Britons ‘threat’ signing up for cellular contracts that go away them paying ‘twice’

Britons may very well be signing up for mobile contracts that go away them paying a whole bunch of kilos extra, as taking out a break up deal to separate the handset from airtime prices stays a problem, a secret shopper investigation has discovered.

Combining airtime prices for minutes, texts and information with the price of the handset can result in shoppers paying greater than the worth of their smartphone. This is as a result of they obtain little low cost, if any, on the finish of their contract but proceed to be charged the identical quantity.

To learn how troublesome acquiring a break up contract might be at first occasion, Virgin Media O2 despatched unbiased, skilled thriller buyers onto UK highstreets and operator’s web sites posing as new prospects seeking to take out a contract on a brand new handset.

As per its investigation, no secret buyers have been in a position to enroll in a break up contract with EE. Meanwhile, Vodaphone and Three fared higher, with buyers proactively being supplied a break up contract in all Vodafone and most (80 p.c) Three shops.

The secret shopper investigation, carried out by Virgin Media O2, follows its analysis earlier within the yr that discovered Britons are collectively overpaying £530million every year for handsets they already personal, with many doubtlessly paying for his or her gadgets twice over.

Gareth Turpin, chief business officer at Virgin Media O2, stated: “It’s time for the industry to end this half-a-billion-pound problem by providing consumers with choice, consistency and clarity on their phone contracts. This is not about picking a fight with our competitors, it’s about increasing awareness of a key consumer issue and urging others to help solve it.”

Mr Turpin informed Express.co.uk: “Other operators are clinging to the practices of the past. More than a decade after O2 first launched split contracts to ensure customers never overpay for their phones, others are continuing to charge customers for phones they already own.

“Today, shoppers up and down the country are walking into stores and being denied split contracts that could save them hundreds of pounds each year. It’s just plain wrong.

“More than nine in ten people simply don’t understand that they could be paying twice – which makes the lack of urgency to address the issue even more concerning. This is a problem that impacts millions of consumers and is costing them over half a billion pounds every year.”

At a time when cash is tight and persons are actively seeking to save, Mr Turpin stated it is a downside shoppers “shouldn’t have to battle with”.

Based on the thriller shopper findings, Virgin Media O2 is encouraging shoppers to examine what occurs on the finish of their contract to get readability on their cellular plan.

As a part of its marketing campaign, Virgin Media O2 is urging prospects to ask:

• Can I get a break up contract?
• What occurs on the finish of my contract? Will I nonetheless be charged for my handset?
• How will I do know once I’ve paid off the price of my telephone?

Mr Turpin added: “We’ve built a new online overpayment calculator so anyone can check if they’re at risk of overpaying in just a few seconds.

“It puts the power back into consumers hands so I’d encourage people to check that, speak with their provider and get themselves a split contract.”

A BT Consumer spokesperson informed Express.co.uk: “We find these claims from Virgin Media O2 to be misleading and unnecessary – designed to chase headlines, at a time when consumers need confidence that the industry is clear and straightforward.

“Like VMO2, we offer spilt contracts with EE Flexpay, while providing all customers with clear end-of-contract notifications, including the best offer for them based on their usage. With EE Flexpay, once the handset is paid off no further charges are applied. We don’t position this as a discount because it isn’t – the handset is owned by the customer.

“Along with providing customers with great value, we are also doing all we can to support our financially vulnerable customers with our market-leading social tariffs. We currently have 80 percent of all social tariffs customers in the UK.”