Rip-off Britain - inflation is 5% now?

That the worst you can do Mags? Knock yourself out, lad. If it means that much to you that you'd search through my back catalogue of posts, why not dig out the furry one?

It's still there. I never delete my posts.

You can link it in every thread I post in, if that's what makes you happy.
 
Just earn 50 thousand a year.

Simples :)

e: I forgot about this one
was he the really high earner like in the top 3% for the UK that thought he was like "average"? so many mega rich people on here it's hard to keep track of all the Ferraris and lambos

not a hater though, they gotta brag somewhere and I guess on the internet is better than in real life.

smug gits! lol :D gimme a ride in your sweet cars!!!! so jelly :D

my neighbours would probably die of shock if I got dropped off in a super car :eek:
 
My mother in law got this rise from TT one month into new contract. I used chat pretending to be her and after 30 minutes and becoming exasperated, I said look I am 86 on a fixed income and cannot pay this. They immediately backed down saying no vulnerable people would be required to pay extra.

I am 68 so when they try it on me I know what I shall do...
 
The price hike excuses have started. Not sure how such a big rise by ISPs is justified. Such a rip-off.

I told VM I was cancelling at the end of the contract and they immediately dropped the price from £32 to £18, for the next 18 months. If they can knock that much off and still make a profit it's clearly a rip off/scam.

Oh and they have just frozen public sector pay for another 5 years (not that they got a pay rise over the past 12, excluding MPs ofc). So I expect many companies will do the same as it allows them to cream off more profits.
 
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The official rate of inflation (say 1.5%) is calculated in a way to make it seem low, and does not even include house prices, which is everyone's major expense. The real rate of inflation is running much higher, say 8-10%. Have you noticed for example, that the price of food is going up? The government and the Bank of England (a private company) are trying to pretend that the real rate of inflation is low. The true definition of inflation is increase in the money supply, and the Bank of England has been printing billions to keep the private banking sector afloat. They don't want the general public to realise this, so they massage the price inflation figures (price inflation is a result of true inflation, i.e. money supply increase). Expect real inflation to really start kicking in soon as the consequences of the billions in money printing filter through to everyday prices. If you have savings, you can attempt to protect them with inflation-hedge investments such as Bitcoin (fixed supply currency), physical gold and physical silver, although gold and silver prices are also heavily manipulated by the banks via the paper futures market.

In summary, it is best to call for hard money, i.e. where money cannot be printed out of thin air by the Bank of England, by either Bitcoin being used as a reserve currency (fixed total supply), or a return to a gold standard, where Sterling is readeemable for a particular weight of gold. Then the total supply of money is fixed, and consumer price inflation won't be able to happen.

I agree with most of what you've written but inflation is not directly defined by the money supply - inflation measures the increase in price level. If production/output also increases, there can be an increase in the money supply without an increase in the price level (or at least no larger increase than usual)
 
The price hike excuses have started just during the 10 years after the "recession". Not sure how such a big rise by ISPs is justified. Such a rip-off.

I told VM I was cancelling at the end of the contract and they immediately dropped the price from £32 to £18, for the next 18 months...
The email is extremely matter-of-fact that there will be an annual increase of at least 5% going forwards.

The language isn't apologetic, there are no references to "needing to invest in our network" or any of the usual niceties to soften the blow (or justify it).

@Uther asked if I was only just realising that I am a milking cow; nope, but price rises were not previously so boldly announced. Not just a price rise for this year, but a price rise of far greater than CPI inflation, of at least 5%, every single year from now on.

It's almost antagonistic.
 
Just had an email from my ISP, saying they now intend to increase all their prices by at least 5% every year, starting April 2021. They say this is OK because BT & PlusNet intend to increase their prices by even more than 5%, every single year, from now on.

The official rate of inflation is ~1.3%, from a quick Google (obvs house price inflation is much higher). Also the govt have frozen my pay (public sector) for the next 5 years, probably more like 10.

That means from a start of £30 pm for basic internet (FTTC), I'll be paying £50 pm in a few years (according to the compound interest calc I've just used).

A relative in Spain pays €20 for 600 MB, for Pete's sake. In a few years time we'll be paying £50 for basic internet at less than 1/10th the speed.

**** this country. How the hell can we just be expected to pony up 5% more each year? That's bloody ridiculous.

I'm with BT and now that the price hike is written into the contract, you can't even switch anymore as you agree to the price hike (CPI + 4% or whatever they said) around April each year.

What's even worse is that BT now only do 2 year contracts, so the best time to get a new one seems to be in April, because then you have to suffer it once, and on the 2nd one you contact them and fix again. Not great but should skip one of the price hikes that way.

I will be contacting them and asking about my options soon because I'm not in contract, and a few £ a month more isn't great for the same service.
 
The email is extremely matter-of-fact that there will be an annual increase of at least 5% going forwards.

The language isn't apologetic, there are no references to "needing to invest in our network" or any of the usual niceties to soften the blow (or justify it).

@Uther asked if I was only just realising that I am a milking cow; nope, but price rises were not previously so boldly announced. Not just a price rise for this year, but a price rise of far greater than CPI inflation, of at least 5%, every single year from now on.

It's almost antagonistic.
I think we'll see it a lot more. If like utilities IIRC most people don't shop around then they are coining it in. And I don't care what anyone says, constantly changing suppliers for everything is a ballache, and of course they take advantage of that.
 
I'm with BT and now that the price hike is written into the contract, you can't even switch anymore as you agree to the price hike (CPI + 4% or whatever they said) around April each year.

What's even worse is that BT now only do 2 year contracts, so the best time to get a new one seems to be in April, because then you have to suffer it once, and on the 2nd one you contact them and fix again. Not great but should skip one of the price hikes that way.

I will be contacting them and asking about my options soon because I'm not in contract, and a few £ a month more isn't great for the same service.

With Virgin I told them to fix the price and they did. Weirdly didn't cost any extra.
 
I'm with BT and now that the price hike is written into the contract, you can't even switch anymore as you agree to the price hike (CPI + 4% or whatever they said) around April each year.

What's even worse is that BT now only do 2 year contracts, so the best time to get a new one seems to be in April, because then you have to suffer it once, and on the 2nd one you contact them and fix again. Not great but should skip one of the price hikes that way.

I will be contacting them and asking about my options soon because I'm not in contract, and a few £ a month more isn't great for the same service.
Where BT and TT lead, I'm fairly sure all the others will follow.

Which company's shareholders will not want them to increase prices to follow suit? If BT and TT can get away with >5% price hike every single year, then everyone else will want some of that action too.
 
That the worst you can do Mags? Knock yourself out, lad. If it means that much to you that you'd search through my back catalogue of posts, why not dig out the furry one?

It's still there. I never delete my posts.

You can link it in every thread I post in, if that's what makes you happy.
No, that's not the worst I can do and I didn't reference the one which you did.

Words have weight to them, or at least they should when we're acting in good faith. It isn't hard to do drama. I wasn't being mean so apologies if that seemed to be the case.

Having said that - the greatest yeah but nah but yeah qualifier - this is sour grapes. It is drama for theatrics, and it's also not fair, naming a relative in Spain for some undescribed service which is a LOL that I won't even get into.

You know what? Just don't pay it.
 
Yeah I'm pretty good at shopping around as it saves so much money on bills, insurance, utilities etc, although saying that there is usually a floor if you want a level of service.

Gas/Electric goes up year on year by a lot more than inflation, and I use both a fair bit, even the best deals I can get now cost me a fair chunk more than I am paying now.
 
No, that's not the worst I can do and I didn't reference the one which you did.

Words have weight to them, or at least they should when we're acting in good faith. It isn't hard to do drama. I wasn't being mean so apologies if that seemed to be the case.

Having said that - the greatest yeah but nah but yeah qualifier - this is sour grapes. It is drama for theatrics, and it's also not fair, naming a relative in Spain for some undescribed service which is a LOL that I won't even get into.
What are you even on about?

You come into a thread and link to some nonsense thread from 2015 which is not even slightly on-topic. You talk about drama and "words having weight," as tho you're making some profound point, but all you actually did is link to an ancient thread you think I'll squirm over.

You didn't come here because you had anything to say. You came here to try to provoke me.

So go on, if that's not the worst you can do, please dial it up to 11. I'm not the squirming type. Bring it on.
 
Oh and they have just frozen public sector pay for another 5 years (not that they got a pay rise over the past 12, excluding MPs ofc). So I expect many companies will do the same as it allows them to cream off more profits.

Also the govt have frozen my pay (public sector) for the next 5 years, probably more like 10.

Where are you getting five years from?
 
What are you even on about?

You come into a thread and link to some nonsense thread from 2015 which is not even slightly on-topic. You talk about drama and "words having weight," as tho you're making some profound point, but all you actually did is link to an ancient thread you think I'll squirm over.

You didn't come here because you had anything to say. You came here to try to provoke me.

So go on, if that's not the worst you can do, please dial it up to 11. I'm not the squirming type. Bring it on.
Nothing profound, I promise, I'm not that clever, and not intending to provoke (at least in the way you think I am), but the thing you're describing in your OP is basically MAN SHOUTS AT CLOUDS.

Do you see that as a realistic view or do you not see that?
 
Nothing profound, I promise, I'm not that clever, and not intending to provoke (at least in the way you think I am), but the thing you're describing in your OP is basically MAN SHOUTS AT CLOUDS.

Do you see that as a realistic view or do you not see that?
I suggest if you have nothing to contribute that's even the tiniest bit on-topic, that maybe you direct your energies somewhere else.

Other people have managed - somehow - to discuss the subject presented in the OP. I'm not sure I care what you think my motivation for starting the thread is.

In fact, I'm sure I don't care.
 
Just had something similar from BT although might have to read it again as I'm sure it said my package (matron) increases in line with inflation but extras have gone up by 5%.
 
Just had something similar from BT although might have to read it again as I'm sure it said my package (matron) increases in line with inflation but extras have gone up by 5%.

It's not on all of them, but if you have broadband and things it's definitely on that. Think my mobile was 0.8% or something.
 
I suggest if you have nothing to contribute that's even the tiniest bit on-topic, that maybe you direct your energies somewhere else.

Other people have managed - somehow - to discuss the subject presented in the OP. I'm not sure I care what you think my motivation for starting the thread is.

In fact, I'm sure I don't care.
That's fair to the extent that your OP headliner is [insert potitive word], your diabtribe is [hey what was that positive word, again?], and you're still moaning like you have no choice.
 
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