Mobile price increase anything I can do ?

[2013]

I've just found out my plan has increased in price by 4.5% I'm a bit annoyed considering I signed up in mid-january I was also not informed about the price increase considering I'm on a plan over £70 and now i need to pay another 4.5% and I can't do anything about it. I've spoken to my provider and they have told me it's government mandatory so they can't do anything and it was in the terms and conditions.

Has everyone else's Mobile plan increased in price?

Is there anything that can be done?

It's so annoying to find out I need to pay more 2 months into my contract and in this climate.

 

[2013]

Guess you missed that bit on ur contract. standard on all contracts now I think

Yes I did because I've never had it happen to me before, except for with virgin broadband.

 

[2013]

It's under the small print you probably didn't read like 99.9% of us.

I did not.
It would have been nice if I was told when I was signing up.

it's not a huge issue it's just annoying.

 

[2013]

Nobody gets told of the increase. It's in the small print. You might be able to get out of the contract if you say you weren't informed when buying it.

I did hoping they would do something after a few hours of holding and speaking to different people I got told the same thing.
we can't do anything, its in the contract, it's government mandatory.

So in other words too bad we are not doing anything.

 

[2013]

Having shopped around recently for phones/broadband etc., every single supplier has this price increase warning somewhere on their site very visible before you sign up, usually in the checkout page.

Some providers will increase prices in line with CPI, some increase by CPI+X%, and a very small amount will give a fixed price.

Should their be any price increases outside of this, then you can leave your contract penalty free within 30 days of the price increase.

That may be the case now but not when I signed up

In the terms and conditions probably, 'government mandatory' complete rubbish!

The only thing the government is going to possibly mandate (presumably via OFCOM) is the maximum they're allowed to increase it by.

I think I'll stick with my £12.50/month 20GB SIM only with Tesco. I really hope that the £70/month is paying for something worthwhile.

Yes this is what I thought complete rubbish! it's just greed but nothing I can do about that, I would not have an issue with it if it was not for how they treated me, as if they don't care they know I can't do anything.

I was on a sim only deal myself and was happy but my was not in a good condition ( cracks all over ) I thought I would treat myself and get a newer phone but the cash price for used phones was still high for most newer phones ( 1-2 years old) so I thought its better if I pay a little more and get the latest, a contact seamed like the best option consider I would still need to pay for a plan anyway and I'm not paying all in one go and the free gifts.

I'll be going back to sim only after.

Less mandatory, more allowed to charge so why miss the opportunity to make money.

Suppose this is one more advantage of getting the phone interest free with a SIM only plan as you avoid these RPI increases. Certainly can add up if you have a £70 monthly contract and take it out right before the increase.

Yes this was the main reason I was annoyed, I was not informed and the way they dealt with me when I asked.

I read this thread yesterday and my immediate thought was 4.5% seems excessive - I don’t recall any previous increase in my mobile tariffs being that high, it was usually around 1%. My other thought was I’m sure you were informed in the T&C’s.
I just got en email from Vodafone this morning regarding the April increase and they state a 1.4% increase in line with the Retail Price Index (RPI) - is that the same as CPI?
I always assumed anything above the index, no matter how small, entitled you to leave penalty free?

I was not told when I placed the order, ive not had a phone contact for a few years so I never expected it either the only ones that would increase the price mid contact was virgin and they would always take another look when asked and when I found out I also thought 4.5% was a bit excessive, I wanted to leave or at least get them to take another look, I spoke to 6 people and they refused point-blank to do anything giving me different reasons and I can't leave unless I pay off the contact.

The government or Ofcom needs to stop these practices

When CPI was at 3%, the increases were set at CPI to allow the Telcos to 'keep up with rising costs' (even if their staff were made redundant, got low payrises, or overall investment was low). Now that CPI is 0.7%, somehow the regulator is allowing them to increase contracts by 4.5% and the only logical reasoning can be 'to increase their profits'.

The brown envelopes must never have been fatter.

EDIT - this is the reason I'll never go on contract again.

This was my issue and why I was annoyed the CPI is only 0.6%, I was never told when I was sold the contract when they already knew and they are already aware of the climate but they are still happy to take advantage

Always gets people when going into new contracts. Your wage packet doesn't rise every year does it so why should bills when you sign up to a contract stating it's XXX per month.

They are aware of the climate and how things are for most people so why are they taking advantage.

In the last few years everytime I've spoken to either broadband or mobile suppliers they have also read this term out when detailing the overall costs. The only thing I find shocking about this post is £70 a month? Ouch...

I thought the same when I first saw what prices are like now.

I needed a new phone and I was already paying for a sim only deal, I thought it would be better to get a contact so im not paying in one lump.

 

[2013]

i buy a phone and sim only 50gb data £12 a month, the phone does all the same as the new ones.

I buy SIM free and I'm currently paying £8 a month and I plan on moving to a better deal at around £7 per month with unlimited data, texts and minutes.

I'm seriously thinking about going 5G home broadband at some point too as £28 a month for 375MB is expensive compared to £7 a month and similar speeds. Although I think upload speeds are terrible currently and so is signal I'll wait for them to improve a little.

I also tend to buy and sell phones regularly and when I sell I usually get most of my money back or even make a profit sometimes as I buy really good deals.

I'd hate to see the depreciation on these £1200 phones.

Does that not put you in a similar position, buying a phone outright (one lump sum) and then paying for the sim only deal?

It also all depends on the phone you buy, I wanted a new phone after 4 years and my old phone is badly damaged, it was cheaper to buy it with a contract for 3 reasons 1 I'm not paying for it in one go, 2 I'm getting the phone I wanted plus I'm getting more 3 inc a good the plan.
4. Plus a nice monthly discount on top. still does not change the fact it's a bit greedy and sly to up the price mid-contract

 

[2013]

I usually buy second hand off members market but now I've just been buying brand new Chinese phones.

I too buy whatever phone I want. Me paying £300 in one go is easy when I'm saving £62 a month compared to you.

Current phone Poco f2 pro go check the specs on GSM arena. I've had it for a while now and I paid £300 for it a few weeks after it launched.

The phone before that iirc was a Sony. I bought second hand used it for a year and sold it on for what I paid for it so the phone cost me nothing.

I could sell my phone right now for £250-£260 on eBay. Therefore it's cost me £50 to own it for a year.

You are paying more than that per month.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/m.gsmarena.com/xiaomi_poco_f2_pro-ampp-10220.php

Here's the spec of my phone above just so you can understand that it's not crap in any way and I'm sure if you compare it directly with whatever it is you are using you would see what a terrible waste it is.

As for if you don't have £300 lump sum even using PayPal credit or a interest free credit card would work out cheaper especially if it saves you £60 a month.

There's a girl who I work with who spends £400 leasing an Audi and always has the latest iPhone for £80 a month, etc.

Guess what she's nearly 30 and lives at home and doesn't have any savings. She's going to find it hard whenever she finally moves out. She also has very high expectations of men she dates for them to throw money about like she does.

Problem is those men won't be living with mummy so they know the true value of money.

You are paying £840 a year for a phone. I've probably spent around that in a decade overall and I've always had a decent phone.

Firstly you should not put everyone in the same boat and 2nd you should not look down at people, Others may look down at you for how you do things.

I have done the same in the past buying 2nd hand but at the time of buying the contact 2nd hand price for a 1-2 year old phone of my choice was not cheap and not worth getting IMO, So after 4 years I thought I would just pay a little more and get the latest (a treat) I've used a few Chinese phones but I don't like them much I prefer others for a few reasons, I'm not a business so I don't want to buy and sell phones I would rather get the phone I like and keep it.

You may think the Chinese phone is very good and not crap others may not agree, it all about prefrence.

For me, it worked out better to get the latest brand new phone which came with some decent gifts because it's new I know nothing is wrong with it and I can always return it if it has.

Also, I may be paying more but I am getting a very good phone which will still have good value in the end if I wanted to sell it and the gifts are also work over £140 if sold.

I'm paying about £650 a year, which is less than the value of the phone after 2 years. Its not cheap and not what I would normally spend but its not bad considering that includes the phone plan and the gifts and when my contract is up I can keep the phone and go back to a sim only deal.

also, I have just compared the 2 and it's a huge difference.

 

[2013]

You don't need to be a business to buy or sell phones.

Your the one complaining about a 4% increase. So surely it is an issue? If not why bother complaining?

Also my last phone before this I used for 18 months and sold it for more than what I paid for it. it takes literally 2 minutes to list a phone on eBay and then 5 mins to package and then I get the wife to drop it off at the post office as she has to go there to bank cash every day anyway.

You don't even need to spend £300 on a Chinese phone and you do realise your iPhone is made in china right?

I just bought the wife a Moto g9 power for £150 and it's a brilliant phone. Again it does everything anyone needs from a phone.

I've also had contracts and bought phones brand new for £600, etc. Then I realised that your just throwing money away. I can't think of any reason why anyone needs a £1200 phone. And why a £150 phone can't do what anyone needs it to.

I mean camera picture quality has stagnated for years now the cpu is really the biggest difference when it comes to speed and screen Res has went backwards.

My old phone had a 4K screen for instance and it's been 3-4 years now since it launched and all the current phones are lesser Res.

It's costing me circa £150 a year for phone and contract. I have a really great device and a great deal on SIM only.

You want to keep buying and selling phones to cover costs that's upto you, I don't want to buy and sell phones.

Just because I'm complaining about a 4% increase. That does not give you the right to look down at others, others may look down at you for how you do things.

And yes because I don't think they should be able to do that, it's dishonest and greedy and I was not aware of it because it has never happened to me before, when you agree to buy something you should be paying what was agree they should not be able to change the price later, you don't expect this when you buy anything else why here? that's why I posted someone who may have more info than me, a few people do agree but your replies seem off-topic.


It's all about preference, Your's are different to mine, you may think one thing others may not agree.
You are happy with Chinese phones and other budget models, I would rather get something like a Samsung or iPhone which I've used a lot and I'm happy with but I need to pay for that.

This has gone a bit off-topic so I'm sorry