Cell phone providers in the Netherlands always try to screw you as hard as they can. The way it was, they were able to automatically extend your contract for another year. The way they screwed you here, is because when you sign up for a new contract, you often get discount. I for instance, was able to get a service worth € 17,50 per month for € 12,50 (240 minutes), the entire year. But, when the contract period would end, my contract would be extended automatically and I would pay € 17,50 per month for a year. You had to remember to call KPN before the contract would end and manually extend the contract to receive another discount.

The change in law is this: they now extend the contract one day, every day after the contract period is over. So, you can easily switch provider after you’ve seen that you suddenly pay € 17,50 instead of € 12,50, or sign up for another subscription at the same provider, or whatever you want to do.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t get the same amount of minutes (240) for € 12,50 again, but this time for € 15,00. For € 12,50 I would have gotten 130 minutes, which is too low. But luckily the guy gave me my first month for free, because I was long-time customer (or so he said), so that saves € 15,00, in other words, 6 months the difference between the 130 and 240 minutes. Yet in other words, I pay € 13.75 per month. I think this is an OK enough deal.

I could go through the hassle to see what kind of discount I get if I switch providers, because providers often give new customers more discount than existing ones, but I also hate that kind of administrative work and the risk of problems when I switch, so I’m happy now.