Roam Further - you can now leave for free if you suffer "material detriment"

[SimonWilding]

 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-42367751

Thousands of Vodafone customers will be able to end their contracts early after the UK's communications regulator raised concerns over new charges.

In April, Vodafone introduced new international roaming charges for 60 countries outside the European Union, and told customers via text message.

Ofcom said it had "intervened" because it had "concerns about the clarity of that text message".

In a statement, Vodafone said its customers "like" its products.

Vodafone's Roam Further charges, introduced in 2017, mean customers on a monthly contract are charged a flat fee of £6 per day to use their phone in 60 countries including the US, Canada and Russia.

The changes mean customers will be charged the flat £6 fee even if they only send one text message.

Previously customers were charged for their usage and fees varied between countries.

Ofcom considered that light users would be more affected by the changes because "they could no longer send texts, make calls or use data on a 'pay-per-use' basis'".

Mobile phone networks must give customers 30 days' notice of any contract changes likely to be of "material detriment", and must let customers end their contracts without penalty if they do not agree to the changes.

Some customers had complained and Ofcom said it was concerned that Vodafone's communication had not been clear.

It said right to exit information should be provided "in the main body of the text or email" rather than linking to a separate webpage as Vodafone had done.

In response to Ofcom's concerns, Vodafone sent another message to affected customers and gave them a further 30 days to leave their contract.

It said it had identified 55,000 customers who were likely to face "material detriment" following the introduction of the new charges.

In a statement, Vodafone said Roam Further "removes the fear of bill shock".

"We took on board Ofcom's views about notifications and will be sure to follow them," it said.

[mum3kidz]

Exactly “ Who” can leave early , only people who have suffered financially or customers who don’t like the changes and simply want to exit early ?

who are these 55.000 customers 

[SimonWilding]

You can leave for free if you can show that you will be badly affected by the change in terms and conditions. This wil basically be those who regularly go outside the EU and send a few texts a day who, instead of paying 50p or £1 a day, they will have to pay £6 so are suffering "material detriment".

Vodafone will know from billing histories who these customers are and will contacting them.

Not liking a new contract term is not a good enough reason for someone to tear up their contract if they are not actually affected by the change. If you feel that you are one of the 55000 who are affected I'm sure VF will have a procedure in place to determine this.

[WillVXR]

Surely if I have not yet experienced a loss but now intend to travel and ultimately be affected to my detriment then I too have sufficent justification to reject the changes and leave?

So if I want to travel now Vodafone are going to prevent me doing so due to their refusal to cancel my contract - Doesn't sound right to me.

[AnnS]

Hi @WillVXR

Leaving without penalty will be based on your previous travel, not what you may do in the future. This means having to prove that your future use based on your previous roaming will incur additional charges.

[WillVXR]

Thus preventing me roaming which IMHO is wrong.

[pworeilly]

I have spoken to Vodafone via online chat today regarding this issue.  I had £20 of charges after travelling to Mexico in August. That was for a total of 0.001Gb of data, 2 text messages and a phone call less than 1 minute. I complained when I received the bill and a partial refund was added. I would consider myself one of those out of pocket because of the roam further charges but Vodafone disagree. I haven’t received the new text message stating my cancellation options therefore I am not eligible. I disagree, ofcom disagree but Vodafone do not. The first two people I spoke to from customer services new nothing about what I was talking about. The third person was arguing that the early cancellation was only offered to those that did not agree to the vat price increase. It’s so hard to speak to someone who knows what you are talking about. I was pasting information from the ofcom report and various news agencies but still I’m wrong. They refused to acknowledge that I was one of those affected despite the evidence right there on my account. 

Nothing new, I always have a hard time with customer services. 

Keep up the good work Vodafone!

[donnyguy]

This is how things work with all companies. If you're going to suffer materal detriment as a result of price changes then the company has the responsiblity of notifiying affected customers and giving them 30 days from that notice to allow them to leave without penalty.

The issue here that OFCOM have flagged is the notification that was sent out to affected customers (customers who regularly roamed and didn't have world traveller) didn't make it clear they could leave. Instead it was an advertisement for the Roam Further product with a discreet link in there to the 'get out of jail free' card.

But this was only sent to affected customers then and its those customers who will get the follow up notification now. No-one else.

So yeah, everyone else who just doesn't like the new prices, this won't get you out of your contract I'm afraid.

If Vodafone suddenly announce they're increasing the call prices to The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia then to claim I'm at material detriment, I'd have to show them I'd been calling there regularly at the old prices. Same with this one.

Edit: I just re-read what I wrote and it was shocking (obviously lost my train of thought more than once), have edited now in the hope it makes more sense!

[daleski75]

as I will be travelling to indonesia with my wife and daughter I will now just buy a local sim card to avoid the costs of sending a single text or making a call, or quickly checking my email and paying £6 for the privilege.

[donnyguy]

To be fair, unless you need to be fully contactable then the local sim card option is the best one for you. I always buy a local SIM as I mainly need data and the local prices sure do beat £6 per day.