Vodafone Rip Off

HelterSkelter

Just noticed Vodafone allow Ready to Go users to call mobiles in China for 5c a minute anytime of day or night. However to call an Irish mobile it costs up to 65c a minute. It costs €1.02 a minute to call the UK. Talk about screwing us up the arse to call an Irish number. What kind of joke is this?

http://www.vodafone.ie/myhomecountry/index.jsp

Kazaanova

But how is this ripping anybody off? €1.02 to call the UK for example is pretty much what it is on every network.

hellboy99

You can now call home at new reduced international rates. These rates apply to Poland, Latvia, Slovak Republic, Lithuania, Hungary, Romania, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Estonia and China.

How come Africa isn't on the list

Ruu_Old

I see you found the mobile/pda forum They are a ripoff but what can ya do. How do they compare to meteor and O2?

HelterSkelter

Kazaanova wrote:

But how is this ripping anybody off? €1.02 to call the UK for example is pretty much what it is on every network.

If they charge 65c/min to call an Irish mobile, yet can charge 5c/min to call a mobile on the other side of the world that sounds like Irish customers are being ripped off to me.

Mossy Monk

could be seen as a bargain too though

jesus_thats_gre

http://www.vodafone.ie/readytogo/tariffs/international/index.jsp

Kazaanova

HelterSkelter wrote:

If they can charge 5c a minute to call a mobile in China yet charge 65c a minute for an Irish mobile that sounds like a rip-off to me.

Yeah you have a point, they could probably charge 5c a minute to phone Irish mobiles, but they don't. Thats not really extraodinary or anything. You could probably get everything cheaper. Most of their calls are probably to Irish mobiles so they charge 65c a minute, because O2 and Meteor charge the same and people will pay it. The China thing is just a special offer so people will Chinese relations etc. will sign up with Vodafone.

It just seems like if you didn't notice the 5c a minute to China you wouldn't think its a ripoff. Just pretend its not there.

Victor

Yes it is a rip off, but not quite as much as it appears to be up front - Chinese (and American) customers pay a fortune in roaming charges. Go to the next town and you are roaming.

Endurance Man

Wait until the chinese take over dublin so they can call there mom for 5c a minute , then you'll notice.

John R

HelterSkelter wrote:

If they can charge 5c a minute to call a mobile in China yet charge 65c a minute for an Irish mobile that sounds like a rip-off to me.

They charge what the market will bear. If people suddenly stopped making Vodafone-Irish mobile calls they would soon drop the price.

All the immigrants are using the cheap international companies so Vodafone are dropping their prices to compete.

The phone companies are out to make maximum profits. The irish consumers complain all the time about high prices but as long as they continue to buy in record numbers what possible reason do the companies have for reducing their prices?

X-SL

They have less people calling to China so it makes no difference what they price it as.

nesf

Moved to Consumer Issues.

slade_x

HelterSkelter wrote:

However to call an Irish mobile it costs up to 65c a minute.

Not if you pay monthly and the other irish mobile is on the vodafone network

Vodafone to Vodafone Free Calls for LIFE!!!!!

Make as many calls as you like, whenever you like.

Switch to Vodafone Perfect Fit 400 or 600 and all calls to anyone in Ireland on Vodafone are free for life. That means calls between over 2 million people - all free! Because there are more Pay Monthly customers with Vodafone, we can give everyone better value.
Sign up for FREE! before 31st August 2006.

To avail of free Vodafone to Vodafone calls, all you have to do is switch over to Perfect Fit 400 or 600.

clearz

HelterSkelter wrote:

Just noticed Vodafone allow Ready to Go users to call mobiles in China for 5c a minute anytime of day or night. However to call an Irish mobile it costs up to 65c a minute. It costs €1.02 a minute to call the UK. Talk about screwing us up the arse to call an Irish number. What kind of joke is this?

http://www.vodafone.ie/myhomecountry/index.jsp

If you dont like their prices just change. Im with meteor and it costs me 20cent/min to ring any phone in Ireland at any time of the day and 5cent to ring other meteors. Its a no brainer esp when you can keep your 087/086 prefix. I mean what the hell is wrong with you people.

whizzbang

clearz wrote:

If you dont like their prices just change. Im with meteor and it costs me 20cent/min to ring any phone in Ireland at any time of the day and 5cent to ring other meteors. Its a no brainer esp when you can keep your 087/086 prefix. I mean what the hell is wrong with you people.

Unfortunatly Meteor coverage sucks outside of major urban areas. They are supposed to roam onto O2 but they will not let you roam if they believe they have coverage in your area. Ths happened to me. I'm with o2 now, seems a good split between value and coverage.

HelterSkelter

slade_x wrote:

Not if you pay monthly and the other irish mobile is on the vodafone network

That's why I said up to. It costs 65c a minute to call an O2 or Meteor mobile during the day. I am talking about pay as you go phones here, not monthly.

cathy01

so whats cheaper if you have coverage for 085?

neilled

Fair enough users can natter away to china all they want for 5C a minute but on the flip side - most of their calls are going to be made within ireland - so the people involved will be still getting "screwed over"

Think of it another way - why would incumbent networks drop prepay pricing (for cals made within ireland bar a serious competitor eating away their customer base) - by keeping charges high they are trying to give you the nudge to bill pay.