Meteor - Hidden charges /deposit requests

CrazyRabbit

Some background info: I'm currently a Meteor PAYG customer, but am looking to switch to a bill pay plan & upgrade my ancient phone.

Meteor were offering a HTC Desire for €159 when signing up to their 12 month Billpay plan. So I went through the process of ordering this online and specified 'Keep my number'. When I got to the end of the form it kept asking me for my current phone number and provider, but there was no option for 'Meteor' in the list of providers. So I just chose O2 and the order was processed.

I got an email 2 days later telling me the order was cancelled, and to send a letter to them if I wanted to know why. I rang them and waited around for 10 mins before being told that it was because I choose O2. I was then told that to keep my current Meteor number, I actually had to choose 'Change number', get the phone, then ring them back and move the number to the new phone. Grrrr.

So, I went through the process again and this time choose 'Change Number', only to find that the price of the phone suddenly increased by €30.

So, they are basically advertising that everyone can keep their current number, but forcing existing Meteor customers to get a new number and charging them €30 extra for it!

Not liking this, but still wanting this phone/plan, I submitted the order anyway.

Today, I get another email telling me this is also cancelled. When I phone them, I get told that "We need a €300 deposit and couldn't contact you so we cancelled the order because we can't leave them open for too long". What's annoying is that I have no missed calls, and my phone is on & beside me 24/7. They didn't try to contact me.

Meteor seem to be doing their best to prevent me from being a customer. And they have these hidden fee's & unclear advertising.

I'm not unsure if I should just pay this €300 deposit + €189 for the phone, or go elsewhere. I really like the little extra's and options with Meteor, but Meteor don't seem to like me.

Any advice on how I could get them to waive the deposit (I've a perfect credit rating) & get the phone at the cheaper advertised price? Or should I just forget about them and report them for dodgy practices?

slowmoe

why don't you just go into a shop? That way you will get the contract done then and there and if there are any probs the staff should be able to advise you whats happened and where to go?

RangeR

If this is the sort of "customer care" you are getting BEFORE you sign up with the bill pay, I'd run a mile. Having said that, there are pros and cons of each mobile operator.

opinion guy

So why don't you just change provider ?
They always offer cheaper prices when you switch provider

CrazyRabbit

opinion guy wrote: »

So why don't you just change provider ?
They always offer cheaper prices when you switch provider

Unfortunately, Meteor offer exactly what I need. Good price, lots of free minutes+texts, and a cheap package for internet data usage. I'd be happy to recommend them as a provider if they just let me buy the phone & signup with minimum of fuss.

slowmoe wrote: »

why don't you just go into a shop? That way you will get the contract done then and there and if there are any probs the staff should be able to advise you whats happened and where to go?

Online prices are quite a bit cheaper. I'd much rather do this in a shop also.

empirix

meteor are tossers!! avoid