Bought a £10 SIM and says balance is £9 with less usage than advertised

[andrewfoote]

I've just moved from GiffGaff to Vodafone because there was no reception on GiffGaff after moving house.

I bought a £10 SIM on the Pay as You Go package which is 15 Gb data, 250 mins calls, unlimited texts as described here https://freesim.vodafone.co.uk/check-out-payasyougo-campaign

I received the SIM and moved my number over to Vodafone which was completed today. When I logged in to the account through Vodafone's website it says:

Balance £9.00

Your allowance will expire in10 hours

It also shows 0 mins of calls and 0 texts used.

For data it says 19 Mb of 500 Mb used.

The balance and data don't make sense. Why is the balance £9 not £10 when I haven't even made a call? 

Why is the data 500 Mb (0.5 Gb) when I'm paying for 15 Gb?

I tried to contact a customer service agent and it said they were all busy. 

[AnnS]

Hi @andrewfoote 

At a guess, you are on the PAYG 1 tariff and have been charged £1.00 for connecting to data here: Vodafone PAYG you will need to scroll down to the standard PAYG rates link at the bottom of the page.

I am sure you need to opt into the bundle and convert the credit to the chosen BVB, this can be done through the Application, online account or by following the prompts on 2345.  Also further information here: How do I purchase a Big Value Bundle 

Have a word with the Social Team they will help where they can : Contact Us 

[andrewfoote]

Thanks for replying.

I am on the "Pay as you go 1" package.

I can't see anything on my account to do any of what you've described. I'm really confused and annoyed - I bought this as per the link above which says for £10 I get that 15 Gb data, 250 mins etc.

Why am I having to mess around to change what I've already said I wanted? Do I have to pay again? I paid £10 a few days ago for the SIM. Already want to go back to Giffgaff!

[Evie]

Hey there @andrewfoote - Did you order a free SIM and then top up credit once it arrived?

As per @AnnS message you would need to text one of the follow codes to 2345 which will use your already topped-up credit to add on the bundle:

• BIGVALUE10
• BIGVALUE15
• BIGVALUE20
• BIGVALUE30

Then, to get the 5 times data text FIVETIMESDATA to 49500.

If you would like us to have a look at your account to make sure everything is okay, please drop us a message on social media.

[andrewfoote]

Hi Ann,

I spoke to someone on live chat at Vodafone yesterday and something clearly went wrong but appears to have been fixed at your end now. When I ordered it through your website I specified the £10/month SIM deal (15 Gb data, 250 mins etc). It seems I was on the standard PAYG tarriff. The person I spoke to updated some account settings which gave me 3 Gb data and then they did something else to add another 12, giving me the 15Gb.

It was all a bit messy and I'm not convinced it'll "just work" when the renewal comes along next month although have been assured it will.

It was quite frustrating to be told things like "you need to text 'fivetimesdata' to 49500" when clearly my intention during the sales process was buying a SIM that gave me 5x data anyway (15 Gb as opposed to 3 Gb). Not sure why people are having to jump through hoops just to get what they've specified during the order process?

[AnnS]

Hi @andrewfoote 

At least you have got this solved with live chat and have your bundle.

The best thing to do is to check your online account or Application, both will give you information on active bundles.  If you want the allowance to automatically roll over, you need to make sure you have sufficient credit for Vodafone to take at the end of the 30 day period.

See here: 

Getting Started 

Big Value Terms and Conditions