Vodafone prepay free texts or weekends

pj_samba

Just passed the VF store of Grafton street - seen a window poster advertising free texts or weekends for life. Whats the catch??

failsafe

Top up by €20 and you have it for 30 days. Same as meteor pretty much, only with the additional option of getting free weekend calls.

Sam Vimes

failsafe wrote:

Top up by €20 and you have it for 30 days. Same as meteor pretty much, only with the additional option of getting free weekend calls.

not really additional. meteor has the option of 5c calls at all times instead of free weekends. and vodafone's other call charges are still more expensive so just matching meteor's free text offer won't make anyone move. it's good to see a bit of competition though

jesus_thats_gre

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055072607

Top up with €20 every 30 days and choose between unlimited calls and texts on weekends (6pm on Friday to 8am on Monday) or unlimited texts 365 days a year to Vodafone Ireland numbers.

jesus_thats_gre

Commander Vimes wrote:

not really additional. meteor has the option of 5c calls at all times instead of free weekends. and vodafone's other call charges are still more expensive so just matching meteor's free text offer won't make anyone move. it's good to see a bit of competition though

You reckon, why is that?

Sam Vimes

jesus_thats_gre wrote:

You reckon, why is that?

well first of all, i only know one person on vodafone because everyone else has switched to meteor. vodafone has brought this offer out because they're haemmoraging customers.

everyone i know switched because meteor's offering was drastically better than vodafone's. if they had simply matched vodafone's, none of them would have switched. what would be the point?

now that everyone i know is on meteor, switching back to vodafone would have no benefit and would in fact be worse because i'd essentially lose the free text deal and vodafone's calls are up to 45c a minute more expensive

a general rule of technology is that a new thing will only replace an old one if its ten times better than the old one. not only is vodafone's offer not ten times better, its not even as good

,8,1

This offer may be available to 2 million Vodafone customers, but there are now about 800,000 Meteor customers. Meteor probably has the lion's share of young pre-paid users at this stage. Thus while the offer is decent there just aren't that many of my friends on Vodafone anymore.

This switching could have been prevented had Vodafone not shunned the pre-paid market. Their RTG tariffs still need quite a bit of reforming.

jesus_thats_gre

Commander Vimes wrote:

well first of all, i only know one person on vodafone because everyone else has switched to meteor. vodafone has brought this offer out because they're haemmoraging customers.

Do not confuse what is the case in your own close nit group as being the case for everyone else. I know a few people who got Meteor number purely to avail of their free text offer. AFAIK, all these people kept their Vodafone number and continued usin this as their primary phone and simply used their Meteor phone when they went home to text their mates. They obviously saved quite a lot of money doing this and I applaud them for doing it - I done the same thing while I was in college.

With regard to your statement that they were loosing large number of customers. This is no incorrect but they were not loosing large numbers of high value customers. They were loosing teenages and young adult who's main concern when choosing an operator was cost. Quality of services was of second concern once they can text whenever they want.

While you point out that Meteor's tariffs are still slightly better, how do they compare when it comes to customer service, network coverage etc etc? They also have a 3rd of the installed user base that Vodafone has.

This goes back to my point. The average teenager in the average family might have a Meteor phone but it is likely that the older brother and sister, as well as the parents, are Vodafone customers. These people did not switch even with the prospect of large savings. They certainly will not switch now that virtually the same savings exist with their existing operator.

I am pretty sure that going forward, the net numbers moving between operators will be in Vodafone's favour. People will still switch to Meteor but the numbers will drop dramatically. And those who stayed on O2 while the potential for large saving existed with Meteor, may start to consider moving to Vodafone.

Coincidently, can you still sign up to the free text offer with Meteor?

Commander Vimes wrote:

everyone i know switched because meteor's offering was drastically better than vodafone's. if they had simply matched vodafone's, none of them would have switched. what would be the point?

They had to offer considerably better tariffs as the company would not have been a success otherwise. Meteor were not exactly a runaway success for a few years before they introduced their free texts. As an already establised company with the largest market share, Vodafone now offer prepaid tariffs that are virtually on a par with that of the cheapest operator in the country. I am surprised to be honest as I do not think they had to go so far.

Commander Vimes wrote:

now that everyone i know is on meteor, switching back to vodafone would have no benefit and would in fact be worse because i'd essentially lose the free text deal and vodafone's calls are up to 45c a minute more expensive.

Go back to my point whereby half the family are probably Vodafone customers. At 600k or so customers, only half the text crazy age group have moved to Meteor while the rest are with O2 and Vodafone (making up numbers here to try to make a point). It effectively creates a stand off as there may be no benefit to move to Meteor at this stage either. It should have been done a few ago though.

Commander Vimes wrote:

a general rule of technology is that a new thing will only replace an old one if its ten times better than the old one. not only is vodafone's offer not ten times better, its not even as good

Who are Vodafone trying to replace considering they already have the largest market share in the country? They also have the technological edge over Meteor.

jesus_thats_gre

,8,1 wrote:

This offer may be available to 2 million Vodafone customers, but there are now about 800,000 Meteor customers. Meteor probably has the lion's share of young pre-paid users at this stage. Thus while the offer is decent there just aren't that many of my friends on Vodafone anymore.

This switching could have been prevented had Vodafone not shunned the pre-paid market. Their RTG tariffs still need quite a bit of reforming.

They have released 2 new tariffs too have they not?

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

Call charges to any Irish mobile and landline: Off peak: 19c Peak: 49c
Text messages to any Irish mobile: 11c


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

Call charges to Vodafone mobiles and landlines: 19c
Call charges to other Irish mobiles: 49c
Text messages to any Irish mobile: 11c

Girl From Tipp

Has anyone actually signed up for it yet??

I did, got a confirmation text message, bought the call credit, and they're still charging me for texts....

Sam Vimes

jesus_thats_gre wrote:

They have released 2 new tariffs too have they not?

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

Call charges to any Irish mobile and landline: Off peak: 19c Peak: 49c
Text messages to any Irish mobile: 11c


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

Call charges to Vodafone mobiles and landlines: 19c
Call charges to other Irish mobiles: 49c
Text messages to any Irish mobile: 11c

meteor peak:40c
meteor off :13c
meteor texts:9c

jesus_thats_gre

Girl From Tipp wrote:

Has anyone actually signed up for it yet??

I did, got a confirmation text message, bought the call credit, and they're still charging me for texts....

Call them I guess..

timmywex

how do you sign up for this??is there a number you have to text??

sorry, just went onto the vodafone website and found it...

Sam Vimes

jesus_thats_gre wrote:

Do not confuse what is the case in your own close nit group as being the case for everyone else. I know a few people who got Meteor number purely to avail of their free text offer. AFAIK, all these people kept their Vodafone number and continued usin this as their primary phone and simply used their Meteor phone when they went home to text their mates. They obviously saved quite a lot of money doing this and I applaud them for doing it - I done the same thing while I was in college.

as far as i can see it, anyone who knew anything about mobiles moved away from vodafone years ago. only those who couldn't be bothered, or didn't use their phones enough to notice they were being ripped off stayed. your mam and uncle are probably on vodafone, but if your mates have any cop on, they've already moved. this is why vodafone has posted a loss for the last few years.

this is not just my own group, i work in a phone shop.

i can't understand why your friends had two separate numbers. why didn't they move their 087 numbers to meteor and take advantage of the fact that meteor were, and still are, cheaper in every way, not just for texts.

jesus_thats_gre wrote:

With regard to your statement that they were loosing large number of customers. This is no incorrect but they were not loosing large numbers of high value customers. They were loosing teenages and young adult who's main concern when choosing an operator was cost. Quality of services was of second concern once they can text whenever they want.

this is true. vodafone have always concentrated on business customers (ie high value) and those tariffs are quite good but we're talking about pre pay here. anyone who spends 100 per month, or anywhere near it, on pre pay is an idiot.

jesus_thats_gre wrote:

While you point out that Meteor's tariffs are still slightly better, how do they compare when it comes to customer service, network coverage etc etc? They also have a 3rd of the installed user base that Vodafone has.

as i said, vodafone have the majority of the business customers and that makes up their numbers. pre pay is a different thing altogether. if they'd brought out these tariffs 5 years ago they'd be good but its too late. anyone who'd be bothered moving networks already has and they won't be swayed back by tariffs that aren't even as good. all this will do is maybe stop more people leaving

meteor's customer care is staffed by retards but vodafone's isn't much better. for example, they're known to give out incorrect unlock codes so people can't unlock their phones and leave

jesus_thats_gre wrote:

This goes back to my point. The average teenager in the average family might have a Meteor phone but it is likely that the older brother and sister, as well as the parents, are Vodafone customers. These people did not switch even with the prospect of large savings. They certainly will not switch now that virtually the same savings exist with their existing operator.

i'm just repeating myself at this stage but the average mother uses her phone once a month. in fact a 50 year old woman came into my shop before who'd had her phone for 6 months and had never charged it. it took that long for the battery to die because she only turned it on a few minutes a day. she didn't know what the plug in the box was for.

vodafone doesn't want mothers and older brothers who are more than likely on billpay at this stage. prepay is for younger people and older people who never use their phones.

jesus_thats_gre wrote:

I am pretty sure that going forward, the net numbers moving between operators will be in Vodafone's favour.

again i ask, why would they move? most people that moved. moved to meteor because all their friends had. why would they switch back unless all their friends did the same at the same time?

jesus_thats_gre wrote:

People will still switch to Meteor but the numbers will drop dramatically. And those who stayed on O2 while the potential for large saving existed with Meteor, may start to consider moving to Vodafone.

i'll give you the first one. it'll probably reduce the numbers that are leaving but if people never bothered moving from o2 to meteor for great savings, why would they move for sort of good savings?

jesus_thats_gre wrote:

Coincidently, can you still sign up to the free text offer with Meteor?

yes

whisht

i'm just repeating myself at this stage but the average mother uses her phone once a month

WHAT sort of statement is that???

1. Whats an average mother?
2. Are you saying they all use their phones once a month???

Sam Vimes

whisht wrote:

i'm just repeating myself at this stage but the average mother uses her phone once a month

WHAT sort of statement is that???

1. Whats an average mother?
2. Are you saying they all use their phones once a month???

i'd say that its safe to say most women in their 40's to 50's don't have their mobiles glued to their heads yes. its what i've found from working in the area

BostonB

Commander Vimes wrote:

....a 50 year old woman came into my shop before who'd had her phone for 6 months and had never charged it. it took that long for the battery to die because she only turned it on a few minutes a day. she didn't know what the plug in the box was for....

Even without being on. a battery charge deceases over time. 6 months is hard to believe.

jesus_thats_gre wrote:

....I know a few people who got Meteor number purely to avail of their free text offer. AFAIK, all these people kept their Vodafone number and continued usin this as their primary phone and simply used their Meteor phone when they went home to text their mates. They obviously saved quite a lot of money doing this and I applaud them for doing it - I done the same thing while I was in college....

That makes no sense. Carry around two phones/sims? Why not not just use your free webtexts instead.

jesus_thats_gre

Commander Vimes wrote:

as far as i can see it, anyone who knew anything about mobiles moved away from vodafone years ago. only those who couldn't be bothered, or didn't use their phones enough to notice they were being ripped off stayed. your mam and uncle are probably on vodafone, but if your mates have any cop on, they've already moved. this is why vodafone has posted a loss for the last few years.

this is not just my own group, i work in a phone shop.

So 2.1 million people obviously do not have a clue so..

Can you provide some evidence that shows that Vodafone Ireland has made a loss in recent years?

If you are talking about Vodafone Group, they have made a loss due to the right down in value of assets (not actually cost but still has to be written off as an expense) but have actually made a profit of a couple of billion each year for a few years running iirc.

Commander Vimes wrote:

i can't understand why your friends had two separate numbers. why didn't they move their 087 numbers to meteor and take advantage of the fact that meteor were, and still are, cheaper in every way, not just for texts.

They didn't find Meteor's service to be reliable enough, nor was their sufficient coverage where they needed it. Their customer service department was and is a shambles also. They also liked being able to use the 3G features on their handset when they needed it. They just used Meteor's free texts when they got home from college or work for the evening.

Commander Vimes wrote:

this is true. vodafone have always concentrated on business customers (ie high value) and those tariffs are quite good but we're talking about pre pay here. anyone who spends 100 per month, or anywhere near it, on pre pay is an idiot.

My point is that they now offer the complete package. They offer the quality of a premium service for the price of the cheapest operator in the country - well certianly very close anyway. Think Ryanair versus Virgin Atlantic with Air Lingus prices.

I am not basing the above on personal experience or even the experience of a small group. I am basing it on how each operator have positioned themselves and how they are perceived by the general public.

Commander Vimes wrote:

as i said, vodafone have the majority of the business customers and that makes up their numbers. pre pay is a different thing altogether. if they'd brought out these tariffs 5 years ago they'd be good but its too late. anyone who'd be bothered moving networks already has and they won't be swayed back by tariffs that aren't even as good. all this will do is maybe stop more people leaving

Their hand has obviosly been forced by how aggressive Meteor have been on pricing. No company wants to make prices cuts like this unless they need to in order to grow or compete. Meteor only launched free texts in the first place because they were not gaining market share fast enough.

Commander Vimes wrote:

meteor's customer care is staffed by retards but vodafone's isn't much better. for example, they're known to give out incorrect unlock codes so people can't unlock their phones and leave

Vodafone's customer care department is head and shoulders above Meteor's. I am starting to appear obsessed but to say otherwise is simply incorrect. I have had numerous dealings with both - including having worked in one for 2 years while in college.

Commander Vimes wrote:

vodafone doesn't want mothers and older brothers who are more than likely on billpay at this stage. prepay is for younger people and older people who never use their phones.

They want people who actually spend money. Every single one of my good mates (college degress, professional jobs for 3 to 4 years and in their mid 20's) all use Vodafone. Their bills are between 100 and 140 a month. Not one of them will consider moving to Meteor as they have heard so many stories and they feel they get good value for money from Vodafone.

I know a few people who were using Meteor in college but now that they have left college, they have gone back to Vodafone as they consider a more reliable service and better customer service as being more popular.

Commander Vimes wrote:

again i ask, why would they move? most people that moved. moved to meteor because all their friends had. why would they switch back unless all their friends did the same at the same time?

My point is that all their friends have not moved. Alot of young people have but there is considerably more than 500k under 20's in the country. These offers will essentially stop the recent trend of moving to Meteor and create a stand off between groups of friends. On one hand, you will have 1/2 your friends on Meteor, 1/4 on Vodafone, 1/4 on O2 and most of your family on Vodafone or O2.

It will be interesting to see the next set of figures to see what immediate impact this offer has had.

Commander Vimes wrote:

i'll give you the first one. it'll probably reduce the numbers that are leaving but if people never bothered moving from o2 to meteor for great savings, why would they move for sort of good savings?

O2 and Vodafone offer a premium service with compared to how Meteor have positioned themselves. People who are more concerned with quality of service would not move to a cheaper operator that offers what is perceived as an inferior service. As O2 and Vodafone's tariffs are traditionally quite alike, there was not much incentive to move over.

Now you have the situation whereby you can move from O2 to Vodafone, avail of what are potentially large saving (depending on your usage) while still maintaining the same quality of serivce.

Commander Vimes wrote:

yes

Ah was not sure.

jesus_thats_gre

BostonB wrote:

That makes no sense. Carry around two phones/sims? Why not not just use your free webtexts instead.

They do not carry both around. They carry their Vodafone handset around and leave their Meteor handset at home. Then when they get home, they get down to the serious business of texting for half the evening. W

BostonB

jesus_thats_gre wrote:

They do not carry both around. They carry their Vodafone handset around and leave their Meteor handset at home. Then when they get home, they get down to the serious business of texting for half the evening. W

Why not just use webtext? Then they wouldn't miss messages when they were out.

I've never had a problem with Meteor coverage or support. I certainly didn't find Vodafone or O2 better when i was with them. O2 still can't get their web text to work. perhaps deliberately.

jesus_thats_gre

They aren't missing messages when they are out. The whole meteor free text thing is sort of organised in groups. Basically, anyone other than their close mates who use Meteor to avail of free texts, do not know of the Meteor phones existance. Anyone and everyone else knows the Vodafone or O2 number. Anyone who knows the Meteor number knows that they do not carry it around with them and know it is used mainly for marathon texting sessions.

In my case, when I was in college, I used my Meteor handset in this fashion as I had virtually no coverage when in college or work, i.e. could not receive or make calls - nor could anyone else with Meteor phones. Back home the coverage was also poor but was good enough to send and receive text messages. As they were free, it didn't bother me that coverage was so poor and I used my Vodafone handset for everything else.

Sam Vimes

jesus_thats_gre wrote:

So 2.1 million people obviously do not have a clue so..

pretty much. just like eircom has the majority share in the landline market despite being the most expensive and not the best service. most people just don't care.

jesus_thats_gre wrote:

Can you provide some evidence that shows that Vodafone Ireland has made a loss in recent years?

If you are talking about Vodafone Group, they have made a loss due to the right down in value of assets (not actually cost but still has to be written off as an expense) but have actually made a profit of a couple of billion each year for a few years running iirc.

i can't remember where i read it tbh since it was a few months ago but they have posted losses

jesus_thats_gre wrote:

They didn't find Meteor's service to be reliable enough, nor was their sufficient coverage where they needed it. Their customer service department was and is a shambles also.

i won't try to pretend their customer care is good. its not. i don't know where your friends are living but my meteor coverage is always rock solid

jesus_thats_gre wrote:

My point is that they now offer the complete package. They offer the quality of a premium service for the price of the cheapest operator in the country - well certianly very close anyway. Think Ryanair versus Virgin Atlantic with Air Lingus prices.

its not really close it it. the texts are the same, everything else is more expensive. still not worth it imo

jesus_thats_gre wrote:

I am not basing the above on personal experience or even the experience of a small group. I am basing it on how each operator have positioned themselves and how they are perceived by the general public.

meteor are perceived quite badly this is true. i spend a lot of my day convincing people that meteor's coverage isn't the same as it was 6 years ago and now that they have the roaming deal with vodafone they have pretty much the same coverage. my point being that how they're perceived and how they are are different things. which brings me back to my "people aren't bothered" point

jesus_thats_gre wrote:

Vodafone's customer care department is head and shoulders above Meteor's. I am starting to appear obsessed but to say otherwise is simply incorrect. I have had numerous dealings with both - including having worked in one for 2 years while in college.

ah now i see why you're supporting vodafone

my main gripe with vodafone customer care is their policy of lying to people about unlock codes. having been lied to many many times, i refuse to believe its not a policy. also, when i phone up, they say "hello x how can i help you" (x being my name). i asked them not to give my name to the person who just stole my phone. it took them months to oblige

also, they even call out my name when i call from my meteor number (formally vodafone). they shouldn't even have those details available to them tbh

jesus_thats_gre wrote:

They want people who actually spend money. Every single one of my good mates (college degress, professional jobs for 3 to 4 years and in their mid 20's) all use Vodafone. Their bills are between 100 and 140 a month. Not one of them will consider moving to Meteor as they have heard so many stories and they feel they get good value for money from Vodafone.

look, i don't mean to insult your friends but if they think they're getting value for money from vodafone, they simply can't do maths. in the last few days, they've become sort of cheap. until now they were massively more expensive.

jesus_thats_gre wrote:

My point is that all their friends have not moved. Alot of young people have but there is considerably more than 500k under 20's in the country. These offers will essentially stop the recent trend of moving to Meteor and create a stand off between groups of friends. On one hand, you will have 1/2 your friends on Meteor, 1/4 on Vodafone, 1/4 on O2 and most of your family on Vodafone or O2.

you have no way of knowing that tbh. you're pretty much doing what you told me not to, looking at your own group. i know one or two people on o2 and one on vodafone and i take an interest in what networks people are on.
in my shop its quite rare for someone to buy a vodafone phone. and when someone does, its invariably a bill pay customer or someone who doesn't know anything about phones

jesus_thats_gre wrote:

O2 and Vodafone offer a premium service with compared to how Meteor have positioned themselves. People who are more concerned with quality of service would not move to a cheaper operator that offers what is perceived as an inferior service. As O2 and Vodafone's tariffs are traditionally quite alike, there was not much incentive to move over.

generally, the rule is if you want cheap, move to meteor. if you want good customer service, move to o2 (they win the award every year so its official). if you hate having money, move to vodafone.

podgeandrodge

jesus_thats_gre wrote:

They have released 2 new tariffs too have they not?

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

Call charges to any Irish mobile and landline: Off peak: 19c Peak: 49c
Text messages to any Irish mobile: 11c


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

Call charges to Vodafone mobiles and landlines: 19c
Call charges to other Irish mobiles: 49c
Text messages to any Irish mobile: 11c

Calls to Vodafone offpeak WERE 15cent on the old plan (and still are if you stay on that plan) - now 19cent - 26% increase - Progress?

jesus_thats_gre

Commander Vimes wrote:

pretty much. just like eircom has the majority share in the landline market despite being the most expensive and not the best service. most people just don't care.

Hmm while I am not exactly a fan of Eircom, you will find that they actually offer quite a good service when compared to competing operators. Their BB service is probably the most reliable in the country.

Commander Vimes wrote:

i can't remember where i read it tbh since it was a few months ago but they have posted losses

Well you used this point in the context of the lack of Vodafone's competitveness with regard to their pricing is the reason they are loosing large numbers of customers and making big losses.

Show me an example of where they actually made a cash loss in Ireland or for the whole group..

To save you the hassle, for their 2006 results, they technically made a loss of £14.9 billion. Wow you say.. Until you look at it more closely and see that that loss including the write down of assets by £23.5 billion.

Commander Vimes wrote:

i won't try to pretend their customer care is good. its not. i don't know where your friends are living but my meteor coverage is always rock solid

Meteor's coverage is improving but they are still somewhat off offering anything on a par with O2 or Vodafone.. It is no coincidence that Meteor depended on and depends on those 2 to provide coverage for them in certain parts of the country.

Commander Vimes wrote:

its not really close it it. the texts are the same, everything else is more expensive. still not worth it imo

The texts are the same and this is the main reason for Meteor's success. Meteor have always had slightly better prepaid tariffs than O2 or Vodafone. They only started making major inroads when they introduced the free text offer.

Commander Vimes wrote:

meteor are perceived quite badly this is true. i spend a lot of my day convincing people that meteor's coverage isn't the same as it was 6 years ago and now that they have the roaming deal with vodafone they have pretty much the same coverage. my point being that how they're perceived and how they are are different things. which brings me back to my "people aren't bothered" point

I would agree that people are not bothered. Most people are happy to stay where they are as they have had a good service and there is no point in tempting faith and risking some major heartache if switching operator brings about a degradation in service.

The main people that change are the bargain seekers, the ones whos primary concern is cost, the young market, the ones that on average send an insane amount of texts and make very few calls.

Commander Vimes wrote:

ah now i see why you're supporting vodafone

Lol do not make the mistake of assuming I am defending something because I used to work there 5 or 6 years ago. I have spent hours on the phone to Meteor, Vodafone, Sky, NTL, Eircom, Dell and O2 over the years. My experiences with Meteor were worse than that with NTL.. It does not really get any worse to be honest.

Commander Vimes wrote:

my main gripe with vodafone customer care is their policy of lying to people about unlock codes. having been lied to many many times, i refuse to believe its not a policy. also, when i phone up, they say "hello x how can i help you" (x being my name). i asked them not to give my name to the person who just stole my phone. it took them months to oblige

It is not a policy.. Sounds a little daft alright though.

Commander Vimes wrote:

also, they even call out my name when i call from my meteor number (formally vodafone). they shouldn't even have those details available to them tbh

Can't comment on that one..


l

Commander Vimes wrote:

ook, i don't mean to insult your friends but if they think they're getting value for money from vodafone, they simply can't do maths. in the last few days, they've become sort of cheap. until now they were massively more expensive.

It is as simple as this. The ones who use prepaid phones do not spend large amounts of money. The savings they would benefit from by switching to Meteor completely would be very little.

Am sure you typed value without actually considering the fact that everyone do not equate value to just the costs involved. Sort of goes back to my point.

Commander Vimes wrote:

you have no way of knowing that tbh. you're pretty much doing what you told me not to, looking at your own group. i know one or two people on o2 and one on vodafone and i take an interest in what networks people are on.
in my shop its quite rare for someone to buy a vodafone phone. and when someone does, its invariably a bill pay customer or someone who doesn't know anything about phones

Yes but Vodafone have gone to great efforts to get customers to go directly to their own stores. Is there a Vodafone store nearby by any chance?

Commander Vimes wrote:

generally, the rule is if you want cheap, move to meteor. if you want good customer service, move to o2 (they win the award every year so its official). if you hate having money, move to vodafone.

Interesting rule alright.. Have you ever been in the situation where you have been willing to pay a premium simply to make life a little easier and avoid hassle or time wasting?

Sam Vimes

jesus_thats_gre wrote:

Hmm while I am not exactly a fan of Eircom, you will find that they actually offer quite a good service when compared to competing operators. Their BB service is probably the most reliable in the country.

that's debatable tbh

jesus_thats_gre wrote:

Well you used this point in the context of the lack of Vodafone's competitveness with regard to their pricing is the reason they are loosing large numbers of customers and making big losses.

Show me an example of where they actually made a cash loss in Ireland or for the whole group..

To save you the hassle, for their 2006 results, they technically made a loss of £14.9 billion. Wow you say.. Until you look at it more closely and see that that loss including the write down of assets by £23.5 billion.

i'm not sure what "the write down of assets" means so lets just say the report i read was wrong

jesus_thats_gre wrote:

Meteor's coverage is improving but they are still somewhat off offering anything on a par with O2 or Vodafone.. It is no coincidence that Meteor depended on and depends on those 2 to provide coverage for them in certain parts of the country.

no they don't have as many masts as the other networks down the country but since they can use vodafone's masts that's irrelevant. the customers can still get the same level of coverage offered by the other networks. they don't care who owns the mast they're using

jesus_thats_gre wrote:

The texts are the same and this is the main reason for Meteor's success. Meteor have always had slightly better prepaid tariffs than O2 or Vodafone. They only started making major inroads when they introduced the free text offer.

this is true. so i can't see people moving back for an offer that's not quite as good. anyone who's moved to meteor in the last two years knows that the idea that they have crap coverage is a myth. i've seen a few people on boards who have had problems with their coverage but no one i know does. and i still maintain those people had faulty phones because for example, one said he couldn't get coverage on o connell street.

jesus_thats_gre wrote:

The main people that change are the bargain seekers, the ones whos primary concern is cost, the young market, the ones that on average send an insane amount of texts and make very few calls.

which pretty much describes most pre pay people who'd care enough to think bout their provider

jesus_thats_gre wrote:

Lol do not make the mistake of assuming I am defending something because I used to work there 5 or 6 years ago. I have spent hours on the phone to Meteor, Vodafone, Sky, NTL, Eircom, Dell and O2 over the years. My experiences with Meteor were worse than that with NTL.. It does not really get any worse to be honest.

i've never tried to claim their customer care is good. in fact if you do a search you'll find several thread with me giving out about them

jesus_thats_gre wrote:

It is as simple as this. The ones who use prepaid phones do not spend large amounts of money. The savings they would benefit from by switching to Meteor completely would be very little.

the way i use my phone, it would cost me several hundred a month on a different network. and someone who spends 30 a month would probably change if that would drop to 15.

jesus_thats_gre wrote:

Am sure you typed value without actually considering the fact that everyone do not equate value to just the costs involved. Sort of goes back to my point.

not everyone, but what do you think an 18 year old college student cares about? customer care or beer money? i think you've already answered that by saying you had a meteor phone in college. now that you've left college, you're more than likely on a bill phone.

jesus_thats_gre wrote:

Yes but Vodafone have gone to great efforts to get customers to go directly to their own stores. Is there a Vodafone store nearby by any chance?

there is but that's not exactly packed either

jesus_thats_gre wrote:

Interesting rule alright.. Have you ever been in the situation where you have been willing to pay a premium simply to make life a little easier and avoid hassle or time wasting?

that depends. i've been with bt broadband for years and while the customer care is famously dire, i've lived with it because its the cheapest available to me and the actual service has always been good. in the last few weeks my bb has regularly been cutting off for hours at a time so i'm looking for a new provider.

my point being, customer care is not important to me as long as the service is good. if i couldn't get coverage i'd be gone in a second. it's not like the 3 network where the entire country has gone down twice in two months for an entire night

also, if i was to pick a network based on those criteria, i'd pick o2 because they win the award for best customer care every year

pj_samba

Fair play lads - fairly comprehensive response.

So there is no real catch - just Vodafone getting a bit more competitive - good news I suspose.

Will O2 follow? Will Meteor improve their free text offer - top up with only €10 per month - lets wait.

Re the very interesting debate about customer service (lol) I find them all reasonable - O2 win the awards because they enter them - they are just industry awards judged by equipment suppliers anyway- as a general rule don't do business with anyone who wins awards they end up going on and on about it - when they should be focusing on doing their job better!