As mentioned last week, my new phone handset is abysmally bad. What I didn’t go into is that I’m having problems with the new network as well.

I moved from O2 — who had always been quite nice to me — to T-Mobile. I was lured by their 1GB/month data plan. Unfortunately, a quite dastardly part of their contract has left me high and dry. The story goes a little something like this:

Unlike O2, T-Mobile disenfranchises the Isle of Man from the UK; placing it on their international calling list. This not only has the effect of making calls to Hanni’s +44 roaming number more expensive than other calls to the UK, but it goes so far as to exclude them from my Flext contract’s inclusive minutes allowance too.

I pay £40/month for a very large inclusive allowance. I happen to like Hanni rather a lot, y’see.

The discovery that calls to one UK number are actually not charged at the same rate as to other UK numbers is a bit of a surprise. The registration process through T-Mobile’s website says nothing about charging different rates. The Terms and Conditions document says nothing with reference to ‘mainland’ or ‘island’ parts of the UK. O2 do not segregate the UK in the same way. The country code is the same and last I checked, the Isle of Man had not claimed independence or left the European Union.

So I contact T-Mobile. Not entirely sure what I can do, but figuring there must be some way to reduce the damage.

I was offered a £100 refund for some calls already made.

I’m still contracted for another 16 months. The calls to Hanni will still cost more. The inclusive minutes sit unused (and unlike O2, do not carry over). I can’t change to a cheaper plan for another 9 months. To cancel the contract right now? More than £500.

I am livid.