Pay monthly services

[BlueDaz]

This problem seems to have been going on for some time, yet I received an unsolicited call only last week from Vodafone, it was made to one of 3 phones on my contract and was answered by my daughter who is only 12 years old, she passed her phone to my wife as I was at work and she was advised that as we were long standing customers they would like to offer an early upgrade.

I called back today to arrange this after researching a number of handsets and after the usual palava of trying to explain to an overseas call centre the gist of my enquiry, I was eventually advised that there was no record of said call from last week and no offer to assist further.

I am absolutely fuming with Vodafone at their lack of customer care, not only with this example, but also problems with my handset after my last upgrade. Nothing will give me greater pleasure than to tell them where they can poke their contract, I will most certainly be an ex Vodafone customer having been with them for 12 years, shameless mugs!!!

[Jinx70]

Hi BlueDaz,

No, I haven't heard anything back from Vodafone yet. Would be good if they did uphold the dates that my phone's were to be upgraded, seeing as I've been a customer of theirs for over 10 years, on PAYG previously and now on contract.

It's a shame that the rep acted like they didn't believe you and that they've no record from the original call to you. That could have something to do with the call centres. In my experience when I've spoken to someone from the English call centre, I have had very happy outcomes, but when talking to someone from India, they seem to just stick to the script and never deviate, hence, you get nothing from them at all. That could just be my experince though.

Hope you get some joy.

I will post an update if I get to speak to someone about it.

J

[DaveN]

After posting my tale of woe here - I read on here about Vodafone now honouring upgrade dates for those of us where we were already given a date - it is a pity you haven't told the call centre staff this as I felt as though they thought I was lying about the date I originally had. More ammunition to prove that it is not just a case of the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing, in Vodafone I don't think the left hand even knows the right hand exists.

Surely someone in the company must care about the numbers of unhappy customers they have, they may only be a small percentage of the total customer base but Vodafone don't forget what the best form of advertising is (not all this sponsorship, and newspaper/magazine advertising) it is word of mouth of existing customers. If they have a raw deal, they tell their friends who tell their friends and so on, likewise if they get a good deal they do the same so if you want to save some of your advertising budget look after your customers and make sure they all get a good deal without stressing them or p@##ing them off.

[DaveN]

BlueDaz,

Strange that, but exactly the response from the call centre I got tonight, they gave me the impression they thought I was lying when I said my original upgrade date was 10th Feb.

[_365_]

Hi,

If u are on Twitter, send a message to @vodafoneukdeals - they are the best people to get in touch with...closely linked to the eforum team and handle the upgrades/sales side of it

[Jinx70]

DaveN,

Did they then refuse to oblige you an early upgrade?

J

[DaveN]

Jinx70,
Eventually got put through to upgrades after nearly an hour on the phone with the off-shore call centre, which unless I increase to £31 per month tarriff, accept a refurb/nearly new phone and pay for the phone too can't have the phone on current tarriff even though I know two people with the phone on £26 per month tarriff (one being my wife and I sorted this for her).

So p##ssed off tonight, really think they have driven me away which is sad as our family had over 30 combined years custom with Vodafone, so it shows how much they value it.

[DaveN]

Thanks for the link, but I have an email address for the customer care team and have sent them details. They were very helpful when my wife had a problem with her phone.

[Nabs]

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nancy wrote:

Why do the "community experts" and whatnot always post links to the advanced upgrade withdrawal post, when the dates changing for a second time isn't ADVANCED. I can't wait to leave vodafone now, been a thorn in my side since November.

---

Nancy,

Early Upgrades are sometimes refer to as Advanced upgrades as they are being carried out in advance of the contract end date.

If you had your 90 day upgrade date approaching/just passed and had a handset in mind Vodafone may still offer the upgrade for you, What 'deal' is available will depend on the tariff and handset you were looking at.

In most cases they will do their best to honour it. My original upgrade date was the of November, this was changed to start of March and then further changed to April. The very helpful upgrades team on the eForum processed my upgrade on Monday and had my new handset on tuesday .

As long as you know what your looking for the best thing to do is contact the @vodafoneukdeals twitter team. They specialise in upgrades! For info on how to contact them head over here and follow the instructions. They are a small and very popular team so they may not reply straight away, stick around though as one of the team will get back to you as soon as they can.

[Nabs]

Hi Jynx70, BlueDaz, DaveN,

Depending on the handsets and tarrif your all looking for you should still be able to get a great early upgrade deal!
What you'll need to do is contact the @vodafoneukdeals twitter team. They specialise in upgrades! For info on how to contact them head over here and follow the instructions. They are a small and very popular team so they may not reply straight away, stick around though as one of the team will get back to you as soon as they can.

[MichaelRhys]

My upgrade date has changed now online for a fourth time, What in gods name is happening - April, June, July and now September. It's really causing me greif as I want to start a direct debit of my own, and now i can't because of this shenanigan by Vodafone!! 

[buba9k]

This is extremely frustrating to me. I have been awaiting my upgrade since Sept 2011, as I was originally told I would be able to upgrade in Nov 2011. When Nov 2011 came, I was told I could only upgrade online and at the time didn't have a bank account to use to purchase online, so I notified I would have to wait until Feb 28, 2012 in order to upgrade in store. I've been anxiously waiting to purchase the new iPhone 4S for myself and my husband, and were planning to go this week to purchase them on the upgrade date of Feb 28. When I went online to double check my upgrade, the date had moved to April 8, 2012. First, I wasn't notified of this change, and second, I had originally expected to upgrade Feb 28, and now I'm having to wait another month and a half! I phoned Vodafone and they explained there was nothing they could do, this is the new policy and you can only upgrade 50 days in advance now. To me this is poor customer service and frustrating to the customer who was expecting to upgrade their phone AND contract for another 24 months. The only reason I was choosing to keep with vodafone was because I had an upgrade coming up. Now, with this new policy, I don't see a reason to stay, I'd rather end my contract and go with another company who will offer me a better deal. Vodafone you seriously need to re-think this move because it is causing a lot of frustration to your customers. I also noticed in these posts that you said you would honor customers that have received notification that their upgrade is coming, and to me, I have looked at my upgrade for several months now, and honestly think the better move is to honor it for those that have already been expecting their upgrade.

[kvetch]

Tom above posted in the news section stating that all customers who were told they could upgrade early and were told the date before it was changed on 20/02/12 would be honoured. 

Tom seems to be the only one who has heard of this policy as I got blank stares from staff in store when I said that a Vodafone official on the forum said I would be honoured, and also the staff at the call centre on 191 were equally confused by this. I was told on Saturday to get my contract and come into the store on Monday for an early upgrade, came in on Monday and they all said its been changed and now I can't get one. Guess Im stuck with this broken phone longer then.

So just to recap the message here:

Click here to view them saying they will honour it

Yet the in store service, call centre service, and website will not allow the 'honour it' we were told we would get.

I am really frustrated and annoyed at the way I have been treated about this. I have been a Vodafone customer unchanged for 10 years, spending over 3,500 pounds in this time and yet I think I will just move to another company when my contract runs out in April instead of early upgrading as I cant even do that now.

[MatthewOrme]

just been to check my upgrade  date  and its seems to have gone back a month from march to april ?

[_365_]

have a look at the announcement in "latest Vodafone news".- Advanced Upgrades....early upgrade/uograde before current commitment end eligibility has recently changed

[SynthFG]

Trust me it's shifted alot further than that,

Upto a few weeks ago voda used to offer the option to upgrade from 190 days early,

these upgrades were hideoulsy expensive and added 6 months to your new contract termm ie if you paid a premium to sign upto an uncompetitive 24 month contract, you were actually tied in for 30 months

Standard upgrades used to kick in at 90 days,

However a few weeks ago this all changed, early upgrades were discontinued and more recently  the 90 day standard upgrade changed to 50 days,

Upgrading early is not part of your contract which ties you in for the full period, but is an extra voda offer, so these changes do not constitute a breach of contract, tho they have been badly communicated

[Bexter]

Hi,

I am new to this - pushed by the death of my Blackberry Bold this evening

I have looked on Vodafone website a few times interested in upgrade information and I have noted that the date has changed more than 3 times.

I could just do with some help and advice please......

I took the contract out last time I could upgrade on 28th August 2010 with a 27 month contract as I did upgrade early on my last one. It is now saying that I cannot upgrade till 17th September 2012 which doesnt correspond to 27 month contract or to anything and I am sure last time I logged in (last month for my bill) it said August 2012?

Can someone explain to me what I can do and when as I am massively confused about it all.

Thanks in advance..

Becci

[MatthewOrme]

if this is true i have a major gripe  with customer service of vodafone already and i dont think i will be renewing vodafone is going down the pan very quickly they take your money but  dont want to know after that .

[SynthFG]

Upto a few weeks ago voda used to offer the option to upgrade from 190 days early,

these upgrades were hideoulsy expensive and added 6 months to your new contract termm ie if you paid a premium to sign upto an uncompetitive 24 month contract, you were actually tied in for 30 months

Standard upgrades used to kick in at 90 days,

However a few weeks ago this all changed, early upgrades were discontinued and more recently  the 90 day standard upgrade changed to 50 days,

Upgrading early is not part of your contract which ties you in for the full period, but is an extra voda offer, so these changes do not constitute a breach of contract, tho they have been badly communicated

The VF team on here used to be able to handle earlier upgrades upto 1 year in advance on a case by case basis, but appear to have lost this power at the same time as the other changes

You mention that your phone has died,

try taking it to a vf store or looking on the blackberry uk website to see about getting it repaired under warenty,

assuming it's not physical damage or water ingress you are covered for 2 years on mobile phones in the EU

[Nabs]

Hi Becci,

If you were on a 27 month contract starting in august 2010 then the september upgrade date sounds about right. You can now have a free early upgrade 50 days before the end of your contract which for you your end date would be sometime in november.

Since your handset has died you will obviously be needing an upgrade sooner rather than later. There are a few options for you:

• Purchase a new handset in full - this could be expensive depending on the handset you want
• Pay off part of your contract to a point where you can upgrade - this may be costly initially but in the long run could work out cheaper. Note you do get a discount when paying off your contract.
• Take an early upgrade and ###### the remaining months to a new contract - much like you did with your previous upgrade you may end up being in another long commitment  though.
• Take a second line on your account to get a new handset and cancel your first line when the contract end date is reached

Hope that clears things up for you. Once you have decided the best route for yourself it would be worth speaking to the upgrade specialists on the @vodafoneukdeals twitter team. For info on how to contact them head over here and follow the instructions. They are a small and very popular team so they may not reply straight away, stick around though as one of the team will get back to you as soon as they can.