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from the "reducing-bills-is-not-in-customers'-best-interests" dept.
Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:
UK consumer charity Citizens Advice has accused telco giant Hutchison's UK network Three of "ripping off loyal customers" to the tune of £32.4m per year, by refusing to apply automatic discounts once contracts end.
In July, all other mobile operators signed a commitment with Ofcom to put in place a discount for out-of-contract customers by February 2020.
Citizens Advice calculated customers of Three are being overcharged up to £2.7m each month, with up to 210,000 customers paying "the loyalty penalty" for staying in contract.
[...] An Ofcom spokesperson said: "We agree that it's very disappointing that Three has refused to reduce bills for its out-of-contract customers. Three is the only one of the major mobile companies not to take action and its customers will continue to overpay as a result."
However, a Three spokesperson said the current proposals were not in customers' best interests. "Three has some of the lowest prices and unmatched propositions on the market. We've always put customers first and continue to do so. Applying an arbitrary discount to tariffs will not effectively tackle what really matters - helping them to find a contract which is both best-suited to their needs and priced fairly.
"As the leading campaigner for easy switching for the mobile industry, we are working hard to create a market where customers are engaged and happy, by pushing for easier switching, all handsets to be unlocked, end-of-contract notifications and best tariff advice."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 23 2019, @04:03AM (2 children)
They enjoyed a service that connected them to their friends and loved ones. They could have cancelled the service at any time.
(Score: 2) by theluggage on Monday September 23 2019, @09:26AM
No. they bought a phone on 24 month credit, and the company has continued to take payments after the phone was paid off (and got away with it because somewhere in the mass of fine print the contract says that they can).
A sim-only 4GB plan on three only costs £16/month with a '1-month contract' (i.e. no commitment). Unlimited data ~ £26/month.
But if you want a phone to go with that, a cheapie Huawei costs £28/mo for 24 months with 4GB data. an iPhone 11 Pro costs £73/month with unlimited data. If you cancel during the 24 month contract you'll pay a fee, because the phone hasn't been paid off.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 23 2019, @10:38PM
Stay with them its not worth cancelling to much hassle. What you do is "THREATEN to cancel" they will then offer you same deal again.