Annual price increase email rather misleading.

[#1]

I've just received the "Important information about your mobile plan price" (AKA the usual excuse to put the price up for no good reason) email which I thought I'd bring up on here as it seems highly disinguinuous in my opinion.

It states "This is in line with the Consumer Price Index (CPI rate) of inflation published by the Office for National Statistics in January 2023 plus 3.9%" which is all well and good. What it doesn't make clear at all is what the CPI rate is, because the 3.9% would be an increase of 23 pence per month for me, not the actual 86 pence increase.

So Plusnet, maybe it'd be more transparent in future to actually explain where the vast majority of the added cost is coming from rather than just giving the lower "Plus 3.9%" figure, and what as customers we're getting extra for the actual 14.33% increase?

[#2]

Moderators Note

This topic has been moved from Mobile to Plusnet Feedback

[#3]

Agreed. The email tells me the actual price increase (in my case £1.57) but not the actual % increase. Sadly this makes Plusnet quite expensive for my usage now and there are many better value offerings. I might try calling or using chat to see what can be done but I really have better things to be doing.

[#4]

So I've discovered if you have a PAYG monthly rolling contract then these annual price increases are not an automatic way of carriers to increase you're bill. So come April i'm jumping ship to another EE MVNO at the original £6 a month with 5gb of data and unlimited calls which have no plans to increase their prices before Christmas.

[#5]

It was in the T&C that we signed, however as Martin Lewis on his podcast pointed out, and asked ISP's in these current times, to not add the inflation rate being quoted by the consumer Price Index to the ~4% increase, making 14.4% as it is just an excuse to increase profit rather than keep costs in line with inflation. Other measures of inflation fall far below the CPI which is an outdated method of measurement.   Ofcom are to investigate these mid contract price hikes.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2023/january/april-broadband-price-hikes/

[#6]

If only OFCOM had the teeth they require as a regulator to improve things for the consumer eh? After all it was OFCOM who allowed them to do this in the first place. Its really big of them to come out with a pretend "investigation" after the entire situation is they're fault.

[#7]

Well as my plusnet mobile contract ends on 4th April I'd like to make it crystal clear I'm not accepting a money grabbing 14.4% price increase every year and leave. Laughably I'll be moving to another EE MVNO which offers PAYG on an identical 5gb data/ unlimited calls and texts on a rolling contract for the same £6 a month I'm paying now with no annual price increases.

[#8]

My wife and I are on PAYG but we will be moving our phone contract too. PN are just taking the p**s with the price rise as their actual costs have risen very little (unless of course all the staff are heading for a 14% pay hike). 🤣

Our broadband contract isn’t up until September but we will be off then too. No longer anywhere near competitive.  BT have at last wiped our old (Force9) ISP off the worthwhile map.