Consumer NZ said it was the same situation for New Zealand users of Microsoft 365 Personal and Family plans. <\/p>\n
The Herald found it to be the case when an option to stay on a Family plan at the same price \u2013 that is, avoiding a 28% price increase from $179 to $229 for the addition of Copilot \u2013 was only revealed upon hitting the option to cancel a subscription.<\/p>\n
It was the same situation for a Personal Microsoft 365 subscription, the price of which increased by 38% ($129 to $179) with the addition of Copilot, with the option to stay on the old pricing only revealed<\/a> if the customer chose to cancel.<\/p>\n \u2018Very Disappointed\u2019<\/p>\n In the New Year, Consumer NZ complained to the Commerce Commission, asking it to investigate.<\/p>\n This morning, a spokeswoman for Consumer NZ provided this update:<\/p>\n \u201cBack in January, we complained to the Commerce Commission about Microsoft 365\u2019s price increases. <\/p>\n \u201cFollowing that complaint, the commission told us it had provided Microsoft NZ with a letter, advising Microsoft NZ of complaints received and reminding it of its obligations under the Fair Trading Act. <\/p>\n \u201cThe commission said it did not intend to investigate further at that stage.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were very disappointed by the commission\u2019s response and we would love to see the commission taking a bolder stance, like the ACCC, when it comes to matters like this.<\/p>\n \u201cUnfortunately, Consumer is still getting reports from people telling us they\u2019re being affected.\u201d<\/p>\n A Commerce Commission spokeswoman said the regulator would only supply a copy of the warning letter to Microsoft without an Official Information Act request (for which it is given up to 20 working days to respond).<\/p>\n Microsoft told the ABC on Monday that the company was reviewing the ACCC\u2019s claim in detail.<\/p>\n \u201cConsumer trust and transparency are top priorities for Microsoft,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n A spokesman for Microsoft Australia-New Zealand did not directly answer a question on whether the company had changed the way it presented pricing options for its 365 plans.<\/p>\n