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Phone Shop Staff Accused of Misleading Customers over Mobile Phone Contracts
Published on:
Mystery shopping carried out by the UK based consumer affairs magazine, Which? claims to show sales staff giving inaccurate information about the possibility of price increases.
Which? said that its research revealed that the vast majority (82%) of staff in mobile phone shops visited gave incorrect information about potential price rises on 'fixed' phone contracts at the point of sale.
The shop assistants maintained that the price was fixed even when asked if it would stay the same throughout the length of the contract. All shop assistants, when prompted, claimed that the features will stay the same throughout the contract.
In the past year, four out of the five main phone operators have taken advantage of a clause that allows them to increase prices on contracts that appear to be 'fixed', a practice potentially netting the industry up to £90m in a year.
Which? executive director, Richard Lloyd, says: "It's totally unacceptable that people aren't being told the full story about potential price rises when signing up to contracts in mobile phone shops. Shockingly, even when we asked directly about price increases, the vast majority of staff denied this could happen.
"There should be no nasty surprises after signing a mobile contract. People must be confident that fixed really does mean fixed."
Recent Which? research found that 70% of people on fixed contracts did not know that mobile phone companies could increase prices during the length of their contract.
Tags: [UK]
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