Vodafone Pay Monthly SIM Only - BE SO VERY CAREFUL

fredquimby_2

There seem to be a few "Pay Monthly" deals out there, some of which were mentioned in last week's Money Tips email. But be careful with at least one...

Background - The Deal

I've been looking into Vodafone's pay monthly SIM only range - they offer a number of plans including £15/month for 250 mins. Click through Quidco and get £90 back (albeit after 4 months, but I'm still £30 up at that point). All good so far...

But what do The Terms say?

BUT read their Terms and Conditions carefully - despite being advertised as "No lengthy contract - just 30 days notice", click through to their T&Cs (Section 8 of the T&Cs, although also see Summary Para 1) and it says that on termination:

"unless [certain conditions apply - such as changes in service or price hikes in excess of RPI] you will also have to pay the monthly (or other periodic) line rental charge for the amount of the Term which is left to run..."

Now, the word "Term" means (verbatim from the T&Cs) "the period of 12 months running from the date of the connection of your mobile device or your upgrade or recommitment (as appropriate) unless your price plan specifies a longer period, in which case the longer period applies."

As far as I can tell this means that this is a minimum 12 month contract "unless your price plan specifies a longer period" (so, covering 18 month contracts). But the way it is worded now means that 1 month contracts are, strictly speaking, not covered, and the plan is still a 12 month contract!

Bottom line - If I give notice on my £15/month plan after, say, six months, I will (if the T&Cs are to be believed) have to pay £90 (£15/month x 6 months left in 12 months) to cover the remaining Term, rather than the £15 for the one month notice period.

What Vodafone says...

I contacted Vodafone about this. Three separate operators confirmed that this is a 1 month notice package and all of them saw the contradiction between the offer and the T&Cs (I took one of them right through their own website to point this out). One of the operators "bet their job" that the 1 month notice period applies and offered to bring this up in their feedback meetings. Let's see what happens, so...

Conclusion

The promotion and three separate Vodafone operators say it is a 1 month deal. The T&Cs currently say 12 months (with no provision for shorter contracts).

I've no reason to doubt that the T&Cs just haven't yet caught up with the monthly package. But until they do I have to assume that I am into a 12 month contract, because that's what the current T&Cs say.

Let's hope that the promotion is right and we end up getting a good 1 month deal. Until then, you have to assume that you're tied in for 12 months (and a minimum £180 commitment) and not 1 month (with a £15 commitment). Of course this is all before any Quidco effect...

Hope this helps.

reddwarf2002

Unnecessarily, you are looking too much into it. All you need to do is read this line: "No lengthy contract - just 30 days notice" and it's straight forward ;-)

Leopard

Somebody who reads the T&Cs before agreeing to them! :T :T :T :xmastree:

At last!

Thank you, Fred. You give hope to those such as Quentin :A who spend countless (usually unthanked) hours on here trying to sort out the messes that people have got themselves into because they were so impatient to get their hands on a new, shiny toy that they never bothered to read what they were committing themselves to.

I'm sure there'll be one along, any minute now, to scoff at the very idea.

Leopard

reddwarf2002 wrote: »

Unnecessarily, you are looking too much into it. All you need to do is read this line: "No lengthy contract - just 30 days notice" and it's straight forward ;-)

See what I mean? :wall:

Several born every minute.