Mobile phone customers should check their bills today to see if they are being ripped-off by their providers.
Vodafone has been found to be sneakily adding £1 a month to for an add-on service called 'Secure Net' even if customers don't ask for it, while ID Mobile has been wrongly billing customers for roaming charges in the EU.
Here’s what you need to know.
Vodafone's sneaky £1 charge
Vodafone has been adding £1 a month to over a million customers’ mobile phone bills, according to Money Mail.
The new fee is for ‘Secure Net’ software, which offers users extra protection against harmful websites while browsing the web, and has been added to every monthly contract taken out since February.
However, the charge has been dubbed ‘sneaky’ because of the way it has been advertised and added to people’s bills.
Secure Net is advertised as a ‘free three-month’ trial in Vodafone’s promotional material, but customers claim they were not told they had been opted in and will be charged £12 a year when the trial ends.
Furthermore, it’s not possible to remove the extra software at the time of purchase. It can only be cancelled 24 hours after you sign up and it’s up to customers to remember to cancel the add-on to avoid being charged.
Money Mail found the add-on is rarely mentioned by advisors in-store and the service is only briefly mentioned in the agreement, in the fine print: 'The monthly charge for your extras: 4G £0.00, Vodafone Secure Net £1.00, Vodafone Global Roaming £0.00.'
Ofcom is reportedly considering whether Vodafone is making the fees clear enough.
If you’re a Vodafone customer and didn’t realise you had been opted-in for the Secure Net service, you should contact Vodafone to complain and ask for a refund.
A spokesman for Ofcom says: 'We expect customers to be treated fairly, and any additional charges to be made clear at the point of sale — whether in store or online. We're discussing this process with Vodafone.
'If a customer was not made aware of the terms of the Secure Net trial at point of sale, or they did not receive the information in their Welcome Pack and text, they should complain directly to Vodafone.'
Check your credit report for signs of fraudulent activity
ID Mobile EU roaming mix up
ID Mobile is another provider to watch out for.
The firm, which is owned by Carphone Warehouse, has been charging customers for roaming in the EU, despite new rules banning such fees.
Since 15 June, UK mobile phone customers that roamed in the EU now pay the same rates for calls, texts and surfing the web on their phones as they would at home.
However, ID Mobile has been charging UK customers that are in the EU for making calls to other EU countries, as it appears to have misunderstood the new rules.
The ID Mobile EU roaming help and advice page stated: "You can use your minutes to call numbers in the UK or the same destination you're in.
"You'll be charged for calls to other non-UK destinations. These aren't included in your normal monthly allowance even when you're in the UK."
The stance contradicts the new rules, which state: "When you are roaming in the EU, all calls to mobile and fixed numbers in the EU will be counted against your national volume of minutes”.
However, the firmm which has half a million customersm is now backtracking on the policy.
An ID Mobile spokesperson told MoneySavingExpert: "We've been working closely with Ofcom to seek further clarification on the EU roaming regulation relating to the intra-EU call rates and have confirmed with them that we are making the necessary changes for our customers by the end of August.
“We apologise for any inconvenience caused and are automatically crediting any customers who have made intra-EU calls since 15 June."
How to switch provider
If you’re not happy with your mobile provider, you should see if you can get a better deal elsewhere.
You can compare deals using Recombu.
For more read our guide how to cancel a UK mobile phone contract and switch providers.