02 VS Vodafone

adonis

Guys,
Ive been with 02 for 2 years, but im thinking of changing to vodafone..
anyone got any horror stories / good stuff to relate
?

lodgepole

I was with them for about four years before moving to Meteor. I had no real problems with the network, the move was purely a financial one.

The only problem I did have was their online section, which was absolutely ridiculously slow to load. This is with an NTL cable connection too... Their online service didn't really compare to Meteor's either, though it should be noted that I pre-paid on both networks. Vodafone don't offer a print out of your bill from your online account.

In terms of reception and reliability when it came to the actual phone service, it was perfect. No complaints whatsoever.

adonis

dang
forgot about meteor
are those boyos any good?

lodgepole

Originally posted by adonis
dang
forgot about meteor
are those boyos any good?

I'm fairly happy with the service so far, the main reason I moved was to avail of the free text messaging between meteor customers. This would only be of benefit if you knew enough people who use meteor though... I've only taken the phone outside of Dublin as far as Thurles and had no problems with reception on the way. I imagine there are spots around the country where it would be a major issue though... Meteor have good online service and friendlier staff (with a friendlier attitude) than Vodafone. I'm very pleased that I changed...

ferdi

i changed from vodafone to meteor

i kept my own number

i have free texts for life to all other meteor numbers as long as i top my credit up with 20euro per month

the rates are fine

88% national coverage

monument

Originally posted by Lodgepole
Vodafone don't offer a print out of your bill from your online account.

O, yes they do.

Nuttzz

eircel/vodafone customer since 96, never any problems....

lodgepole

Originally posted by monument
O, yes they do.

Even with a pre paid account? They didn't before I moved on New Years Eve... An account that you could view online or one that you could have posted to you?

alleepally

I've been with O2 since the 1st Digifone days must be about 6 years now. Was thinking about moving to Voda (didn't want meteor as phone offerings were no good) but started doing comparisons on cost and O2 were better value all round. It all depends on your call profile and usage of course but I'd recommend you do some costings on your bills and see before you commit to changing.

adonis

the upgrades on 02 are terrible though.
i want a new phone, that semi decent, for a good price
ive been using 02 for 2 years now -c 45- and all they can offer me is a crumby nokia phone...
vodafone can offer me a motorola one for 50 euros!

PhoenixRising

Even with a pre paid account?

Why would you want a print out of your ready to go account ? Just call 1741.

I'm on bill pay with Vodafone and you can print out your account statements and bills online.

I find Vodafone very good. Their customer care line is excellent, better range of phones than O2, slightly better network coverage than O2. They are a little bit more expensive than O2 however, but I'm very happy with them so I don't really mind paying it.

PS. Would this not be more suitable in the Mobiles/PDA's forum ?

adonis

im lazy and didnt want to look to long to see where to post it

Kold

I've been on vodaphone/Eircell for 5 years now. I'm considering moving to meteor. Vodaphone needs to lower their prices imho.

lodgepole

Originally posted by PhoenixRising
Why would you want a print out of your ready to go account ? Just call 1741.

I'm on bill pay with Vodafone and you can print out your account statements and bills online.

So that you can see where your money has gone... I never had it with Vodafone and I find it a useful feature with Meteor...

byte

Hmm, that would indeed be a handy option. That, and fixing their slow site, would make me a happier Vodafone customer.

I'm restricted to Vodafone due to O2 coverage being poor where I live and Meteor being non-existant. :dunno:

Dun

I was with Eircell/Vodafone from 1999 til the end of last year when I ported to O2. I definitely find they don't have as good coverage as Vodafone, and the network seems to bottleneck at peak times a lot more than Vodafone ever did. I have a hell of a time sometimes trying to text or phone around 6pm for example (and that's when I need a lift home). The only other niggles are the lack of control over call diverts/voicemail, the expensive/somewhat elusive GPRS and having "message sending failed" coming up even if a message is sent.

The only thing that made me change over was the price of the text message bundles and calls made it so much cheaper, though it's turned around now that I'm over the border a lot - it's a LOT more expensive to roam (on any network, including O2 UK) than Vodafone (on the NI Vodafone network). But, I took part in an e-mail trial thing for them recently and they gave me €50 free credit, as well as getting €55 too much credit due to the registration-credit-cock-up at Christmas, so it's worked out grand for me so far.

Oh, and it seems Meteor and Donegal don't go hand in hand whatsoever (but it always seem that a disconcerting amount of 'Southerners' think that Donegal's part of NI, so maybe they do too).

gsand

i had vodafone back in the day when it was eircell-changed to meteor and wud never even consider changing back.meteor is so much cheaper-have never had reception problems. a lot of my friends are moving to get free sms and keeping their numbers so meteor is getting better and better from my point of view.

only 9c at any time to call another meteor mobile-sweet

monument

Originally posted by Lodgepole
So that you can see where your money has gone... I never had it with Vodafone and I find it a useful feature with Meteor...

Sorry, I only know about bill pay - I missread what you said you were on.

BuffyBot

I switched from O2 (Digifone as it was then) to Meteor and have to say, I found Meteor the better deal. My bills dropped by almost 40% and I had very few reception/coverage issues when going around the country.

Now I'm stuck with Orange in the UK and I really pine for Meteor

projectmayhem

my dad works for vodafone... i love them

dudara

Been with eircell/vodafone since 1999, and have never had any trouble with them. At the moment, my monthly bill is ~e30, and I have a great bundle of free call minutes. Throw in 300 free texts online and I'm happy. The only thing is I want an upgrade, but I'll have to wait a while, as I've already used two upgrades in the past.

smoke.me.a.kipper

was on o2, switched to vodafone to get a decent camera fone (the o2 offering at the time were too pricey) now i want to switch to meteor to $av€!!

mada999

Have been with 02 and with meteor now!

They are so cheap it's deadly! Coverage is 88%! there's different options for pricing so have a look!
Hopefully more people will make the move to meteor then there will be so much competition!!!

You can buy the meteor sim in Xtravision and get a free €20 topup and €100 free call cred!
decent!

Gillie

I have two fones here.
Both Nokia but ones o2 (personal fone) others Vodafone (work fone).
I can't even take a call on the Vodafone one coz the signal is so bad but the o2 fone is perfect!

Lump

When I'm in Ireland I use 02, I also had a meteor phone that I gave me dad, when I got it, coverage was rubbish, I got it free when I opened an AIB account. I'm in the UK now and I use Voda Phone. I find 02 are very good in Ireland.




John

andrew163

used to be with vodafone and switched to meteor, keeping the number, €20 for the sim pack, REALLY good call/text rates (although the free-text-for-life-as-long-as-you-keep-topping-up thing is a bit confusing), the only bad thing is that in my area their signal strength isn't as good as vodafone and dies out sometimes indoors. (i'm in Dublin 15)... :dunno:

<edit>just noticed this thread was about O2 and vodafone not meteor....
so the moral of my story is... if you want good signal strength go to O2 not meteor</edit>

Gangsta

I recently switched from O2 to Vodafone. Not really impressed with vodafone as they're made out to be. Costs r higher and staff r fookin fagats n the sim has made my phone really slow (Panasonic GD87).

:mad:

Civilian_Target

I'm with o2 and have never found fault in them. The rest of my family are with Vodafone, but the reception is worse in Donegal than with o2, and they're too lazy/stubborn to change. I'm not too pushed about what phone I use, and I'm on pay as you go.

They're cheaper than Vodafone allround, their customer service is cheap, fast and efficient. They offer a lot of bolt-on deals, which I avail of in the summer (I'm in college in Belfast so I don't use my southern SIM much during the year), not least the €7.50 a month north-south deal and the 7c text messages. I've never had network problems, even at Witness 2003, and the worst thing I can say about them is that they send you spam with your credit balance....

Definitely recommended.

billy the squid

Switched from meteor to vodafone in 2003 because they would not enable my phone to roam in the UK. When I got to the UK the vodafone sim card didnt work either. Not a week goes by without me having to call customer care and listen to gerry fish for a half hour because of one problem or another. as soon as my passport arrives im moving to O2

Kalina

A guy who worked for my family ran up a bill on a company mobile of more than €5,000 over a one month period and then robbed the phone & did a runner leaving us to foot the bill. O2 are writing off nearly half the bill as we have made a huge effort to pay it and didn't try to renege on paying.
You can't get much more helpful than that.

elexes

ive beed with metor for about 6 months now was with voda b4 . its annoyin when i go out of towns or cities and cant make calls cause of lack of network but im very happy . the 100 euros free i got with it lasted for ages .

Dun

Originally posted by Civilian_Target
I'm with o2 and have never found fault in them. The rest of my family are with Vodafone, but the reception is worse in Donegal than with o2, and they're too lazy/stubborn to change.

Definitely from Inishowen as far as Letterkenny there's much better Vodafone coverage than O2. If it wasn't for the cheaper text messages I'd have changed back. Can't comment on the bolt-ons as I'm on Speakeasy, but Vodafone are definitely the cheaper option for roamin in the North.

Da_cOmRaDe_MiKe

how do you go about changing from vodafone to meteor? can u do it on line or do u have to go to a shop to do it. how much does it cost??

lodgepole

Originally posted by Da_cOmRaDe_MiKe
how do you go about changing from vodafone to meteor? can u do it on line or do u have to go to a shop to do it. how much does it cost??

Go into Meteor and ask them to do it. Give them €20. You get a Sim card with €20 credit, you'll get another €10 a few days later.

herbie747

I was with Eircell/Vodafone for 3 years - USELESS IDIOTS.

I've been with O2 now for the last 3 years, and they are much better - customer service & coverage.

Don't even consider Meteor; they're a complete joke alround.

azezil

I've been on 02 for nearly 4 years, never had any problems with them, recently upgraded n got €120 free credit and free new sim card, nice

I considered moving to vodafone but a friend who done it advised me not too, took 2 weeks, said they were rude and not very helpful!

I never really considered meteor, coverage isn't great back home, granted i don't go home very often, but when i do i like to be able to keep in contact with my friends, for my own sanity ;P

JTMan

I have has a Meteor Sim since Meteor started. The coverage has slowly improved in the last 3 years. It will be 94-95% by year end with even most of Donegal covered.

The savings are phenonimal with Meteor and the main reason I have stayed. You do not beet free pictures & text messages for life, off peak calls to every network for 13C, calls to Meteor from 9C as well as 15C international texts (versus 25C with the voda o2 rip off) and much cheaper international calls.

Voda and o2 have the some of the higest charges in Europe, it is time that more people moved with their feet.

byte

Originally posted by Fungus
I have has a Meteor Sim since Meteor started. The coverage has slowly improved in the last 3 years. It will be 94-95% by year end with even most of Donegal covered.

If Meteor develop good coverage where I live, I will seriously consider them. O2 tried to erect a mast but the locals objected to it.

Urban Weigl

Vodafone are useless, and the most expensive too. As long as you stay away from them, you'll be fine.

fjon

Not a week goes by without me having to call customer care and listen to gerry fish for a half hour because of one problem or another

That stupid song! It drives me mad. And it sounds like they use a version recorded with one of their phones...

I was with O2 for years, and decided I'd get my first billpay phone from Vodafone (better phone selction at the time).
I am going straight back to O2 after my contract is up.
They're way to dear, brutal customer service, and they've made way too many cock-ups with account. Steer clear!

cyclopath2001

I just got my Vodafone bill, they charged me 2.19/minute for local calls made roaming in Eastern Europe, more than 5 times the local rate.

I'm switching to O2 ASAP/.