Choosing a mobile phone service

Points to consider before buying a mobile phone

• The cost of calls: these vary depending on the time of day, how many calls are made etc. Also it usually costs more to phone a mobile from a fixed line phone than it does to call another ordinary phone
• the type of contract, and length of the contract
• reception in the area where you live
• what facilities are available, eg voicemail.

Reception signals for mobile phones may be stronger in some areas, for example, cities or towns, and weaker in others, for example, rural districts. If you are thinking about buying a mobile phone and live in a rural area, you need to find out how good the reception signal will be.

Pay-as-you-go services

Instead of a contract where you pay monthly rental charges and the cost of the calls, you can also choose a pay-as-you-go service, where calls are paid for in advance. With these, you enter into a contract to pay a set figure for a phone package that includes a handset, battery and free calls for a certain period of time, for example, one month. Alternatively, you may be given a voucher to pay towards the first calls that you make on the phone. When the voucher has been used up, you can buy more vouchers from the mobile phone company, or use a top-up card to top up your account. In this sort of arrangement, you enter into a contract for goods and services when you first buy the package and then into a contract for service each time you buy a voucher or top up your account, even though this contract may be unwritten (see below).

Contracts

Who is the contract with

A contract for a mobile phone gives you the same rights as a contract for any other consumer goods or services. However, it is not always easy to know who your contract is with. It is important to establish who the contract is with in case you:-

• want to end your contract for a mobile phone (see below)
• have a fault on your mobile phone
• want to make a complaint

Your contract may be with:-

• the network operator which is the company that allows call access time so that you can make and receive calls. Call access time is usually termed ‘airtime’. Examples of network operators are O2 and Vodafone
• the service provider who acts as a link between the shop, outlet or members of the public, and the network operator. The service provider buys airtime from the network operator and sells it to shops, outlets or the public
• the outlet which sells mobile phones. Outlets may also be service providers or they may act as agents for service providers.

Here we use 'mobile phone company' to cover whichever type of company your contract is with.

You may find it difficult to arrange a contract if you are not on the electoral register. This is because all mobile phone companies make a credit check and someone not on the electoral register may automatically fail this.

For more information about your rights as a consumer, see Buying goods - your rights, and Buying services - your rights.

Ending a contract

You cannot return your phone or cancel the contract, just because you have changed your mind or found a cheaper deal, unless your contract allows you to do this. Check to see if your contract gives you a right to cancel. If it does, the mobile phone company may charge you to do this – details should be in your contract. However, there may be other circumstances in which you can cancel your contract free of charge: for example, if you have paid by credit, signed the contract in your own home, or ordered the service by post, phone or over the internet.

If any of these circumstances apply, you should talk to an experienced adviser, for example, at a Citizens Advice Bureau. To search for details of your nearest CAB, including those that can give advice by e-mail, click on nearest CAB.

If you do decide to cancel your mobile phone contract, contact the mobile phone company and let them know. Confirm the cancellation in writing.

Selling a mobile phone to someone else

If you want to sell your handset to someone else, check whether your contract allows this. Someone who wants to buy a second-hand mobile phone handset should check whether it is possible to use airtime which was originally bought by another person. Sometimes the mobile phone company may agree to a transfer, but make a charge. The mobile phone company will also check whether the phone has been stolen before agreeing to transfer the contract.

Stolen mobile phones

If your mobile phone is stolen, immediately inform the police and the mobile phone company. The mobile phone company will usually disconnect the service so that you do not have to pay for unauthorised phone calls. You may still have to pay for line rental for this period, but check the terms of your contract. If your mobile phone is stolen, it may be covered by your household insurance; check whether a claim can be made.

You may want to register your phone, free of charge, on a national database at www.immobilise.com. You can use the website to report the loss or theft of your phone. The police can also use the database to return it to you if it is later recovered.

Broken mobile phones

If your mobile phone breaks, immediately inform the mobile phone company. You should check your contract to find out if you must continue to pay rental charges for this period.

In England and Wales, for more information about what to do if your mobile phone is faulty, see Mobile phones in Consumer Fact Sheets.

Driving and mobile phones

It is a criminal offence to use a hand-held mobile phone when driving. The ban also applies when you are waiting at traffic lights or in a traffic jam. Although hands-free phones are not included in the ban and can be used while driving, you can still risk prosecution for failure to have proper control of your car or for careless or dangerous driving. There is a fixed penalty of £30 for breaking the law by using your handheld mobile when driving, or up to £1,000 if you are convicted in court. Drivers of buses, coaches or goods vehicles face a higher maximum fine of £2,500.

You can find out more about mobile phones and driving on the Department of Transport website at www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_rdsafety/documents/page/dft_rdsafety_025216.hcsp.

Mobile phone bills

Who is responsible for the phone bill

Responsibility for the bill will depend on the contract. For example, some mobile phone companies will allow only one person to take out the contract. Other mobile phone companies may allow a contract to be taken out in joint names. In either case, the people or person named on the contract is responsible for payment of the bills regardless of who actually made the telephone calls.

If you have an expensive bill as a result of calls made by someone who is not a joint account holder, for example, by a friend or family member to whom you lent the phone, consult an experienced adviser, for example, a Citizens Advice Bureau. To search for details of your nearest CAB, including those that can give advice by email, click on nearest CAB.

Disputing the size of a bill

It is possible that a fault may have occurred which is the responsibility of the mobile phone company. However, mobile phone companies usually offer an itemised billing service, showing date, time, duration and cost of calls so you can check whether or not a high bill is due to the calls made or a fault.

If you wish to challenge the bill, you should consult an experienced adviser, for example, at a Citizens Advice Bureau. To search for details of your nearest CAB, including those that can give advice by email, click on nearest CAB.

Premium rate phone services

Premium rate services give information and provide entertainment over the phone, for example, weather information, competitions and message exchange services.

Premium rate calls cost more than ordinary phone calls, and can be especially high from mobile phones.

The phone numbers of most premium rate services start with '090', and services of an adult nature start with '0909'. On mobile phones, text shortcodes prefixed by 2, 6 or 8 that are 4 or 5 digits long are premium rate services. Directory Enquiry services which begin with '118' are also premium rate numbers.

If you have a problem with a premium rate telephone service, or have been wrongly charged for using a premium rate number, you can complain to The Independent Committee for the Supervision of Standards of Telephone Information Services (ICSTIS). ICSTIS have a number checking facility on their website which allows you to find more information about premium rate numbers that appear on your telephone bill. They can also give you advice about what to do next. For more details about how to contact ICTIS, see under heading Useful organisations.

Complaints

If you have a complaint about your mobile phone company, you should speak to them about it first. If this doesn't solve the problem, you can make a formal complaint to the company. You can find details of how to do this on the back of your phone bill. If you can't find these details, the company's customer service staff will tell you how to make a formal complaint.

All phone companies are required to have a formal customer complaints process. If the company hasn't got one, you should tell the communications watchdog, Ofcom – see under heading Useful organisations.

If you have made a formal complaint to the phone company and this hasn't solved the problem, you can try using the company's Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) scheme. Your phone company might belong to one of two ADR schemes which have been approved by Ofcom:

• OTELO (the Office of the Telecommunications Ombudsman) or
• CISAS (Communications and Internet Services Adjudication Scheme).

You can find more details about OTELO and CISAS under heading Useful organisations.

All phone companies are required to have an ADR scheme. They are breaking important consumer protection rules if they don't. If your phone company won't tell you about its ADR scheme, you can call Ofcom for details, or look on their website – see under heading Useful organisations.

If you have a complaint about a premium rate number service, see under heading Premium rate phone services.

Useful organisations

OFCOM

Contact Centre
Riverside House
2A Southwark Bridge Road
London SE1 9HA
Enquiry line tel: 0845 456 3000 or 020 7981 3040
Enquiry line fax: 0845 456 3333 or 020 7981 3334
Switchboard: 020 7981 3000 or textphone 020 7981 3043
Fax 020 7981 3333
E-mail: contact@ofcom.org.uk
website: www.ofcom.org.uk

OFCOM is the telecommunications watchdog in the UK. Ofcom do not investigate individual complaints against phone service providers, although they log every complaint about a company. If one particular company seems to be causing concern for consumers, they may consider investigating them.

OTELO

PO Box 730
Warrington
WA4 6WU
Tel: 08450 501614
Textphone: 18001 08450 511513 or 18001 01925 430886
Fax: 08450 501615 or 01925 430059
E-mail: enquiries@otelo.org.uk
Website: www.otelo.org.uk

OTELO (the office of the Telecommunications Ombudsman) may be able to help you with a complaint about a phone company if the company is a member of OTELO. You must have first used the company’s own complaints procedure.

CISAS

C/o Chartered Institute of Arbitrators
13 Bloomsbury Square
London
WC1A 2LP
Switchboard tel: 020 7421 7444
Disputes about Mobile Phones or Internet Service Providers tel: 020 7421 7432
General fax: 020 7404 4023
E-mail: info@arbitrators.org
Website: www.arbitrators.org

CISAS (Communications and Internet Services Adjudication Scheme) may be able to help you with a complaint about a phone company, if the company is a member of the CISAS scheme. You must have used the phone company's own complaints procedure first.

ICSTIS

ICTSIS Ltd
Clove Building
4 Maguire Street
London
SE1 2NQ
Tel: 0800 500212 (8am to 8pm Monday to Friday)
Fax: 020 7940 7456
Website: www.icstis.org.uk

The Independent Committee for the Supervision of Standards of Telephone Information Services (ICSTIS) is the premium rate services watchdog. ICSTIS have a number checking facility on their website which allows you to find more information about premium rate numbers that appear on your telephone bill. They can also give you advice about what to do next.

Addresses of mobile phone companies

02 (formerly Cellnet)

02 Customer Care
260 Bath Rd
Slough
SL1 4DX
Tel: 08705 214000
Website: www.o2.co.uk

T-Mobile

Elstree Tower
Elstree Way
Boreham Wood
Herts
WD6 1DT
Tel: 0845 412 5000 (calls charged at local rate from a fixed line phone) or 150 (free from your mobile)

Orange PCS

Correspondence
PO Box 10
Patchway
Bristol
BS32 4BQ
Tel: 07973 100 150 (calls charged at up to 30p per minute from a fixed line phone)
Website: www.orange.co.uk

Vodafone

Customer Care Department
The Courtyard
2-4 London Road
Newbury
Berks
RG14 1JX
Tel: 01635 33251
Website: www.vodafone.co.uk