Price increase is much more than inflation rate on out of bundle call charges

[Anonymous]

From the 28th February some prices will increase for out-of-bundle calls/messages that are chargeable once you have used up your free tariff allowance. These include: UK voice calls from 35p a minute to 40p a minute; texts from 12p to 15p. We are also increasing charges for some additional services such as, MMS from 35p to 40p,

The above was taken from the info files on the other charges they are changing.

So i make voice call rise roughly 15% and the texts price rise roughly 25% and that is just on uk charges.

International charges seem to be up by 50%   i.e. Europe now 40p a min but from march 1st 60p a minute   surely these price rises are way beyond what is reasonable to increase for customers in contract.

Not sure but possibly ofcom may regard these as good enough reason for no penalty contract ending

[Anonymous]

5.4 You can end this Agreement without having to pay the Monthly Subscription Charges up to the end of any Minimum Period you have left, if:

(a) we apply an increase to your Monthly Subscription Charges other than an RPI Change; or

(b) we increase any of our Out-of-Bundle Charges in a way that would have had the effect of increasing your total bill (based on your usage in your bill in the month prior to our notification) by more than 10% if the increase(s) had applied for the whole of that month's bill.

5.5 If you want to end the Agreement because of one of the circumstances in paragraph 5.4 you must give us Notice that you want to within 30 days of our Notice. If you don't give us Notice within 30 days, you accept the new Charges and the Agreement will continue with the new Charges.

[Anonymous]

For clarity here are the full terms relating to RPI and other increases:

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5.1 Detailed charging information can be found on our Website and in our Tariff Terms.

5.2 We may increase or decrease our Charges from time to time. If we increase our Charges (apart from for Additional Services), we’ll let you know at least 30 days before the Charges are due to go up and you’ll have the rights explained in paragraphs 5.3 and 5.4. We won’t increase your Monthly Subscription Charges more than once in any 12 month period.

5.3 You can end this Agreement without having to pay the Monthly Subscription Charges up to the end of any Minimum Period you have left, if: (a) we notify you of an increase to your Monthly Subscription Charges by more than the published Retail Price Index (RPI) annual inflation rate at the date we announce the applicable price increase; or (b) we increase any of our Charges (apart from for Additional Services) in a way that such increase would have increased your total bill for the immediately previous month by more than 10% (if the increase(s) had applied for the whole of that month).

5.4 If you want to end the Agreement because of one of the circumstances in paragraph 5.3 you must give us Notice that you want to within 30 days of when we tell you about the relevant price increase(s). If you don’t give us Notice within 30 days, you accept the new Charges and the Agreement will continue with the new Charges.

5.5 For Additional Services, we reserve the right to increase our Charges at any time and by any amount. We’ll post the new Charges on our Website. If, following an increase in the price(s) for an Additional Service, you do not want to pay the new price then you may be able to, unless otherwise specified under a Related Agreement, cancel that Additional Service (if relevant), or stop using it. For Additional Services with a recurring subscription we’ll let you know at least 30 days before the Charges are due to go up for that Additional Service.

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[Anonymous]

How do you cancel,I tried via web chat ,they don't understand their own terms and conditions, tried to email, but they are closing the email service, can't get through on the phone help please Do I need to go to OFCOM as getting no where thanks

[Anonymous]

Hello vexed

welcome to the community. We are all customers here.

On what basis are you seeking to cancel?

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
How do you cancel,I tried via web chat ,they don't understand their own terms and conditions, tried to email, but they are closing the email service, can't get through on the phone help please Do I need to go to OFCOM as getting no where thanks

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You can call 202 and select the option for 'thinking about leaving'.  this will put you in touch with a cancellation adviser.  You can also cancel by webchat.

if you have time left on your contract they will explain to you any applicable charges for cancelling (depends on how long you have left), if you don't have time left on your contract there will be a 30 day notice period.

[Anonymous]

@pablo

unless of course the OP feels that his previous months charges would meet 5.4 following the increase in call charges and / or mms? If the OP feels that repeating last month's usage using the new pricing structure would result in them spending over 10% more in total them they could cancel as I see it.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous

unless of course the OP feels that his previous months charges would meet 5.4 following the increase in call charges and / or mms? If the OP feels that repeating last month's usage using the new pricing structure would result in them spending over 10% more in total them they could cancel as I see it.

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He/she'd have to show conclusively that it would be the case, not just feel that it might be.  There would have to be evidence to back it up from his/her billing history. 

For example, if he/she has never gone over his minutes, or used any other out-of-bundle services, and has been with O2 for a number of years, he/she would have a hard time convincing anyone that the change is going to push his bills up by more than 10%.

If he/she has used those services before and the data from his/her billing history backs him/her up, then O2 would have to allow to cancel for free based on the knowledge that the increase would push the billing past the 10% threshold

[Anonymous]

Hi I checked my January bill, as per condition 5.4b my bill would had risen by over 10 per cent due to eu phone calls were 40p but are going to be 60 p per min ,so the contract states I can cancel please see below. 5.4 You can end this Agreement without having to pay the Monthly Subscription Charges up to the end of any Minimum Period you have left, if:

(a) we apply an increase to your Monthly Subscription Charges other than an RPI Change; or

(b) we increase any of our Out-of-Bundle Charges in a way that would have had the effect of increasing your total bill (based on your usage in your bill in the month prior to our notification) by more than 10% if the increase(s) had applied for the whole of that month's bill.

[Anonymous]

Just to be clear, your TOTAL monthly bill would have to increase I.e. including line rental and mms and any other charges. Not just the calls you have made.

If you think your total bill for the full month would increase by 10% or more then you will have to speak to retentions and discuss it with them. I don't agree that it needs every month to be 10% more every month as 5.4 doesn't appear to state that.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Hi I checked my January bill, as per condition 5.4b my bill would had risen by over 10 per cent due to eu phone calls were 40p but are going to be 60 p per min ,so the contract states I can cancel please see below. 5.4 You can end this Agreement without having to pay the Monthly Subscription Charges up to the end of any Minimum Period you have left, if:

(a) we apply an increase to your Monthly Subscription Charges other than an RPI Change; or

(b) we increase any of our Out-of-Bundle Charges in a way that would have had the effect of increasing your total bill (based on your usage in your bill in the month prior to our notification) by more than 10% if the increase(s) had applied for the whole of that month's bill.

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Ok, so call and speak to a cancellations advisor by calling 202 and selecting the option for thinking about leaving.  They will look at your billing history and see if that is correct.  If so then you could argue that you have a right to cancel without fee.  Much better doing that speaking to someone than doing so on a chat.