Pay monthly services

[charl_87]

On 15th March I phoned 191 to ask if it was possible to downgrade my Nokia 5800 £30 per month contract to anything lower as due to being made redundant I now simply can't afford to pay this amount.

After being kept waiting to speak to someone for 40 minutes I was faced by someone who really had no intentions of helping me or putting me through to someone who could. After reading discussions on this site I now know that it probably isn't an option to downgrade as I took my contact out after May 2009 regardless of the fact that I have had my 24 month contact for 18 months. However, the customer service operator I spoke to told me that I was wrong and that it had NEVER been Vodafone's policy to downgrade a tariff, even after a certain amount of time, which I now know to be untrue.

It's not like I expect to keep the same allowances for less money, all I want is to lose some minutes/texts/data to lower my cost to something manageable for me but it seems this cannot happen. So, who do I need to speak to or what do I need to do? Surely I am not the first person to have the problem of changes in circumstances leaving me unable to pay.

Many thanks

Charl

[AnnS]

Customer Services have correctly advised you.

If you are on a Your Plan (YPL) tariff you cannot downgrade your contract.  You will have made an agreement with Vodafone to pay a minimum monthly amount for  the duration of your contract.  It may be worth checking your online account to see which tariff you are on.

If you are having problems paying your bill, Vodafone have a department whch can help and will be able to arrange for a repayment plan, although this will mean having an outgoing restriction on your number.

Alternatively, you can always try and find someone willing to take over your contract and, subject to Vodafone's credit check, a change of ownership can be arranged.

[SynthFG]

TBH Voda have helped people in this situation before

you may need to agree to extend your contract to get it lowered but it should be manageable given the circumstances

[Amzy]

Hi Charl,

As above, any of the new YPL plans shouldnt be lowered once they are taken out. But in your unfortunate circumstances someone at Vodafone can change it to a lower tariff as a goodwill gesture.

It really depends who you speak to, so give them another ring and they should sort something out.

Hope this helps

[bertyb]

I kinda agree with all the above, Ann is correct, basically Your Plan is now downgradeable at any stage of your commitment, (years ago different plans were but that was a long time ago)  but at the others have said, its best for everyone to look at a compromise situation, and perhaps suggest what has been suggested.

In that situation VF and you should be happy 

Good luck

[charl_87]

Thank you so much to everyone for replying

Just wondering would it be worth going into my local store to talk to someone in person or can things like this only be settled via 191? I don't really fancy another long wait on hold and get a bit flustered on the phone sometimes.

Many thanks

Charl