Mobile phone and similar contracts

Tenigate

I'm surprised there isn't a consumer law that compels providers of services to display the total cost of the contract a consumer is entering into, as would apply to similar contracts involving debt/credit.

As an example.. iphone 7 64gb on Vodafone. From €0. Pay €249.99 today.
5gb data, 100 mins, free texts. It's far from a good contract, yet the cost is €40.00 per month and the period is 24 months.

I'd rather see €1,210 listed as the cost, with €250 upfront + (€40 x 24 months) as the small print.

Other deals include "free connection and €35 per month *"
"* For the first 6 months. Regular price €70. Minimum contract 18 months"

I'm involved with a charity whose clients are financially illiterate. Just regular people who live on welfare and sob that they're always broke.

By setting out contract prices upfront, it would allow consumers to make more informed decisions rather than be confused by the spin of a marketing department. (The tv licence ads from a few years ago spring to mind.. all this tv for the cost of an apple a day)

Thoughts?

Atlantic Dawn

I suppose the regulators assume you could use the calculator on your phone to multiply the cost per month by the number of months the contract runs for even if you were financially illiterate.

TheDriver

I agree that the 25 a month (for 1st 6 months) deals are scams that catch those who are easily persuaded. It's like buying a car and it's XXX per week. They don't like saying how much it actually costs you

RoYoBo

I've worked with people who are caught in the poverty trap and who continually fall for the kind of 'deals' that only mire them even further into deprivation. While I agree that more transparent advertising/marketing is required, I am convinced that some early, real world education is the key. You have to be willing, able and trained to recognise that you're being mugged in this way.

I know that schooling cannot provide solutions for everything but there's a window of opportunity there that will likely not appear again. IMO, this has to happen in primary school. By the time many disaffected youngsters get to secondary school, they're often impervious.

Add in poor attendance at second level (and most people wouldn't believe how prevalent that still is) and you have whole generations who somehow cannot see the wood for the trees, no matter how clearly they're labelled.

TheDriver

I concur, it's important to have the scam radar always on. Door to door sales are one of the worst, promising loads but never in writing. The ability to ring customer service and cut through BS without getting annoyed is another key life skill. Being able to see that free iPhone is full price us another skill. What does it cost me is far more important than affording it this month.
Don't get me started on PCP

dudara

Tenigate wrote: »

I'm surprised there isn't a consumer law that compels providers of services to display the total cost of the contract a consumer is entering into, as would apply to similar contracts involving debt/credit.

Now that I think about it, I tend to agree that there is a justification for this. For comparison, any loans or financial products have to give the total cost of the finance over the term, i.e. €20,000 loan over 3 years will cost €27,000

I know we can argue that people should be capable of calculating the total cost of a contract, but why not make it clear, easy and transparent? Anything that helps consumers is a good thing.

AndrewJRenko

Tenigate wrote: »

I'm surprised there isn't a consumer law that compels providers of services to display the total cost of the contract a consumer is entering into, as would apply to similar contracts involving debt/credit.

As an example.. iphone 7 64gb on Vodafone. From €0. Pay €249.99 today.
5gb data, 100 mins, free texts. It's far from a good contract, yet the cost is €40.00 per month and the period is 24 months.

I'd rather see €1,210 listed as the cost, with €250 upfront + (€40 x 24 months) as the small print.

Other deals include "free connection and €35 per month *"
"* For the first 6 months. Regular price €70. Minimum contract 18 months"

I'm involved with a charity whose clients are financially illiterate. Just regular people who live on welfare and sob that they're always broke.

By setting out contract prices upfront, it would allow consumers to make more informed decisions rather than be confused by the spin of a marketing department. (The tv licence ads from a few years ago spring to mind.. all this tv for the cost of an apple a day)

Thoughts?

I think ComReg's new cost comparison website does exactly that - total cost of ownership;

https://www.comreg.ie/check-comregs-new-compare-website-best-mobile-deals-christmas/

Ah-Watch

I've noticed it in Australia that the mobile operators list the total cost of the contract and the upfront cost too- I think its a great idea.

I completely get your point too having worked in the mobile industry for 9 loooong years. Someone working part time decides that they want an iPhone and don't want to pay anything upfront, sign up to lets say a 60e or worse still an 80e plan with Vodafone for example just to get the phone for free and then 3 months down the line they're screaming Vodafone are robbers for charging so much per month and its all Vodafones fault that you never topped up by 60e a month before- that is, in my eyes down to someones own stupidity and making poor decisions- thats not Vodafone or 3 or Meteors fault! I saw it far too often over the years. I do think its handy to see how much the total cost of a contract is but people shouldn't be so lazy to not tot up how much it is x 12 months / contract duration