Bundle a simple con?

[jjplay175]

Am I the only one here that after getting a bundle has found themselves ending up with a massive unexpected charge?

I look at Vodafone bundles and you think "Wow, all them minutes?" and think you are getting a lot for a good price... but then you realise why they price them so low because everything outside of the bundle is... extortionate...

I have drifted out of my bundle a couple of times, did I get hit by a small charge? of course not... I got hit by bills that nearly doubled my bill for small steps out, Vodafone bundle prices are reasonable but then outside of the bundles they are charging more than 100% more than their competitors but that is one thing they don't point out when they suck you into your contract!

I would happily pay a hefty sum just to get out of this con but this is where they show their colours because if you want to cancel your plan it actually costs more than to just go through with the contract, their way of trapping you, the unhappy customer.

I for one am counting the days for my contract to end and as soon as it hits that last day, it will officially be the last day Vodafone hears from me but it will indeed not be the last time I tell anyone considering Vodafone to go with a better company.

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Just for argument's sake, I will add an example...

I was in a bad spot in life and it was very complicated but I had no way to communicate with family abroad and had to use my internet to talk to people, it was my only link, I was in a bad place... I kept going over 250mb here and there that month... always needing it and not expecting it but 500mb of unplanned data cost more than 2gb, I never foreseen this issue and was not in the right place in my life to combat this but it was my own fault... using 3gb over during that month ended up bringing my bill up to around £80... way more than double my bundle... Vodafone added extra data to my contract as a goodwill gesture and I was over the moon with the company... way out of pocket and in a bad place, at least felt like they cared and that if things get bad I was not trapped... I worked hard to budget and managed to pay this off.

4 months later on December... I was letting my nephew and nieces use my phone to play music and enjoy themselves, knowing I had all this data available but then a week later I get my bill and it was up to £70 pound! I looked and it was telling me I was over my bandwidth limit! how would I manage to go over another 2gb?

turns out... the extra data that was on my account stopped with no notice... I called up and they said that the company no longer offers the bundle that was added and because of that I was hit with a heavy bill and overcharged massively without any due warning...

And now today I had to call a 084 number to sort some things out, I knew it was not cover by my bundle, most companies charge from 20p to 30p a minute... turns out Vodafone charged me a 55p a minute, pretty much double the standard going rate.

All in all, Vodafone bundles are just a gate into a hidden con and will surely cost you more than you ever plan and I will be happy to inform people at just how unhappy I am as a customer, this company has cost me way more than it ever should of, despite everything and even their goodwill gestures end up making you fall into high bills.

Thanks for teaching me that nothing is free when it comes to Vodafone, the price is just hidden until it falls into your bill.

[BandOfBrothers]

Hello @jjplay175

I appreciate what your saying.

I'm not in agreement however that's it's a "con"

It's all about self monitoring via the Network App and knowing what the consequences are.

The out of bundle charges you speak of are readily available in the Help Pages. It's up to the Account Holder to make them self informed of what they are.

Personally I decide to remain as Payg for a number of reasons which include no unwelcome billing and the flexibility that Account type brings. 

This isn't restricted to the Vodafone Network. 

[forumfairy]

I'd agree here - although I do, of course, sympathise with your position as its never great to have to incur extra costs on any bill and its not nice to see someone who has had this kind of issue. 

Vodafone do give three different ways to be able to monitor your usage and any time I've called them the advisors have always been more than upfront with information about how to save costs by reviewing past bills and suggesting add ons where needed, advising on using the Vodafone app etc. There's also a number of pages available on the website that give details on how to save costs and explain the potential savings - I was sent a link to both the website and also the app. Can't ask for fairer than that!

Whilst its never great to have to pay out more than expected, its not really the case that they hide any costs from customers. Although we do have some great technology these days, regardless of your provider, it is still down to the customer to make sure that we use the tools that they provide us with to make the most of our accounts. The fact that they have given a goodwill gesture in the first place surely points to the fact that they are trying to work with their customers, rather than against them.