[flagpole]

http://www.vodafone.co.uk/yourbill

check this out:
£10.21 £10.50
£15.32 £15.50
£20.42 £20.50
£25.54 £26.00
£30.65 £31.00
£35.75 £36.00
£40.86 £41.00
£45.96 £46.00
£51.07 £51.50
£56.17 £56.50
£61.28 £61.50
£66.38 £66.50
£71.50 £71.50

it was so confusing for me paying £30.65pcm. thanks for sorting that for me.

It never ceases to amaze me how the networks feel able to change price plans mid contract. i know it's in their T&Cs that they can but as far as i am concerned it's completely amoral. we had an agreement.

there are other changes too.

[wh666-666]

Originally Posted by flagpole

it was so confusing for me paying £30.65pcm. thanks for sorting that for me.

You have a large bill, even at £30.65pm !!

I was going to go with a vodafone deal a while back, sim only 600mins, 250 texts, free NGN's £16pm.

However I stayed with Virgin as they upped the ante and rewarded my loyalty

No operator so far can beat the deal Im on. 800mins, 3k texts, 1GB internet, unlimited v2v mins, free galaxy phones on one year contract, then lapsing back to sim only rolling contract again for £10.50pm


I would suggest haggling with vodafone, tell them unless they are prepared to reward your consumerism, you will go elsewhere. Renegoitiate your contract.

[flagpole]

Well i have an n8, got it the week it came out, 12month contract, 600minutes, 5000 texts and 5 gb of data. So I'm quite happy with the bill. I just think that it's outrageous that they feel they can change what we agreed.

[Thine Wonk]

If they've changed it mid contract and it detrimentally effects your side of the contract you have the right to cancel for up to 30 days after they have told you about the changes, and you'll get to keep the N8.

Switch to somebody else.

I'd tell them where to stick that and move to a decent network that doesn't rip people off.

It's the principle with me, if Three did that I would tell them where to stick it and go somewhere else, that's a joke. However I can't see that happening.

[flagpole]

them's not the rules I'm afraid. They are allowed to increas the charges by less than 10%. Weird but just the way it is.

[Thine Wonk]

Originally Posted by flagpole

them's not the rules I'm afraid. They are allowed to increas the charges by less than 10%. Weird but just the way it is.

Whatever you put in a contract you can't rewrite law, you just can't write an agreement that overrides the law, that's why these things always say that they 'do not effect your statutory rights' statutory meaning on the statute books, a written law.

A contract has to be fair and balanced to both sides. The OFT say the following on price variations in consumer contracts:

Guidance for the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts
Regulations 1999

http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/rep...rms/oft311.pdf

The OFT's objections to variation clauses generally are set out under Group
10. If a contract is to be considered balanced, each party should be sure of
getting what they were promised in exchange for providing the
'consideration' they agreed to provide. A clause allowing the supplier to
increase the price – varying the most important of all of the consumer's
contractual obligations – has clear potential for unfairness

Any purely discretionary right to set or vary a price after the consumer has
become bound to pay is obviously objectionable. That applies particularly to
terms allowing the supplier to charge a price on delivery of goods that is
not what was quoted to the consumer when the order was placed. It also
applies to rights to increase payments under continuing contracts where
consumers are 'captive' – that is, they have no penalty-free right to cancel

Terms which permit increases linked to a relevant published price index
such as the RPI are likely to be acceptable, as paragraph 2 of Schedule
2 to the Regulations indicates, subject to the same proviso.
• Any kind of variation clause may in principle be fair if consumers are
free to escape its effects by ending the contract

I state again, whatever companies try to put into contracts doesn't make them legal. There are clear guidelines from the OFT on unfair contracts and price increases and there is a law called 'Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999'

You had an agreement with Vodafone, they are now trying to charge you more and have changed the terms. That is now an unfair contract in my opinion and they should give you 30 days option to cancel, and anyone else who wishes to as a result of this change in contract.

If you took this to court, with the OFT guidelines and the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999, you you would win.

That's why Three several times released people from contracts and allowed them to keep the handsets when they changed the agreements. They were quite happy to release people from their contracts and there's lots of references on forums / the internet about it.

[CoolboyA]

My Vodafone bill is almost £50 a month. 1200mins, unlimited texts and 500MB web.

It is a 2 year old deal though with an, at the time, high end phone.

[flagpole]

three have different contract terms. I have more than a passing familiarity with contract law.

[Thine Wonk]

I see it as a change in the way the bill is calculated that wasn't specified in the original agreement and therefore is an unfair contract change.

I've been involved in 4 legal cases so far, I've won or been successful in 3 out of the 4. I had a solicitor help with 1, although I did the day in court myself, but the other 3 I managed entirely self representing.

Me vs the CPS x2, 2 wins, me vs HSBC I won, and then me vs former employer I lost, but fought off their threats and them counter suing me which got them nowhere and they soon dropped that idea when I justified my actions and gave them some case law I was intending to rely upon in my defence, they dropped the action, however I also lost my case against them.

I have a strong interest in law, I listen to weekly podcasts, I occasionally go to court to view cases as an observer. I read a lot and research a lot. I actually wish I had gone in to the legal profession as I think I would enjoy it.

I've had quite a bit of practice now and a simple county court job in consumer law would be fairly easy if you think you are in the right. Chances are VF probably wouldn't turn up anyway and you'd win by default + costs.

Obviously I haven't read the Vodafone contract, but I find it astonishing that they can change the way they calculate the bill, there was no 'rounding up' mentioned in the original contract and suddenly expect the consumer to abide by these new terms which were not mutually agreed at the start.

If you as the consumer suddenly decided that you were going to start 'rounding down' the bill each month do you think this would be acceptable to VF? If not then you have an unfair contract. What is good for 1 side has to be good for the other. I suggest you read the OFTs guidance again further up this thread.

This isn't a price change, they haven't changed their prices, it's a change in the way the bill is calculated, look at it that way and it becomes unfair.

[flagpole]

it is a price change as far as i can see. the line rental has been changed from £30.65 to £31.00 and some other prices have been changed too. which there is provisioned in the contract. the phrasing of which is not unfair, unreasonable or ambiguous.

i don't like it but i'm confident it's legal. Three have different terms. O2 and vod have basically the same clause in this respect.

[partypages]

Looks like there also rounding up on the minutes too a 10 second call will be charges as 1 minute!

Not sure if a call of 1 minute 15 seconds will be billed as 2 minutes thou does anyone else know?

If this is the case would this constitute more unfair changes?

[Thine Wonk]

Aparently if the you personally will be paying 10% more on your bill than you were when you started the contract as a result of the price increases Vodafone will cancel your contract.

You just need to call them up and if you'll be paying 10% more, i.e if you make lots of 08 calls etc which would cause your bill to cost more then they will let you out of it. That's what they're saying on Moneysavingexpert.com, some people have been let of out their contracts.

However it's Vodafone quoting that 10% figure, RPI is only 5% and the OFT would say that contract was unfair over RPI I believe.

[legends wear 7]

Might be the push i need to move networks, its only a few pence but its the principle to me

[Thine Wonk]

The thing that would annoy me more than anything else is the phase "we're doing it to simplify your bill for you", no you're not don't lie.

Also I'd rather the prices just be put up, rather than 'rounded up' that would annoy me. Not only are the minutes rounded up once you go in to 1 second of the next minute, but also the monthly bill is rounded up to the next pound too.

I'm so glad I'm not with them, they were expensive before but now they're even more expensive.

You can get an iphone 4 on Three with 2000 any network minutes, 5,000 texts, all you can eat data including free tethering, free skype etc for £69 one off + £35 a month, and get good speeds on 3G and good 3G coverage. Total cost £909 over 2 years.

On Vodafone it's 1200 minutes, unlimited texts and a pesky 750MB of data which you can't tether and Skype is blocked on for £46 a month + rounded up bills. Total cost £1,104 over 2 years, and that's with less data and less minutes included.

Why would you choose Vodafone.

And another good reason to switch as posted in the other thread just now:

http://www.computing.co.uk/ctg/news/...media-business

[Thine Wonk]

http://www.zdnet.co.uk/blogs/communi...here-10024281/

[FlyinBrick]

Originally Posted by Thine Wonk

T
On Vodafone it's 1200 minutes, unlimited texts and a pesky 750MB of data which you can't tether and Skype is blocked on for £46 a month + rounded up bills. Total cost £1,104 over 2 years, and that's with less data and less minutes included.


http://www.computing.co.uk/ctg/news/...media-business

I'm on VF and I can tether and use skype, my plan is 600mins 1Gb data and unlimited texts for £36 a month.

I'm due an upgrade anytime soon, and have been happy with them so far, but if they stop me using tethering then I'll jump ship as I do use it a bit.

[stupidityno1]

You can currently get an iPhone 4 on Vodafone for £29 on a two year contract as £36 per month. There's also the £41 option where the phone is free. Vodafone has much better overall coverage than 3 too. 3 is a no go in my area - and it's urban. Their 3G is strong in general, but once that drops you're a little stuck.

On the subject of rounding up the bill. Fight it if you want but don't think Vodafone haven't fully investigated the legal implications before acting. They'll know exactly how many people they may have to legally release from their contract, and it won't be many.

[plymouthbloke1974]

Originally Posted by Thine Wonk

Why would you choose Vodafone.

Because they are the only network that works (reliably) indoors at your home?

[Thine Wonk]

yeah I'd give you that one.

[plymouthbloke1974]

Originally Posted by Thine Wonk

yeah I'd give you that one.

Thought you would

Thats the situation I'm in.

[alanwarwic]

Think yourself lucky that the chief executive hasn't described foreign based web sites as a bag of hurt.

[flagpole]

i'm pretty happy with vodafone.

it annoys me when they do this. all the networks do it, but it's just not cricket. as far as the man in the street is concerned you agree a price for 12, 18 or 24 months and they should stick to it.

if they would just do it for new contracts then everything would be fine.

vodafone actually already have a strong backhaul and good 3G coverage.

[Thine Wonk]

Originally Posted by alanwarwic

Think yourself lucky that the chief executive hasn't described foreign based web sites as a bag of hurt.

That comment has gone over my head. Can you explain?