Apple

[Joemanu]

What is O2 like regarding customer care and coverage?
As I'm thinking about joining them in June.

[Joemanu]

Vodafone are not sure either some of my colleagues get charged some don't.
The ones that get charged get the money back.
I think it depends who you talk to in customer services. I've been on several sites and it seems to be a major topic with mixed answers.
Good luck

[Dave]

Hi Joemanu,

As Simon advised previously, whether or not tethering is inclusive in your data allowance depends on when you took the contract out.

If you took out a contract on any price plan prior to1/6/11, or if you kept an old plan which existed before that date on a new contract, then tethering is charged

If you took out a new contract or changed your plan to one of the iPhone plans introduced 1/6/11 then your tethering would be inclusive in your data allowance.

If you are on one of the older plans, you can either pay for the monthly tethering allowance to enable the personal hotspot or look to switch to one of the newer price plans.

From what you have described, some of your colleagues would appear to fall into each off these camps, hence the difference in whether they are charged or not.

Dave

[Joemanu]

Thanks for your response.
My colleague who is getting charged for tethering joined Vodafone last November on a new contract.
I will pass your reply to him as it appears he is owned a refund.

[marksmith34]

I have the vodafone app on my iphone. In the Subscriptions option it shows that i have the tethering pack. So i went into the vodafone store and asked if my tethering would be included in my plan.

They told me that as i had the tethering pack, the data would come out of my allowance.

So, i tethered my phone. Looked at my bill, and i had £4.16 of data charges.

Phoned Vodafone and they told me that the pack costs £5 (Even though in-store told me it was included). I did manage to get the charge refunded though.

I took out my contact in Nov 2010.

So Vodafone are giving out really mixed messages on this. Even the stores don't know the rules.

[Joemanu]

Hi CraigR73
What are O2 like in regard to coverage and customer care.
I understand that they only use UK call centres which can't be bad..

[Quoth]

I also took out my contract in Nov 2010.

I've been having the same problem with tethering too - after repeatedly been told that I should have had tethering on my account and being refunded the charge, the next month I would be billed again.  

SO this continued me being billed and told that it was an accident and getting the refund and that it wouldn't happen again . . . until I spoke to a lady last month who said that all the new contracts included tethering as part of the existing data usage with no extra charge.  And that she could transfer me over to the new contract, my data would be inclusive, it wouldn't extend the contract and would even save me £5 per month.   So I agreed.

Then this month's bill came through with the usual added charge for tethering but this time when I phoned up, I spoke to a stroppy guy who was adamant that no such contract existed and that I would have to pay separately for tethered data.   Contrary to what I have been told by numerous different advisors for months.

Am I being lied to or do the vodafone agents not know what services they are supposed to offer?  

Or am I going mad after being told that it should have been included for all these months and having refunds and apologies for their error only to now be told that they don't offer the service?

(apologies for the rant but I object to paying for a service only to have the support desk be rude and argumentative)

But any advice would be gratefully appreciated

Si

[James]

Hey Quoth,

When it comes to tethering being included in the iPhone price plans, it is only the latest plans where this is included in your data allowance, if you are on an older plan or SIM Only then the tethering service is charged extra.

So that we can take a look at this and possibly look at updating your price plan I have sent you a quick PM with details on how to get in touch with our team directly regarding you account specific query, please follow these instructions and one of our team will be able to pick this up for you.

You can find your PM inbox here.

James

[chewie468]

I called yesterday to check if my account included tethering and was told it was, so I connected my Ipad through my phone.  However, I checked my account last night and noticed I'd been billed £5.  I called back this morning and was told that actually my account doesn't include data tethering, when I enquired if i was able to change my price plan to include tethering I was told that none of the current Iphone price plans include data tethering and this is charged as an add on only.

I'm a bit confused as there appears to be conflicting information on this. 

[James]

Hi chewie468,

Basically as long as you have the new iPhone price plans that are classed as Y4 then the tethering option will be included in your price plan.

So that we can take a look your account and price plan for you I have sent you a quick PM with details on how to get in touch with our team directly.

Please follow these instructions and one of our team will be able to speak with you directly and get everything sorted for you.

You can find your PM inbox here.

James

[DaveB999]

So how do we tell if we are on the Y4 plan ?

[James]

Hi Daveb999,

When you log into your online account and view your bills you will see the price plan code for the price plan you are on.

My person price plan code for my Blackberry is shown as Y4 18CB 300M UTX 500MB WF BB.

Which you can see is a Y4 price plan.

James

[DaveB999]

Thanks.  That really explains it very clearly and before you ask I am on Y4

[chewie468]

Thanks, I believe I'm on an older price plan. However, the question I had was, is it possible to upgrade to a newer price plan which includes tethering as part of my standard data allowance and I was told that none of the current plans have tethering included. That's what I wanted clarification on as there are conflicting messages.

I've sent a message to the support team as advised though and will see what they come back with. Thanks.

[trystan1979]

Hi

If I am on a Y4 iphone contract how does tethering work with regard data allowance when I travel to France. Does my 25mb dalily allowance with data traveller convert to tethering as well or will there be a new charge. 

Thanks 

Stan 

[BorisBarker]

So - if I look at the current sim only upgrade deals, I see an offer of £13, 300 Mins and 500MB for a 12 month commitment. Does this include iPhone tethering or not?

Unless I take the deal, I will see no Y4 or anything else.

Why is this so hard, why don't the details just tell you?

[geoffsim]

The suggestion is that SIM-only does not include tethering at all.

I was promised tethering when I was about to leave VF in October 2011, but the sales guy obviously lied as I never got it - but I he did renew my contract for 12 months! I will be trying for tethering again when I next renew.

[cyberworld]

unless you strangely get placed on an old tariff, it will be included. ,All the new Y4 tariffs include tethering as part of their data allowance, its only the older tariffs that charge separately.   

[BorisBarker]

It's all very well people saying it is included, the fact is the web details make no mention of it. If it can be added by stealth, it can vanish in exactly the same way. My experience with Voda is that if you don't have it in writing, you will have the devil's own job trying to sort things out afterwards.

My recent interest is due to having recently seen an instore receipt for a SIMO4 11 12 300M UTXT 500MB WF that includes additional services of:

APNIPTPF - iPhone Tethering DEF (RC £0.00)

3MWFDFLTR - 3 Months No Extra Data Charges (RC £0.0)

+ Passport + 750MB Openzone 

 So - is that the same as the web offer with these details:

• 12-month plan
• £13 a month
• 300 UK minutes for calls to mobiles and landlines (starting 01, 02, 03)
• Unlimited standard UK texts
• 500 MB of UK mobile internet data
• 750 MB of BT Openzone Wi-Fi access

I was really surprised to see that tethering can now be a free part of a package and if this is now standard then kudos to Voda (or about time too depending on your point of view). 

Such is the popularity of this thread that I can only imagine this news being welcomed by all, so why then does it not get a mention anywhere?

[Simon]

Hi

@trystan1979 - If you're on a Y4 price plan then the 25MB per day Data Traveller will include tethering. However just be wary that tethering can be quite data intensive so I would only suggest using it for tethering when absolutely necessary.

@BorisBarker and @geoffsim - Our SIM Only price plans have been reviewed and should now include tethering within all of the Y4 plans. Some older plans are still charged separately (YP, YP2 and Y3) so if you're looking to upgrade or change to a new SIM Only plan I'd recommend taking a Y4 plan.

Thanks

Simon