If you’re an O2 customer, this information may not be welcome but we thought you’d like to know.
As of the 28th February 2013 you will see an increase in your monthly charges. 3.2% increase to be exact, 99p per month for £31 per month plan. A small amount some may say but at times when people need to save every penny, take in to consideration what happened to the network a few months back… Should they be doing this?
The network insists that the increase is necessary due to external costs rising which is eating into their profit (£4.6bn in 2011). I understand every business needs to clear profit to survive but does it really need that much? What about helping the customers loyal and new!
We consistently try to provide all our customers with great value and keep our prices low.
However, as external costs continue to rise, we have had to review the impact this is having on what we charge for our pay monthly service.
At a time when our competitors have been raising the price of their tariffs, we have resisted. We’ve held off for as long as possible but now need to make a change.
From 28th February 2013, the mobile line rental for our pay monthly tariffs will increase by the current inflation rate of 3.2%. We’re doing it in the fairest way possible and want to give our customers maximum notice so they have time to manage their finances.
For over half of our customers this will mean an increase of up to 58p per month to their bill.
This change means everything else stays the same including charges for calls, texts and data.
This price change affects consumer and business customers on pay monthly tariffs. The following customers are unaffected: Pay & Go customers, large enterprise (corporate) customers on bespoke contracts, home broadband, mobile broadband, home phone and O2 Lease customers.
Price increases are never welcome and this isn’t a decision we’ve taken lightly. However, it will help enable us continue to invest in the services that matter to our customers while still offering great value for money. Here are some examples:
Priority Moments. Last year we brought customers 5,000 offers from 1,500 big brand names, saving them £25 million in deals and discounts.
O2 Gurus. With friendly advice in our shops, online and over the phone, we’ve helped over 8 million customers make the most of everything that digital can do.
O2 Wifi. We’ve set up thousands of wifi hotspots giving free wifi in shops, cafes, bars across the UK – giving free, fast internet on the move.
O2 Recycle. We’ve given £40 million cash back to customers in return for old gadgets. And any money we make goes straight to our youth charity, Think Big.
For more information on this change, go to www.o2.co.uk/prices
Source: Which
I don’t get this, I really don’t – its solely a way of getting conning the customer. Not blaming O2 alone – every network has done this now, but its clearly just money grabbing mid contract, otherwise prices would permanently rise, which they don’t – you can go back to your old price at upgrade time, so how can they justify “external factors”, when in reality it only affects customers in contract.
I was lucky that when my network raised the price, I was only 6 months away from upgrade, and when I upgraded I got the same deal (mins, texts & data), but not only without the price rise, but a price reduction (£36.50 went to £34 a month).
“External factors” my arse!
Frustrating that this comes after a few weeks of terrible service outages, and constant poor network performance around my home in North London.