HTC Desire Vodafone 500mb Fair Usage Policy

danielz000

BitterWallet are still on the case...

http://www.bitterwallet.com/vodafone-data-charges-we-ask-your-questions-since-you-cant/

danielz000

I spoke to Ofcom, I'll let you all know if I get any feedback...

superbrainz

Anybody receive the vodafone billing text notification of late?

Mine said
"Your new Vodafone bill is now available for you to view online. Just visit vodafone co uk / myaccount on your pc at any time. "


An earlier version I had received said
"Your APR bill for a/c 12345678 totals £24.64 to be paid by direct debit on or immediately after 31 APR 2010. To view your full bill visit vodafone co uk/myaccount on your pc


Any specific reasons why VF have stopped mentioning the bill total in text notifications now? My guess is they are counting on few customers actually bothering to check the bill amount by logging on. Could that mean they are going to start charging for anyone exceeding 500Megs?

Tony5101

Mine has never stated a bill amount etc. It's only ever said bill available to view online etc...
yet another inconsistency eh?

TheLibertine

Smartphones take world by storm


Page last updated at 9:20 GMT, Wednesday, 19 May 2010 10:20 UK

• 

Smartphones running Google's Android platform are selling well Global sales of smartphones have continued their stellar rise, increasing by 49% in the first quarter of 2010.
Research from Gartner indicated that smartphone sales hit 54 million, with sales of all mobile phones rising 17%.
Google's Android smartphone operating system has also outperformed Microsoft's, taking fourth place for the first time.
It was the strongest quarter for annual smartphone sales since 2006.
According to the market research company, the first quarter of 2010 also proved to be the strongest yet for Apple, more than doubling its iPhone sales year-on-year.
Asia's rise Carolina Milanesi, research vice-president at Gartner, said: "Growth came partly from new communication service providers in established markets, such as the UK, and stronger sales in new markets such as China and South Korea."
But sales of Research in Motion's Blackberry also improved, with the firm taking the fourth place in manufacturer rankings for the first time, on a sales increase of 46%.
In the battle for operating systems, Google's Android platform performed well in North American markets, with sales of Android-based phones there increasing 707%.
And Nokia's Symbian OS stays in the global number one spot, but with overall market share declining from 49 to 44% between 2009 and 2010.

timbouk

Found some great info today, Vodafone's corporate info: http://www.vodafone.com/start/responsibility_uk/our_cr_policies.html

There are some interesting things in here:

Group Responsible Marketing
http://www.vodafone.com/etc/medialib/attachments/cr_downloads.Par.55009.File.dat/Vodafone-Group-Responsible-Marketing-Content-Use-Guidelines_2007-08.pdf

Page1:

Purpose
The guidelines establish basic principles to be applied globally, in addition to
national regulations and codes. They establish a minimum standard that all
Vodafone Operating Companies must adhere to. It is essential that variation in
local marketing regulations and codes does not lead to marketing that could
damage Vodafone’s reputation as a global brand.

Page 3:

Accurate product claims
Claims made for Vodafone products and services must be accurate and not
likely to mislead.
Written substantiation for all claims must be held by Vodafone before
publication of marketing material. Vodafone must be ready to provide this
substantiation to regulatory authorities at short notice.
Legal teams should be consulted on any disclaimers or small print that may be
required by law. Where disclaimers or other small print is required, it should be
written in simple language and large enough to be easily legible for consumers.

Page 4:

Clear terms and conditions
Terms and conditions apply to the sale of mobile products and services.
Failure to communicate these clearly is the biggest cause of complaint about
Vodafone’s marketing.
Terms and conditions applying to Vodafone’s products and services must be
clearly explained to consumers.
Headlines should be clearly written to describe the offer accurately. Terms and
conditions should never be used to correct an impression created by a headline.
Legal teams should be consulted on terms and conditions required for products
and services.

Page 5:

Vodafone criticise Orange openly for advertising "Unlimited Internet"
Example of misleading Claim
+ bad T&C Uk – Orange Unlimited
Broadband
The claim “Unlimited broadband” is
misleading because in fact there is a
“fair usage” limit (40GB monthly download
and 1,000 minute monthly calling rations)
which is not mentioned in the T&C

Yet the terms and conditions (the small print reproduced) clearly show a Fair Usage Policy, even though no figure is show (Hmmm Vodafone!)

Last Page (Back of booklet):

Names, email addresses and mobile numbers for the following Corporate Departments:

Brand, Corporate responsibility, Legal: clear terms, Public policy, spam, premium services

I suggest nobody calls them, seriously! Maybe Mr Lewis could call them?

Some other policies linked too:

Quality of Customer Experience Policy
This policy applies to
All Employees in Vodafone subsidiaries and Joint Ventures with an interest of 50% or more.
Policy objectives
To ensure that we consistently give customers a differentiated, branded customer experience each time we interact with them.
To make our customers feel appreciated, confident and inspired by the time they spend with Vodafone so they will use our services more, continue to choose us on a long-term basis and also to recommend Vodafone to others.
The policy
It is the policy of the Board of Vodafone Group Plc that measures and procedures are in place to ensure a superior customer experience. To deliver our promise we should ensure:
We provide reliable network coverage where our customers are and when they need it;
Our products, services and terminals are easy to use, relevant and reliable;
We deliver the best value to customers in return for commitment;
Whilst roaming, we provide customers with great services, fair pricing and support if they need it to make them feel confident about using mobile services as they would at home;
Innovation and continuous improvement is at the heart of our product development; and
Across the entire experience, we continue to surprise and delight our customers.
It is the responsibility of each Local Company Chief Executive Officer to ensure appropriate procedures are in place. Although the Group CMO and the Marketing Director of each Operating Company along with his/her teams are the guardians of the customer experience it is the responsibility of every employee to ensure we exceed customer needs.

Communications Policy
This policy applies to
All Employees in Vodafone subsidiaries and Joint Ventures with an interest of 50% or more.
Policy Objectives
To ensure that communication to all media, industry analysts, stockbroker/institutional analysts and shareholders is done in a consistent manner through the specialist departments.
To prevent Vodafone from any misinterpretation or any legal consequences which could arise from any public statement made by a non authorised person.
To ensure that Vodafone is communicating a consistent set of messages to ensure clear, effective and efficient communication.
To set out the core standards and approach for social media communication.
To ensure Group-wide announcements to all employees are delivered company-wide in a consistent and timely fashion.
The policy
It is the policy of the Board of Vodafone Group Plc that all disclosures and announcements made by the Company or any of its subsidiaries to its shareholders, the investment community and the general public should be materially accurate and complete. They should fairly present, in all material respects, the subject matter of the disclosure. All disclosures and announcements should be made on a timely basis as required by applicable laws and stock exchange requirements.
Only authorised employees can communicate with the media, industry analysts, stockbroker/institutional analysts and shareholders on behalf of Vodafone. In the social media environment employees must identify themselves as Vodafone employees.
In order to ensure that the official announcements, press releases and other public disclosures made by or on behalf of the Company or any of its subsidiaries, whether quoted or not quoted, are recorded, processed, summarised and reported accurately and on a timely basis, the Company has established a Disclosure Committee. The Disclosure Controls and Procedures must be strictly adhered to by the Company or any of its subsidiaries so that prior and proper authorisation is secured for the disclosures set out therein. They also provide, in part, the basis for the annual Certifications required to be made by the Vodafone Group Chief Executive and the Vodafone Chief Financial Officer (the "Certifying Officers") pursuant to Sections 302 and 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 ("Sarbanes- Oxley").
No public or media relations activity can be negotiated as part of a third party or supplier contract.
The corporate language is English.

Consumer Issues
Vodafone's reputation depends on earning the trust of its customers. Their loyalty is vital to the long-term success of our business. This section covers a range of issues that we believe play an important part in maintaining customer trust.
Important consumer issues include the clarity of our pricing, the responsibility of our marketing material, the way we handle customer privacy and our measures to protect customers from inappropriate content, contact and commercialism. We also address other consumer issues such as responsible mobile phone use, driving safety and mobile theft.
Customers can now access an ever-expanding range of features and services on their mobile phones, including picture messaging, downloadable games, music, pictures and video clips, internet access and mobile television. These technologies bring significant benefits to our business and personal lives, but can also raise concerns about misuse.
Our aim is to ensure customers are satisfied with our service and in control of how they use it. We continually review our policies as we are introducing new services such as mobile advertising, home broadband internet services and partnerships with social networking websites to make them available via mobile.

Do you think Vodafone UK have read any of these?

nickmack

I just called up Vodafone to ask for my PAC code. I still have nearly 3 months left on my contract, so I was expected them to mention this and charge me to leave.

However, without argument, I was told it will be sent to me via SMS within 48 hours. When I asked them if there was any charge, they said no.

I wonder if my account is flagged with the 'troublemaker customer' flag and they know I'm not going to stay after my previous altercations regarding the FUP.

I'm not dismissing the possibility they haven't realised my contract minimum period is not up and I might not get the PAC, but it will be interesting to see.

waltsalt

What if we all decide to protest in a different way? Most people have a number of minutes and text messages bundled in their package. Vodafone obviously hand these out for fun because they know very few customers will hit the limits. Well, as way of protest, everybody should start using their phones to the maximum their contacts allow i.e. come the end of the month phone your house number for x amount of minutes and send texts to use up what you have left. This will hit Vodafone where it hurts - in their pockets.

oslingsby

waltsalt wrote: »

What if we all decide to protest in a different way? Most people have a number of minutes and text messages bundled in their package. Vodafone obviously hand these out for fun because they know very few customers will hit the limits. Well, as way of protest, everybody should start using their phones to the maximum their contacts allow i.e. come the end of the month phone your house number for x amount of minutes and send texts to use up what you have left. This will hit Vodafone where it hurts - in their pockets.

I have been doing just that, I sent this email to cust services to try to make them realise it will cost them more not to let me leave.

"Unlimited" Landline Calls (3000 minutes) at a wholesale cost to you of at least 0.25p per minute for the termination charge alone, if a customer were to use all of these minutes this would cost Vodafone 0.25p x 3000 = £7.50

"Unlimited" texts (3000 really) at a cost of around 1p per message to Vodafone 1p x 3000 = £30.00

900 Any network anytime minutes, if a customer were to use all of these during peak times during a weekday to another network, lets say 3 mobile for this example, today their MTR is 13.65p per minute lets make it easier and say 13p per minute = 13p x 900 = £117.00

Data costs you money obviously otherwise we would not have even spoke today but i do not know the cost of this but as you are going to charge users £5 a month for 500mb lets say £2 cost.

If we add all these up we come to a staggering £156.50 a month.
This is what a customer could cost you while they are only paying £40.00 a month.

oslingsby

Remember to sign the petition against these new data charges, Link is on Page 39 of this forum