Price increase for new Spark contract?!

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › Price increase for new Spark contract?!

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#1214965 14-Jan-2015 17:28

Think that applies to pretty much any ISP out there - these are our terms, take it or leave it. I mean has anyone ever seen an ISP contract with a 'These are our terms, please insert your terms in the space provided below' item in it.

Does anyone know how enforceable these contracts are, given the one-sidedness, or must we all rely on them being 'reasonable' with their pricing.

(and yes I'm sure I wouldn't be making these comments if this thread was about a price drop)

“The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.” -John Kenneth Galbraith

rb99

rugrat

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#1214996 14-Jan-2015 17:57

Looks like in UK they can't increase price under contract, unless it mentions time of year and how much going up by in contract, eg rate of inflation.

http://www.broadbandchoices.co.uk/guides/help/cancel-contract-price-goes-up

Here in NZ though looks like they can put in contract whatever they like, as can't find any links on price increase while in contract in consumer pages, and the consumer gets no say what's in a companys contract in general.

I think VF contracts let them up the price when they like, but unlike spark have chosen not to up the price of people on contract.

Nothing you can do but wait till your contract up and then see if better deal around, as probably not worth the disconnect fee.

dafman

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#1215044 14-Jan-2015 19:20

rugrat: Looks like in UK they can't increase price under contract, unless it mentions time of year and how much going up by in contract, eg rate of inflation.

http://www.broadbandchoices.co.uk/guides/help/cancel-contract-price-goes-up

Here in NZ though looks like they can put in contract whatever they like, as can't find any links on price increase while in contract in consumer pages, and the consumer gets no say what's in a companys contract in general.

I think VF contracts let them up the price when they like, but unlike spark have chosen not to up the price of people on contract.

Nothing you can do but wait till your contract up and then see if better deal around, as probably not worth the disconnect fee.

I have been a telstraclear/vodafone customer for in excess of 15 years and never had a price increase while in the contract period, let alone 6 weeks after signing up! I will watch with interest to see if the pending VF increase is for in contract customers as well. Whatever happens, Spark has lost their spark with this customer - they will be extinguished for good from Dec 2015.

plambrechtsen

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#1215077 14-Jan-2015 20:13

The increases were fairly widely talked about after the commerce commission announcement.

The contract term effective covers the cost of installation and the router. You are free to move to any plan while under contract.

I don't work in the retail space so have no control over pricing or any of that. But I hope after 12 months you will enjoy the excellent speeds and low latency on spark ufb.

dafman

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#1215284 15-Jan-2015 09:31

plambrechtsen: The increases were fairly widely talked about after the commerce commission announcement.

The contract term effective covers the cost of installation and the router. You are free to move to any plan while under contract.

I don't work in the retail space so have no control over pricing or any of that. But I hope after 12 months you will enjoy the excellent speeds and low latency on spark ufb.

Zero chance I'll stay with Spark at contract expiry.

nakedmolerat

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#1215287 15-Jan-2015 09:43

dafman:
plambrechtsen: The increases were fairly widely talked about after the commerce commission announcement.

The contract term effective covers the cost of installation and the router. You are free to move to any plan while under contract.

I don't work in the retail space so have no control over pricing or any of that. But I hope after 12 months you will enjoy the excellent speeds and low latency on spark ufb.

Zero chance I'll stay with Spark at contract expiry.

And that is the beauty of having choices.

dafman

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#1215429 15-Jan-2015 12:24

BTW - if any VF customers are reading this thread, I'd be interested to find out in due course if the upcoming VF increase is applied to all customers, or just out of contract or new plans (as per their historical pricing behaviour). It would be great if you could update this thread at a future date? cheers

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graemeh

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#1215451 15-Jan-2015 12:41

rb99: Think that applies to pretty much any ISP out there - these are our terms, take it or leave it. I mean has anyone ever seen an ISP contract with a 'These are our terms, please insert your terms in the space provided below' item in it.

Does anyone know how enforceable these contracts are, given the one-sidedness, or must we all rely on them being 'reasonable' with their pricing.

(and yes I'm sure I wouldn't be making these comments if this thread was about a price drop)

I doubt it has ever been tested.

You could take it to the disputes tribunal but for $48 a year it is not worth the bother.

It is looking like this sort of price increase within a contract term will be illegal in any contracts from 18 March 2015.

You can find the full details here (download the PDF): http://www.comcom.govt.nz/fair-trading/guidelines/draft-unfair-contract-term-guidelines/

dafman

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#1215464 15-Jan-2015 13:00

graemeh:
rb99: Think that applies to pretty much any ISP out there - these are our terms, take it or leave it. I mean has anyone ever seen an ISP contract with a 'These are our terms, please insert your terms in the space provided below' item in it.

Does anyone know how enforceable these contracts are, given the one-sidedness, or must we all rely on them being 'reasonable' with their pricing.

(and yes I'm sure I wouldn't be making these comments if this thread was about a price drop)

I doubt it has ever been tested.

You could take it to the disputes tribunal but for $48 a year it is not worth the bother.

It is looking like this sort of price increase within a contract term will be illegal in any contracts from 18 March 2015.

You can find the full details here (download the PDF): http://www.comcom.govt.nz/fair-trading/guidelines/draft-unfair-contract-term-guidelines/

For the record, I didn't create this thread over $48, I did so on the basis of principle. Essentially, there has (certainly from my perspective) been a fundamental breach of good faith from Spark. They offered a 12-month contract with a fixed monthly price, I accepted their offer, formalised this via a contract, only to find they reneged on the agreed pricing before we had even reached the end of the second month. And their response? - read the fine print!

rb99

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#1215467 15-Jan-2015 13:01

graemeh:
rb99: Think that applies to pretty much any ISP out there - these are our terms, take it or leave it. I mean has anyone ever seen an ISP contract with a 'These are our terms, please insert your terms in the space provided below' item in it.

Does anyone know how enforceable these contracts are, given the one-sidedness, or must we all rely on them being 'reasonable' with their pricing.

(and yes I'm sure I wouldn't be making these comments if this thread was about a price drop)

I doubt it has ever been tested.

You could take it to the disputes tribunal but for $48 a year it is not worth the bother.

It is looking like this sort of price increase within a contract term will be illegal in any contracts from 18 March 2015.

You can find the full details here (download the PDF): http://www.comcom.govt.nz/fair-trading/guidelines/draft-unfair-contract-term-guidelines/

After a very quick look, point 67 look quite promising, will have to have a proper look later - the legalise doesn't look to bad.

Must admit though I've just signed up to MyRepublic on their 12 month contract (with the 3 month trial) so I'll just see how that goes for a while. I probably wouldn't be to bothered with a small increase - though a unilateral $20 increase would be different.

Hope I'm not putting words in the OP's mouth (or just being rude in general) if I suggest it might be the lack of any obvious warning about the increase and its suddenness that's bothering him, more than the actual amount.

“The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.” -John Kenneth Galbraith

rb99

graemeh

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#1215515 15-Jan-2015 14:51

dafman:
graemeh:
rb99: Think that applies to pretty much any ISP out there - these are our terms, take it or leave it. I mean has anyone ever seen an ISP contract with a 'These are our terms, please insert your terms in the space provided below' item in it.

Does anyone know how enforceable these contracts are, given the one-sidedness, or must we all rely on them being 'reasonable' with their pricing.

(and yes I'm sure I wouldn't be making these comments if this thread was about a price drop)

I doubt it has ever been tested.

You could take it to the disputes tribunal but for $48 a year it is not worth the bother.

It is looking like this sort of price increase within a contract term will be illegal in any contracts from 18 March 2015.

You can find the full details here (download the PDF): http://www.comcom.govt.nz/fair-trading/guidelines/draft-unfair-contract-term-guidelines/

For the record, I didn't create this thread over $48, I did so on the basis of principle. Essentially, there has (certainly from my perspective) been a fundamental breach of good faith from Spark. They offered a 12-month contract with a fixed monthly price, I accepted their offer, formalised this via a contract, only to find they reneged on the agreed pricing before we had even reached the end of the second month. And their response? - read the fine print!

If you are willing to spare the time you could take them to the disputes tribunal. You might even win but it won't set a precedent for others to use. It would certainly cost them more than $48 to defend themselves.

You would need to go through Spark's disputes process first though.

graemeh

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#1215516 15-Jan-2015 14:52

rb99:
graemeh:
rb99: Think that applies to pretty much any ISP out there - these are our terms, take it or leave it. I mean has anyone ever seen an ISP contract with a 'These are our terms, please insert your terms in the space provided below' item in it.

Does anyone know how enforceable these contracts are, given the one-sidedness, or must we all rely on them being 'reasonable' with their pricing.

(and yes I'm sure I wouldn't be making these comments if this thread was about a price drop)

I doubt it has ever been tested.

You could take it to the disputes tribunal but for $48 a year it is not worth the bother.

It is looking like this sort of price increase within a contract term will be illegal in any contracts from 18 March 2015.

You can find the full details here (download the PDF): http://www.comcom.govt.nz/fair-trading/guidelines/draft-unfair-contract-term-guidelines/

After a very quick look, point 67 look quite promising, will have to have a proper look later - the legalise doesn't look to bad.

Must admit though I've just signed up to MyRepublic on their 12 month contract (with the 3 month trial) so I'll just see how that goes for a while. I probably wouldn't be to bothered with a small increase - though a unilateral $20 increase would be different.

Hope I'm not putting words in the OP's mouth (or just being rude in general) if I suggest it might be the lack of any obvious warning about the increase and its suddenness that's bothering him, more than the actual amount.

It will be interesting to see how this changes Telco contracts.

rb99

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#1215546 15-Jan-2015 16:04

graemeh:
rb99:
graemeh:
rb99: Think that applies to pretty much any ISP out there - these are our terms, take it or leave it. I mean has anyone ever seen an ISP contract with a 'These are our terms, please insert your terms in the space provided below' item in it.

Does anyone know how enforceable these contracts are, given the one-sidedness, or must we all rely on them being 'reasonable' with their pricing.

(and yes I'm sure I wouldn't be making these comments if this thread was about a price drop)

I doubt it has ever been tested.

You could take it to the disputes tribunal but for $48 a year it is not worth the bother.

It is looking like this sort of price increase within a contract term will be illegal in any contracts from 18 March 2015.

You can find the full details here (download the PDF): http://www.comcom.govt.nz/fair-trading/guidelines/draft-unfair-contract-term-guidelines/

After a very quick look, point 67 look quite promising, will have to have a proper look later - the legalise doesn't look to bad.

Must admit though I've just signed up to MyRepublic on their 12 month contract (with the 3 month trial) so I'll just see how that goes for a while. I probably wouldn't be to bothered with a small increase - though a unilateral $20 increase would be different.

Hope I'm not putting words in the OP's mouth (or just being rude in general) if I suggest it might be the lack of any obvious warning about the increase and its suddenness that's bothering him, more than the actual amount.

It will be interesting to see how this changes Telco contracts.

Very true. I shall try not to be too cynical, though considering the reason for the price increase is apparently due to a reduction in what they are being charged I won't hold my breath...

“The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.” -John Kenneth Galbraith

rb99

plambrechtsen

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#1215658 15-Jan-2015 20:34

dafman: For the record, I didn't create this thread over $48, I did so on the basis of principle. Essentially, there has (certainly from my perspective) been a fundamental breach of good faith from Spark. They offered a 12-month contract with a fixed monthly price, I accepted their offer, formalised this via a contract, only to find they reneged on the agreed pricing before we had even reached the end of the second month. And their response? - read the fine print!

I think this is where the confusion is coming from.

You can change to any available plan while in the 12 month contract or add and remove services. Such as you can move from Unlimited to the 40GB plan or from the capped (and thus throttled) or overage plan once per month while under contract. So you can change the fixed monthly price and thus how much you pay while in the 12 month contract.

The contract term applies to offset the costs Spark are charged by Chorus from connecting broadband to your house and the modem supplied to you, not the certain plan and thus monthly costs you are incurring.

Paul1977

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#1215849 16-Jan-2015 09:18

plambrechtsen: I think this is where the confusion is coming from.

You can change to any available plan while in the 12 month contract or add and remove services. Such as you can move from Unlimited to the 40GB plan or from the capped (and thus throttled) or overage plan once per month while under contract. So you can change the fixed monthly price and thus how much you pay while in the 12 month contract.

The contract term applies to offset the costs Spark are charged by Chorus from connecting broadband to your house and the modem supplied to you, not the certain plan and thus monthly costs you are incurring.

This is a good point. If the plans change and the price drops, you are free to take advantage of the new price during the contract period. I guess you can't have it both ways.

Although, Spark do have a habit of leaving people on "grandfathered" plans that are more expensive than the current offerings without notifying them of the option to move to the newer plan.

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