the next screen shot.

So in this case the contract price is inclusive of VAT.

PHK

Sometimes people mis-read their first bill (for example it will be for a little
more than a month) OP what does your bill actually say?

simax

First bill is always for a bit more than a month hence the higher charge.

ArminiusArminius

Thank you everybody for your replies. I have just double checked, and the bill indeed is showing VAT on top of the plan price. Not sure if I should contact them and ask to review, their customer service is “chat” only, so it takes ages to get through   

 

cymruchris

ArminiusArminius said:

Thank you everybody for your replies. I have just double checked, and the bill indeed is showing VAT on top of the plan price. Not sure if I should contact them and ask to review, their customer service is “chat” only, so it takes ages to get through   

 

As has been mentioned a couple of times - what's the billing period date from and to?

ArminiusArminius

Ah, ok, I think the penny has finally dropped, the bill was indeed for one months plus six days. So the total was correct. Panic over. 

Thank you everybody so much! 

I guess what probably threw me off was the freakish coincidence of the net amount being exactly what I expected the total to be, so I just assumed (yes, I know, I know…) that the VAT was extra. 

Many thanks, and sorry about the confusion. My next topic will be “How do I delete a thread that I started because I didn’t know how to correctly read my mobile phone bill”       

PHK

Don’t worry it’s not the first time someone has not noticed the dates, it might help reassure someone in the future.