Author Topic: O2 upping tariff fees (Read 3865 times)

zpyder · **on:** December 12, 2012, 10:30:45 AM

O2 upping tariff fees

on: December 12, 2012, 10:30:45 AM

So I've just got an email from O2 about them putting my line rental up from £15.50 to £16 a month due to inflation etc.

I know it's not a big change (£12 over 2 years :/) but I'm curious, is this legal? I thought contracts went both ways. I agreed to pay x amount a month for x service, or they take away service and phone, and they agree to provide x service for x amount a month. I thought contracts were binding for their term? Does this mean I could have turned around to them and said "Money's a bit tight now, I'm going to pay you £15 a month instead of £15.50"?

I guess there's some small print somewhere that says they're allowed to adjust for inflation on the fly?

M3ta7h3ad · **Reply #1 on:** December 12, 2012, 12:02:39 PM

O2 upping tariff fees

Reply #1 on: December 12, 2012, 12:02:39 PM

Pretty sure you can not agree to the changes and they then stop providing you services. Basically a early termination of contract with no cancellation fees.

Serious · **Reply #2 on:** December 12, 2012, 15:50:56 PM

Re: O2 upping tariff fees

Reply #2 on: December 12, 2012, 15:50:56 PM

Mobile phones have a set fee for the term of the contract, phone lines are different. Mostly they are run by BT and another supplier has to pass on their costs. They should clearly tell you why and what your options are. Things like VAT changes are, of course, excluded as it is beyond their control. VAT has increased prices by 5% since the Tories got into government.

If you have a genuine set term contract they should honour it. The problem is if you have a phone line and internet connection, terminating the phone line may have consequences for the internet if they are linked. Modern multimedia contracts include TV and other services which can complicate matters further.

M3ta7h3ad · **Reply #3 on:** December 12, 2012, 16:27:34 PM

O2 upping tariff fees

Reply #3 on: December 12, 2012, 16:27:34 PM

Regardless of if its a fixed line contract or not, you'll likely find that they reserve the right to change the terms of the contract by giving you notice.

A price change may do this and like I say, you can refuse to agree by the terms of the new contract and leave, but ultimately they can do whatever they like to their prices. You either agree, say nothing and pay. Or disagree, tell them and leave.

XEntity · **Reply #4 on:** December 12, 2012, 18:56:29 PM

Re: O2 upping tariff fees

Reply #4 on: December 12, 2012, 18:56:29 PM

I work for a mobile operator, but not the one in question, this type of change is perfectly legal and should be in line with the contract you signed, the operator can increase prices in line with RPI, Virgin media have been doing this for years on my broadband and most if not all operators will increase costs once a year, although often new tariffs will be at an older price point, and only legacy tariffs will be increased.

zpyder · **Reply #5 on:** December 12, 2012, 22:20:59 PM

Re: O2 upping tariff fees

Reply #5 on: December 12, 2012, 22:20:59 PM

After posting this I did a bit of reading up.

Apparently O2 were the last of the big 4 operators to do mid-term price changes. As it stands the operators are not doing anything illegal, but Ofcom is starting an investigation in to this stuff and whether it should happen at all.

My view is that even though it's "legal", It's pretty poor service. Most contracts are 18-24 months now. That's not that long. Inflation and VAT won't make that much of a shift in that much time surely. Even if it means paying a bit more at renewal, companies should anticipate inflation and any foreseeable costs, and set their contracts accordingly. This is no different than a customer deciding whether or not they can afford a contract before they take it out, ensuring they can pay the bills each month.

XEntity · **Reply #6 on:** December 12, 2012, 22:57:38 PM

Re: O2 upping tariff fees

Reply #6 on: December 12, 2012, 22:57:38 PM

I agree to be honest, I think that if you are in contract, you should pay what you have signed up to, if you then go our of contract then there may be more of a case to increase costs.

knighty · **Reply #7 on:** December 13, 2012, 02:46:05 AM

Re: O2 upping tariff fees

Reply #7 on: December 13, 2012, 02:46:05 AM

Quote from: XEntity on December 12, 2012, 22:57:38 PM

I agree to be honest, I think that if you are in contract, you should pay what you have signed up to,

I agree most of the time... but it's only 50p/month

also depends on how long you've had the contract... you'd feel a different if you'd had it for years or if it was new

Eggtastico · **Reply #8 on:** December 13, 2012, 07:58:52 AM

Re: O2 upping tariff fees

Reply #8 on: December 13, 2012, 07:58:52 AM

while its not illegal due to T&C clauses, if its detrimental to you, then you can enforce a right to cancel. This would be along the lines of you being unable to afford the increase, etc.
http://www.which.co.uk/campaigns/technology/fixed-means-fixed/mystery-shopping-fixed-contracts/

zpyder · **Reply #9 on:** December 13, 2012, 11:48:27 AM

Re: O2 upping tariff fees

Reply #9 on: December 13, 2012, 11:48:27 AM

Quote from: knighty on December 13, 2012, 02:46:05 AM

Quote from: XEntity on December 12, 2012, 22:57:38 PM
I agree to be honest, I think that if you are in contract, you should pay what you have signed up to,

I agree most of the time... but it's only 50p/month

also depends on how long you've had the contract... you'd feel a different if you'd had it for years or if it was new

I know it's only 50p a month, it's no biggy really, it's the principal that gets me.

As to the amount of time you've had the contract, that is kind of my point. The way that these increases should be handled is that they should put them up at renewal time. You agree to 24 months at xx amount. When month 24 is coming up they should say "you renewal is coming up, due to price changes monthly line rental will now increase by 50p from month 25 onwards. Please contact us if you would like to start a new contract". I wouldn't have an issue with these kinds of changes as it'd be the end of the contract and I could easily go elsewhere if I wanted, or take out a different contract, or just happily pay the difference. I'd have options. As opposed to being stuck with paying the difference unless I want to kick up a MASSIVE fuss, and either give my phone back or pay for it up front...

Serious · **Reply #10 on:** December 13, 2012, 16:24:04 PM

Re: O2 upping tariff fees

Reply #10 on: December 13, 2012, 16:24:04 PM

Then again you can check the get out clauses if you want. If they install a new contract at the old price then you should be free to leave the old and sign up to the new.

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Author Topic: O2 upping tariff fees (Read 3865 times)