T-Mobile - when is a price plan not a price plan??

[installspark]

Received a text notification that T-Mobile, as from 1st May, will be charging 40p per min for calling 08xx numbers. On their Flext price plans this represents an increase of 100%, for Solo and Combi plans it is an increase of 33.3%.

 

According to their own T&C, this allows me to terminate my contract a the increase is of material detriment.

2.11.2. If You are a Consumer and the change is of material detriment

to You, We will send You Written Notice one calendar month before the

terms and conditions are due to change. The new terms and conditions

will apply to You once the calendar month’s notice has run out unless

You terminate Your Agreement with Us within that notice period. If

You do this You won’t have to pay any cancellation charge that would

otherwise apply, see point 7.2.5.2.

 

7.2.4. Apart from as described in points 7.2.5 and 7.3.2 below, if You

are terminating whilst You are within Your Minimum Term, a

cancellation charge will apply. We calculate a cancellation charge by

firstly adding together all remaining Monthly Charges (or other

periodic Charges, plus any other Charges stated in the terms and

conditions for any Service) for the remainder of the Minimum Term.

We then take off 4% of that figure to get the final charge.

 

7.2.5.2. You are a Consumer and the change that We gave You

Written Notice of in point 2.11.2 or 7.1.4 above is of material detriment

to You and You give Us notice to immediately cancel this Agreement

before the change takes effect; or

 

7.2.5.3. The change that We gave You Written Notice of in point 7.1.4

is an increase in Your Price Plan Charge (as a percentage) higher than

any increase in the Retail Price Index (also calculated as a percentage)

for the 12 months before the month in which We send You Written Notice

and You give Us notice to immediately cancel this Agreement before the

change takes effect.

Not according to a T-Mobile manager it does not:-x:-x as they are arguing that calls to 08xx are outside of the price plans which means that 7.2.5.2 does not apply, nor does 7.2.5.2 as the increase is not of material detriment. I could have one of the new Flext price plans which will include 08xx from the monthly allowance but I would have to pay £40 per month, as a percentage increase this is 33.3% more than my current monthly charge. They have informed me that I can terminate early so long as I'm prepared to pay £340 in termination fees.

 

However on this page it states:

 

What were the previous call rates to these numbers?

 

It varied from 10p to 50p a minute. Flext was previously 20p a minute, Solo and Combi were previously 30p a minute.

and on the tariff pages the call charges come under "View plan details" This, to me, implies that whilst calls made to 08xx are not dedcted from the monthly allowance, they are charges for calling are part of the price plan.

 

Would I be correct in assuming that as T-Mobile are insisting that call charges to 08xx are not part of the price plans, nor do they consider the increase in charge to be of material detriment, that the contract now falls foul of the UTCC and CPUTR?

Edited April 10, 2009 by installspark

[buzby]

Most of the networks treat these numbers as calls to 'special services' and are outwith standard bundles which provide 'inclusive' calls to 01, 02 & 03 number. Everything else is fair game.

 

Now, if there was a change that they removed 01/02 from bundles, that WOULD be to your detriment and a reason to terminate.

[installspark]

Would a 100% increase still not be classed as detrimental as I make numerous calls to 08xx numbers. If it was only the odd one or 2 then fair enough but on average I make 10-20 calls per month.

 

Also T-Mobile charge different rates to 08xx numbers depending on which price plan you have ie Flext, Solo or Combi.

[buzby]

The only time I was aware of a successful challenge was when on Orange, they differentiated charging for 0800 calls, which originally were free. There was quite an upfroar at the time, then instead of an across the board change, it was limited to certain tariffs. Those that were affected by the change WERE allowed to terminate, whilst other were told there would be a bill credit applied until the minimum term was reached.

[lawbunny]

Just as a point to note....

 

Whilst this is an increase in 08XX number charges for customers on some tariffs, customers with flext plans have actually been charged 40p per min for calling these numbers for months now (I can't remember the exact figure, but it's around 6 months), so if you're on a flext plan you haven't got a leg to stand on. If you're on other price plans you could try to escalate the complaint on the same grounds as the successful Orange complaints as per Buzby's last post.

 

As a final note, if YOU choose to change your price plan to a more expensive one of your own free choice this is completely irrelevant to this argument. The T&Cs re cancelling if your charges are increased only refers to when the network changes the price of a plan you are already on, thus charging you more by force.

[rachyrach]

2.11. We will make a copy of Our current version of these terms and

conditions available on Our website. We can change these terms and

conditions for any good reason, for instance, if We want all customers

on the same conditions. We will tell You about the change beforehand,

as explained here.

2.11.1. If You are a Consumer and the change of terms and conditions

is not of material detriment to You, We will send You Written Notice one

calendar month before the terms are due to change. The new terms

and conditions will automatically apply to You once that notice has

run out.

2.11.2. If You are a Consumer and the change is of material detriment

to You, We will send You Written Notice one calendar month before the

terms and conditions are due to change. The new terms and conditions

will apply to You once the calendar month’s notice has run out unless

You terminate Your Agreement with Us within that notice period. If

You do this You won’t have to pay any cancellation charge that would

otherwise apply, see point 7.2.5.2.

 

The above is taken from the current T-Mobile T&Cs. Now correct me if I'm wrong but surely it says that if a change to the T&Cs are of material detriment then you can cancel your contract within 30 days of being notified of the change.

 

I've sent my email confirming my notice to cancel however, I am intrigued to see what their reply will be

[installspark]

After my formal letter of complaint went (apparently) ignored, I contacted the Directors Office, by email, to complain about T-mobile's failure to follow their own code of practice in that all complaints are acknowledged within 3 days of receipt.

 

Received a call from the Directors Office on Tuesday informing me that a member of the Customer Relations team had contacted and spoken to the password holder (me!!) on 31/03/09, and that I had agreed to the resolution and was happy to pay my bill??? WTF???? This is now being dealt with as a separate matter as this did not occur.

 

The person I spoke to at the Directors Office agreed that the upcoming increase in 08xx call charges was detrimental to me as I spend, on average, £8.00 per month calling these numbers and agreed that I was able to terminate my contract early without penalty and also receive my PAC without charge. Also T-Mobile are paying for the cost of returning the hadset by Special Delivery once the account has been terminated.

 

For the benefit of others, in the new Flext plan only certain 08xx numbers will be included in the monthly allowance and even then you may only use half of the allowance towards these charges.