Text and Web freebee

[woodstockthree]

Hi - can someone answer my question below? The staff on Facebook keep trying to refer me to live chat and I have "experienced" that before. I don't need anyone to refer to my account - it has been corrected, compensated and a fault raised (allegedly). But I think the person I spoke to has given me incorrect information and so I am trying to get clarification. Copied and pasted post shown below:

Hello. I have a question. I have the text and Web freebee with 500mb data and so many texts as long as I top up at least £10 within that 30 days. I have had occasions where the bundle has not rolled over although I have complied by topping up the required amount and each time I have phoned and got the bundle reactivated and a promise that it will be investigated and it won't happen again.

It has happened again this month and I have had to wait up after a 12 hour night shift to wait for you to open at 0800 to phone and sort it out. The gentleman I spoke to has refunded the credit I wouldn't have used if it had been in place as well as extra data and texts - thanks for this. He has also raised it as a fault to find out why it keeps happening and apparently it won't happen again - we will see.

However he said that I have to top up when I get the text that the bundle is about to expire and that credit added during the month does not count. I do not feel this is correct as I know some months I have topped up £10 during the month and it has rolled over, also some months I have topped up £10 for two or more weeks and this has resulted in the additional texts for topping up an increased amount. In fact when the last bundle expired, I actually did what he said, ie i got the text saying the bundle would expire, I topped up the day before it expired, but it didn't roll over. A subsequent top up of £10 I made the following week did not reactivate it either. It was only during my night shift at about 0300 today that I checked my balance and realised the total was lower than it should be and that there were no data/texts remaining.

It is not always convenient for me to top up on a specific day due to my shifts and as I said, this has never been the case before, and credit added during the month has counted towards ensuring the bundle rolls over as it should do.

Please don't suggest a contract - I had one with you many years ago and it was a nightmare and reading the posts here, things have not improved. However I would be grateful if someone could clarify the conditions regarding when to top up and by how much as I don't think I have been given the correct advice. I have used this bundle for many years and have always been able to top up when I need to and have the bundle roll over as planned (except for a few occasions every so often where it appears to fail and I have to ring you).

I look forward to your reply. Thanks.

[Tash]

Hi @woodstockthree,

After 30 days the Big Value Bundle can renew, however if there's not a minimum credit that matches the value of your current Big Value Bundle, this will not be available. 

You'd have seven days after the 30 days have passed to top up and renew the bundle.

However if you do have enough credit, you'll receive a text to confirm when your next bundle will be applied.

More information on this can be found in the Big Value Bundle Terms and Conditions.

[Annie_N · Accepted solution]

@woodstockthree You're right, you haven't got a Big Value Bundle! You have a Text and Web Freebee, which is now discontinued for new opt-ins, but continues to be available provided you don't opt out of it.

I also have had one for some long time, and it has been running fine, although I'm aware that a number of customers have the same problem as you describe.

There is no requirement at all to wait for the renewal reminder before topping up. I usually top up a day or two after the new one has activated, so that I don't forget to do it, and that always seems to have worked without problem.

However, I now have an odd occurrence. About half way through my last T&WF I topped up my account by £5 using PayPal, to discover how that worked.

Almost immediately I had a text informing me that my T&WF had started, and would be valid for 30 days, but there was no change to the expiry date showing on my account of the MyVodafone, and it expired on schedule. I hadn't actually topped up by £10 during the 30 days, so it didn't renew. But I did top up by £10 yesterday, and it hasn't renewed. Also, I see that mention of it has disappeared from my online account, where it used to show the date in 2013 when I last opted in.

So I rather fear that the inappropriate text following my £5 topup was actually an opt-out of some sort! When I have a long enough window of opportunity, I'll be contacting Live Chat for help in kick-starting it again. Fingers crossed!

[Annie_N]

Quick update: Live Chat sorted this out without any apparent difficulty, and my Text & Web Freebee is back up and running.

[woodstockthree]

Hi Thanks for this. I'm not sure it's the big value bundle - it's the text and Web freebee. It's now been renewed anyway by the call centre and I've now managed to find the t's and c's specific to this product to have ready to quote when it fails again.

[woodstockthree]

Thanks annie_n.... I do fear that as it is discontinued for new customers, there is no appetite on Vodafone's part to resolve it and they would rather we moved onto something else. I know this will keep happening - it's ok for a few months and I keep an eye on it to make sure it renews.... then after a while I stop checking because it seems ok and then realise it's not renewed. But I now have the official t&c's to hit them with when it happens. Just a shame the staff on the facebook page couldn't have posted that document for me. Thanks again Annie_n

[Annie_N]

@woodstockthree

I suspect it may be more a case of there only being a few problems each month from this, and therefore there's always a more pressing problem to be fixed.

I rather fear that, my freebee having got into difficulties, it may not run so smoothly in future, but we'll see.

The Live Chat agent must have opted me out and in again, to get things working. As a result, I got two emails, the second of which included some very useful wording - I knew there was a third band, but didn't remember the details. You may find the whole thing useful:

You've opted in to a Vodafone Text & Web Freebee on mobile number +4477xxxxxxxx. Now all you need to do is top up at least £10 to get free standard UK texts and internet – on top of your credit.

The more you top up, the more you get

• £10 TopUp – 300 texts + 500MB of internet
• £15 TopUp – 500 texts + 500MB of internet
• £30 TopUp – 3000 texts + 500MB of internet

Your free allowance is valid for 30 days. If you top up again during the 30 days, you'll automatically get another allowance to use the following month.

To opt out, just call 4350 from your Vodafone mobile or log in to My Vodafone

 A.

[woodstockthree]

Aaaargh. Guess what.... the text and Web didn't renew. I went through to South Africa and got someone who said it haven't been escalated to the proper people last time but she has now done this. She has renewed the bundle as I had topped up x 4 - but every week I did it I gor a new date for the bundle to expire. However it still expired on 28th March when I have texts stating that the bundle renews on various dates in April. Vodafone have now admitted there is an error on my account - AND on everyone who has the text and Web freebee - where although it is supposed to renew if you top up through the month, it only renews if you top up on the day. This is not always convenient particularly when you work 12 hour shifts for an emergency service and you have a disability and so cannot pop out to the shop to satisfy vodafone. Apparently I now have to buy a voucher and keep it and enter the code on the day to get it to renew and she is also calling me on the day to see if it has renewed or not. But it shouldn't be like this - fix the problem or finish the product and move us onto something equal or better. I still maintain that as it is an outdated product vodafone are not interested in fixing the problem as they want us to move onto contracts (no chance). And she also gave me 500mb data extra as compensation - but the text said if I didn't cancel it then I would get it again next month and be charged £5 for it so I have had to send the stop message. HELP.

[Annie_N]

@woodstockthree Yuck! That does sound like thoroughly bad news.

My T&WF expires at the end of today, I believe. I topped up by £10 during the month, so, according the the rules, it should renew tomorrow morning, but I can't say that I feel very confident.

I've been pondering my options over the continuing failure to provide more than 50 items of itemised usage, rather than the stated 90 days. They're supposed to be dealing with the issue, and I believe it affects a lot of accounts, not just the stragglers who still have the T&WF, so you'd think it might be a higher priority. If on top of that I also have to mess around as you describe, to get the T&WF to renew, then giving up and taking my account elsewhere looks the more attractive option. I've been with Vodafone for well over 20 years, so it's not a decision I'm keen to make.

BTW, sending the STOP message for the Data Extra should mean that it runs to the end of its 30 days, then doesn't renew, rather than it stopping immediately. That does seem to have worked correctly when I've used it.

[woodstockthree]

Yes that was what I hoped would happen - so I have the free data as compensation but it seemed a bit naughty to put me on something that would have cost me 5.00 next month if I hadn't noticed - it was a good thing I did notice. I did have a brief foray with t-mobile but they were really bad where I live and so came back to what I knew worked here. It's a pain in the bottom lol.