Vodafone changed contract terms? (early upgrades)

robbies_gal

i see early upgrade as goodwill gestures not part of your terms

orange upgrade 90 days before end of term but if they took it away id just take that as something that i wasnt paying for and was a bonus

i dont think you'll get much joy

qpop

Disappointingly Vodafone haven't bothered to get in touch, four days after the complaint I made to head-office, despite an (automatic) e-mail reply "from" their Customer operations director's e-mail address ensuring me that they'd be in touch within two days.

gabbyevs - to address your point, it may well be a bonus, if you a)weren't interested in an upgrade and b)received a discount in exchange for the removal (automatically). How could you possibly consider something a bonus that was to your distinct disadvantage and without compensation?

robbies_gal

but how do you prove its to your dissadvantage? we all like the option to upgrade but taking a contract out because ofit will be hard to prove

qpop

Well, I still haven't actually spoken to anybody but I received an e-mail profusely apologising and confirming that they have altered my contract so that I can upgrade.

The only problem is that I no longer want to tie myself up for another 18/24 months with a company that has such apparently poor customer service levels.

I've been told I'll receive a callback to discuss my options but I'm not holding my breath.

qpop

Disappointingly Vodafone didn't make good their promise to call me back, and when I did eventually get through to customer relations they flatly stated that the change wasn't part of the contract terms and so they won't do anything further (I wanted PAC code and waived termination fees).

I've asked for it to be confirmed in writing and received this:

Dear ______, Thank you for your recent email. Firstly may I take this opportunity to apologise for any inconvenience this has caused? Thank you for calling back and talking to me today, As discussed on the call I can confirm that changing your commitment to allow you to upgrade is all we are able to do for you at this time. This is because the changes that were made do not form part of your contract and were changed for commercial reasons. You are able to request you PAC code by calling 191 this will however carry an early termination fee. If you would like to discuss the matter with us you can contact us on 08080 044700. The line does say it is chargeable at 14p, however calls from a Vodafone SIM are free. Kind regards ________ Customer Relations

I'm now contemplating whether this is worth discussing with the ombudsman.

Either way, I am pretty sure I won't be renewing my contract with Vodafone, given their disappointing levels of customer service. I reckon they should consider spending less on advertising deals with Lucas Film, and more on staff training and product feature.

grumbler

qpop wrote: »

I'm now contemplating whether this is worth discussing with the ombudsman.

I can be missing something, but I don't see anything to discuss.

nickmack

qpop wrote: »

I'm now contemplating whether this is worth discussing with the ombudsman.

Either way, I am pretty sure I won't be renewing my contract with Vodafone, given their disappointing levels of customer service. I reckon they should consider spending less on advertising deals with Lucas Film, and more on staff training and product feature.

Although the customer service may have been poor in dealing with your complaint, I think the basis of it is unlikely to cut any ice with the ombudsman.

In previous threads, when posters have quoted deals which factor in the 'early upgrade' to make them more attractive, I have always advised to disregard this, as stated earlier in this thread, it does not form part of your contract. Sales people will often include the most spurious of claims in order to sway you and this is one that has been used extensively in the mobile industry.

I would be inclined to just chalk this one up as a lesson learned.

lucky_me_2

I've been having exactly the same problem and have to agree that Vodafone customer service is shocking! I've spoken to them so much recently but the worst thing is that every time I speak to them I just get a different excuse/story as to why they changed the option to upgrade early.

I too was told I would be able to upgrade and although some people will say it's an added extra to me it meant a lot and made me sway towards Vodafone when taking out my contract, I often like to upgrade my phone early. I have to say this would have been the only advantage to being on Vodafone as a network, the 3G signal is awful, customer services never seem to email me back and the Vodafone store staff have no idea what they are talking about and make false promises!

I've been told by one person in CS that to upgrade my phone early today I will have to pay 1 months line rental fee (this was via their online live help) I was happy to do this but didn't want to deal with it over live chat in case when I came to getting my first bill through i'd have lots of added charges so I called CS via my mobile and lucky I did because I was then told that I would have to pay 2 months line rental to upgrade early today on top of my new price plan - which as I explained to Vodafone I was actually going to up the plan (more money in their pockets) - this phonecall was less than 5 mins after i'd spoken to the live chat advisor!!

How can their terms on early upgrade change within less than 5 mins?

You also mentioned that you were told in Feb you could upgrade early under the offer, I was actually told in January that I could no longer upgrade early as this offer was no longer available.

Just goes to show they can make and break the rules as they please to suit!

Really unhappy with Vodafone, I can either upgrade early and pay them extra line rental or wait until September whilst still paying them £40 pp and then cancel!

Word of warning stay well clear!

taylor11_2

It honestly grinds my gears when I read these types of threads. You signed an agreement for a minimum term of 1, 3, 12, 18 or 24 months. Vodafone does not have to offer you an "early upgrade".

If you are on month 12 or a 24 month contract you would need to pay a fee of around 10 months line rental to move you account into an "upgradable state"

Vodafone did offer an "upgrade anytime" promotion which allowed you to pay a fee to change your handset up to 6 months early. This promotion has since ended and customers can now upgrade 50 days before the end of their agreement. Changing your phone early will mean that the 50 days remaining in the previous contract will be added to the new agreement e.g. 18 month agreement = 20 month agreement.

So really, count yourself lucky that you are permitted to "upgrade early" at all.

Cheers
taylor11