Sure Signal - much too expensive (no signal area - what are we paying Vodafone for?)

[nanak]

I am a personal Vodafone user living in a signal 'not spot'.

I have started a new job as a domiciliary care worker and as such have been provided with a Gentag NFC (Near Field Communications) cell phone on a Vodafone contract. On this phone I receive all the details of my clients and timings of visits and my whereabouts are monitored at all times for my safety. I am having to go out of my house and up the road to get enough signal for the phone to update.  

Why am I expected to pay £100 for a Sure Signal unit? At a pay rate of £7 per hour this price is way out of my league! I have bought a second hand Sure Signal v2 but it has not been de registered and I have no way of finding out who the original owner is let alone getting them to deregister it. I know Vodafone have this information and will have cut the Sure Signal service due to lack of use by now but they are not willing to contact the previous owner to sort this out. 

The second hand market has gone mad - v3's are selling on Ebay for more than it costs for a new one (sometimes £130 plus) and v2's go for around £70 (I believe they originally cost @ £50 new).

At least with my personal mobile I could change network but with my work phone I have no choice.

Time for some serious consideration I think ...

[Retired-Matt_B]

Hi nanak,

We can't guarantee signal in every location across the UK.

A Sure Signal will supply this, if the phone is a work phone, it may be worth speaking to them to see if they'll cover the cost.

Thanks,

Matt B

[nanak]

Thank you for responding Matt B. Unfortunately a company that only pays £7 per hour in wages isn't going to fork out £100. That's more than 14 hours of work.  I am sure (pardon the pun!) that this item is vastly and unnecessarily  overpriced. My major dissapointment is the inability to get a second hand sure signal deregistered without knowing the original owner. Since Vodafone know who the item is registered to and will have ceased the sure signal service due to lack of use, why can they not contact said owner to confirm deregistration allowing another party to then register it? What a waste of resources in this day and age of recycling...  

[Nick74]

I've been caught out by this in the past after buying a secondhand Sure Signal v1 a couple of years ago. I agree that it is ridiculous that Vodafone refuse to deregister them unless the previous owner can be contacted, citing 'data protection' I believe. 'Data protection' seems to be one of those things companies quote when they basically don't want to do something as it will cost them money!

[AnnS]

Hello Nick74

Vodafone wont deregister a Sure Signal for anyone other than the original owner.

Vodafone have to abide by the law and the original owner has to provide account information.  Vodafone can't access any account information without permission.  If they did, they would in serious breach of data protection laws.

Although you have purchased the Sure Signal secondhand, its not your decision as to whether the device is deregistered for you to use on your account.  The onus is on you to make sure the Sure Signal has been legitimately sold and the seller has deregistered the device before being sold on.

[Nick74]

Hi Ann,

I appreciate the reason why they do it, but that is down to the terms and conditions that Vodafone as a company choose to apply to users of Sure Signal. There is nothing in UK data protection law that says a piece of communications equipment cannot be used by someone without the express permission of its original owner. If there was then the sale of secondhand broadband routers, PCs, mobile phones etc would be effectively prevented too.

Vodafone's refusal to deregister old Sure Signals is purely down to company policy. There is no legal reason in UK law preventing them from changing this policy if they wished to do so.

[nanak]

Hi Nick74. Thank for your input on this subject. It's sad that people lie down and accept this reasoning just because Vodafone choose to blame the data protection act. They are accessing the previous owner's information just by being able to say they know who owns it and that that person is no longer using it... they just cannot stand the idea of losing a £100 sale (a ridiculous amount anyway). The fact that people are selling their sure signal boxes, sometimes for more than they paid originally, must give them nightmares!