Freebies - PAYG

[Foxtrottter]

I use the Freebies text option when I top up on PAYG. This last for 30 days and then any further use is taken from my top up balance. Fine so far.

If after 30 days I top up do I have to opt in to Freebies text again or does it remain on my account until cancelled?

Live chat says yes I need to opt in after 30 days as the Freebies expire if no top up is made within 30 days.

i thought that was the case but when I dialled the opt in number for text 4357 the only option available was to OPT OUT. This was around 60 days since my last top up. This gives the impression that the Freebie is available if a top up is made and there is no need to renew.

Live chat insisted that the option to renew would be available on 4357 after 30 days but this does not appear to be the case.

Can anyone confirm if the option does or does not expire after 30 days? If it does why can't it be renewed on 4357?

[BandOfBrothers]

Hi

Please Take a look at this Vodafone link that explains. Choose the freebies tab. 

http://www.vodafone.co.uk/shop/bundles-and-sims/pay-as-you-go-plans/

[Foxtrottter]

Yes I've seen that but it doesn't answer the question. If the Freebies option on the account expires after 30 days why when you dial 4357 AFTER 30 days the only option is press 1 to opt out. This suggests that the Freebies is on the account until the next top up and has not expired.

[Annie_N]

@Foxtrottter

I'd never realised that the info on the PAYG bundles page was ambiguous. It's the problem with anything that's a bit complicated to explain - it may be blindingly obvious to the person who wrote it, and to other people who know how it works, but it's not clear at all if you're puzzled about it.

Anyhow, all the four top-up Freebies work in the same way.

You start by opting in, then you top up by a minimum of £10, which gets added to your balance, and you get your allowance of texts/minutes/data/international minutes, which lasts for 30 days; as you say, if you use up the allowance in less than 30 days, you pay for any other texts, as well as other usage, during those 30 days out of your credit balance.

If you have topped up by at least £10 during that 30 days, then your first Freebie expires at midnight at the end of day 30, and a second Freebie is automatically activated in the early hours of day 31.

If you haven't topped up by at least £10 during those 30 days, then the actual Freebie expires. However, your opt-in remains active in the background, and the next time that you top up by at least £10 in one go, your next Freebie is activated. It sometimes happens immediately, sometimes it may take a few hours if the system is very busy, but the day in which it activates is day 1, and again it expires at the end of day 30. And the pattern can go on repeating itself ad infinitum!

I have a Freebie Data, and normally I top up £10 during the 30 days; however, last year I went on a holiday to China, and I knew that I wouldn't be using UK data, so I delayed my top-up until my return, and took a couple of other short breaks from the Freebie, so I reckon I topped up about 10 times during the year to get the data allowances that I needed, but I didn't have to do anything about opting in again.

The only time it's different is if you want to switch to a different Freebie. Then you need to opt out, wait for the Freebie to expire if there was one active, then opt in to the Freebie that you want to switch to, and only then should you top up.

I think that the existing description of Freebies probably just needs an additional sentence at the end, but I'll give it a bit more thought, and request that the description is clarified.

Annie.

[Foxtrottter]

Thank you your reply is brilliant. Strange but I thought this was the case. You mention you thought the person who wrote it thought it was explained. I am not the only one who was confused, the Chat Line advisor was totally confused and was not aware that the option layed dormant until the next top up. This explains why the only option was to opt out when I dialled up.

The advisor actually told me that when I dialled 4357 after 30 days I would be able to opt in.See attached.

The Freebies web page should make this clear. The text you receive when the Freebie is coming to an end also implies the option will end after 30 days.

many thanks

Glynn

[Annie_N]

I guess that one of the difficulties for the Live Chat team is that the Freebies behave rather differently from the Big Value Bundle, which tries to renew itself for 7 days after it has expired, and then opts you out if you still haven't topped up enough for the cost to be available. Since that actually takes away some of your money to buy the BVB, there has to be some sort of obstacle to it renewing automatically months later, when you've forgotten all about it! I imagine that the BVBs, being more complicated, drive much more traffic on Live Chat than the Freebies, and we may have discovered a hole in the Freebie crib sheet.

Asking Vodafone to clarify the Freebies web page should be successful; asking for a change to the alert SMS may be more difficult, as there is an uneasy compromise between clarity and length. I've just received an alert on another account that a BVB will expire in 3 days - I think it goes out as a single text but actually arrives as 3 separate texts, with the breaks coming arbitrarily mid-word. Anyhow, I'll raise the issue, and we'll see where we get!

Edited to add: The Freebie Texts Ts&Cs probably attempt to address this in Rule 6, (Rule 5 for Freebie Data!), but again isn't clear what happens if you top up after Day 30. I'll add that to my request list of things that could do with clarifying!

Annie.