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wtf is a the point of the contract if they are rise the price?
To reduce competitive pressure by trapping customers.
why would the mark participate tho?
Because I need the internet. And every company does this so I have no choice.
Although I actually found a small company that doesn't do it apparently, so we'll see. The trouble is even if they don't do it in this contract, they might want to do it next contract. Of course I could always not renew, but then I'm back to square one aren't I, with every company doing it.
Because they have few other options. It's very exploitativr.
I took things into my own hands. Once my 12 months SIM only contract was up almost two years ago I moved over to a rolling 30-day. I will not go back to the big players on anything more than 30 days. Fuck the greedy bastards.
Don't they offset their losses on a thirty day SIM by charging you more per month?
Who are you with?
There some low cost MVNOs that offer rolling plans. No frills but cheaper than major networks.
Giffgaff have recurring “goodybag” system that can be quite cheap. They keep costs low through things like having minimal customer support.
I haven't found any 30 day contracts that can beat a well negotiated renewal. You just need to be firm in requesting the PAC code and make them work to keep you as a customer.
I got EU roaming included in my £9/month contract but I do need to get temporary travel packs for other countries.
If you have the energy to jump through the hoops to get a deal, then great. I can't face it. When I feel my current deal isn't right, I just text the number, get the PAC, and disappear, and I love the freedom. I pay £6/month for 5GB and it's more than enough for me.
How much data for £9?
As for roaming, get a local esim. I used AirHub when I travelled to the US and got 5Gb for $4.
Plenty for Google Maps and WhatsApp.
For that £9 I get 15Gb of data (including EU roaming). One of my kids gets their phone with unlimited calls/texts + 5Gb of data for £5. I doubt I'm ever going to need more than that as on a recent holiday with heavy use I didn't even get close to exceeding the usage limits.
TalkMobile.
Vodafone's other in-house MVNO with no-frills. 30Gb, £7, rolling 30 day contract.
60Gb is £10 per month, 30 day rolling contract.
No doubt these are decent deals but if you look at their website and compare like for like:
https://talkmobile.co.uk/sim-only
Edit: Err, actually they have two options with the same terms at different prices for the 30GB 1 month contract. The second is as you've noted, £7. WTF?
Marketing and proofreading? What's that?
🤣
Since when have they ever been fucking "inflation-linked"??? Other than the inflation that affects yacht prices for their CEOs, these greedy fucks just want to nick whatever cash they can get and fuck the rest. Arseholes.
Its linked to the cost of aviation fuel, as they need their private jets, and that has shot up in price.
It's weird how it even became a thing. At least I don't remember it being a thing for my broadband contracts until a few years ago.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Phone companies, broadband providers and subscription TV services will be banned from imposing inflation-linked price increases in the middle of contracts from next year, the telecoms regulator has confirmed.
Under plans being introduced in January 2025, Ofcom will force providers to tell customers upfront, in “pounds and pence”, about any expected rises throughout the duration of their deals.
The move comes after a number of big UK phone and TV providers changed their terms in recent years to include mid-contract rises linked to the retail prices index plus about 4%.
Pressure had grown on the regulator to act after a media campaign, including a Guardian investigation last summer into how the UK’s largest mobile and broadband companies were pushing through the biggest round of price rises for more than 30 years, prompting accusations they were fuelling “greedflation”.
Cristina Luna-Esteban, Ofcom’s telecoms policy director, said: “With household budgets squeezed, people need to have certainty about their monthly outgoings.
“We’re stepping in on behalf of phone, broadband and pay-TV customers to stamp out this practice, so people can be certain of the price they will pay, compare deals more easily and take advantage of the competitive market we have in the UK.”
The original article contains 482 words, the summary contains 200 words. Saved 59%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
If I signed a contract to pay a certain amount of money each month then that should be the amount of money I pay each month. Should not be legal for them to change the agreement halfway through and then putting "we can change the agreement halfway through" in the terms of service does not make it acceptable.
Glad its banned.
But the contract you signed included the right for the provider to increase with inflation. It even states exactly what measures they can use.
The issue is more, no other options are given. As these companies seem to all agree on the shit they do.
Every contract includes that stipulation so what am I as an individual supposed to do?
If it helps, there are ISPs that don't do it.
Zen is one of them. (And is a generally better company to do business with)
Not use the service.
Honestly, labour are doing the right thing. And when competition ain't competing. The only thing they can.
You may have noticed UK mobile companies joining over the years. T-Mobile and orange became EE. O2 and Vodafone trying to merge.
I spoke to an Orange rep before the merge. He was commenting on how the company considered there to be too much competition in the UK mobile market. At the time, there were 5 providers. Legally, 3 or more is required for it not to be seen as a monopoly.
The attitude gave me a clear idea odf how these companies see competition.