Martin Lewis issues urgent advice to millions affected by O2 price hike

The Independent

Martin Lewis issues urgent advice to millions affected by O2 price hikeSOURCE: Martin Lewis Money Show/ITV

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00:00Let me explain to everybody what's going on. O2 is hiking its price hike, but you can leave.

00:06That's the most important thing to understand. So O2 is contacting its mobile contract customers

00:10about a rough 40% hike in the hike that it was already planning to do. Now the key reason,

00:16the reason I'm so frustrated by this, is in January we were told by the Ofcom, the regulator,

00:21all mobile broadband and pay TV firms have to give rises in future before you sign up in pounds

00:27and pence. So let's say you're going to pay £10 now, then next April it's going up to £12 and the

00:32April after, within the contract period, it's going up to £14. So you know exactly what you pay

00:36and that was to give you transparency and certainty. But O2 is effectively thumbing its nose at that

00:42because it had told customers that it would rise by £1.80 a month this April and next. Now it's

00:48telling them it'll be £2.50, which is 40% more. In my view, this makes a mockery of Ofcom's rules

00:57which need changing. It risks other firms copying it because once one firm's broken the taboo,

01:02there won't be as much publicity if another firm does it. And it's inflationary if they all do this,

01:07which could cost us all more through taxation. So, I mean, just think about this. The actual rise

01:13that this is on your airtime plan is between 7% and 30% year on year. Now that's way more than on

01:21the old system where you had inflation-linked price hikes. I have written formally to the

01:26Chancellor on this. I spoke to the Secretary of State in charge, Liz Kendall, the other day,

01:30who I'm pleased to tell you was up in arms about it as well. She has written to Ofcom,

01:34the regulator, to say, what on earth are you doing about this? How are we going to close

01:37this loophole that effectively allows them to do it? My view? Simple. Ban above inflation price hikes.

01:45Within a contract, you shouldn't be allowed to do it. And I've given some short-term suggestions

01:50in the middle of that as well. But the most important thing O2 customers who've got this

01:55need to understand, as it's hiking prices by more than it told you, you have a right to leave

02:01penalty-free within 30 days of notification. That's leaving your airtime contract. So even

02:08though the rise is next April, that's not when you can leave. It's notifying people now, so you may

02:14have already had it. If you haven't, you need to be ready. As for what you do, well, consider

02:20leaving. Many of you can slash costs if you do. But more important, let me be honest.

02:24When... Do you know what? I'm sitting here for a reason. Let's bring the soapbox out.

02:33When companies behave like this and increase our costs in a way no one should have or could

02:37have expected, the way that we need to deal them is we need to give them a corporate bloody

02:43nose and increase their costs by them losing customers and brand and reputation to prevent

02:48then doing it again and to prevent all the other mobile and broadband and pay TV customers

02:54doing it. So don't just leave for yourself. Leave for everyone else too.

02:57Yes.

02:58So, you're all right. I'm out of breath looking. Your options. Just get onto a comparison

03:06site, find your cheapest thing. The cheapest deals are on comparison sites because that's

03:09where the churners go and they get better deals there.

03:11You're on the other side. So, our list of options. We'll see you at the same site. So, there's the

03:19first place we talked about in the last couple of months. So, we'll we'll give you a

03:22little bit more about the first place. Well, we'll just make it look after you.

03:24It's not fair. We're not going to get the first place for you. So, it's very

03:26interesting. We're not going to get into the second place. Well, it's just a good

03:27idea. Well, we've got an options for people's trip to keep going. We've got an option.

03:29Please, you're going to get the first place. The obvious way it looks like it's

03:31there. You're going to get there. You're not going

03:33to get there. I'm not going to get a new plan to make it. You're not going to get this choice.

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