O2, one of the UK’s mobile carriers, has launched a new tool called Overpayment Estimator, which allows you to easily find out if you’re paying too much for your phone contract; O2 will then offer you a custom plan to bring down your bill. Just by entering your phone model, contract start date, the upfront cost, and the monthly bill, O2 will be able to tell you if you’re overpaying.
Discussing the product launch, Mark Evans, CEO of O2, said:
“It is simply not right that consumers across the UK are being charged for a phone they already own. You wouldn’t keep giving money to your mortgage provider if you’d finished payments and owned your house – so why should it be that way for your phone? The mobile industry does not have the best track record on transparent billing practices. Our Overpayment Estimator is another positive move towards changing that.”
While O2 says it wants to change the industry practice of consumers being overcharged for products, it’s not usually possible for a customer to switch over to O2 during their contract. With the new tool, O2 gives customers the ability to download a calendar invitation to remind them when their contract ends, that way, customers can switch before they’re overcharged by their existing provider.
During the announcement, O2 cited research by YouGov which found that 81% of respondents felt constrained by fixed-term contracts for mobile devices and 89% said they’d like to see more flexible contract payments.
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