Why are you ripping off your customers by hiking data prices unfairly? (a fifty percent increase!!)

[TheAggrieved]

Sure... I’ve read that it’s because only ten percent of your customers actually use "what they pay for" which was three gigabytes worth of data. Although, this surely doesn’t make any sense... If ninety percent of your customers don’t use all their data, then what they don’t use is pure profit for you guys... surely. It’s not as if they get to keep the data they don’t use. It doesn’t carry over to the next month. No, it just disappears!! Which is money in vodafone’s pocket because that data, even though it was left to go unused, was still paid for.

Do you not think that you’ll be losing customers left right and centre over this?? The ten percent of people that you’re now ripping off aren’t going to be happy at all, are they? So they’ll be taking their business elsewhere... (I know I will be!) Ahh, but what does vodafone care?? When you realise the money you’re losing because of this... You’ll simply raise the prices again so that the ninety percent (the people that are likely to stay) pay for the loss that you’ll clearly incur. Although it seems vodafone are too short-sighted to see this...

How you can treat your customers like this is beyond belief... Although, hardly surprising from a money-grabbing company like vodafone. Also, the naivety of thinking that people won’t switch over to a better deal, even if they’re not managing to use all their data, is quite comical. People will switch... even the customers in your precious ninety percent will switch because they may have liked having the safety net of being able to use more data if they so wished... Which has obviously been taken away from them now. Not to mention the potentially new customers that won’t even bother with vodafone now because what’s the point when they can get a better deal for less? Great work vodafone!! Continue dumping all over your customers... I’m sure your shareholders won’t be at all displeased when your customer base begins to dwindle... along with the profits!!


(I deliberately haven’t capitalised the Vee in vodafone throughout this message as a sign of disrespect...)

T-mobile, 3, any other service provider other than vodafone... here I come!!

[Odin]

HHGTTG, I'm sorry mate we seemed to get side tracked this thread is about data allowance not installing/uninstalling dongals, as you say here" very rarely use more than 2GB but any excess I tend to use by viewing a few youtube videos or iPlayer to use up some before the 30 day expiration periiod. Now, I will not have this option" I'm in total agrement with you here. But why have voda reduced to it 2GB (works out at nearly a 33% increase)
             

[TheAggrieved]

    Jebelious wrote:
    You say that Vodafone are ripping customer off however there is only 1 network that offers more data at such a rate at the moment which seems to be Three (their MIFI deal is good if you have the £79.99). All other operators seem to be offering 1GB for £15 and some of them i dont even seem to be able to find the PAYG offering for the modems on PAYG.

    It would look like Vodafone actually have the better deal here still even after the reduction in data.



I’m not so sure there is only one other network that offers more? You are right about 3 though. They offer you five gigabytes of data for £15.99 a month. So for the extra quid you get three more gigabytes!! Now that is competitive... (thanks for pointing that out to me!!)


Virgin Media’s three gig offer is only £15.32 a month, but that is a two month contract... (by the by, that’s three gigabytes per month... Which is six in total for £30.64) So still miles cheaper than vodafone, yes?


I’m unsure of T-Mobile’s deals... They seem to hide behind a fair use policy which is fairly vague. Although I will say this for T-Mobile: I have used them to connect to the net via my phone tethered to the computer. I was getting "unlimited" internet for a fiver a month! Okay, the "unlimited" claim isn’t technically genuine as you have to adhere to their fair use policy. However, the fair use policy only comes into play between four PM, and twelve AM. So at all other times you’re allowed to use the internet as you wish. Plus, they’ll Never cut off your internet for going over your data allowance!! So you’ll always be able to browse generally. I know they do the same for their dongles and this feature seems invaluable to me. Especially when the only downside seems that you won’t be able to use data intensive services between 16:00 and 00:00... but all other services will still remain available to you. I still feel that this appears to be a better deal... (although as we all know appearances can be deceiving)


Sure... I’ve purposefully excluded Orange and O2 from the above list because vodafone are slightly cheaper... but that’s hardly saying much, is it?


I think given the fact that there are clearly much better deals out there, particularly for the people who like to use their internet for more than just standard browsing, that vodafone should do something about this to cater for those people. Not just for our sake, but for their own if they really want to be big competitors in the world of mobile broadband. After all... why leave out a demographic, which in this case, is the unlucky ten percent who actually like to use all their data? Ahh, because they’re the unlucky ten percent who actually, "Like to use All Their data!!" It does seem silly though. Instead of penalising the ten percent of the people who obviously use your service the most!! (I mean, come on... think about it. That ten percent must use the internet more than the ninety percent on an individual level, datawise... no?) Why not offer something competitive for them? At the moment, you are hiking the prices for the people who use your service the most. With no option but to bail out for a better deal... Is that really a good way of doing business? (I mean, for the customer and not just your profits)

Whichever way you look at it... The bottom line is, (yes, even for that ninety percent) your internet just got dearer! You are getting less, for the same price whether you use it all or not. That’s a reduction, not a rebate!! You do not get more for your money, you get less... Per gigabyte, you’re losing with a fifty percent increase. From another perspective, you’ve just lost a third of your data allowance which would be thirty-three point three percent (recurring)... The upshot still being you lose out as a customer.


HHGTTG, you may rarely use more than two gigabytes of data... but what happens when you do that now? (however rare that may be) You’ll have to top-up again, of course. No buffer for error, no more YouTube or BBC’s Iplayer... right? I’m assuming you enjoy watching YouTube and BBC’s Iplayer? I just wonder if you only use those sites to drain your "excess" credit because if you used them any time before... You may just find yourself with little credit left to browse normally as you so desire? If this is the case, then in effect, your internet usage is being restricted even more than it was before. Plus, if that is correct then clearly people’s internet usage is being modified and dictated by data prices... Which have now been hiked to an even greater unfair proportion! Okay, that last point is pretty obvious. Especially as everyone’s internet usage is being modified and dictated to by data prices... (if they pay by the gigabyte) but I think you’ll find that people won’t mind as much just as long as those data prices are fair and competitive!! That is to say, you don’t feel as if you’re being ripped off...

The final result in all this? A lot of unhappy ex-customers that you’ll have to fight to get back... Trust is earned, and you let ten percent of your customer base down, and with no other plan to switch to. Will you do this again in the future to your loyal customers?? Yah, probably...

[HHGTTG]

Yes, I used to enjoy, having been 'good,' to be able to indulge myself a bit as the 30 day expiry date neared.
I will no longer be able to do this, as you say, because 2GB will be cutting things rather close. I have 1GB left today (my topup day) and am tempted to download a Prom concert piece that is 1.2GB file size which I calculate, may take about 60 mins. I have never entertained such a download before!

Such a shame on you, you faceless Vodafone suits who deny us a fair price for a once fair data limit.

[Jebelious]

I think there are a few reasons we have seen the reduction in data, firstly O2/Orange and T-Mobile changed their offerings to reduce the data available due to capacity so i think Vodafone have followed suit as they do not really consider Three a threat as of yet.

I say this as it would seem that none of the big 4 have followed suit when it comes to any of Three's offerings, which either says capacity wise they just cant do it where as Three have plenty to offer at the moment as they are battling for customers.

You only have to read around at the moment to see that Three offer a good mobile internet service however the question is still there, how many people are using Three at the moment in comparison to the other operators? With offering their current data rates how long will it take them to start having the capacity issues that the other big 4 are experiencing at the moment?

This does not mean that the operators are failing to innovate and offer where possible, they all have contract offerings which offer in excess of 5GB i think Vodafone have this as an option.

The offers are changing that much i can see the next round of PAYG offerings changing for christmas or maybe even the new year, who knows?

[Decker]

I'm another soon to leave customer, according to CS I was sent an email (nope, checked back to 2007) and after 5 CS reps (from the indian helpdesk) responded with the same cut and paste response even after being told to escalate, so lack of the correct product being supplied and nil customer service = I'm off!

I've already moved my families mobiles to 3 and mobile broadband is going the same way, twice this month I've paid out £15 for 3G only to discover I'm only getting 2G (that's an extra £15 to make up the difference - I think not).

Since I've received no notification, or indication of this either directly when purchasing or otherwise it's a blatent case of defrauding customers, only course is to take it to trading standards as customer services ain't interested.

1G left to go and that's the last Voda get from me, and my family and friends.

Good job the marketing and CS guys, see you outside the Jobcentre as I pass by...

[TheAggrieved]

Jebelious, you think incorrectly... I cannot find any vodafone offer whatsoever that’s in excess of five gigabytes. I can only find deals that are lower than five gigs, not higher. Maybe you could tell me whereabouts on their site they offer a data plan that’s in excess of five gigabytes? I have looked on their website for a deal that exceeds five gigabytes, but so far I’ve only seen deals that are less than five. Other mobile operators definitely do offer deals in excess of give gigabytes. Like Orange, who have a ten gig offer. Or 3 with their fifteen gig offer.


I’m also wondering why, if vodafone’s stinginess is due to capacity issues, that contracted customers are less of a drain on their resources? I mean, do their three gigabytes of data not put exactly the same amount of strain on vodafone’s system as PAYG customers’ three gigs worth of data? In fact, having a contract... you’d think you’d be getting a better rate per gigabyte. Which means their contracted customers are actually paying less. Thus, costing vodafone more... no? Furthermore, if vodafone are just following suit then I fail to see how that’s innovative? Slashing data prices is hardly new. Especially if vodafone are just sheepishly shadowing O2, Orange and T-Mobile. Surely that’s the very opposite of innovation?


Moreover, who wants to wait until Christmas or the New Year to get a better deal? I’m using the internet Now... Or is that the only way vodafone can present seasonal special offers to us? By hiking prices so they can lower them again around Christmas time claiming competitiveness with their, "New Deals!!" Umm, no vodafone... no! We’re not stupid and we’re Not coming back to you!! (why bother when three months down the line they’ll just change the goals posts and effectively screw us over again) Profits over people... that should be vodafone’s new slogan.

[Jebelious]

I only did an initial browse earlier and could not find higher rates than 5GB on the website (i did not say 100% they offered this solution). At the end of the day the networks are losing money in so many other areas they have to recoup the costs else where.

Data naturally is going to be where they start to do this which is why all networks have recently reduced the data available for the £15. I am sure in the next 12/18 months we will see yet more plans available offering different solutions as they yet again change how they charge for data

[Odin]

This is a realy good post come on people lets all get bhind it,

Sure... I’ve read that it’s because only ten percent of your customers actually use "what they pay for" which was three gigabytes worth of data. Although, this surely doesn’t make any sense... If ninety percent of your customers don’t use all their data, then what they don’t use is pure profit for you guys... surely. It’s not as if they get to keep the data they don’t use. It doesn’t carry over to the next month. No, it just disappears!! Which is money in vodafone’s pocket because that data, even though it was left to go unused, was still paid for.

Do you not think that you’ll be losing customers left right and centre over this?? The ten percent of people that you’re now ripping off aren’t going to be happy at all, are they? So they’ll be taking their business elsewhere... (I know I will be!) Ahh, but what does vodafone care?? When you realise the money you’re losing because of this... You’ll simply raise the prices again so that the ninety percent (the people that are likely to stay) pay for the loss that you’ll clearly incur. Although it seems vodafone are too short-sighted to see this...

How you can treat your customers like this is beyond belief... Although, hardly surprising from a money-grabbing company like vodafone. Also, the naivety of thinking that people won’t switch over to a better deal, even if they’re not managing to use all their data, is quite comical. People will switch... even the customers in your precious ninety percent will switch because they may have liked having the safety net of being able to use more data if they so wished... Which has obviously been taken away from them now. Not to mention the potentially new customers that won’t even bother with vodafone now because what’s the point when they can get a better deal for less? Great work vodafone!! Continue dumping all over your customers... I’m sure your shareholders won’t be at all displeased when your customer base begins to dwindle... along with the p

[Odin]

Think TheAggrieved wrote a really good post in the first post of this thread which I tried to quote in my post above

[Jimbo123321]

Thanks Odin. 3 for me in 27 days. I moved from EE but vodafone signal nationwide is WORSE than EE. Also I have used a so called 200mb in 4 days but with EE I never even used 2Gb in a Whole Month. And guess what ? I aint even used data as much as EE since joining because I cant get blokdy signal for calls nor data. Vodafone are conning us all and we ALL need to report it to ofcom to investigate and have vodafone fined 100s of thousands and forced to compensate us all