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Have I made a massive mistake signing up with Vodafone?

Started by Ewan · 1 year ago

A while ago, if you recall, I swapped from using T-Mobile to Vodafone, for my primary mobile telecommunications needs. It was a big deal for me because I’ve massively disagreed with the operator’s pricing strategy for years. 35 pence per minute to call a friend on another network (out of bundle) is frankly, [...] ... Continue reading »

15 comments

  • martin

    1 year ago

    I am beginning to think the same! I'm on vodafone sim only - it seems like I'm stuck in limbo - i'm not a pay monthly customer or a pay as you go customer so i'm not eligible for either plans offers!

    More to the point i don't use data on vodafone because it's too expensive, I've just talked myself into it, right time to leave vodafone - maybe o2?
    reply
  • Ewan

    1 year ago

    I wonder about o2. I really do. I'm tempted. Same spectrum, good data
    rates....
    reply
  • Abul

    1 year ago

    O2 is definitely a good idea, especially with the iPhone v2 looming..
    reply
  • Lee

    1 year ago

    Hi there Ewan,

    Just tried to contact you to discuss your post but didn't reach you and wasn't able to leave a message.

    I'll try again later today.

    Thanks.

    Lee

    Vodafone Forum Intervention Team
    reply
  • Ewan

    1 year ago

    Standby lee
    reply
  • Tim

    1 year ago

    How come you are not benefiting from this: http://www.vodafone.com/start/media_relations/n...
    I am. At least I think I am. I called CS over a week ago to make sure I am. But when my next bill comes in, going to be checking I am.
    reply
  • Ewan

    1 year ago

    That's what I'll be writing about Tim
    reply
  • Mr.Industry Insider

    1 year ago

    Well, Vodafone just lost a potential customer in me, after reading this. Hopefully they will lose plenty more with this atrocity of a data policy. Voda has a rep. as a stick-in-the-mud old guard rip-off merchant but I kind of thought with recent announcements though that they'd moved on. Networks still JUST. DON'T. GET. IT. with mobile data, do they?

    I'm intrigued though - how on earth are you going to switch to another provider if you're on contract?
    reply
  • Ewan

    1 year ago

    Hello Mr Insider, I think the 500mb fair-use-policy (see the latest post
    I've made, setting the record straight) is a pretty good deal.

    As for changing contract -- I'm not going to do that at the moment. But I'd
    simply bear it 'til August then swap my account to the lowest value. Anyway
    I'm good now.
    reply
  • centius

    1 year ago

    If you want a shocker of a story you should pay attention to this.

    Last March my phone broke while I was working away in London. I was waiting on a very important call and so needed another phone there and then. I was on a business tariff so I just setup another handset. £15 a month to join it to the package (the call was worth a lot more than £180 over 12 months). Everything seemed fine and I was very happy with new handset. When I got my bill I couldn't beleive that it was over £750 for the month. On closer examination I realised that they had changed my tariff from a business 500 to a business 5000 !!!! Fair enough I thought, easy mistake to make. They corrected the bill and all seemed right with the world. The following few months went by and I thought my bill seemed high but I didn't worry. Then all of a sudden my bill was up to £500 a month (had been about £150 - £200). I contacted customer services as I found out I was being charged for calls between mobiles on my tarrif which should be free. They told me not worry and they would sort it out. I told them I wasn't prepared to pay the bill until they corrected the problem. They said that was fine and they would send my account to the bill recalculations department (they have a whole department for that !!!). A few days later £500 leaves my account winging its way to Vodafone. I complain and get the money back. The following month the same thing happens. I checked through my bill and found that on the 13th of the month, I start being charged for calls between handsets. again I complain and again I have to fight my case. They say they will sort it out. Again they take the money and again I get it back. A few days later my phone stops working (and my heavily pregnant wifes). I am not able to contact customer services to find out why as "calls to this number are restricted at this time". I use a land line and speak to them. They say I have been cut off for non-payment of my bill. I tell them the account is in dispute and that I need to be re-connected. They agree and I carry on my happy way. The following month a £1500 bill lands on my doorstep. Again I query it and they promise not to take any funds. Can you guess what happens next ... They take the money, I get it back and they cut me off. This goes on for 4 months. After numerous phone calls with incompetent staff and emails to people who have moved department because of restructuring (happened 3 times) I finally give up.

    After almost a year of being cut off and I think great patience on my part, they finally sort the problem and I get a bill through for just under £1500 to cover the account over the last however many months. I then speak to a customer services person saying that as I haven't had an accurate bill for the best part of a year and with all the problems that have been caused I think they should check to see if I've been on the right tariff. How on earth am I supposed to know if I've been on the right one when I haven't had a correct bill for almost a year. They say they will get back to me. At 5:20pm on a Friday night I get a call from the collections department asking me to pay my bill. I tell them its sill in dispute. The extremely grumpy woman says "are you going to pay your bill or not" I say not until some has checked my tarrifs. With that she ended the call and disconnected my service.

    On saturday I just walked into an O2 shop and got new handsets on a great tariff that costs me a fraction of what I was paying to Vodafone.

    I hadn't heard a peep from them until A couple of days ago I received a new bill from Vodafone. This time it was for over £3000 !!!!!! A closer inspection of the bill shows that they are charging me for terminating my contract early !!!!

    Please stay away from these cretins. They don't care who they upset and I would never recommend them to anyone.
    reply
  • Lee

    1 year ago

    Hi there centius,

    Ewan has very kindly passed your details to us so that we can take a look at your account.

    As I'd like to get this sorted out could you contact Vodafone's Forum Intervention Team by heading over to the link given at the bottom of this post including a contact number I can reach you on so we can discuss the problems you've posted. To make sure your email comes straight through to us you'll just need to include the code FIT135 in the body of your email.

    Many thanks and look forward to hearing from you.

    Lee

    Vodafone UK

    https://online.vodafone.co.uk/dispatch/Portal/a...
    reply
  • stephenodonnell

    1 year ago

    Ewan - I have an unlimited Vodafone SIM with global data roaming for £95 per month that I use on my 3G card. That makes sense.
    reply
  • Ewan

    1 year ago

    Agreed!
    reply
  • Abul

    1 year ago

    Should've stuck with T-Mobile? £187 quid for all that is just too much! That's the trouble with Operators who charge by kb and not a subscription. T-Mobile's 1GB (unlimited) plan is £7.99, sorts everything out.
    reply
  • Ewan

    1 year ago

    Agreed!
    reply

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