A clinic for your mobile phone bill |
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Published
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Tue, 03 May 2005 12:20
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A mobile phone clinic opened this week by a mobile phone retailer ‘The Link’ has raised consumer rights awareness among mobile phone users and perhaps unintentionally also irked some network operators. Although seen largely as a sales promotion gimmick, the 290-store chain has got customers interested by persuading them to bring in their phone bill for scrutiny and advice.
Every Tuesday is ‘bill clinic day’ at each of its 290 stores. The retailer invites mobile phone users to bring their phone bill and have it analysed without any obligation. After analysing the statement, the store will tells users whether savings can be made and recommends a different tariff or network.
| According to a survey the store conducted, most cellular phone users are confused over complicated rival tariffs. A large number of them do not fully understand even the tariffs they have chosen. As a result, eight out of ten users are found to be paying more than they should for their service. There are some people who could save as much as £100 a month if they understood the extent of their phone usage and how to get the best out of the tariff they have chosen. Most users, out of indifference, continue with the same network for years. They are unaware that they have a choice and that another tariff might be more suitable for them.
Once you understand the maths of your bill better you would be able to cut costs and choose a tariff based on your own expected usage.
In most cases, the store found the customers disgruntled by the phone bills. Most found their bills overshooting their own rough calculations and expected amount. Confusion among the users is easy to understand: there are seven service providers each of whom has at least seven tariffs for customers to choose from. Apart from these, there are also a good number of pay-as-you-go deals. Choosing becomes even more complicated a task because of the price wars. Some providers also try to lure customers away from rivals by offering better handsets at lower cost and offering freebies such as more free minutes and texts.
None of the network operators (Orange, O2, BT, T-Mobile, 3, Virgin and Vodafone) offered any comment about the clinic opened by the retailer. Although a couple of them are believed to resent it when their customers opt out of their service and move to a rival network.
Moving from one network to another or from one tariff to a cheaper one may not be all that easy, because of fixed line rentals which have to be paid until the end of the contract period. Consequently you would have to wait until the contract ends, which is usually 12 or 18 months. Switching tariffs or networks in the middle of a contract would mean you lose some of that money already paid.
Our in-house expert offers you five tips to make your hard earned penny get the maximum out of your mobile phone:
1. Determine your caller profile: how often you use your phone, whether you use it during peak times or otherwise, how many text messages you are likely to send in a month, how often you pick up messages from voicemail, etc.
2. If you’re planning to move to another network yet want to keep the same number, ask your current network for a Port Authorisation Code (Pac), which they will give to your new service provider. The Pac is valid for 30 days.
3. If you plan to go abroad inform your network and ask for charges for using the phone abroad.
4. Don’t fall for any of those offers of free text messages with picture downloads of news or match score alerts. Replying to such messages could mean you end up subscribing to a service which sends you pictures and messages which do not come cheap. You might even pay as much as £1.50 for each message received.
5. Offers of free minutes or text messages usually last only for an introductory period, so check before you sign on.
6. If you use pay-as-you-go deals, and find you spend as much as £5 a week or more, you should consider switching to a contract.
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