Singlepoint/Vodaphone upgrade experience

JVG_2

Prompted by the success stories on this board, I decided to see if I could have any luck myself.

I'm with Vodafone via Singlepoint. (I know that there are loads of bad stories circulating about them but I have to say my experience with them has been nothing but positive over the past 2/3 years I've been with them. Each to their own I guess. Anyway.....)

I rang them and via a series of automated got through to an option which said 'Press X if you are considering leaving Vodafone'. I was then connected immediately to an enthusiastic young man. At this stage I merely asked if he could let me know when my contract was due to expire and when I had to give notice should I wish to terminate it. After I said this, he straight away asked if I would stay with them if he could improve my tariff - to which I replied 'probably'. So he checked out my mobile usage and accertained what I required in terms of minutes/texts etc. My current bill is approx £25 and I'm on an Off-Peak tariff with 1000 minutes and 100 texts, of which I use no more than 400 minutes and just under the 100 texts. Straight away without any prompting from me, he offered me 600 minutes and 100 texts for £17.99 a month. I literally didn't have any time to respond before he amended this to £14.99 a month!

Then he offered me a brand new handset - a Samsung E810.

The only drawback was that I had to agree to an 18 month contract.

The phone arrived today and is fantastic. I'm well chuffed!

So, flushed with my success, I decided to try to get a better deal for my flat mate. Pretty much the same scenario as above, except she's on 100 cross network minutes. I managed to get her monthly bill reduced by £3 a month, got her a brand new Motorola V550 and three months free line rental (worth £60!). She's not too bothered about the new phone, so will probably sell it on Ebay.

Two great results which came out of reading this board - thanks to all contributors who inspired me to have a go!

bazzab

I'm afraid my Vodafone experiences have been very different!

They refuse to offer me a better phone than the motorola v525 i've had for a year. When i asked about upgrading to the Motorola E1000 (I know its new and 3G!) they said it would cost me between £340/£400 for the handset alone. The handset on pay and go costs £400! I'm currently on Anytime 100 for £14.99/month, my mate is on £27.99/month, had same time with vodafone as me, yet got the handset for free. They said there must have been some mistake with that as they couldn't possibly do it.

I'm thinking of moving networks in 10 days when contract ends

Umer

I'm the same with bazzab. I had an average montly spend of about £50 and the best they offered me was 6 months half price line rental (with NO free phone).

Have left now, and am just waiting for the final bill to make sure they didn't charge me for the PAC (which they didn't give so easily!).

duppoboy

they did the same sort of deal for me JVG but what i did was a few days later told them i was gioing to cancel as i didnt want to committ to 18 months within 10 seconds it was ammended to 12 give it a try youve got nothing to lose you have 14 days grace anyway

jertzy

i have been with singlepoint/dialaphone/vodafone for a few years now & the upgrades never match the offers you can get as a new customer. I always take a new contract in my wife's name (or vice versa) to get referral discounts on top.

JVG_2

Thanks for the suggestion, duppoboy. I tried doing exactly what you said but the girl I spoke to said that I'd have to return the phone and negotiate a deal again from scratch. Can't be bothered to do that and I've been using the phone anyway. It was worth a try but didn't work for me this time. Never mind - I love my new phone and am happy to be saving £10 a month on the line rental anyway.

jf2404

bazzab wrote:

I'm afraid my Vodafone experiences have been very different!

They refuse to offer me a better phone than the motorola v525 i've had for a year. When i asked about upgrading to the Motorola E1000 (I know its new and 3G!) they said it would cost me between £340/£400 for the handset alone. The handset on pay and go costs £400! I'm currently on Anytime 100 for £14.99/month, my mate is on £27.99/month, had same time with vodafone as me, yet got the handset for free. They said there must have been some mistake with that as they couldn't possibly do it.

I'm thinking of moving networks in 10 days when contract ends

Upgrade quotes go off what you spend each month.

For a start your mate is spending £13.00 more than you monthly before you count the calls made.

To be honest also the time spent with Vodafone means nothing to them, i used to work for them and had to fob people off like you.

Someone could have a line rental of £10.00 per month and spend £100 per month on calls( in which case they should change their price plan anyway), they would probably get an upgrade free where as someone who has a line rental of £50.00 per month, but just sticks within the free minutes they would get a better than normal quote, but not as good as the £10.00 per month guy.

Same as all companies they are out to make as much as they can and the same as all service providers, they think more of new customers than they do for existing ones.

Just the way it is unfortunatley

bazzab

....to finish the upgrade story....

I have now written to vodafone stating i wanted to finish my current contract Motorola V525 Anytime 100 + 50 texts £14.99/month (12 months are up), and have now started on a new vodafone contract as a new customer with a new number on Anytime 100 + 50 texts, got a free Motorola E1000 and costs £25/month, and I'm happy with that.

Seems if you don't mind starting with a new number again and can get a 12 month contract then you can get a better deal than an existing customer