Do not neglect the emails that you regularly receive from your mobile operator or your Internet service provider: some messages inform you of a very unpleasant change.
Like everyone else, you regularly receive emails from your mobile operator or your Internet service provider. While most concern your consumption and your bills, some correspond to commercial offers with, for example, promotions for a new smartphone or additional services. Information that is so recurring – and often uninteresting – that you end up no longer paying attention to it. To the point of not even opening these messages anymore. And this is precisely where the trap lies.
Because between these usual emails, sometimes really important messages slip through. And for good reason: they inform you of a price change. And never for a reduction, obviously! This is always an increase in your subscription, generally by a few euros per month. Except that the title of the email rarely displays this clearly. In general, the increase in price is associated with a modification of the service which serves as a shield. Thus, mobile telephone operators inform you that ‘your plan is changing’, and that you will benefit from a larger data envelope, going from 20 to 40 GB or from 60 to 100 GB, for example. Except that this nice gift, which you don’t necessarily need, but which is well put forward, comes with an increase in price. which you would do well without and which you cannot always refuse!
Orange, Bouygues Telecom and SFR are the major specialists in this type of development, with increases of 1, 2, 3 or 4 euros per month on their packages. And for some time, virtual operators (MVNO in the jargon) such as Cdiscount Mobile, NRJ Mobile or Auchan Telecom have adopted this practice. not to mention that these increases also concern Internet subscriptions. And as the increases have multiplied in recent months, sometimes due to energy costs, complaints have exploded with associations such as 60 million consumers or UFC-Que Choisir.
The problem is that this practice is perfectly legal. Article L.224-33 of the Consumer Code authorizes telecom operators to increase their prices whenever they wish, provided that they inform their customers at least one month in advance and give them the opportunity to do so. possibility of canceling their subscription free of charge within four months following this notification. In the best case scenario, which is unfortunately increasingly rare, you can keep the old price, by carrying out a specific action yourself in your customer area. But most of the time, you now only have two solutions: accept the increase or change operator. Whatever the case, don’t neglect emails from your operator, even when they seem “harmless” and attractive: they could well cost you dearly if you don’t react quickly!