Could you be due compensation on your Samsung or Apple phone?

Of course Samsung overcharge for products too and do not support their phones for as long as Apple.

By claiming, the public can help tackle anticompetitive practice. It’s not just about the money.

John – I believe there has been legal action in other countries, so it might not be difficult or expensive for Which? to take action. I am very keen to see collective action being taken in the UK because elsewhere it has been successful in fighting consumer detriment caused by large companies.

It is about the money in this topic. And personal claims, such as VW and Mastercard, are about the money. I am more in favour of extracting substantial fines when, as in VW’s case, it caused real harm through excessive emissions. And doing it quickly.

Hopefully other cases of collective action will follow. I don’t know if collective action would be the right approach but I hope that Which? will take action against Currys, which seems to be letting down more customers than ever before.

When Which? is taking action on our behalf, surely it deserves some support. In my opinion there is too much negativity.

I have not into the background to Qualcomms misdemeanours and it is not clear from this intro, or the press release, exactly what the grounds for claim are. I would like it explained.

Anyone who invents something sufficiently novel is entitled to seek a patent that gives protection from copying. They can then sell the product to whom they choose, and I presume on mutually acceptable terms and, if they choose, license its production to another producer. What is the real issue here?

The action in other countries seems to have had mixed results.

I am in favour of collective action in appropriate cases – when it would not be worth an individual doing it alone. I hope it does not result in speculative litigation where the main beneficiary may be the lawyers.

Em, I agree when it comes to something that is essential. However, otherwise I do not think, in the UK and Europe anyway, a non-essential patented invention must be made available to competitors. Otherwise there is little point in protecting it with a patent. https://www.gov.uk/patent-your-invention

A document linked in the introduction outlines the basis of the concern:

> It (Qualcomm) refuses to license its patents to other competing chipset manufacturers

> It refuses to supply chipsets to smartphone manufacturers, such as Apple and Samsung, unless those companies obtain a separate licence and pay inflated royalties to Qualcomm.

The CMA periodically intervenes when UK and overseas drug companies are considered to be charging excessive prices.

Thanks Em, so the the product is “essential” and I would agree that fair terms should be agreed. I wonder how the implementation of 4g got written around a single manufacturer/patent holder without terms or alternatives being agreed?

I hope that Which? is dipping its toes in the water in order to explore the possibility of taking action on behalf of many consumers. Those who register their interest have nothing to lose in this case, but the lawyers will be the winners.

I agree. Mobile phone tariffs provide various examples of unfair commercial practice affecting many people. In the example you give it would be fairer to roll over unused data for future use. With some PAYG tariffs, call allowances can expire after 30 days, so you lose all your money even if you don’t make a call.

Another unfair commercial practice affecting many people is offering renewal premiums for breakdown insurance at well above the premium quoted for a new customer, even when no claims have been made.

I am keen to see collective action being used as as an additional way of tackling genuine consumer detriment in the UK.

I would like to see allowances sold in a different way instead of monthly allowances that are lost if unused.

Vodafone, on its data-only SIMs, sells 12GB for £30 valid for 12 months, or 24GB for £45 valid for 24 months. These long-term bundles give volume discounts without unfair short expiry terms on unused data. I would like to see these types of bundles extended to voice SIMs for minutes, texts and data.

I believe it should be made unlawful to impose an expiry date of less than 12 months on a bundle. This would revolutionise the way that consumers pay for mobile phone service.

Agreed, again. I used to use a Three MiFi to use mobile broadband when I was on holiday or otherwise away from home. I purchased a data SIM and that would last for 12 months or until the allowance had been used, whichever came first. That suited my needs better than having to pay monthly.

At present I have a 5GB monthly data allowance for my phone and use that for tethering. Some months it’s not used at all, but if I am away I have to watch that I don’t exceed the allowance. Buying additional data from Vodafone was expensive last time I checked.

I wanted to upgrade my mobile phone from PAYG with Vodafone to a SIM-only inclusive bundle on a two year term at £20 pcm payable by DD. After reference checks, Vodafone would not accept my order. I obtained the credit reference report and could see no adverse comments; the problem presumably was that there were no good ones either: I have not had any credit or borrowings for over 30 years. I decided to leave Vodafone and sign up with BT as an add-on to my current landline and broadband contract [at a better price initially]. Unfortunately it seems that the credit in my Vodafone PAYG account has to be forfeited on switching; while not too painful this seems to be unfair – a refund with deduction of a small admin charge would be fairer.

£20 per month for a SIM-only contract is a lot more than I pay Vodafone. I agree with what you said about forfeiting the credit, though you had the opportunity to use it up before switching. I hope you managed to keep your mobile number. In the early days switching provider usually meant being assigned a new number.

I have a friend who was in his late twenties and had never been in debt and his application for a credit card was declined. Had he had a slightly iffy credit record he might have been accepted. I would have thought that if you use a credit card that would have been enough to show you are a good risk, John.

giffgaff now charges only £6 per month for unlimited calls and texts. That also includes a token monthly allowance kof 500MB data.

More expensive monthly bundles then give more data each month.

I’ve known for a while that giffgaff is not the least expensive supplier in the marketplace.

For example, ID mobile only charges £5 per month for unlimited calls and texts plus 1GB data. Their data allowance will also roll over at the end of each month.

Yes, Wavechange, I was a bit taken aback when I received the notification that my order had been declined.

The monthly price was another reason to quit Vodafone, and I was not aware before I switched that I would lose the credit; I only found out after I had left and thrown away the Vodafone SIM card. I did keep the phone number but that was not particularly important as very few people had it.

I have two credit cards and a couple of store cards, often used quite ambitiously, but perhaps Vodafone just didn’t want me as a customer because I made so little use of their network. I don’t care really – their decision has given me a useful break. I was with Vodafone for over twenty years and, as always, discovered loyalty was a one-way street.

I decided to get internet-enabled when out and about [some chance this last twelve months!] because I could foresee that being able easily to prove one’s vaccination status via a digital passport was likely to become a necessity, or at least an advantage, and that buying drinks or meals from outside tables at pubs and restaurants using an app was becoming the norm. I think it will also be necessary when entering public buildings, travelling, using hotels, going to commercial offices, and so forth. Compulsory seat reservations on long-distance trains is imminent and ordering refreshments from the buffet by phone app will be required to reduce passenger proximity and trolleys in the aisles and vestibules. I am not sure how that is going to work efficiently if a member of staff is going to have to run up and down the length of the train every time someone orders a bacon roll or a packet of crisps and a can of coke and wants to consume them before arriving at Doncaster.

Vodafone is not my favourite company but the other networks do not provide a reliable signal round here and none of the few companies that use their network has impressed me.

That’s the overall problem – people are often tied to a network because of the geographical distribution of the masts. I originally chose Vodafone because that was the best where I lived in London. Most networks are available where we live now but a few miles down the road and we are out of range of some of the major networks. BT seemed to offer the most comprehensive coverage in our part of Norfolk and at the coast.

I suppose, once again, we have exhausted the topic and wandered off down a different track. That is the nature of human conversation and why it is unrealistic for a site with the word ‘Conversation’ in its name to insist on strict adherence to the specified subject – we are in a sub-thread after all.

DerekP, giffgaff’s prices might be attractive, but it has several shortcomings:
– No eSIM support
– No wifi calling (i.e. worse coverage for voice calls than other networks)
– High charges outside the EEA

NFH, thanks for noting that. None of those drawbacks affect me, but I can see that they would affect you. A case of horses for courses perhaps?

A quick look at Money Supermarket shows that there are a lot of nice cheap options now. I would recommend that folk read the small print and find a package that suits their needs.

From that source, I see that both iD and Virgin now have some deals with data roll over.

They don’t affect me either and since Giffgaff uses the O2 network it would be no use to me because of the lack of a reliable signal.

The Vodafone Basics plan at £10 per month would suit my needs and save me £3 but is only available to new customers. 🙁