Half Price Big Value Bundles

[davidf20]

I received a text offer a few months back for 12 months of half price big value bundles. This was followed up with a reminder on 16/11 to say I needed to accept the offer via text by 18/11 before it expires.

I topped up on 18/11 and sent the activation text to 49201 only to receive the following reply:

We're sorry but the bundle we offered you can't be added to your balance. As an apology we have given you £2 worth of free credit for you to enjoy.

I was obviously not happy with this to say the least so logged on to live chat. They in turn told me to call 191 to get the offer activated. I called 191 and after a 30 minute call was told to call 49201 to activate the offer. I rang the number which didn't work so I called back again and was told by a different agent that he would activate the £10 bundle which he did.

I would just like some confirmation that I will now get half price bundles for the following 12 months as per the offer?

Thanks

Dave

[davidf20]

I don't have the original message as I had to restore my phone a couple of weeks back but it specifically mentioned half price bundles for 12 months with the same HALFBVB activation message.

[Annie_N]

@davidf20

That sounds pretty conclusive - clearly not exactly the offer I remember seeing. I can't see that you need the original message, as the follow-up covers everything.

As @AnnS suggests, Live Chat is probably your best route. Apart from anything else, it gives you the opportunity to enter the recent SMS correspondence in full - worth having that available, possibly as a Word document from which you an copy and paste. I tend to draft my side of a complex issue before contacting Live Chat, to make sure I've covered the relevent stuff clearly, rather than typing in a long screed from scratch.

[davidf20]

Once again I received a message on 18th Jan offering half price big value bundles as long as I top up before 22/01. Topped up tonight and replied to accept the offer only to get the same message as before to say the offer cannot be applied to my account.

Spoke to live chat who said I they cannot help. Called 191 who also said they cannot help and would not even offer a bundle as a one off.

How do I get the offer that has been made to me? This is really terrible service.

[Annie_N]

Oh not again! That really is terrible PR!

The only thing I can think is that there must be something obscure on your account which is blocking these offers from "taking".

As you're aware, the forum is monitored by Vodafone's Tech Team, so I hope that one of them may have some thoughts on how to resolve this for you.

[forumfairy]

If you get a BVB each month and, say, wanted to change to using credit only, do you have to get the BVB de-registered in some way?  I'm wondering if when the text is being sent the system is automatically taking the normal BVB as a default and then the half price bundle gets declined as there's already a full price one in action in the background?  Instead of it, say, applying the credit and it recognising that it should only take a half price bundle as a transaction. Clearly that's not how it should work, but there must be something that's stopping the correct transaction from being applied.  Obviously the text in itself should be more than enough to apply the correct bundle but, given the difficult issues you've faced, there must be a technical reason for it that's not being picked up by the advisors. Have they been able to escalate the problem for you?

[forumfairy]

I've actually found another thread here:

http://forum.vodafone.co.uk/t5/Pay-as-you-go-products-services/Bundle-or-Credit/m-p/2545348#M5393

which although not related directly to your issue refers to opting out of the BVB (for freebies instead) and mentions within it not topping up again until the original BVB has completely expired or else the system automatically just takes a BVB again.  On one of the previous messages there was the post: 

"Time's running out for claiming your exclusive half-price Big Value Bundle. Get unlimited UK texts, 150 UK minutes and 500MB UK data for 30 days for just £5. Don't miss out, text HALFBVB to 49500 by 18/11/16 to get your first bundle. Bundles last for 30 days and will renew using £5 of your credit. There's no ties - you can opt out at anytime if it's not for you. Terms seewww.vodafone.uk/BVB. To end texts, send STOP to 9774."

Is it possible that you have to opt out of the full price bundle completely, allow that to process and then opt in again for this different offer?  Admittedly its not clear that this would be the case but from the wording it could be implied that this is a different product rather than just a reduction in cost for the normal BVB - it mentions opting out of this bundle if its not suitable so that might be the case with the full price one too?

[davidf20]

I have no active bundle. I received the initial offer also when no bundle was active.I simply want what was offered to me. Can someone from Vodafone please get this sorted?

[davidf20]

Get 50% off our £10 Big Value Bundle. For just £5, you'll get a generous allowance of unlimited texts, 150 minutes & 500MB data within the UK. Grab this opportunity: text HALFBVB to 49500 by 22/01/17 to get your first bundle. You will enjoy it for 30 days and it'll renew automatically using £5 credit. If it does not suit you, there is no commitment and you can opt out at any time. For terms see www.vodafone.uk/BVB. To end texts, send STOP to 9774.

[davidf20]

Time's running out for claiming your exclusive half-price Big Value Bundle. Get unlimited UK texts, 150 UK minutes and 500MB UK data for 30 days for just £5. Don't miss out, text HALFBVB to 49500 by 22/01/17 to get your first bundle. Bundles last for 30 days and will renew using £5 of your credit. There's no ties - you can opt out at anytime if it's not for you. Terms see www.vodafone.uk/BVB. To end texts, send STOP to 9774.

[davidf20]

We're sorry but the bundle we offered you can't be added to your balance. As an apology we have given you £2 worth of free credit for you to enjoy.