Advice with tariff, was lied to when set organised.

Krispearman

Ok guys, my mobile phone tariff was started in april last year and will be expiring in april next year.

Im with vodafone and have been since 2003 because ive always had a pretty good deal with them and ive always managed to get a good price for the amount of minutes and texts i use combined with a phone i like. I did on a number of occasions "Shop around" and get put through to cancellations to haggle a better deal and such a thing happened when i arranged this deal:

Nokia 5300, 600 minutes + unlimited texts for £20 a month. The phone i was told was at a "Discounted price" and that the £20 a month was entirely for the minutes and texts and would last 2 years. Thats all fine.

However 2 weeks later a friend of mine phoned up vodafone and got the exact same deal as me as a new customer with a few alterations.

1) The phone was completely free, no discounted price just completely free.
2) It was £10 a month not £20 a month
3) It only lasts for a year

I only found out about this sort of october this year and i immediately phoned up vodafone to work out what my contract actually meant and found out the following:

1) The £60 i paid for the phone was just a downpayment on the phone and the contract actually covered both the phone and the contract
2) The "Discounted" price i was promised didnt exist because upon working it out ive paid for the phone and an extra £60 or £70 on top
3) The 7 Years loyalty i was told that would mean i could get exclusive deals was a complete lie unless there were deals they just didnt offer me.

I complained on the spot and was told until my contract expires in april i only have to pay £10 a month now. Being taken by surprise by that i said ok without thinking about it, ive still paid more for the phone than originally told and the contract will reset to £20 a month in april. Ill be able to opt into a new contract as of january with them they said so im going to start phoning around in the new year to get a few ideas, but basically is it possible to use any of this information to my advantage when arranging a new contract?

1) I'm not happy at being promised discounts that never actually were real
2) I've paid more than a new customer with 2 weeks gap between our two contracts
3) Clearly whoever spoke to me realised the error and tried to cover it up by lowering my price without actually refunding me anything.

Would appreciate any help as im not great when it comes to haggling and even worse at complaining but im sure something good can come out of it?

Kris

JJ_Egan

Problem is and will always be that the price varies shop phone internet all separate plus monthly targets etc etc means the price you are offered may not be the best and two seconds later it could be dearer /cheaper .

1) I'm not happy at being promised discounts that never actually were real
No comeback on this one as the discount not being real is only due to a better deal for somebody else two weeks later and you have no proof it did not exist at the point of sale .

2) I've paid more than a new customer with 2 weeks gap between our two contracts
Tough prices change all the time butter cheaper than when i bought it last week .

3) It only lasts for a year

Presume thats the contract you shopped around for and signed up to .

I cannot see any form of underhand dealing with your purchase neither can i see any grounds for a better deal .

Seems you phoned up six months later due to another person getting a better deal after you haggling a better deal in the first place .

jje

Krispearman

JJ_Egan wrote: »

Seems you phoned up six months later due to another person getting a better deal after you haggling a better deal in the first place .

jje

That was the general idea. The thing is when i called up the person who i spoke to said it was marked on my record i had been promised a discounted price for the phone and he sat there and worked out with me that id actually paid more than the full price for the phone as i said in my first post, which was why he reduced the price to £10 a month and he also said there must have been some mistake somewhere along the line as i shouldnt have paid £20 a month for it for this alleged "Discount". I do have all the details from all the conversations I had with them here but if honestly i cant use it to negotiate a better deal then fair enough but at least i know ill be a lot more careful next time when i arrange a contract that i dont get a deal thats just about to get its price slashed in half again.

JJ_Egan

Bring a friend with you if you are unsure .

As the varying outlets have differing prices all you can do is get the details as much as possible beforehand .

jje

gjchester

Krispearman wrote: »

Nokia 5300, 600 minutes + unlimited texts for £20 a month.

Thats pretty low, your not a high spender so retentions will not really bend over backwards to give you a better deal.

Krispearman wrote: »

However 2 weeks later a friend of mine phoned up vodafone and got the exact same deal as me as a new customer with a few alterations.

Unless you phoned at the same time the comparison isn't valid. There may have been month / quarter targets to hit, the phone you got may have been reduced by the maker/ distributer, Vodafone may have changed tarrifs and allowances in the previous week.

Krispearman wrote: »

1) The £60 i paid for the phone was just a downpayment on the phone and the contract actually covered both the phone and the contract
2) The "Discounted" price i was promised didnt exist because upon working it out ive paid for the phone and an extra £60 or £70 on top
3) The 7 Years loyalty i was told that would mean i could get exclusive deals was a complete lie unless there were deals they just didnt offer me.

It's a fact of life that once any service has you they will only work to keep you if you make them a profit. On the amount your paying per month thats not much. Seven years loyaly means nothign to Vodafone, a high monthly spend means a lot more.

The phone may well have been discounted to you as an existing customer but a new customer gets different rules and deals. the only think you can do is vote with your feet.

Krispearman wrote: »

I complained on the spot and was told until my contract expires in april i only have to pay £10 a month now. Being taken by surprise by that i said ok without thinking about it, ive still paid more for the phone than originally told and the contract will reset to £20 a month in april. Ill be able to opt into a new contract as of january with them they said so im going to start phoning around in the new year to get a few ideas, but basically is it possible to use any of this information to my advantage when arranging a new contract?

1) I'm not happy at being promised discounts that never actually were real
2) I've paid more than a new customer with 2 weeks gap between our two contracts
3) Clearly whoever spoke to me realised the error and tried to cover it up by lowering my price without actually refunding me anything.

Would appreciate any help as im not great when it comes to haggling and even worse at complaining but im sure something good can come out of it?

Kris

Sorry but you don't really have any grounds for a complaint, you were happy with the price till you heard it was cheaper for someone else, but that really is life. If you go into Tesco and beans are 50p a tin then next week they have a spacial in Tesco of the same product at 10p a tin there is nothing you can do.

In the same vein Tesco may offer you free home shopping as a new customer but then you'll not be able to get that offer again, it's a loss leader to sign you up. You were an existing customer so they didn't have to work as hard to keep you, your friend was a new customer and they had to offer more to get them to join.

If the boot was on the other foot and you and your friend went to o2 where he was a customer already, and you as a new customer you would expect them to offer more to you than them to get you to sign up.

jennikitten

You're unlikely to get discounts for being a loyal customer spending that little; they are more interested in giving discounts on company plans, business tariffs and people who generally spend £50 or more per month.

You're always going to have a worse contract than someone who signs up 6 months or more after you, because the market is moving so fast. Prices are always getting better.

At the end of the day, they're all salespeople and will promise you the world if they think it means you will buy their product. To be honest, you haven't spent that much and I'd say you got a pretty good deal for the time.

Krispearman

Ok well thanks for being honest with me guys, as luck would have it when i was out today i got offered a deal on tesco mobile which is unlimited calls + texts + internet for £15 a month with no handset for a years contract, they said its a special offer for christmas but understanding ill be able to arrange a pac code in january they said the offer will still be valid until then and ill be able to get it if vodafone cant offer me anything similar.

So when it rolls round im gonna phone up and try to get something better but if i cant at least ill know i can get a better contract instantly