Consumer action girl takes on mobile tariffs

But let’s face it. We’ve all got one. If you have a teenager who has been at the Leeds Festival all weekend, perhaps away from home for the first time on their own, you will realisr what a modern lifeline they truly are. Until the credit runs out, of course, but that’s another story.

Even my mother has one now, although she hasn’t graduated as far as text and her phone has big numerals so she doesn’t do it wrong. It’s still pay-as-you-go but knowing what I know about monthly bills, it’s probably better that way.

But interesting? No. Unless you are my 16-year-old nephew, whose idea of a fun shopping expedition has to involve a tour around the proliferating mobile phone shops in town comparing makes and models with the appreciation of a connoisseur.

He has swapped his phone so many times, I don’t even know what his number is any more, which seems to me to be missing the point somehow.

My nephew is definitely in the minority though. Almost 20 million of us – that’s 44 per cent of the phone-using population, including me – have never switched mobile phone provider, according to a survey by the consumer organisation Which?.

And this means, undoubtedly, that many of us are being ripped off. Out of those who had made the big switch, almost half said that they now spent less on their phone calls, text and internet surfing than with their previous provider.

Honestly, so-called deals, or bundles, or tariffs or whatever they are marketed as, are so confusing it’s no wonder the companies have us customers saying yes to anything they suggest. Getting the best deal can be worse – and this is really saying something – than trying to sort out your gas bill.

It is such a competitive market, and the customer never comes first, whatever all those irritating adverts with bees and so on might suggest.

When my ultra-careful husband swapped his ancient handset a few years ago, the ultra-helpful call centre person drew up a new deal for him, but neglected to re-include the insurance. A couple of months later his phone fell down the loo so he attempted to make a claim. No insurance.

He got a new phone in the end, but we almost got to the point of calling in UN ambassadors to negotiate, so heated the negotiations became.

And now, reading this survey, I see that mobile phones should be covered on home and contents insurance policies. I dare not tell my husband. But really, if the phone company honestly cared about customers as much at it professes, it should have told him.

Obviously, profits come before personal satisfaction. Something has to pay for all those shops my nephew likes to visit. And if anyone can answer me this question, please do.

Why do town centres which have little else to offer in the way of retail excitement always seem to have so many mobile phone outlets?

This is no scientific study, but it seems to me that they are on a par with bookmakers and pound shops as an indicator of ropey economic performance.

Anyway, I digress. The message is – we might take our mobile phone for granted, but we shouldn’t take the service we receive and the price we pay for granted too.

Because believe me, while ever you shell out the cash every month via a direct debit, your mobile phone company will take it without question.

I have never come across one that sends you a text to suggest you give them a ring for a chat about your bill when you’ve got a few spare moments. So I say, seize the day and make sure you’re not losing out. Especially if you still run a landline and a mobile.

When you add up the cost of simply talking to your friends and family every year, you might find it is cheaper to buy a round-Britain train ticket and go and visit them all. And with the spiralling cost of train tickets that is some serious price comparison.

Although I too find the process almost as tedious as renewing the car insurance, every few months, I ring up Vodafone to check I’m on the best tariff for my usage.

I won’t go into details but this little exercise was prompted by a bill for, ahem, £189 one month that shocked me out of complacency. This was how I found out that I send more texts than an average teenager.

It was also how I found out, just a few weeks ago, that I was paying about a fiver too much a month and nowhere near using up all my phone-call minutes. So now my monthly bill is £37.98, including a BlackBerry.

And the best news is, I qualify for an early upgrade on my handset. Please don’t tell me I can get an even better deal elsewhere. There is only so much consumer action a girl can take.