HTC Desire Vodafone 500mb Fair Usage Policy

djheath

Posted on the eForum too, but in case it gets removed:

Well, I if anyone is interested and in the same situation as I am ( i.e recently renewed their contract after being told unlimited internet and still within the 7 days cooling off policy), I just called VF to cancel my Sim only renewel explaining I wanted to leave on the basis that I was sold unlimited internet and I wasn't sure what these new T&C's would mean to me now that I have a HTC Desire (which I bought myself), I wanted to use it for its full features and not be restricted by the network.

The very nice lady said they had had a lot of calls about this and understood my concerns, and tried to reasure me that 500 mb was massive. I said it wasn't and I asked why a handset such as the N1 gets a 1gb usage and not the HTC Desire, even though they are the same phones. She said they were different in how they use the internet, with the N1 being always on and so it would rack up more usage. When I said the Desire is the same phone underneath and it accesses the internet in the same way with an always on connection too, she couldn't really give me an explaination and just said it was due to different pricing structures, which to be fair is a better and more honest answer!

She then tried to reduce my monthly rental by a whopping £2.50 to keep me on, but I said no it wasn't what I was looking for. She then tried to offer me 1Gb of usage a month but at a cost of an extra £10 a month. Well, if I added that then my price plan starts to get into the cost of plans that people can get when they get a free HTC desire on upgrade. I specifically didn't take a handset upgrade to keep my monthly price plan cheap and at a reduced contract term.

So, in the end she reverted my plan back to what I had before. Its £10 a month more than what I was paying on the renewal plan, but as it is only for two months whilst I monitor my internet usage and see whether staying with VF is worth it or worth moving on, then it's a small price to pay.

Thankfully, I was a good position to change (7 days cooling off period) and now only have until the 24th June which is when I can leave vodofone freely without any penalty or difficulty, so it will be good to see what happens.

onpoint_2

Just called Voda to arrange the return of my phone under the 7 day cooling off, after trying reasure me that "you would literally have to be using it 24/7 to go over the allowance" they put it through without any fuss. Obviously her comment on the usage is just plain wrong, she's either very badly trained or told to lie!?!

Also requested the PAC code for both of my contracts, again with little fuss - I sort of expected them to try to get me to stay after 12yrs with them (not that I would've) but there you go, didn't seem to give a sh*t, that seems to be vodafone all over...

Good luck to you guys trying to fight this! I'm out, but will keep updated with the situation.

Little_Maya

onpoint wrote: »

she's either very badly trained or told to lie!?!

possibly both!

Good luck to you guys trying to fight this! I'm out, but will keep updated with the situation.

thank you

essex_chris

Have to laugh at the suggestion that 1Gb would be £10 a month extra.

Erm don't you get 500mb included. Go over that and pay £5 for another 500Mb (1Gb total).

So they offered to charge you an EXTRA £5 for 1Gb total LMAO

djheath

essex_chris wrote: »

Have to laugh at the suggestion that 1Gb would be £10 a month extra.

Erm don't you get 500mb included. Go over that and pay £5 for another 500Mb (1Gb total).

So they offered to charge you an EXTRA £5 for 1Gb total LMAO

I know, it made me laugh too!

N20Y1D

So what about these comments from Monday:

Vodafone's head of web relations Jakub Hrabovsky told Tech Radar UK that users will be getting a 14 day notice instead of a 30 day notice as this was not a change in service but an increase in fee.

Hrabovsky said that “You'll be entitled to end your contract if you can show that the introduction of the new charges has increased your total call and usage charges by more than 10%.” truly wireless.

Read more: http://www.itproportal.com/portal/news/article/2010/5/10/vodafone-explains-controversial-fair-usage-capping/#ixzz0nhQYglme

edit: these comments were posted on the e-forum and promptly deleted, i'm guessing because i included the link, i have since reposted as follows:

I see my post was deleted, i guess that was because it contained a link and for no other more sinister reasons.... so i will repost without the link:


Quote
Vodafone's head of web relations Jakub Hrabovsky told Tech Radar UK that users will be getting a 14 day notice instead of a 30 day notice as this was not a change in service but an increase in fee.

Hrabovsky said that "You'll be entitled to end your contract if you can show that the introduction of the new charges has increased your total call and usage charges by more than 10%." truly wireless.



Tom, what do you say to this? My contract is currently £25 a month, if i get hit with a £5 charge that is a 20% increase. So I am entitled to cancel according to the Head of Vodafone Web Relations am i not?

I wonder if it will receive a reply, a deletion, or just be met with silence.

Vodafone

Hi Everyone,

Jakub's comments were correct at the time they were posted, but we've since made another announcement, here: http://forum.vodafone.co.uk/forum-53/announcement-137-mobile-internet-charging/

This is absolutely the correct information, and Jakub's comments can now be ignored.

Thanks,

Tom

Web Relations Team

Vodafone UK

fatboy88

Does that mean we are back to where we were before now lol

DarkConvict

I guess so, Vodafone have just posted but what was already known and failed to answer any of the questions posted here.

The 3% exceed it is a pointless statistic without some meaning on how that figure was reached, we want to know the figures of those who actual have smartphones and use their data bundles, not just those that have them in their plan but don't have the means or requirements to actually use it.
As shown on here already 500MB can be easily used within a day, so using 17MB a day is very easily done. Just N20Y1D's posts yesterday on MSE would have caused them enough reloading yesterday on a mobile to exceed this 17MB daily figure! The phones been sold are mini computers/PDA not just a phone, more like a computer that can ring people.

The fact you are charging on an unlimited price plan is just plain wrong, and those that want to leave must be given the option to do so, meaning they can find a provider with an allowance sufficient to their needs. I was charged for it back in 2007, sold unlimited not a 120MB package with vodafone, I won and the got all my costs back. You cannot charge you can only at the best, limit usage which of course breaking unlimited policy so you have to move to speed capping instead, virgin media has been their and done that and still doing it, its the only way you can get away with advertising unlimited internet (capping speed not charging or cutting service).

Vodafone

Hi DarkConvict,

I am chasing answers to the list of questions raised here, so any that I can answer, I will

Tom

Web Relations Team

Vodafone UK