Loyal Vodafone Customer Treated as New Customer

[net_chap]

I have been vodafone broadband customer for 4 years. My current contract had expired and seeing an monthly payment had jumped thought time to renew contract and see if I can get better price. So was offered price, accepted and . . . NOTHING HAPPENED. New contract did not materialise! Skipping on, eventually got same offer, sort of, again but instead of simply adjusting monthly payments as I would have liked ie no fuss. ‘Computer says no’. My current agreement had to be terminated and I effectively have to become new customer, be sent NEW ROUTER etc and apparently have totally unnecessary visit from engineer! On what planet does any of this make sense?

[Jayach]

When my contract with Vodafone was coming to an end, I renegotiated a new one, at a lower price than new starters were being offered at the time. Thanks to the built in price rises of CPI+3.9% it has gone up since then, but is still less than current new starters are offered.

So they can get it right sometimes.

[net_chap]

It is not so much the price which concerns me as the fact that I simply couldn’t continue as I am but with different amount withdrawn from bank account for next two years. There representatives have little autonomy and just punch data into a terminal. The SYSTEM has not been programmed correctly so I end up in nonsense situation where my contract is terminated and I become a new customer paying new customer rate but receive one off payment to make it equivalent the rate of initial offer! And now have to wait indoors for new unwanted router delivery and then again for unnecessary engineer visit! As regards pricing after contract has expired, clearly you can migrate to competitor for good deal. By contacting Vodafone you are doing them a courtesy. It is in their interest to offer similar or slightly improved deal. If they don’t, the course of action is obvious.

[Jayach]

Quite why your experience was so different to mine (see previous post) I can't understand.

Even with £2.00 pound discount on the then current price, I was still considering moving to get cash back with the new supplier. (and only 1year contract, and no built in price rises)

But then they offered inclusive calls on the landline (which I'd had on my previous contract) so I stayed.

It did take 3 separate calls to different agents, before I was happy to stay.

[CrimsonLiar]

I can relate to that experience!  My conversation really was a take it or leave it (computer says no) type conversation.  Oh and @Jayach if I'd been offered the prices you posted recently, it'd actually have been enough to keep me on Vodafone.  £30.99 for VF FTTP 500 would have sold it to me even though I already had the £30.99 offer for FTTP 900 from BT!  

[Jayach]

You have to wonder why they are so reluctant to give existing/renewing customers a good deal.

It must save them a fortune over taking on a new subscriber.

As a price "tart" I'm quite happy to chase the best deal from my point of view, but I do wonder just what the gaining service gets out of it?

There will usually be cash back/vouchers , new router, the cost of having Openreach make the connection, setting up their system/services. And then when that contract ends we do the same crazy dance again. Madness.

[Jayach]

Vodafone keep sending me offers they think I'll love, 

As only FTTC is available here, the broadband speed will be exactly the same. I'll have the new Ultra Wi-Fi 6e router, but that will offer me no more than the THG3000 (my broadband is only 80Mbs) and I get already get Wi-Fi signal everywhere I need it.

OK I will get 4G back up, but I can get that by hot-spotting to my mobile.

And how much extra will I pay? Only £14.12 per month. (that's £338.88 over the 2 year contract, before the built in rises)

Oh, and I'll probably loose my inclusive calls, and be tied in for 2 years, when I only have 14 months left on the current contract.

I don't think I will take them up on it.

[CrimsonLiar]

Well you did better than I did!  Not only couldn't I get a discount, I can't even figure out how they came up with the (expensive) offer that was made.  Result, I'm now an ex-Vodafone customer!  Well I still have a VF SIM!