SAYNOTO0870.COM - Orange and Vodafone price increases

sherbert Supreme Member Offline Posts: 2,011 Gender:	Re: Orange and Vodafone price increases Reply #15 - Dec 1^st, 2011 at 1:59pm http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/bills/article-2067206/Orange-pay-monthly-custom...
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bazzerfewi

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Re: Orange and Vodafone price increases
Reply #16 - Dec 2^nd, 2011 at 1:33am

I was an orange customer for many years, I have now changed to Virgin becuase it was the best package for me. I am a low user and the charges are 8p per minute and 8p per text compared to 20p per minute with orange.

It will not suit all, but it is worth looking into, I also receive FREE 118 calls and FREE landline to mobile calls

This package is only available to call unlimited customers

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bazzerfewi

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Re: Orange and Vodafone price increases
Reply #17 - Dec 2^nd, 2011 at 1:41am

Just had a thought (dangerous for me I know) take out a contract with an alternative user and then cancel your direct debit to Orange. This will not deter you from using an alternative provider because your contract will be in force by then and credit checks will have been carried out.

Not best practice but Orange have not carred out best practice either

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SilentCallsVictim

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Re: Orange and Vodafone price increases
Reply #18 - Dec 2^nd, 2011 at 2:29am

I doubt that Orange could show that it would suffer "material detriment" if I decided to vary the terms of our agreement, by not paying the increased price!

More seriously, if anyone wants to get an idea of what the prices would be if they were fixed, have a look at the fixed prices deals offered by energy companies.

Yet more seriously, the RPI is the wrong standard for a mobile pay monthly deal as a significant part of the price is effectively a lease payment on the handset. The RPI is based on the cost of goods, not on the cost of finance.

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jrawle

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Re: Orange and Vodafone price increases
Reply #19 - Dec 5^th, 2011 at 1:51pm

My Vodafone contract has increased from £25 to £26 per month. Now, I'm supposed to have 18 months' free line rental from mobiles.co.uk (Carphone Warehouse). That was sold as 18 months FREE line rental by cashback redemption, NOT £25 cashback per month for 18 months. So I think CPW should increase my cashback payments, but letters to them explaining this have been ignored. Where do I stand?

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Dave

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Re: Orange and Vodafone price increases
Reply #20 - Dec 5^th, 2011 at 2:02pm

jrawle wrote on Dec 5^th, 2011 at 1:51pm:

My Vodafone contract has increased from £25 to £26 per month. Now, I'm supposed to have 18 months' free line rental from mobiles.co.uk (Carphone Warehouse). That was sold as 18 months FREE line rental by cashback redemption, NOT £25 cashback per month for 18 months. So I think CPW should increase my cashback payments, but letters to them explaining this have been ignored. Where do I stand?

I would have thought that this will be covered in the terms and conditions for the cashback. Is it covered?

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jrawle

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Re: Orange and Vodafone price increases
Reply #21 - Dec 5^th, 2011 at 9:18pm

Dave wrote on Dec 5^th, 2011 at 2:02pm:

I would have thought that this will be covered in the terms and conditions for the cashback. Is it covered?

I haven't been able to find anything.

They seem to calculate the cashback as an absolute amount at the start of the contract, and pay it in equal instalments, even though the payments aren't equally spaced throughout the contract. So £25 x 18 = £450, £450 / 5 payments = £90. They don't adjust this for subsequent price changes, yet that doesn't change the fact the original deal was for free line rental.

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SilentCallsVictim

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Re: Orange and Vodafone price increases
Reply #22 - Dec 5^th, 2011 at 10:00pm

I think that Ofcom needs to look seriously at the difference between 12/18/24/36 month contracts and 12/18/24/36 month fixed-price contracts.

Many people are buying the former, whilst thinking that they are getting the latter.

I am not even aware of any cases of the latter being offered in telecoms. Is this something that telecoms consumers want - i.e. do we want to pay extra to hedge against inflation at the start of our contracts?

I cannot see any significant difference between what Orange and Vodafone are doing as against what BT has just done. Is there a difference?

If someone is describing a mobile phone contract subscription charge as "line rental" when it probably includes lease payments on a handset and an inclusive call plan, then there is some serious mis-selling going on.

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jrawle

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Re: Orange and Vodafone price increases
Reply #23 - Dec 6^th, 2011 at 12:19pm

SilentCallsVictim wrote on Dec 5^th, 2011 at 10:00pm:

I am not even aware of any cases of the latter being offered in telecoms. Is this something that telecoms consumers want - i.e. do we want to pay extra to hedge against inflation at the start of our contracts?

In the domestic energy market, for example, consumers can choose between variable or fixed tariffs. The latter cost more initially and usually tie the consumer in for a fixed term, with a penalty for early exit, although the penalty is often far less than 10% of the annual bill. Variable tariffs usually don't have a fixed term. If they increase prices and you are unhappy, you can switch provider immediately, and even keep the old price in the meantime.

The trouble with phone contracts is that although they are variable in price, they are for a fixed term, and there is often no way to exit early - i.e. the penalty is 100% of the remaining value of the contract. That can't be right.

I don't have a problem with price increas, but I do have a problem with price increases where the customer can't escape from the contract at all.

My own issue is something quite separate. Free means free as far as I'm concerned, and yes mobiles.co.uk do call the monthly cost of a contract "line rental".

http://www.mobiles.co.uk/free-line-rental.html

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SilentCallsVictim

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Re: Orange and Vodafone price increases
Reply #24 - Dec 6^th, 2011 at 2:28pm

jrawle wrote on Dec 6^th, 2011 at 12:19pm:

I don't have a problem with price increas, but I do have a problem with price increases where the customer can't escape from the contract at all.

It would be hard for Ofcom to claim that there is a true market, where there is only one type of arrangement available - a minimum term arrangement where exit is only allowed if a proposed price increase exceeds regulatory standards (which refer to wholly irrelevant measures of inflation). Are there are any fixed price offers? or open variable price offers?

Part of Ofcom's function is to promote competition. The absence of either of these types of offer indicates that its regulatory approach is too focussed on one type of arrangement, even though this is probably what most people would end up choosing, because the alternatives would be offered at higher headline prices.

jrawle wrote on Dec 6^th, 2011 at 12:19pm:

... yes mobiles.co.uk do call the monthly cost of a contract "line rental".
http://www.mobiles.co.uk/free-line-rental.html

I referred to this misuse of a term as "mis-selling", before I had tried to understand what is on offer from the website. I now see that this linguistic error is perhaps the least of the problems which any cautious consumer would encounter!

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