Pay monthly services

[asmcd]

Hi.  Was looking for some help re data traveller.  I am going on holiday to Greece in a couple of weeks.  From both Vodafone’s website & their going abroad leaflet (June 2011) I thought I should be eligible for this free on my phone, being on a £40.86 tariff with 900 mins per month.  When calling the automated number to set this up it didn’t give an option to opt in without paying so I called 191 explained the above & asked about the Data Traveller Scheme.  

First I was told I didn’t want that and that what I wanted was Vodafone Passport. I explained I knew about Passport and thought it was on my account anyway but wanted the data traveller.  Then I was told that was only if you were going to “somewhere like the USA” and she repeated about Passport.  I explained about the Europe option but she did not appear to know that Greece was in Europe.  After consulting with her colleague she said there was a £2 per day scheme but I wasn’t eligible for the free data as my tariff  was less than £40.  She said the £40 figure was before VAT & mine was only £34 before VAT.  I pointed out that neither the website nor leaflet mentioned VAT (except in relation to business users)

Feeling that I wasn’t confident with anything she now said about this I asked to speak to a manger but was told none were available. When I asked if they could call me back, I was told someone would call within 24 hrs, which has not yet expired.

However I feel I would now rather have this in writing in case I am told one thing on the phone and then charged when I return.   Am I eligible for this free on my account, and can I set this up for one month only on my partner’s phone (it’s on my account) for the £10 charge?

Sorry to be so long.

Regards

Alan

[Noetic]

The moderators should be able to sort this for you, they'll drop you an email so they can look at your account. I'm pretty sure what they told you is nonsense, as mine is £36/month on special web offer (normally £41 instore), INCLUDING VAT and has data traveller included.

[jbnm65]

If you login to you online account, my plans is listed as including Data Traveller (and also Passport).  It might be as simple as seeing that to confirm you have that option.  Just used Data Traveller in France and I think it is probably the best roaming data deal available from any UK network... 25Mb per day, is about 750Mb per month -- the same data allowance I get in the UK.

[DaveCD]

Hi asmcd.

Thanks for your post and welcome back to the eForum. 

I apologise for what sounds like a very poor experience, I understand that you have viewed the information about our Data Traveller, and you are absolutely correct, if you are on one of our new tariffs which includes 900 minutes or more and is £40 or above then we can get this included for you!

I would like to look into your account and help you with the best available options, to do this I will need to gather some more information; therefore an email is en route to the email address you registered with.

Please complete and reply to the email and once I have this back I can then proceed.

Hope to hear from you soon.

Many Thanks

DaveCD

eForum Team

[asmcd]

Hi

Thanks for your replies.  I responded to Dave's email last night, so will advise in due course what transpires. I presume the Bank Holiday will delay this.  Unsurprisingly, I never received the promised call from a manager after my 191 call.

Thanks

Alan

[asmcd]

Hi

I responded to Dave's email on 28th. As I hadn't heard by teatime yesterday I emailed again but don't know if there is a problem with the emails.  There have been no missed calls.  I leave early Tuesday so wanted this all arranged by the weekend.   If none of the admin from here can do anything, I'll try a shop, but when I've asked them in the past, they usually say to phone 191.

Alan

[Dave · Accepted solution]

Hi asmccd,

Apologies you were not called previously - I'm glad we got to speak today to clarify everything.

If you have any further queries, please let us know.

Dave

eForum Team

[asmcd]

Hi.

Just to update, Dave called. He explained that my tariff was "too old" (June 2010?) to have the data traveller included. However, as a goodwill gesture as I had been given duff info from 191, he would put on the £10 pack for a month, and credit my account with £10 to cover it.  He also put the £10 pack on for my partner (which I am paying myself).

Thanks to Dave for sorting this out, but I continue to despair of Vodafone. 

When I upgraded last June I had specifically asked if I could downgrade after 9 months in £5 steps and been told yes. When I tried to do so, I was told I could not as I was on one of the "new" tariffs.  Since upgrading I had terrible problems accessing my account, they almost doubled my charge one month, and although 191 staff I believe genuinely thought they had corrected matters, month after month the same problems arose.  I originally had three numbers on my account but have now switched one, and will switch the other two when the contracts expire at the end of the year. I have been with Vodafone for about 8 years but now it just doesn't seem worth the trouble.

Alan

[Wayne]

Hi asmcd

Thanks for your post here. I’m sorry to hear that you are still having problems with this. I appreciate how frustrating it must be for you.

Unfortunately we are unable to lower your monthly price plan as this isn’t possible however, if you’re still having issues with your online account, please simply reply to the last email from us and we’ll be happy to help get this sorted for you.

Thanks

Wayne

eForum Team

[spin26]

Warning - Data Traveller can cost you big. Once the 25mb is used, you get charged at least £1 for every extra MB(europe). I got £30 of data charges in 2 minutes because my iphone was updating apps in the background! Only the £50 cap I'd set saved me from an horrendous bill. You cant get your money back from Vodafone as the web site does give the charges. My advice is to swirtch off cellular data when abroad or buy a local pre-pay sim card. Even the Vodafone customer service person I spoke with today recommended that I use a local sim card instead of Data Traveller. A good option if you have an unlocked phone. I did this for a month in Australia and 3GB of data cost just £30.

[asmcd]

Just as an update from the earlier posts, it came as no real surprise that the £10 credit arranged by Dave from the forum team was not applied to my bill at the end of September. I called 191 who confirmed they could see it had been set up but had no idea why it hadn’t been applied.  After a brief attempt to convince me it had (they were referring to the 2nd line discount) they applied it and I got the benefit.

Unfortunately this sums up my experience with Vodafone over the last year or so.  Staff, apparently competent and well meaning, state they have done things to resolve your query, and I believe them, but somehow Vodafone’s systems continually defy them, and nothing or the wrong thing happens, in some cases month after month..

Incidentally the data signal in Crete was excellent, virtually as good as wifi.  It brought home how awful the signal must be around my home area of Glasgow.  I had previously put the frequently poor performance down to a combination of the phone (Galaxy S) and signal, but it seems it must be down to Vodafone UK.

Alan