Vodafone Upgrade Policy

whitelightrider

Folks,

Just wondering if anyone knows what Vodafone's upgrade policy is? Im a bill pay customer who upgraded 13 months ago, have spent 1100 euro this year with them and Im told Im still not eligible!

Just wondering what the criteria is.

whippet

It's a mystery. I was 18 months since my last upgrade, average about €2K per year spend and was told I wasn't eligible.

I called them back a few minutes later from an O2 store to cancel my account as I was getting the iPhone and the customer care rep started to going about the Blackberry Storm and see what she could do for me on one.

A month in to iPhone land .. only delighted !! 11 years of being an Eircell / Vodafone bill pay customer I was a little disgusted, but you live, you learn.

jenzz

whitelightrider wrote: »

Folks,

Just wondering if anyone knows what Vodafone's upgrade policy is? Im a bill pay customer who upgraded 13 months ago, have spent 1100 euro this year with them and Im told Im still not eligible!

Just wondering what the criteria is.

Its the 13 months is the problem. Hard to explain so bear with me. Expenditure on your bill for upgrading is based on a 12 month period. So lets say the bill in month 1 was €200 your actual expenditure on your bills in the last 12 months is only €900. Lets say this month you spend €500 , you will think that your expenditure in 14 months is €1500. Remember they base it on 12 month period . So take off month 1 & 2 bills & add in month 14 & thats how you know the amount in their 12 month period.They change their criteria all the time but base expenditure to be entitled to an upgrade was €1500 so that could explain why your not entitled.

whitelightrider

Thanks folks. Its definitely a weird one. I upgraded last year after being offered 2 upgrades the year before. Built a house in the last 12 months so my bills have been decent amounts.
I actually thought they might swing it seeing as Im out of contract with them and I am seriously thinking of moving to another operator now.

neacy69

whitelightrider wrote: »

Folks,

Just wondering if anyone knows what Vodafone's upgrade policy is? Im a bill pay customer who upgraded 13 months ago, have spent 1100 euro this year with them and Im told Im still not eligible!

Just wondering what the criteria is.

If you are out of contract all you have to do is tell them that if you dont get an upgrade then you are moving to o2 and they will give you an upgrade.

and if they dont then move to o2 and get a new phone (and prob a cheaper bill)

leon79

I rang vodafone about the same issue... my last upgrade was 13 months ago too and my bills would've been similar to yours (perhaps a little more but not much). They told me that they couldn't tell me when i was eligible... i just need to check vodafone.ie after each billing period. It's apparently a computer generated thing that takes into account, the length of time I've been with vodafone, how many upgrades I've had, how much i've spent since my last upgrade...etc etc... I asked for more information about the formula that is used and if it were possible for customers to use it and calculate this themselves... obviuosly the answer was NO... customer service staff don't have that kind of information and it is not made available to customers. The service rep did say that after looking at my account, he would be surprised if I wasn't eligible after my next billing period... so if I'm not entitled to an upgrade on March 1st, i will be moving to 02 or 3.

whitelightrider

These guys are unreal. Seems like I have to wait to be offered an upgrade. I am out of contract with Vodafone so could change to another provider. I wouldve thought that to entice the customer to stay with them and sign another 12 month contract that they would offer an upgrade. Makes business sense.

neacy69

Did both you guys tell them without doubt that you will move to o2 if you don't get an upgrade? if you say that the very least they should do is escalate the issue to their team leader who can override the computers decision........if that still dosent work then ask to speak to the TL and tell them you are going to leave over the upgrade trust if you are persitent enought you will get it......

if it was me i would just move to o2.....

(i know all this info from experiene)

sff

neacy69 wrote: »

If you are out of contract all you have to do is tell them that if you dont get an upgrade then you are moving to o2 and they will give you an upgrade.

and if they dont then move to o2 and get a new phone (and prob a cheaper bill)

It doesn't matter what you say to them over the phone. The networks have farmed out their upgrades and upgrade policy making to a 3rd party company. They will not be able to push through an upgrade at all. Unless you are a business customer with loads of phones on the same account, which, if you ask me, is a joke.

BostonB

sff wrote: »

It doesn't matter what you say to them over the phone. The networks have farmed out their upgrades and upgrade policy making to a 3rd party company. ...

How does that work. I can't see any logic in that.

From what I can see all the networks have no interest in upgrades or holding on to existing customers. You get the best deals by moving network.

sff

Bla bla... recession and cost cutting... bla bla. It seems to me that's the best way to go too but if you use 500 minutes every month and 300 minutes of those are to vodafone customers it's gonna cost you more every month to switch etworks and you might just be better off buying the phone outright. You really have to go through your bill with a fine toothcomb.

Our man in Havana

BostonB wrote: »

How does that work. I can't see any logic in that.

From what I can see all the networks have no interest in upgrades or holding on to existing customers. You get the best deals by moving network.

+1

It is not just Vodafone. I find it amazing that in a recession they are doing nothing to retain customers.

whitelightrider

Bond-007 wrote: »

+1

It is not just Vodafone. I find it amazing that in a recession they are doing nothing to retain customers.

I agree. I wouldve thought that they would offer the stupid upgrade and tie me into another 12 month contract. Guaranteed income for another 12 months.

Wile E. Coyote

As a vodafone customer who is entitled to an upgrade I can tell you that it's not worth it. The prices are the same as if you were a new customer walking into the shop.

charlieIRL

sff wrote: »

They will not be able to push through an upgrade at all.

they can if they want, i'm with vodafone (for now - same prob with upgrade as people on this thread) and i made bits of my phone last year - 2 months before my upgrade was due. I had insurance on phone and when i went into shop instead of fixing it the pushed my upgrade forward.

i was shocked to learn that they no longer give automatic annual upgrades. :mad:

Our man in Havana

Strange the way they still offer 12 month contracts though. You would think if they won't upgrade for 18 months that they would try and tie you into an 18 month contract.

The way it is now, people can leave after 1 year and go to another network and get a fresh phone, and then repeat every year. No loyalty anymore.

whitelightrider

Its amazing how things change. I am now eligible for an upgrade after sending an email asking them to cancel my term with Vodafone!

Our man in Havana

Strange indeed. I threatened to cancel and they did nothing, I am now on o2.

charlieIRL

whitelightrider wrote: »

Its amazing how things change. I am now eligible for an upgrade after sending an email asking them to cancel my term with Vodafone!

i e-mailed them and told them i was dissapointed with them and their new policy and was politely told "tough $s1t!"

this is part of the e-mail i got..........

Thank you for your recent enquiry about Upgrading your phone.

I regret to inform you that we are unable to offer you an upgrade at
this time.

Our upgrade process is periodically reviewed. There are a number of
factors we take into consideration such as expenditure and length of
time since the last upgrade. Both would be taken into consideration
in every case.

Customers are assessed on expiry of there contract and are
continually assessed going forward. Due to recent direct feedback we
have put all our budgets towards reducing our customer’s bills rather
than subsidising handsets.

However, We can offer you one of the following handsets:

- Nokia 1600 for €49
- Nokia 6234 for €129
- Vodafone V710 for €69

Should you choose to accept any of these offers it will not effect
your future upgrade eligibility. If you are interested please let us
know and we will post the relevant forms to you.

02 here i come!

drunkmonkey

charlieIRL wrote: »

02 here i come!

check out 3's upgrade policy before you go with o2;)

Ah-Watch

charlieIRL wrote: »

i e-mailed them and told them i was dissapointed with them and their new policy and was politely told "tough $s1t!"

this is part of the e-mail i got..........



02 here i come!

I'll probably get fleeced for this but your post is utter s#ite! None of those phones are available anymore so it has to be at least 6 months, no more old!! Sorry! Its quite possible you got that email but not in the last few months!

charlieIRL

Ah-Watch wrote: »

I'll probably get fleeced for this but your post is utter s#ite! None of those phones are available anymore so it has to be at least 6 months, no more old!! Sorry! Its quite possible you got that email but not in the last few months!

If you don't believe me can you PM me your e-mail address and i'll forward on the mail to you.

*EDIT* E-mail sent to you there. This is the start of it.

---

Original Message

---

From: <care@vodafone.ie>
To: "XXXXXX" <XXXXX@XXXXX>
Sent: Tuesday, February 17, 2009 2:14 PM
Subject: RE: upgrade

charlieIRL

drunkmonkey wrote: »

check out 3's upgrade policy before you go with o2;)

after the grief i had with them and their "broadbad" if they offered me free line rental for the next 10 years i'd pass it up!