Re: Basics: What Is a Contract??
Three don't actually have this properly written into their contract - the section they refer you to (4.3 I believe) simply says that they must give you 30 days notice if they raise your tariff by MORE than the RPI. There's nothing that actually says they can actually raise it (at all) without you being able to invoke the cancellation clause to withdraw from the contract.
Orange etc, actually do have very specific clauses stating what they can raise it by, how often they can raise it etc, which is better than Three's stunt of just raising prices, pointing to some obscure, unrelated clause that happens to mention RPI and then refusing to accept any argument against it.
The problem is that I really tried to fight Three over it, I wrote endless letters, I rang to Ofcom (who weren't interested as it was a 'commercial dispute'), and the Communications ombudsman wasn't willing to get involved either. The only avenue left was the Small Claims court who weren't interested because there wasn't an actual amount of money I was fighting for (I was simply fighting to have the contract dispute resolved with me being able to withdraw from it without penalty as stipulated in it).
Ultimately Three are hiding behind their T&Cs and it's too difficult for the average man to challenge them without going down the expensive, risky legal route.
Needless to say I've given up, but I cancelled my mobile broadband account immediately (1 month rolling contract) and *will* be leaving them at the earliest opportunity once my iPhone contract ends.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
