Possible Loophole Mobile Phone's

[clint1974]

Hello

 

I was hoping someone could advise whether there is a current loophole in the current moble phone contract. I recieved my bill the other day to reveal a call to a friend had cost £10 as i had ran out of "crossnetwork minutes" I am with Vodafone on a pay monthly contract they were on T-Mobile. Now if you or i dial a freephone number or an 0845 number we are told that the call will be charged at our standard rate right? So hence a possible loophole. Surely if i'm making a call and i am out of my "free minutes" or am going to be charged a substanstial amount then surely i should be forewarned? If i had a warning ie a text or a voice message informing me that i no longer had inclusive minutes and therefore the call would be charged at my standard on/off peak rate i may decide not to proceed. I am going to write to Vodafone highlighting this but just wondered if there maybe a case here for us all getting some money back!?

[gizmo111]

Hello

 

I was hoping someone could advise whether there is a current loophole in the current moble phone contract. I recieved my bill the other day to reveal a call to a friend had cost £10 as i had ran out of "crossnetwork minutes" I am with Vodafone on a pay monthly contract they were on T-Mobile. Now if you or i dial a freephone number or an 0845 number we are told that the call will be charged at our standard rate right? So hence a possible loophole. Surely if i'm making a call and i am out of my "free minutes" or am going to be charged a substanstial amount then surely i should be forewarned? If i had a warning ie a text or a voice message informing me that i no longer had inclusive minutes and therefore the call would be charged at my standard on/off peak rate i may decide not to proceed. I am going to write to Vodafone highlighting this but just wondered if there maybe a case here for us all getting some money back!?

 

Can't see how as you can check your balance any time and you would be paying for a service - the warnings on 0800 and 0845 are courtesy I beleive.

[clint1974]

To check my balance would not be feasible. I would have to ring customer services prior to every phone call which A:) Would mean me using more "Free Minutes" and B:) Would be inconvienient. If they tell you when you dial 0800/0845 numbers out of courtesy then surely when they know you will be paying 60p per minute they should also display the same courtesy. This is just another money making ploy they know most people will use up there inclusive minutes and therefore be paying almost premium rate charges to call other networks. According to there website its around 40p per minute if you are out of minutes to call another network eg Vodafone to T-Mobile dependant on your individual price plan. Vodafone Anytime

[gizmo111]

To check my balance would not be feasible. I would have to ring customer services prior to every phone call which A:) Would mean me using more "Free Minutes" and B:) Would be inconvienient. If they tell you when you dial 0800/0845 numbers out of courtesy then surely when they know you will be paying 60p per minute they should also display the same courtesy. This is just another money making ploy they know most people will use up there inclusive minutes and therefore be paying almost premium rate charges to call other networks. According to there website its around 40p per minute if you are out of minutes to call another network eg Vodafone to T-Mobile dependant on your individual price plan. Vodafone Anytime

 

Oh it is pricey - I thought calls to customer service were free - I just dial 191 and they send me a text shortly after with balance. I am not saying it isn't worth a try, but I think the argument may be lost in that you are using your inclusive mins as per contract and then are paying for an additional service of your choosing. I could be wrong

[buzby]

I would very much doubt this would work, as the onus is always on the customer to check tariffs before use. It doesn't matter that the real cost of the cross network call DOESN'T change for the network operator itself, they still charge you and pay the receiving network the same amount for delivering the call. You've bought a particular bundle and when it expires, you pay the price or buy a bigger bundle next month. It's also very like ISP's capping ustomers for usage, once the limit is reached they can charge what they want.

 

As for the whole issue of cross-network calls, this is an area where consumers are regularly and knowingly penalised. Some of us recognise mobile phone dialing codes as 'belonging' to a particular network, if I recognise the code as being the same as my own or belonging to the same codes used by my network operator, I was usually safe in the assumption that the call would be charged on-net, and be billed at reasonable rates.

 

All this fell apart in the rush to provide Number Portability, users can port their number to any network, so we have the ludicrous situation where I can dial a mobile that uses the SAME dialling code as me, yet because the number has been ported to a different network, I'm charged off0net rates, and the first time I'll know of this is when my bill arrives. Is that open and transparent? Of course it isn't, but the regulator allowed it as preventing number portability because of possible billing complaints from users wasn't deemed a valid reason.

 

This issue hit the fan in Ireland a few years ago when customers were in the same situation as UK users, but the regulater decided to do something about it. They mandated that all Irish mobile networks had to alert users if a call was off-net, and it works this way;

 

When initiating a call from your own network to another mobile number (which may or may not be charged at off0net rates, IF the call is to be transferred to a different mobile network for delivery, the subscriber hears a tone played as the call is transferred across trhe gateway to the other network. This gives them a few seconds to realise the call is off-net and terminate it before answering. If no tone is played, then the call is handled within your own network, or a landline.

 

Why don't we have this in the UK? Because it will cost the networks to provide, and the Regulator hasn't demanded they do this. Consumer rights? They just don't exist in the mobile world!

[Rob S]

My calls to T-mobile customer service are free and do not eat up the free minutes allowance.

 

I think you are on a loser with regards to trying to claim back the cost of your call. It is up to you to keep track of your account usage so you know when you are about to use up your allowance. I would be very surprised if you got anywhere with such a claim.

[gizmo111]

My calls to T-mobile customer service are free and do not eat up the free minutes allowance.

 

I think you are on a loser with regards to trying to claim back the cost of your call. It is up to you to keep track of your account usage so you know when you are about to use up your allowance. I would be very surprised if you got anywhere with such a claim.

 

I agree it is likely to be a loser, and also this site is about reclaiming what is ours and our rights - this claim has no legislation to back it.

[JMio]

Calls to Vodafone Customer Services ARE free - also any Vodafone Shop can tell you your balance, plus most if not all phones have a minute counter nowadays so you can even use that as a rough guide!

 

There' isn't really an excuse for 'not knowing' how much time you've got left on your priceplan I'm afraid!

 

If you call customer services (191), and select the option for Account Balance you get a free SMS telling you your current account balance etc.

[sequenci]

the charges are advertised everywhere.

[micia]

Customer care (191) is a free call for pay monthly customers, as is checking your balance by calling 44555. All phones have timers which could be reset on the first of the month to coincide with Vodafone's reset of your inclusive minutes. There is no loophole as it is the customers responsibility to keep track of the usage