Vodafone to Change Prices from 11 Oct 2011

planetf1

I can't see a text or email from vodafone anywhere despite having 4 contracts with them

- At least on my phone (I'm the main contact, and this is the priciest contract) I've had no text from them. I have a new-ishSGS2 smartphone (from July) so no constraints with space, so I never delete text messages!

- I've had nothing by email, which is also the prime contact method for my account - I use gmail & a) I rarely delete anything b) search is excellent
- I've had nothng by post (and I went through all post & backlog of filed papers just this last weekend)

When was stuff sent out, to whom, with what mechanism?

planetf1

I should add that I *have* received
- billing notifications
- roaming notifications (regular and data traveler related)
- VIP emails
- contract confirmations (on new contracts)

mobilejunkie

alliz wrote: »

i received the message on the 5th regarding price increase. Call CS on the 6 th and she confirm I will be effected and put a note on my account about it and she asked me to sent letter to Durham office. Send the termination letter request on 12th and email them the same letter. Today received my PAC on text without mentioning anything else only sorry for leaving message. Call CS to confirm I will not be charge termination fees this time this guy have no idea what I am talking about, don't even understand their own T&C saying he is not a lawyer, and that my bill will never increase by 10% with the price increase. He even dare to say that his colleague who left a note on my account don't know what she is doing. He also said that there is no way I can terminate without paying termination fees not even if they increase the price. I just give up at the end. Will wait for the reply letter from them as I am sure they will write to me as they have give me my PAC meaning they have response to my request on that letter.

With Vodafone the only things you can be "sure" about are that they will give you wrong information, break any and all promises they make, NOT reply to letters AND waste an absolute eternity of your time. I'd prepare for a huge termination bill, not a letter!

kellyr815

I know this is a slight tangent from the Voda-bashing that's going on, but who are you guys going to go with instead? O2/Orange also have 35p per call out of bundle charges, Virgin are 40p! Is it just about the principle rather than actually saving money?

I mean, surely this whole issue is created by the fact you're not on the right tariff in the first place or you wouldn't be paying for out of bundle minutes etc? Confused!

alliz

kellyr815 wrote: »

I know this is a slight tangent from the Voda-bashing that's going on, but who are you guys going to go with instead? O2/Orange also have 35p per call out of bundle charges, Virgin are 40p! Is it just about the principle rather than actually saving money?

I mean, surely this whole issue is created by the fact you're not on the right tariff in the first place or you wouldn't be paying for out of bundle minutes etc? Confused!

Not sure of going anywhere but previously when I end my contract with Orange, their retention call me and offered me a very good deal which I took but because of their mistake, the new contract never happened and I got to keep the phone for free. I got the latest Blackberry with my current Vodafone contract which started in April and if I am able to get out of this contract, I am quite sure their retention will call and give me a retention offer. So rather then just agree with their price increase in my current contract and go on with it, it is much better if I terminate this contract, get a new deal with maybe a better phone and agree from the beginning with the new call charges.

TehJumpingJawa

kellyr815 wrote: »

I know this is a slight tangent from the Voda-bashing that's going on, but who are you guys going to go with instead? O2/Orange also have 35p per call out of bundle charges, Virgin are 40p! Is it just about the principle rather than actually saving money?

I mean, surely this whole issue is created by the fact you're not on the right tariff in the first place or you wouldn't be paying for out of bundle minutes etc? Confused!

Getting out of a contract early is always beneficial, as it's the contract tariff * length that subsidises the free/cheap phone & cashback that you get at the start of the contract.

bbxsa

kellyr815 wrote: »

I know this is a slight tangent from the Voda-bashing that's going on, but who are you guys going to go with instead? O2/Orange also have 35p per call out of bundle charges, Virgin are 40p! Is it just about the principle rather than actually saving money?

I mean, surely this whole issue is created by the fact you're not on the right tariff in the first place or you wouldn't be paying for out of bundle minutes etc? Confused!

I will change to T-Mobile but the reason is not due to this price change but a previous price change Vodafone inflicted on me.

Roaming with my Vodafone BlackBerry outside of Europe now costs a minimum of £3/day. Previously Vodafone only charged me per kilobyte and led to charges in the region of 30-50p per day.

They said that international roaming was not one of their core services so I could not get out of my contract at that point. But I will use this opportunity to do so.

With T-Mobile I can buy a BlackBerry booster which allows 50MB (fair use) of international data over 30 days for £15. A much better deal than Vodafone's £3/day (minimum).

TehJumpingJawa

Ok here's the word from Vodafone.
Their interpretation of Clause 11 b) is very bizarre.

First off I'll requote the relevant portion of clause 11 b).

11. Ending this agreement
...
b) You may end this agreement by writing to us if:
...
- we increase your charges in the UK which have the effect of increasing your total charges (based on your usage in the previous month) by more than 10% and you write to us before the increase applies;

Now, Vodafone's interpretation of this:

a) You must notify them in writing before the changes come into effect that you think the changes will increase your bill by more than 10%
b) They wait until your first bill after the changes have come into effect.
c) If this bill shows an increase of more than 10% (compared to the previous bill) then the % increase will be refunded & the contract will be terminated.

However I still have two unknowns at this point:

1) As the changes are coming into effect halfway through a billing period, I'm not sure which bill they'll use for their calculation. The first partially effected bill (Sept/Oct), or the first fully effected bill (Oct/Nov)
2) I've no idea how they calculate this % increase; a straight comparison with the previous month's total? or a recalculation of the previous months bill using the new tariff values?

This policy is complete garbage, and IMO is not supported by the contract at all.
However I can only repeat their own contractual terms & conditions back to them so many times.... what can you do when a corporation is being belligerent?!?

Perhaps they've established this policy because they've realized that to fulfill the contract's T&Cs properly they'd need to have the facility for recalculating an arbitrary bill using a different tariff, and clearly they don't have such a capability - so they've come up with this workaround instead.

No matter; it'll be easy to make sure my next bill is artificially high - I'll just lend my phone to my Mum for a few days!

berjangles

TehJumpingJawa wrote: »

Ok here's the word from Vodafone.
Their interpretation of Clause 11 b) is very bizarre.

First off I'll requote the relevant portion of clause 11 b).
Now, Vodafone's interpretation of this:

a) You must notify them in writing before the changes come into effect that you think the changes will increase your bill by more than 10%
b) They wait until your first bill after the changes have come into effect.
c) If this bill shows an increase of more than 10% (compared to the previous bill) then the % increase will be refunded & the contract will be terminated.

However I still have two unknowns at this point:

1) As the changes are coming into effect halfway through a billing period, I'm not sure which bill they'll use for their calculation. The first partially effected bill (Sept/Oct), or the first fully effected bill (Oct/Nov)
2) I've no idea how they calculate this % increase; a straight comparison with the previous month's total? or a recalculation of the previous months bill using the new tariff values?

This policy is complete garbage, and IMO is not supported by the contract at all.
However I can only repeat their own contractual terms & conditions back to them so many times.... what can you do when a corporation is being belligerent?!?

Perhaps they've established this policy because they've realized that to fulfill the contract's T&Cs properly they'd need to have the facility for recalculating an arbitrary bill using a different tariff, and clearly they don't have such a capability - so they've come up with this workaround instead.

No matter; it'll be easy to make sure my next bill is artificially high - I'll just lend my phone to my Mum for a few days!

The T&C's say "compared to the PREVIOUS month"; how can they base it on the bill after the changes? This is then already too late as you would have paid for calls at the new higher rate.

berjangles

My reply from Customer 'Services' (note that my overall bill will go up by 40%, due to calls outside of the price plan)...

Thank you for contacting Vodafone Customer Services.

I'm sorry to learn about the inconvenience caused to you. I know this can be upsetting.

I understand your concern however I have reviewed your account and can confirm you that your price plan will not increase by 10% but will only increase nearby £0.50. If it increases more than that then we will cancel your contract on the immediate bases and you can retain the handset with you.

I trust the above information is helpful to you.