to Vodafone, or not to Vodafone

gonzo127

that is the question!

ok, so in the final 30 days of my current contract with three, and really need to get a new phone as my current xpertia T does not hold any charge as my 35 min drive to work drops my battery from 100% to around 60-70%, and will usually be flat within 3 hours, so i have to have it constantly on charge, and even then it reboots itself often.

anyways as i have recently moved home, i dont have any savings left to buy a phone outright as i would like to, so am looking at the different contracts out there whilst i build my savings back up again.

now basically vodafone comes out with the best deal for me, however having not really ever heard any good things about vodafone from the people i know, i am very reluctant to sign a 24 month contract with them, i know logically that they really cant be 'that' bad and that they must have happy customers, but i am hesitating taking the plunge because of this,

my other option is O2 which is the same monthly cost, but has 1gb less data, no European roaming, and doesn't include 6 months nowtv as it does on the vodafone deal.

so any thoughts or experiences, good and bad of either O2 or Vodafone, just to help me decide who i want to take the risk with

mobilejunkie

How many complaints threads about Vodafone are on page one today?

Only two - a very good Vodafone day. Go back a page and it's more like the norm. If you don't need to talk with them there isn't an issue - unless/until they create one. Then you can join the legions on here.

Though just to be fair - two of my seven current contracts are with them, and two more with Talkmobile (who use their network) and I know that should I have problems I can contact the Web Relations Team on here. If it wasn't for them I know problems would never get sorted by normal channels - in fact, Vodafone practise a game called "let's see how we can make them bigger".

One big plus is that Vodafone (unlike most networks) won't increase your bundle price for the duration of the minimum term. That is especially good as inflation starts to go up again, as I expect it will.

d123

If you think you can get through the 24 months without needing any customer service then maybe consider Vodafone.

If you actually want customer service use anyone else but Vodafone, their CS is worse than not having any at all, in many cases it appears to be obstructive on purpose, just read this forum.

Have you looked at Tesco Mobile? They use O2 for signal and often have competitive price plans.

gonzo127

i have looked at tesco, but as i work for the NHS, i get 20% discount on vodafone's whole tariff and 30% on O2 airtime plans, basically giving me unlimited calls and texts with 3/4/6GB of data for roughly £25 a month with the mid range phones, and cant see any discount on the tesco plans

mobilejunkie

Unlimited texts is nothing - virtually all contracts provide that or so many it's unlikely you'd exceed them.

Forgetting the NHS discount and if you don't want to pay for the phone, you can get a sim only cashback 12 month contract with unlimited minutes and 3GB for £8.50 a month. 6GB would cost £11.

gonzo127

mobilejunkie wrote: »

Unlimited texts is nothing - virtually all contracts provide that or so many it's unlikely you'd exceed them.

Forgetting the NHS discount and if you don't want to pay for the phone, you can get a sim only cashback 12 month contract with unlimited minutes and 3GB for £8.50 a month. 6GB would cost £11.

well i would normally consider a sim only contract, but unfortunately i really dont have any savings left after moving, so will be at least another 3-4 months before i have any sort of savings built up in which to buy a reasonable phone, and my current phone literally only gives me 3 hours before its dead and needs charging again, making it somewhat less mobile than a mobile phone should be! hence looking at plans with phones included

19lottie82

gonzo127 wrote: »

and my current phone literally only gives me 3 hours before its dead and needs charging again, making it somewhat less mobile than a mobile phone should be! hence looking at plans with phones included

Can you not just buy a new battery for your phone while you save enough to get a new one? Motorola Moto is a great android phone for under £150. Buy one, stick a PAYG / SIM only card in it (£10 a month or less) , and you don't need to worry about being trapped in an expensive, 24 month contract.

gonzo127

well i looked into battery replacement, and as the phone is a sealed unit, looking at £40 to replace the battery, which seems a little extreme if i am just gonna replace it in a few months. battery on its own is looking like £20-25 if i was to try it myself, but i think its something beyond the battery, as i had to send the phone of for repair about 9 months ago and htey replaced the battery then (apparently) so to me it seems like something else is screwed which kills the battery

as to the moto, I have looked into it, but the camera just doesnt seem good enough, and i use my phone a lot for pictures (yes i know i am demanding, and also know i have to pay for it somewhere), if i was going to buy upfront would probably go for the oneplusone, and take the risk that i get a good unit

20aday

I know someone who works for Vodafone Retail so I qualify for 30% Friends and Family Discount.

Would I stay with Vodafone if the Discount was revoked? Probably not... I prefer a 12 month minimum airtime agreement when buying a new, subsidised phone but the lack of 3G in a lot of areas doesn't really make up for the plethora of Edge/GPRS speeds they seem to have still in many places.

Whenever I've had a problem I'll give credit to Customer Services as they've been very helpful and quick to action any issues (but there are plenty of threads on here where said Service has been less than 'satisfactory').

Seeing as Three tend to leave their phones unlocked nowadays perhaps it's worth popping in a VF PAYG SIM and seeing how the network is in your area?

visidigi

Don't bother. Especially not for 4G, their service is atrocious outside of London (funny that) and they have a very specific problem on the network right now, constantly dropping to no service on the sim, when it comes back 1 dot and 3G = no calls, they fail all the time.

Vodafone's solution to the problem? Turn off 4G and 3G will work fine. a) I pay for 4G so if I cant use it I am not going to keep paying and b) my home address doesnt have 4G so how on earth will this make a difference.

10 months ago they were great, now I can't wait to leave.

boundy

I've had little issues with Vodafone after the last 3 years but would of changed for a better deal if one was presented when I was up for renewal but Vodafone come up trumps, I was offered 9Gb of data, Spotify for 2 years and the normal unlimited calls and texts, the normal cost for this tariff was £52 but got a 50% off, so only pay £26 a month for that lot plus a free Sony experia Z2. And to top it off, when I renewed last year because I was one of the first 3000 customers to preorder the Z2, Sony also sent me a 32" Bravia TV. I don't think I've done to bad out of Vodafone.