I review VoIP contracts for a living. After examining 300+ contracts from 40 different providers, I have documented every pricing trick in the industry. Some are clever. Some are borderline deceptive. All of them cost businesses money.
Here are the 8 most common tricks — and how to avoid each one.
Trick 1: The Vanishing Discount (67% of contracts)
How it works: Provider offers 30% discount for signing a 3-year contract. Year 1: £18/user. Buried in clause 14.2: "Promotional pricing applies to initial term only. Renewal at standard rates."
Standard rate: £32/user. Your cost jumps 78% at renewal.
How to spot it: Ask: "Is this price guaranteed for the life of the contract, including renewals?" Get the answer in writing.
Trick 2: The Feature Drip (71% of contracts)
How it works:
- Base plan: £16/user (voice + voicemail only)
- Call recording: +£5/user
- Video: +£8/user
- Auto-attendant: +£5/month
- Analytics: +£4/user
- Mobile app: +£3/user
Advertised: £16/user. Actual: £41/user.
| What They Advertise | What You Pay |
|---|---|
| £16/user | £41/user |
| "From just £16" | "With the features you need: £41" |
How to spot it: Ask for the "fully loaded" price with every feature you will use. Compare THAT number.
Trick 3: The Per-Minute Trap (43% of contracts)
How it works: "Unlimited UK calling" — but read the fair use policy. Typical caps:
- 3,000 minutes/user/month
- 60-minute maximum call duration
- No sequential calling (auto-dialler restriction)
Exceed the cap: £0.02-0.05 per minute overage.
A busy sales rep making 60 calls/day at 5 minutes average = 6,600 minutes/month. Double the "unlimited" cap. Overage: £72/month per rep.
How to spot it: Ask: "Is there a fair use policy? What is the monthly minute cap? What happens when we exceed it?"
Trick 4: The Setup Fee Resurrection (38% of contracts)
How it works: "No setup fee!" But:
- Number porting: £25 per number
- Configuration: £500
- Training: £750
- "Onboarding fee": £1,000
Total "no setup fee" setup: £2,275.
How to spot it: Ask: "Is the total cost to go from nothing to fully operational exactly £0 beyond the per-user fee? List every one-time charge."
Trick 5: The Phantom Regulatory Fee (55% of contracts)
How it works: Monthly invoice includes:
- "Regulatory recovery fee": £1.50/user
- "E911 compliance fee": £0.75/user
- "Network access charge": £2.00/user
- "Administrative fee": £1.25/user
These fees are NOT government charges. They are provider-invented line items that pad the bill by £5.50/user/month.
How to spot it: Ask: "Does your per-user price include ALL fees, or are there regulatory/admin surcharges on top?"
Trick 6: The Auto-Renewal Lock (62% of contracts)
How it works: Contract auto-renews for another 12-36 months unless you give 90 days written notice before the end date. Miss the window by 1 day = locked in for another year.
How to spot it: Check clause on renewal. Set a calendar reminder 120 days before contract end.
Trick 7: The Porting Hostage (28% of contracts)
How it works: You want to leave. They say:
- "30-day notice required before we release numbers"
- "Outstanding balance must be settled first" (they find a £4.82 charge)
- LOA rejected: "Address does not match our records"
- Porting team responds by email only, 5-day SLA
How to spot it: Before signing, ask: "If I want to port my numbers out, what is the process and timeline?" Test it: submit one number port request and see how they respond.
Trick 8: The Minimum Commitment (34% of contracts)
How it works: "Month-to-month! No contract!" But minimum spend: £500/month. If you have 15 users at £24 = £360/month, you pay £500 anyway.
Or: minimum user count. Start with 20 users. Downsize to 12. Still pay for 20.
How to spot it: Ask: "Is there a minimum monthly spend or minimum user count?"
The Provider That Does None of This
- Published pricing: £24/user. That is the price. No promotional rate.
- Everything included: recording, video, mobile app, analytics, auto-attendant.
- No fair use cap: truly unlimited UK calling.
- No setup fees: porting, configuration, training all included.
- No phantom fees: the invoice matches the published price exactly.
- Month-to-month: cancel anytime. No auto-renewal trap.
- No minimum: 1 user or 200 users, same price per user.
Because pricing should not require a contract lawyer to understand.
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