Well great news! Under new rulings, Broadband, pay-TV, mobile phone and landline providers will have to inform their customers when the service contract is due to expire. This will mean you as the consumer will be able to shop around and miss the massive price hikes.
Ofcom have spoken about the issue recently sating, “According to our research, more than 20 million customers have gone beyond their initial contract period. Many of these could be paying more than they need to.”
Companies who offer services such as these will need to update their systems quickly, with the deadline now set for the 15th of February 2020. Once this is in place all consumers should be alerted 10 to 40 days before the licence comes to an end, this alert will need to include:
• when the contract ends;
• the price paid before this date;
• any changes to the service and price paid at the end of the contract;
• information about any notice period required to end the contract; and
• the best deals offered by your provider, including telling existing customers what prices are available to new customers.
“This will put power in the hands of millions of people who’re paying more than necessary when they’re no longer tied to a contract,” said Lindsey Fussell, Ofcom’s consumer group director.
The research findings presented by Ofcom found that most customer could cut the cost of the service, which they are in contract for by up to 20% when signing up to a new provider or new contract.
As so often is the case though there are some who don’t believe the new act goes far enough and have requested that providers send multiple alerts out, release figures on the percentage of people paying “out-of-contract” fees and how much extra on average they are paying compared to in-contact customers.
“Almost nine in 10 people think that charging loyal customers more is unfair, and we agree,” commented Gillian Guy, Citizens Advice’s chief executive.
Yes, it is unfair, but should people pay more attention when their licence expires and handle it themselves, rather than being molly coddled through life? What are your thoughts on the matter?
Also thinking to the smaller providers and start-ups in the industry, should they be forced to action these changes which could cause further difficulties in growing their company, should we not be helping them to stand up to the monopolies so there is more choice in the market for future generations.
