O2 price rise email says £1.80, contract says RPI+3.9%

Narrowboatsarefun

flaneurs_lobster said:

Doesn't the email from O2 say you've got 30 days to (try and) cancel? The Ombudsman will only consider a complaint after 8 weeks of a formal complaint being acknowledged. It shouldn't matter but Ombudsman complaints take months to resolve and you probably want this sorted soonest.

Yes, 30 days. But I assume as long as I can show I tried to cancel within this time, I should still have a case.

i agree the ombudsman would be a tortuous process, but I’m hoping it won’t come to that. Surely O2’s own complaints procedure should realise that I am within my rights to cancel without penalty?

Narrowboatsarefun

I've finally had some success!

I made a complaint to O2 through the relevant email address and today spoke to someone from the Complaints Team. They reiterated that I would have to pay an early termination fee. They said the paragraph in the letter about "you have the right to end your airtime plan" only applied to people with a device as well as airtime. They then claimed that my right to exit ended in December (I think this is due to an email sent out in November, but this was only applicable to data-only and watch plans - which I don't have). Finally, I said if they couldn't help me further I'd like a deadlock letter so I can go to the Communications Ombudsman. This seemed to unlock something, since I was then told if I still wanted to leave they could credit the amount of the early termination fee to my account.

My main issue remaining is that I have nothing in writing. I was told they would send me a text confirming the credit, but so far this hasn't arrived.

Money_Grabber13579

I only signed up on Black Friday, my terms are RPI + 3.9%, I didn’t get any email to say they were changing their terms and all I’ve got is a note on my latest bill to say the price is going up by £1.80. A 22.5% increase, so just another instance of the regulator acting in the interests of big business rather than the customers they are supposed to be protecting…

Narrowboatsarefun

Money_Grabber13579 said:

I only signed up on Black Friday, my terms are RPI + 3.9%, I didn’t get any email to say they were changing their terms and all I’ve got is a note on my latest bill to say the price is going up by £1.80. A 22.5% increase, so just another instance of the regulator acting in the interests of big business rather than the customers they are supposed to be protecting…

I don’t think the regulator is “acting in the interests of big business”. They didn’t determine what the price rise will be, they just said it had to be clear in pounds and pence when you sign up. That’s a good thing and gives us the consumer a chance to make an informed choice when we take out a contract.
And if the contract you agreed to was RPI+3.9% then you CAN leave the contract penalty free. I have now left O2 and they’ve reimbursed the early termination charge.

Mulliger

I've had the same email, the increase of £1.80 amounts to a 22.5% increase to my sim only contract of £8.  I only took it out on 2Jan for 12 months but they won't honour the contract.  These hikes are much more than the RPI + margin that OFCOM outlawed.

I complained to O2 who offered to pay me £18 to cover the rise over the 10 months to the end of my contract. However, acceptance would "resolve" and close the complaint which prevents me escalating it to get their interpretation of the new OFCOM directive reviewed for consumer fairness. Most people are far worse off.

O2 said contact OFCOM, which idid. I logged a complaint but at this time it will merely sit on a database rather than anything being done with it as they don't deal with individual complaints. (Please raise this MSE on behalf of the masses!)

It was suggested that I refer to the Telecoms Ombudsman, which I did. I was told "we're not consumer champions". I said I didn't expect them to be as such, rather I expected them to review the points raised impartially and reach a decision after full consideration of all the facts. I was told as long as O2 told me what they were doing and told me to leave if I didn't like it, they wouldn't even consider the complaint. This is contrary to their website which states:
"We provide a free and impartial service that aims to resolve disputes between consumers and providers in the communications sector."

Unless questioned, this interpretation of OFCOM's directive will set a precedent and arbitrary price hikes will become the "accepted" norm, even though consumers are far worse off and against it.

So, why should O2 or other providers be allowed to impose unjustifyable rises annually. It's criminal. Noone who is supposed to be regulating the industry wants to listen. I feel it's a PPI type situation waiting to happen. They should be forced to honour contracts at the price agreed at the point of sale. Anything else is misselling. It should apply to mobile, broadband and streaming services who use similar hikes to raise revenue.

PLEASE take this up on our behalf MSE!

james_smitha

as long as people ask for a pac code they can leave within 30 days.

This very web site has a thread that compare sim only prices, unfortunatly I'm not allowed to provide urls because 'big brother' is too busy to check the url.

In short it is mostly the main network provider that is expensive and has mid contract price rises, where as second tier networks that share the network are less likely to be expensive and have mid contract price rises.

I changed provider to one who's name ends with  illion and pay just over £ 4, that is nailed down for 2 years, same 10gb per month, same text and calls unlimited.

This is half of what O2 that you mention want to charge today

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Big brother if you don't like the above, fine but I do not give 'a cough', do what you like but I do not wish to hear about it

finallyfree23

Had a similarly frustrating experience trying to cancel my airtime plans, in line with the email, using both we chat and phone.

I’d logged a complaint, but concerned the 39 day period was drawing to a close I tweeted (x’d?) about the issue, and to their credit the team had it sorted within 20 minutes.

It irked me a little having to log in to that platform having studiously avoided it for a while, but had the desired effect.