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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Business
Mark Sweney

UK’s top mobile firms face £3.3bn class action lawsuit over ‘loyalty penalties’

United Kingdom EE Justin Gutmann Lawsuit Three Vodafone O2 Citizens Advice BT Ofcom
Young man talking on mobile phone
The action alleges that the UK’s four largest mobile phone operators continue to take payments for their handsets after they have paid them off at the end of their initial contract.
 Photograph: Dmytro Betsenko/Alamy

The UK’s biggest mobile phone companies face a £3.3bn class action lawsuit alleging that long-standing customers are being ripped off by “loyalty penalties”, under which the same services are offered to new customers at a better price to lure them from rivals.

The legal action, which has been brought by the campaigner Justin Gutmann and the law firm Charles Lyndon, targets BT-owned EE, Vodafone, Three and O2, which is part of Virgin Media O2.

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