Vodafone Breaks Its Promise On 'Unlimited' Internet From June 1 2010 - Campaign Here!

TheLibertine

For those that havn't heard (because Vodafone hasn't yet informed people!), from June 1st 2010 those of you that took out contracts for 'unlimited' internet with a 500mb fair usage policy will now be charged £5 when you go over this limit. Up until this point the FUP was just to stop abuse of the network, now it is being removed. And in an underhand and legally dubious way.

The following thread discusses this in detail please go there and read it and post on it.
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2446159

This thread is not for discussion of the issue use the thread above for that, but instead is for posting templates of letters and the related information so that people who wish to join the campaign can easily send emails to Ofcom/Vodafone/Advertising Standards etc. And also the links for Facebook groups and the like.

Thanks, I'll try and get some stuff on here today to start with.

DarkConvict

Im an Ex-Vodafone customer partly because they did charge me for entering the fair use area by ~100mb. I won my charges back because unlimited is unlimited!

With the increase in smart phones and data driven application, the increased data usage is more natural rather than abuse of the service. Whilst many operators have been increasing the limits Vodafone seem to be the only one reducing it!

As such, Signed.

TheLibertine

Firstly you can easily and quickly complain online to the advertising standards authority about Vodafone's current press (papers/magazines) campaign that advertises the Desire/Satio etc as having unlimited internet.

With the fair usage policy now removed effectively and a 500mb cap in place this is a dubious claim and it would hurt Vodafone to not be able to print this, and may force them to revert back to the FUP so as to be able to print it again.
You should also point out that they call the iPhone 1GB limit 'unlimited' and also the HTC Desire 500mb limit 'unlimited', clearly both can't be correct.

When complaining mention the May 6th edition of the Scottish Sun, in this Vodafone advertised a Sony Ericsson Satio with 'unlimited' internet.

http://www.asa.org.uk/Complaints-and...line-Form.aspx

TheLibertine

A template letter to send to Vodafone chief exec/ceo/and customer service, please CC all these addresses into the email, this will take 30 seconds to send so please take the time. Just fill in the blanks regarding your name and your time as a customer.

webrelations@vodafone.com


Dear Mr Laurence,

I'm writing to you to complain about changes to Vodafone's data usage plans in the UK, the way this has been handled, and the effect this is currently having on the reputation of what is widely considered the UK's premier mobile network.

As a customer of [...] years I have always had a good relationship with Vodafone. However it has come to my attention that customers who signed up to contracts with 'unlimited' internet and a FUP will now be informed that on June 1st 2010 that this FUP will be removed and customers automatically charged for exceeding the 500mb limit.

The fact Vodafone call a 1GB iPhone limit 'unlimited' and also an HTC Desire 500mb limit 'unlimited' is now clearly a contradiction in terms. And yet Vodafone continue to advertise the 500mb limit as unlimited despite the planned removal of the the FUP in less than a month.

I believe whether this is technically within the letter of the law or not, it is morally wrong and many customers now believe they have been misold contracts. Just a week ago your own eForum Web Relations team were assuring customers that the 500mb was a soft limit purely to stop abuse of the service, and that customers would not be charged for exceeding it unless it was considered 'abuse'. It was only when your company accidentally sent out messages warning users of charges that these plans were discovered and finally admitted by Vodafone.

As a company I think you should realise that today's smartphones can easily exceed 500mb as they are 'always connected' and your partners have designed them this way. And so your policy soon to be implemented will seriously restrict fantastic new models such as the HTC Desire and Sony-Ericsson Satio, whose users are being treated as second class citizens because both are equal or if not more data intensive than the iPhone and Nexus One (essentially the same phone as the HTC Desire) that have a 1GB data limit.

I would also like to draw your attention to the campaign online that is seriously damaging Vodafone's reputation. Groups have been set up on websites such as MoneySavingExpert and Facebook, and the story has been picked up with a negative slant by almost all Tech websites and blogs; including Engadget, Recombo, Electronista, Reghardware, ZDNet, Pocket Lint and so on.

I urge you to reconsider this planned change and to take one of two courses of action.

1. For customers that bought contracts as 'unlimited' with FUP and are now being told this will be arbitrarily removed, reversing this decision is I believe the morally correct thing to do. For new customers it is clearly up to Vodafone what the company do and advertise but this arbitrary move should not be applied retrospectively.

2. Increase the data limit on all phones to the 1GB offered on some phones. This would at least make it 'fair' for all customers of Vodafone and not disadvantage some.

In addition to yourselves I will be CC'ing this letter to your major partners such as HTC and Sony-Ericsson who I believe are affected by this and their phones not properly given their place in the Vodafone line up.

I will be complaining to Ofcom and Consumer Direct regarding the specifics of offering two different levels of 'unlimited' data and the legality of removing the FUP for customers sold 'unlimited' internet.

And to the Advertising Standards Authority regarding your advert in the Scottish Sun on May 6th offering the Satio with 'unlimited' internet despite the planned change on June 1st, and therefore the contradiction compared to the iPhone/NexusOne.

I will also be contacting those who have dealt with these issues before including BBC1's Watchdog and Channel 5's The Gadget Show amongst others.

Many thanks for your time, I hope you understand my disappointment surrounding this issue, and I hope it can be quickly resolved.

Sincerely, [ ]

samperry209

Does this mean i can cancel my contracts with vodafone?

Inc my Mobile broadband one??

TheLibertine

samperry209 wrote: »

Does this mean i can cancel my contracts with vodafone?

Inc my Mobile broadband one??

Hi mate, please discuss on the thread below, this is just for posting template letters etc
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/32639877#Comment_32639877

thanks

samperry209

Okay sorry

Thanks

bym007

I like the idea of posting the letter template with the possible email addresses, where could be possible sent to.

So, could some one kindly aggregate all the email addresses apart from the ebrelations@vodafone.com and vodafonedirectorsoffice@vodafone.com, including BBC Watchdog etc...

danielz000

Very slighty modified version of the BitterWallets cancellation template.

Note:
1. Corrected a few small mistakes
2. Added a third reason for cancellation (now reason 2 - explaining my May usage would have resulted in a 10% increase in June)

Original article at available at:
bitterwallet.com/can-i-cancel-my-vodafone-contract-new-statement-on-new-data-charges-but-theyre-still-wrong

Modified rtf file available at:
rapidshare.com/files/386404490/cancellation-letter.doc.html

Many thanks to BitterWallet

gjchester

samperry209 wrote: »

Does this mean i can cancel my contracts with vodafone?

Inc my Mobile broadband one??

Unlikely, it's not a change, but a clarification of what happens if you exceed the limits.

The 500MB limit on unlimnited has always existed. Its just if you exceed it it hyas not been enforced. Now it will.

It may be sneaky but it's not really a policy or contract change just a clarification. I guess they could have done it without infoming people as your contract aready states a limit but that would be a PR nightmare.

TheLibertine

Ok guys I've done a template for complaining to the ASA, it's not brilliant (I'm at work!) but I think it covers the salient points. You simply go to the ASA website and click comlaints
http://asa.org.uk/

You'll then have to just fill in your name and the details of the advert (Sony-Ericsson X10 / Scottish Sun / May 6th 2010)

Then just copy and paste this into the complaint field on the last page. Take 30 seconds please get as many people as you can to do it.

---

I would like to complain about Vodafone’s advert in the Scottish Sun on May 6th, advertising a mobile phone with ‘unlimited’ internet subject to a fair usage policy of 500mb. I would like to make the following points regarding this…

1. Vodafone themselves in official public statements have acknowledged that they are removing this fair usage policy as of June 1, yet are still advertising models as ‘unlimited’.

2. Since the ASA’s decision in 2008 rejecting complaint 60880, smartphones have moved on to such an extent that they are far more powerful and data intensive. Meaning they have the ability to use far more data.

3. Regarding the X10 specifically (and also the HTC Desire which they continue to advertise as unlimited with 500mb), as a brand new phone on the market Vodafone can’t point to historical data to prove users don’t exceed 500mb. This equates to 16mb per day, watching one 4minute video on YouTube is 4mb. Watch 4 of these a day for instance on your journey to work and you will exceed your limit…and that’s not even taking into account email/web browsing/updating applications.

4. I would argue Vodafone realise this, otherwise why do they offer both the Google Nexus One (similar spec to the X10) and the Apple iPhone with a 1GB ‘unlimited’ internet offer. Surely a contradiction in terms, evidencing that they realise 500mb is not enough for the new era smartphones, and also suggesting two different limits can be unlimited. They in fact have a two-tier system of ‘unlimited’, for example offering the Nexus One as 1GB and it’s almost identical cousin the HTC Desire at 500mb…yet both are the same phone and both are unlimited? It simply doesn’t make sense.

5. Lastly as I said in point one, Vodafone placed this advert when it had already planned to rescind the FUP on these phones from June 1st 2010. This has been publicly announced by Vodafone yet they continue to advertise the X10 and HTC Desire as unlimited internet with a FUP. The message to customers who signed up on this basis has been ‘we can change the FUP at our will’. Evidence to support this can be found on official statements made on Vodafone’s own eForum on their website. I can also provide supporting evidence that Vodafone themselves can’t explain their own policy because it’s so confusing. Many customers have posted correspondence with Vodafone representatives on Vodafone’s own Forum that clearly demonstrates different answers being given to different customers about how the FUP works.

6. At least some of this evidence can be seen on Vodafone’s own website on the following link
http://forum.vodafone.co.uk/topic/57718-mobile-internet-will-the-500mb-allowance-be-enough-for-internet-usage/page__st__160