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Thursday, August 16, 2012

Mobile phone shop staff are misinforming customers about price rises

Which? report says 82% of staff gave incorrect information

UK consumer organisation Which? has found that mobile phone sales staff are giving inaccurate information about the possibility of price increases on ‘pay monthly’ contracts.

Mystery shopping at 39 mobile phone shops - a combination of network-owned stores plus the Carphone Warehouse and Phones 4U chains - found that 32 of them gave incorrect information about potential price rises on fixed-term phone contracts.

When asked whether the price would stay the same throughout the contract term, 82% of shop assistants said the price was fixed. However, the past 12 months have seen four of the five major mobile networks increasing their charges.

Which? recently launched a campaign that calls on phone companies to ensure the price and all other aspects of fixed-term deals remain the same for the full length of the contract.

Richard Lloyd

Richard Lloyd, Which? executive director, said “It’s totally unacceptable that people aren’t being told the full story about potential price rises when signing up to contracts in mobile phone shops. Shockingly, even when we asked directly about price increases, the vast majority of staff denied this could happen. There should be no nasty surprises after signing a mobile contract. People must be confident that fixed really does mean fixed.”

Recent research from Which? found that 70% of people on fixed-term contracts didn’t know the prices could be increased during the length of their contract.

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Opinion Articles

CES Unveiled at London: the future's looking pretty bright

Mark Bridge writes:

The 2012 International CES is expected to be the world’s largest consumer technology tradeshow. It runs from 10th to the 13th of January in Las Vegas next year and will contain technology from more than 2,700 companies spread over a record-breaking 1.8 million square feet of exhibition space.

Yesterday I saw a preview of what’s expected there – and all without leaving the UK. Instead I headed to a conference centre where the first-ever ‘CES Unveiled at London’ event took place.

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Last week at The Fonecast: 14th November 2011

Mark Bridge writes:

Flash is dead, HTML5 is the future. Okay, the next stage in the evolution of the mobile browser isn’t that clear – but a restructure at Adobe has pretty much marked the end of mobile Flash development.

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McAfee's top five tips for avoiding malicious mobile apps

Mark Bridge writes:

Mobile security - as I’ve said several times in the last few months - is becoming a hot topic. Although the number of mobile viruses and malicious applications is relatively small when compared with attacks on PCs, it’s on the increase.

Last week we talked to Eddy Willems, Security Evangelist at G Data, about the security risks facing smartphone users... and in the last 12 months we’ve also spoken to David Emm of Kaspersky Lab UK and Craig Heath from Franklin Heath about similar subjects.

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One day, every phone will be smart - and every tablet will be super

Mark Bridge writes:

We’ve previously talked on The Fonecast about ‘superphones’ - a relatively arbitrary description for high-end smartphones. Google described its Nexus One as a superphone when it was launched at the beginning of 2010 - although it’s also what Dr Who’s companion called her upgraded Nokia 3200 in 2005.

Now Strategy Analytics has a definition and a growth forecast.

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Mobile malware: 'criminals are experimenting at the moment'

Mark Bridge writes:

This week’s podcast feature takes a fresh look at security on mobile phones. I’ve been talking to Eddy Willems, Security Evangelist at G Data, about the challenges and solutions facing smartphone users. Both Eddy and his current employer have been active in digital security for a couple of decades, so there’s plenty of experience under their respective belts.

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Recent Podcasts

Reviewing our 2015 mobile industry predictions... and looking forward to 2016

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Iain Graham, James Rosewell and Mark Bridge return to review their mobile industry predictions from last year. Which mergers, partnerships and developments did they forecast correctly... and which didn’t work out as planned?

Later in the programme, the team anticipates some of the topics that will be hitting the headlines during 2016.

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Looking back at February: from security scares to multiple MVNOs

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We're taking a look back at the biggest mobile industry news stories from February 2015, including allegations that the UK's security service tried to breach SIM card security by hacking into one of the world's biggest SIM producers.

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Interview with Chris Millington of Doro about mobile retailing, wearables and technology for older consumers

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In today's programme Mark Bridge talks to Chris Millington, who's Managing Director for Doro UK and Ireland.

They discuss the state of mobile retailing in the UK, the future of wearable devices and - as you might expect - smartphones for seniors.

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A month of mobile: O2 counts on 3, Microsoft counts to 10 and Apple counts its profits

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We're back with a month of mobile industry news, including takeover talks and takeover rumours. O2 and Three are said to be discussing a merger... but is there any truth in the suggestions that BlackBerry could be up for grabs?

We also discuss Apple's record-breaking quarterly figures, the highlights of CES and the launch of Microsoft Windows 10, as well as saying farewell to the current version of Google Glass.

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