Orange increasing my monthly charge

staffitaxi

staffitaxi

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Andrea
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Orange have written to me to say they are putting up my monthly charge.

Obviously I signed a 12 month contract to pay a set amount for that period so can they increase it part way through?

They are going to be getting a phone call anyway as they think that they are increasing it by 3.3% ie £0.84 to make my payments £26.84 a month but as I only pay £19.50 a month they are going to have to correct that as I work it out that a rise of 3.3% would be an extra 64p on top of that.

Does a contract not stand for anything?
 
Not in the mobile world. It's in the small print that they can stiff you during a minimum time even though you can't leave.

I think it is disgusting. Some have small print where you can cancel if they change their terms 'substantially to your detriment' but they'll do all the can to avoid letting you go without charging you for the remainder.

If you sign up to a contract then it should stay precisely as it is until the contract period expires.

Quite often you're better on PAYG as if a provider behaves badly you can just leave. Often payg deals are cheaper even when including the cost of any phone as they know customers are able to switch so they can't treat them like crap.
 
I remember reading something about this kind of thing happening before (here's a link).

Quote from the article (from 2012):
Unfortunately it doesn't look like you'll be able to use the price hike to duck out of your contract early, as the percentage increase isn't above the rate of inflation, which is 3.7 per cent as of February. As T-Mobile states on its site, "Our pay monthly terms and conditions allow us to increase charges up to the Retail Price Index (RPI) figure in any 12 month period."
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I agree that a contract should be honoured for its duration but they've somehow managed to squirrel a cunning disclaimer into their T&C's. :thumbsdown:
 
There was something in the news just last week about offtel ruling that they can no longer do that and that your contract must remain the same for the duration - and Orange were used as the poorest example of the practice. I don't know though whether it was to take effect immediately or there was a date given for it to begin. The article also said that if companies persisted in the practice, the customer would have the right to cancel the contract with no penalties. I'll try to find the article again.
 
My contract went up this month, though it went up 11p too much, so just spend 20 minutes talking to their online support to sort it out. Yeah, I know, it's only 11p but it's the principle that matters, 11p or £11 I don't want to be overcharged! :)

Will be glad if they get that ruling in place so that if they want to up the price you can get out of the contract, I think it's crazy how they can just up the price any time they like.
Maybe we should just go to them: "Oh, I'm paying you less next month, sorry." :cuckoo:
 
Really? It will be in the contracts small print. You did read it before you signed right?

Are you really going to get all hot and bothered on the phone so some underpaid call centre kid for the sake of a few pence per month? The phone all will end up costing you more that a years worth of increases.

The Brits really do moan a lot about nothing!
 
Im not sure who you are replying to. My main issue is that they have my monthly fee wrong by About £6 a month to start with. However if they sell you a package for a set price for a set period of time that should be what you pay. You dont buy a car on credit over 3 years and them say oh we are going to charge you more half way through the agreement.
 
Actually they were far better to deal with than BT in the end. All sorted, very nice lady on phone sounded like she'd had a lot of people ringing up. Apparently none of the letters showed agreed discounts. Took a while for someone to answer but a good result and much easier than I expected to get it sorted.
 
staffitaxi said:
Im not sure who you are replying to. My main issue is that they have my monthly fee wrong by About £6 a month to start with. However if they sell you a package for a set price for a set period of time that should be what you pay. You dont buy a car on credit over 3 years and them say oh we are going to charge you more half way through the agreement.
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I thought credit charge rates could fluctuate?
 
Full details here and you are right, they forgot to mention that it is the full cost of your price plan that has the increase, most, if not all customers have some sort of discount applied.

Phil.
 
I don't think phone contracts are really that much good value any more. I hate that more and more contracts are getting longer now and lets be honest 5-10 years ago the phones still cost £500-600 to buy new for the latest and greatest!

And I hate that my contract is 2 years and I'm very tempted to get rid of it all together when it ends! But I'm pretty lazy and like that I don't really have to do anything and the money just comes out every month! :lol:
 
I got the dreaded Orange increase letter this morning. As soon as my contract's up I'm switching to a sim-only deal, it's less than half of what I'm paying at the moment. "Free phone" my arse. :'(
 
Free Phone

LOL - you really thought the phone was free?


My sim only contract is 10.50 pm - same deal BUT with a free phone is 25.50 pm

:thinking:



BTW the increase letter HAS to show the FULL price of your talk plan - it does not show the amount you pay after the "DISCOUNTS" they have applied to keep you with them - my account should be 17 quid but I said I was off to Virgin and they gave the 6.50 discount - but its given as a credit not as a discount - I assume so IF you walk in contract they can go for the full amount? maybe
 
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I found Orange to become increasingly rubbish. Went to giffgaff and bought a sim free nexus 4. Now i get all the android updates straight away, have free unlimited data, and no contract if something better comes along.
 
i got 5 of the letters last week :bonk:
 
viv1969 said:
Perfect Suz, thank you.

I'd still shop around, and so long as you're willing to (change your number tell them to stick it, chase you for the contract penalty my guess is they won't - I've done it a few times), cancel the direct debit and move on.
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I would really suggest you reconsider that, it's ill conceived and a really bad idea. The networks will trash your credit file and send the debt to bailiffs now, even for small amounts.

I'm aware of someone who lost out on a house, all because of the default O2 put on his account for a debt of around £70. It ended up as a CCJ and he was refused a mortgage. It was the ONLY adverse report on a sparkling credit file, not one bank would help him.
 
ecoleman said:
Really? It will be in the contracts small print. You did read it before you signed right?

Are you really going to get all hot and bothered on the phone so some underpaid call centre kid for the sake of a few pence per month? The phone all will end up costing you more that a years worth of increases.

The Brits really do moan a lot about nothing!
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Too right. If it's wrong, it's wrong. Though my new method is not worrying about call centres or helplines... straight to the top.. and let it filter down .. results are often much quicker, much better and those it filters down to have bit more to play with than "kid in the call centre."
 
I got stung by Orange too (again).

Two things I did:

1) I read this and found its not just Orange (so no point in switching) http://www.which.co.uk/campaigns/technology/fixed-means-fixed/

2) I phoned up Orange, downgraded my tariff, saved 8 quid a month and got more included than I had already.... basically if Orange hadn't poked me with a stick then they'd have made more money.... fools!
 
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