WARNING! Vodafone Essentials Broadband Social Tariff

d123

LouLou1974 said:

I am not sure if I am happy to find this thread or not but after years of struggling and being on benefits I didn't realise there was even a social tariff option until a friend who has the same cancer as me told me about it. 

Illness by itself doesn’t qualify for their social tariff, do you receive any of these benefits? 

• Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)
• Universal Credit
• Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
• Disability Living Allowance (DLA)
• Personal Independence Payment (PIP)

cozzer

I've been trying to take out this social tarrif but I'm not expecting to be successful, it appears that it actually can take over one month to set up.
I completed the relevant Vodafone online form but didn't receive a call back within 5 working days as per the email I received, so I chatted online to their CS to follow up and see if I could take out the contract over the phone or in store. I was told I could not, and would need to complete the form again and wait up to 33 days to receive the social tarrif broadband service, OR I could take out a higher priced contract for the same broadband speed and have the service set up immediately. I declined this offer as I am able to get a similar priced contract with my existing provider and feel that the Social Tarrif offer is perhaps a gimmick to draw customers in and then offer them a higher priced contract which they may struggle to afford. They also tried to sell me a mobile contract (which was not part of my enquiry, and I do not need) at the same time. It will be interesting to see if I do ever receive a call back after completing the form twice.

AndyPK

They are very busy at the moment, as you can imagine. 

The relevant phone number is in this thread, if you get board of waiting. 

RipleyG

I'm another one who's had major problems with this tariff, I've just raised my third complaint in 3 years

In the first year, their processes weren't properly in place, and they spent 5 months passing us back and forth between 2 teams before finally getting it switched to the correct tariff. It took a complaint to resolve this. 

During the first year, at around month 8, they randomly increased our direct debit to the amount of the standard tariff. It took a further complaint to resolve this. 

At the end of the first year we received no notification of needing to reapply, and at that point their published policy proudly announced they'd removed the 12 month limit. It took a complaint, and another 3 months to resolve this.

We've just reached the end of the second year. Vodafone have updated their policy to say it's back to lasting 12 months, but can be renewed, and they will communicate with customers before the end of each 12 month period to see if they are still eligible. We've had no contact from them, and on checking I can see our direct debit has stepped up in each of the last 4 months of this 12 month period, and they are now charging us the full amount for the standard tariff. 

Third complaint raised 3 days ago, no acknowledgement so far. 

If I could, I'd change providers, but we are victims of a quirk in the national database that means only BT and Vodafone can 'see' our line and we can't get a quote from anyone else! 

TechyDave

FYI, I've been on the £12 deal for two years. Just recently, I got the Renew link via email (first pic). I click through and the £12 option is still present (second pic). When I click it, no matter how I format my mobile number, the form doesn't send and returns with a Mandatory Field asterisk

After a brief webchat, I'm now awaiting a call back from the Essentials Team but I guess they're trying to migrate everyone off the £12 tariff (?). 

F1Fan

TechyDave said:

FYI, I've been on the £12 deal for two years. Just recently, I got the Renew link via email (first pic). I click through and the £12 option is still present (second pic). When I click it, no matter how I format my mobile number, the form doesn't send and returns with a Mandatory Field asterisk

After a brief webchat, I'm now awaiting a call back from the Essentials Team but I guess they're trying to migrate everyone off the £12 tariff (?). 

I'm having the same problem.  My contract finishes tomorrow.  Have you heard back from them?  I can't seem to find anyone through Vodafone who what's to talk about it.

southone

I upgraded a few months ago and the £12 tariff no longer exists! it's £20 or go somewhere else basically

krish

Posted this in a very similar thread, but no response, so quoting it and posting an update, in this more active thread ...

krish said:

krish said:

FYI ...

I had my elderly mum (on DLA) signed up to Essentials 1 last January, a day or two before the package was pulled.

Having read this thread, I was prepared for Vodafone to only offer Essentials 2 with the resultant price increase. As also advised via their online chat, we re-registered her interest in Essentials, in order to be called back and signed up for another year. A full 5 working days later, still no call, but later that day, she received this email from Vodafone, with the subject line "Important information on your broadband plan" ...

Your Vodafone Essentials Broadband contract comes to an end on 12 January 2025. This means your broadband will move up to the out of contact price of £22 a month, as referenced in your contract. Don't worry, though - as long as you’re still eligible, you can renew your plan for another 12 months, or move to one of our standard plans if you prefer.

Right now, you can renew your Fibre 1 Essentials plan for just £12 a month, locking in another year of great value broadband.

If you’d like to chat about your options, you can find our contact details at the bottom of this email.

Renew now

So clicked that Renew now link and ... RENEWED!!! All confirmed with various emails the following day (yesterday), with her estimated bill for next month back down to the usual amount (£20/m, which includes Anytime Landline and Mobile at £8/m) when logging in to her account.

^^^
Hi - this is coming up for renewal very shortly (early Jan '26), so does anyone know if Vodafone still send these "Renew now" emails close to contract end for the defunct Fibre 1 Essentials plan @ £12/m, just as it was already defunct nearly a year ago when my elderly mum received that email?

Cheers!
P.S. She has been receiving weekly emails from Vodafone, for a couple of months now, telling her that her contract will soon end but she can renew/upgrade right now to Fibre 2 Essentials. Delete every time!

Update:
Ended signing up to their the renewal upgrade to Fibre 2 Essentials on the last day of the Fibre 1 contract, BUT upon signing up through their email link with an on-screen confirmation, my mum received this email 4 days later:

We're sorry but we weren't able to process your Vodafone Essentials broadband order. Don’t worry, a member of our dedicated team will give you a call within the next five working days to discuss this order and we'll do our best to sort it out for you. Our team will contact you from an 01482 number so keep an eye on your phone. 

She got that call a few days later and was told that Fibre 2 was not available at her address so they can't upgrade her to that, but also can't renew her Fibre 1 Essentials social tariff at its original price nor at the Fibre 2 price, but she's fine to continue out of contract with it at the non-discounted £22/m price. Despite requesting politely that she should have the original package renewed, since they couldn't offer what they repeatedly pushed on her (and still are currently - which just clicks through to a message about her already signing up), the couldn't continue with a new social tariff contract. Currently remains with them out of contract, paying an extra tenner a month, since the whole thing works out cheaper with the anytime calls she has on top, than anything else available (inc. cashback).

Shot off a polite email to CEO Max Taylor about this ridiculous situation, where she's now being denied a new social tariff contract despite them still able to be her ISP. So far, after one week, no response at all.

norton66

If of any help, we were in the same situation and happy with Fibre 1 @ £12 which they'd only continue out of contract for £22.  Fortunately, we could get Fibre 2 @ £20 here and the cable installed to our home (yesterday).  So we have a faster service that we didn't really need for more.  None of the other social tariffs (full list on Ofcom website) worked for us.