Another Brexit Win

[Hymie]

Mobile phone roaming charges

Martin Lewis, of MoneySavingExpert, says: 'I've no faith in mobile firms to self-regulate. When we left the EU, they promised not to reintroduce European roaming charges, yet most of the big networks have broken that promise. We need formal, compulsory consumer protections.'

Read the full story here:-
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/holidays/article-11096299/Dont-burnt-sky-high-mobile-bill-guide-roaming-fees.html

[Zacs-Master]

It is the market, but it invalidates your comment that providers ALWAYS charge the market rate outside the EU.

[New Judge]

They don't all have to charge the same. Tesco charges different prices to Waitrose. They each charge what they believe their market will endure. But they're both charging the market rate as far as they are concerned.

[Zacs-Master]

Ooooh, right. Now that you’ve explained it so clearly I understand.


For Funks Sake.

[Zacs-Master]

How can ‘free’ be the market rate?

[New Judge]

Would it be different if they charged one penny?

Take banking. Some banks provide free current accounts (I have one). Others charge a monthly fee (I have one of those too). Their packages are slightly different (interest on balances, fringe benefits, etc.) One is free and one costs me a fee. They pitch their product at their market and charge what they think their customers will pay, balancing their income against market share. The free one suits me for some purposes, the one with a fee suits me for others. No different to mobile phone packages.

[THECORBYLOON]

NJ, if a supplier is providing goods or services at a different price from others in the same market, how is that supplier charging the market rate?

If ten suppliers each charge a different price, how could you argue they were each paying the market rate merely because the individual suppliers' customers were paying those rates?

[THECORBYLOON]

A supplier's market is not THE market though, is it?

[Ellipsis]

Pre-Brexit, it was the case that if you left the UK with your mobile phone and used it in the EU then, as far as your phone bill was concerned, it was as if you hadn't left the UK. Calls, text and data were all exactly the same as if you'd stayed at home and made the same use of them.

Now, that isn't the case. You can be stiffed for much more money.

Some providers have not increased prices though, yet at least, notably O2. Perhaps because they're operated by Spain-based Telefónica.

[Zacs-Master]

That’s not a great analogy and it doesn’t explain why you think ‘free’ is the market rate.

Ok, so let’s take your comment ‘ Customers must shop around to find a deal that suits them best’ How would I go about this when I get charged £6 a day in Turkey and £2 a day in Italy, both of which, pre Brexit, were free?

Free enterprise is great but…….

[New Judge]

Because the "market rate" is what each of them believe the market will endure. It doesn't have to be a single definitive figure.

I think we're arguing semantics. When companies are free to charge what they will (from zero upwards) customers must choose which supplier suits them best. Mobile phone providers should not be constrained in their pricing by governments but if they are to be so constrained in the UK, it should be the UK government that does the constraining. That is the point of Brexit (and what is the nub of this question). I'm going to bed . :-)

[New Judge]

//How would I go about this when I get charged £6 a day in Turkey and £2 a day in Italy, both of which, pre Brexit, were free?//

The same as I have to decide whether to go to Sainsbury's or Tesco's when Sainsbury's charges me 10p more for a pint of milk and Tesc'os charges me 20p more for a loaf of bread. I'm definitely going to bed, :-)

[Hymie]

Of course, if you are the CEO of a mobile phone company, it’s definitely a Brexit win.

[douglas9401]

I'm putting this in the special folder along with Tora's guff about motoring being too cheap, transporting empty seats etc.

Let them eat cack.