Charged for contract before SIM is dispatched/received - why?

[fairness]

At the weekend I purchased a Vodafone SIM contract and I have not yet received the SIM card.

I notice that my contract start date is the day I purchased the SIM and I am being billed from that date rather than the date I actually receive or activate the SIM.

So far I have paid for three days I cannot use the service.

This is really unfair. Why should customers pay when they are unable to use the service? 

Payment should begin either on the day of delivery or the day the SIM is activated. Both of these events can feasibly be tracked by Vodafone so there is no reason it should be done differently except to save Vodafone lots of money.

I am not even sure if it's legal to start a billing contract before the usable service is received.

This is not a good start of my experience as a Vodafone customer.

[AnnS]

Hi @fairness 

You will be billed from the day you receive the SIM.  In the unlikely event that Vodafone get the billing dates incorrect, you will be able to raise this with Customer Services when you have received the first bill within the first week of starting to use the SIM.

There is further information for you here: 

Welcome to Vodafone 

First Bill 

[fairness]

That's great to hear; thank you. 

Please may I kindly suggest you make that clearer on your order page/emails, for the benefit of customers who feel similarly frustrated that they may be billed unfairly?

Thanks for your help.

[chistery]

In my experience Vodafone and other networks, start charing immediately.  Never had a contract start on the day the SIM arrived.

[Beth]

Hi all!

Until you receive your SIM there is nothing for us to charge you for as it's not connected to the network in transit. Once the SIM card arrives with you, it will then activate (or may need to be activated depending on the type of contract you purchase) and you'll be charged for usage past this point.

You're able to view your bills through your online account and MyVodafone app once they have been produced. If you're ever charged incorrectly, please contact our Customer Services team and we'd be happy to correct this with you 🙂