E E Increase Mobile Contract Charges

[sunny-dave]

Hmmm - if you have an EE contract which started before 26th Jan 2014 EE have just increased the cost by 2.7% (the annual RPI increase).

The (useless as usual) Ofcom have said that this OK - and can't be used as a free 'get out' by the customer.

It seems inherently wrong that I can make an agreement to pay a fixed price of (say) £40 a month for 2 years and then find that it is going to be increased twice during the contract - by amounts that are unpredictable and are unavoidable without incurring huge cancellation fees.

More to the point though (given that the increase is rubber stamped as 'legal'), I object to paying the full 2.7% increase.

That's the RPI increase for 12 months - my contract has only been running for 5 months.

Surely they should either apply a pro-rated increase, or wait for my 12 month anniversary and apply a full increase then?

I will be contacting EE and Ofcom to make this same point - don't hold your breath ...

[DrFilth]

> an agreement to pay a fixed price of (say) £40 a month for 2 years and then find that it is going to be increased twice during the contract <

does not seem right to me, it is like saying sign here and we will make up a charge as we go along

[Frank97]

I've no doubt it's hidden in the small print somewhere.

[redman41]

I'm on a PAYG with Orange, but they have been taken over by EE !!
They are dictatorial Dave....

[Frank97]

I had a sim only contract with EE, after two years their reward for my loyalty when the contract ended was to increase my payments by 60%, I went elsewhere!

[sunny-dave]

Dr F - yes my point entirely.

But Ofcom are in thrall to the big businesses and have said "OK then - you can do it even if the initial contract doesn't permit any increase".

I would say 'astonishing' - but I am beyond astonishment with Ofcom - I think their mission statement must be "Proud to be as effective as a chocolate fireguard".

[DrFilth]

is the ee service any good

what is your speed like and how much gb a month do you get ?

[Old_Geezer]

All the mobile service providers are permitted to make such inflation driven rises. Your original contract would have that somewhere. You can complain you have not been there for 12 months but I suspect the response would be along the lines of you entered the contract at a cheaper rate than you would have otherwise, which would be to your benefit. That after this rise you have caught up.

This should have been clear when you signed up though. Maybe if it was not you have a further cause for complaint against whoever sold you the contract.

[Old_Geezer]

I'd not say Orange have been taken over by EE. What occurred was an agreed merger between T-Mobile and Orange, and the creation of a new company/board to oversee the lot. But it wasn't like EE already existed and bought anyone out. T-Mobile and Orange are effectively just brand names now, trying to appeal to different sections of the market.

[sunny-dave]

EE service is actually pretty good Dr F.

I also have a 4G router from them which works brilliantly - fibre speeds although I live way out in the sticks.

The total bundle (unlimited minutes, unlimited texts, 20gb data) costs £58.99pm - but remember that that includes the cost of supplying the iphone 5s and the mobile 4G router.

The data is shared between the phone and the router - I use it for all my home internet & haven't got near the monthly limit yet - but I don't watch films or catch-up TV very often.

I no longer need a landline for broadband or calls - so that's well over £30pm saved.

[DrFilth]

at present i am on a three network dongle don't have a landline or tv and if i watch a few video clips from youtube it just burns the credit off

[Hopkirk]

I have just taken on a 2 year contract with Tesco mobile, and they specifically promise not to do this.

I am not always a fan of Tesco, but for their mobile phone arm I have to say they are good.