Meteor Call Credit Rip Off

Killme00

Hi,

I bought my godson a mobile phone for his fourteenth birthday in Tescos in Clare Hall at the weekend. It cost €129 with a promise of €80 call credit. I rang Meteor today to register his phone for the call credit and they told me that he is only entitled to €10 call credit and that the shop and the meteor website are wrong with regards to the €80 call credit.

http://www.meteor.ie/phones/all/details/sony-ericsson_w580i_black/

What can i do?

Thanks

KTRIC

Did you read the terms ?

Doesn't look like it.

Killme00

KTRIC wrote: »

Did you read the terms ?

Doesn't look like it.

Yes i did. It says €10 per month for few months and i am fine with that but the have told me on the phone he will only get €10 total.

KTRIC

Killme00 wrote: »

Yes i did. It says €10 per month for few months and i am fine with that but the have told me on the phone he will only get €10 total.

About Call Credit

New Customers: Requires online registration, transfer of number and phased call credit requires monthly top up.

Did you transfer his number ?

tictac2580

Killme00 wrote: »

I rang Meteor today to register his phone for the call credit

The terms mention ONLINE REGISTRATION.

Paulw

It also says "Call credit up to €80". So, €10 qualifies.

They always have more than enough conditions in the clauses to be able to cover themselves.

From their FULL TERMS that a brand new customer (not transferred from another operator) will only get €10.

I can't see how they are doing anything wrong, or not sticking to the terms you agreed to.

stacka

this happened to me with xtravision they were running a meteor promotion with 60 euro free credit. the first time i went to top up was told by meteor that there was only 10 euro on phone. Their customer service did not seem to give a toss. Took phone back to xtravision who told me that several days after I purchased the phone they got a memo from meteor saying that they were stopping the promotion.

I persisted with xtravision and they were good enough to give me a refund.

Think this is a bit underhand from meteor. If they have phones out there on promotion they should be honoring this. The only reason I purchased was because of the free credit offer. I wouldn't have went with them otherwise. Safe to say after this experience I won't be going meteor in the future either.

Carturo

Does it not mean you get 10e a month for 8 months? That's how it works on VF.

stacka

Carturo wrote: »

Does it not mean you get 10e a month for 8 months? That's how it works on VF.

thats what I thought myself but after talking to meteor customer service was told there was 10 euros and 10 euros only with the phone.

Random

The shop are the ones "ripping you off" here and not Meteor. I would notify Meteor and make them aware that the shop is giving out incorrect information to their potential customers. Then I would go back to the shop and get a refund. Otherwise just keep the phone and the tenner

wmpdd3

http://www.meteor.ie/phones/all/call_credit/

http://meteor.ie/plans/switch_to_meteor/free_sim/porting_bonus/


Looks like you should have gotten €61 credit, if you registered online. Can't see how this is the shops fault. You could have gotten up to €80 credit.

tvnutz

Random wrote: »

The shop are the ones "ripping you off" here and not Meteor. I would notify Meteor and make them aware that the shop is giving out incorrect information to their potential customers. Then I would go back to the shop and get a refund. Otherwise just keep the phone and the tenner

How are the shops ripping people off? The offer is from Meteor,they tell shops like Xtra-Vision what deals are on at the moment etc and all places like Xtra-Vision do is sell the phone and tell you what Meteor's offer with credit is. The shop has nothing to do with credit,its all up to Meteor.

Cabaal

tvnutz wrote: »

How are the shops ripping people off? The offer is from Meteor,they tell shops like Xtra-Vision what deals are on at the moment etc and all places like Xtra-Vision do is sell the phone and tell you what Meteor's offer with credit is. The shop has nothing to do with credit,its all up to Meteor.

I'd agree, your contract is with Meteor not with Xtravision or any otgher shop,m the information is there in the Terms & Conditions and the Meteor.ie website...in the end its upto the customer to ensure they are informed and to ask the right questions

drunkmonkey

Killme00 wrote: »

Hi,

I bought my godson a mobile phone for his fourteenth birthday in Tescos in Clare Hall at the weekend.

What can i do?

You can take it back for a full refund and get a better deal and phone somewhere else...

i'm guessing this is his first phone or he's getting a new number....

If the free credit is what your after 3 pay offer the best deal at the moment, €5 on the sim and €10 for 8mts as long as you top up by €10pm so you get €85 free credit... No registration is required...

02 speakeasy Offer is abismal...50 cent on the sim, €5 for 3mts and an extra €5 if you register on line...so a total of €20.50 (€20pm top up is also required)

Meteor offer €1 on the sim, €10 for registering and €10 for registering online so a total of €21

Vodafone offer up to €20 free credit....

At the moment all the free credit offers are useless except 3's offer and that still requires a €10 top up..best of a bad bunch..

Sam Vimes

take a look here to see why you shouldn't listen to drunkmonkey when he recommends 3:
http://cabaal.org/cabbage/dm.htm

all he does all day every day on the mobiles forum is try to get people to switch to 3. occasionally he posts correct information but you simply can't trust his recommendations because he's not trying to present you with the best option for you, he's trying to get you to switch to 3, regardless of whether 3 would be any good for you.

his reasons for doing this are beyond me because he doesn't seem to be getting paid by them but the fact remains, he loves 3 and will invariably exaggerate their benefits (and make some up) and exaggerate every other network's drawbacks (and again, make some up)

Sam Vimes

this thread for example. his latest thing is to focus all attention on the free credit offers because 3's is very slightly better than the other networks on some phones.

you'll note he doesn't mention that meteor offer up to €80 credit on the higher value phones* and he makes out like free credit should be the deciding factor here when you could easily save far more in credit than 3 give if you get an appropriate deal on another network.

basically every tiny little thing that 3 do slightly better is shouted from the roof tops and exaggerated and everything they do worse (far more things imo) are ignored







*may be incorrect but that's what it says on their website

Cabaal

wow he certainly posts alot of "postive" posts about three, crazy

drunkmonkey

Sam Vimes wrote: »

take a look here to see why you shouldn't listen to drunkmonkey when he recommends 3:
http://cabaal.org/cabbage/dm.htm

all he does all day every day on the mobiles forum is try to get people to switch to 3. occasionally he posts correct information but you simply can't trust his recommendations because he's not trying to present you with the best option for you, he's trying to get you to switch to 3, regardless of whether 3 would be any good for you.

his reasons for doing this are beyond me because he doesn't seem to be getting paid by them but the fact remains, he loves 3 and will invariably exaggerate their benefits (and make some up) and exaggerate every other network's drawbacks (and again, make some up)

Sam, wtf, give it a rest and stop watching every word I say.....i've merley informed the OP of all the options, just cause 3 give the most free credit does not make me a bad guy....
seriously man your verging on the obsessive....give it a rest....

drunkmonkey

Sam Vimes wrote: »

this thread for example. his latest thing is to focus all attention on the free credit offers because 3's is very slightly better than the other networks on some phones.

Sam let's get one thing straight, The OP was giving out about free credit and asked what to do, I gave my 2cent which is allowed......now go away and troll someone else..

Sam Vimes

drunkmonkey wrote: »

Sam, wtf, give it a rest and stop watching every word I say.....i've merley informed the OP of all the options, just cause 3 give the most free credit does not make me a bad guy....

no it doesn't. but spending all day every day trying to get people to switch to 3 and making up stuff in the process does

drunkmonkey wrote: »

seriously man your verging on the obsessive....give it a rest....

all i did was spend ten minutes going through your post history. i'd consider it more obsessive to spend 8 months pimping 3. your readiness to rubbish every other alternative whether what you're saying is true or not, promote them whether what you're saying is true or not and blindness to their faults is reminiscient of a cult member at this stage tbh

GhostInTheRuins

Sam Vimes wrote: »

take a look here to see why you shouldn't listen to drunkmonkey when he recommends 3:
http://cabaal.org/cabbage/dm.htm

:eek::eek::eek:

Sam Vimes

drunkmonkey wrote: »

Sam let's get one thing straight, The OP was giving out about free credit and asked what to do, I gave my 2cent which is allowed......now go away and troll someone else..

it absolutely is allowed. and i am equally allowed to put your posts into context by showing that you always recommend 3 and take every possible opportunity to recommend 3 so the fact that you're recommending 3 here doesn't necessarily mean very much

drunkmonkey

seriously go away your a troll....you have added nothing to this thead but a personal attack on me!

Sam Vimes

drunkmonkey wrote: »

seriously go away your a troll....you have added nothing to this thead but a personal attack on me!

i posted a link to a selection of your post history with a short description of the content of each post. if you consider that a personal attack then fair enough

edit: please point out the sections which you believe to be untrue with a description of why you believe them to be untrue and i will remove them

Brian

Sam Vimes wrote: »

it absolutely is allowed. and i am equally allowed to put your posts into context by showing that you always recommend 3 and take every possible opportunity to recommend 3 so the fact that you're recommending 3 here doesn't necessarily mean very much

Are admin aware of this? The plugging seems excessive.

Cabaal

drunkmonkey wrote: »

seriously go away your a troll....you have added nothing to this thead but a personal attack on me!

drunkmonkey surely if you believe this to be a personal attack report the post and let the mod decide if Sam is trolling or providing helpful information to boards users so they can make a more informed decision about which provider they will use

Sam Vimes

Baza210 wrote: »

Are admin aware of this? The plugging seems excessive.

i know some of the mods are. i don't think it's reached admin level

GhostInTheRuins

Sam Vimes wrote: »

i know some of the mods are. i don't think it's reached admin level

Judging by your list it looks like there's way too much plugging going on for him/her not to have something to do with 3. Absolutely Ridiculous.

drunkmonkey

Cabaal wrote: »

drunkmonkey surely if you believe this to be a personal attack report the post and let the mod decide if Sam is trolling or providing helpful information to boards users

Sam is the most Pro Meteor poster I have seen on boards, I'm pro 3 so what we cancel each other out but I do not troll him...Both of us give help posters in mobiles & pda and are active in other parts of boards where there is no problem with anyone...

Sam has dragged this thread completly off topic as it does not show meteor in a good light, The poster was right about the call credit rip off.....

Did I not provide usefull information to the poster about their free credit options? Sure it was pro 3 in this case bit so what that's the reality of the situation..

drunkmonkey

GhostInTheRuins wrote: »

Judging by your list it looks like there's way too much plugging going on for him/her not to have something to do with 3. Absolutely Ridiculous.

I could have done the exact same thing to Sam if I knew how...

Sam Vimes

drunkmonkey wrote: »

Sam is the most Pro Meteor poster I have seen on boards, I'm pro 3 so what we cancel each other out but I do not troll him...Both of us give help posters in mobiles & pda and are active in other parts of boards where there is no problem with anyone...

follow the instructions below and you will see that i regularly recommend every network depending on what the person has asked for, even :eek: 3!! the difference is i recommend what the person wants to the best of my ability based on what they asked for whereas you try to think of a way to get them to switch to 3

drunkmonkey wrote: »

Sam has dragged this thread completly off topic as it does not show meteor in a good light, The poster was right about the call credit rip off.....

you'll notice i didn't even post in the thread until you yet again took an opportunity to pimp 3, thereby dragging the thread off topic. and the words "rip off" imply it was deliberately done. this is a case of misinformed staff

drunkmonkey wrote: »

Did I not provide usefull information to the poster about their free credit options?

you did, however he didn't ask about his free credit options, you just saw an opportunity to pimp 3 and took it

drunkmonkey wrote: »

I could have done the exact same thing to Sam if I knew how...

go to the top of the thread, click search->advanced search. type my username in the user name text box and any keyword you want, then on the bottom left choose "show results as: posts". you should probably choose mobiles & pdas from the list box too. i'd love a list of all the posts where i exaggerated or pimped* so i can retract them all

*as defined by jumping in to promote something when it's nothing to do with the thread. this thread for example

edit: and what you call being "pro meteor" is more often than not attempting to correct you when you post something about them that's not true

drunkmonkey

On a daily basis I advise people on what phone to go for (and contrary to popular opinion it's usually Meteor)...
I do ask the questions and make sure it's the right choice for them...

If someone has a bee in there bonnet about call credit i'd recommend 3. Which I did in this case.

What have you brought to the thread Sam besides having an uncalled for pop at me? What's your advice to OP about the "Meteor Call Credit Rip Off"?

Sam Vimes

drunkmonkey wrote: »

On a daily basis I advise people on what phone to go for (and contrary to popular opinion it's usually Meteor)...

any chance you could follow the instructions i gave to find a few posts where you recommended meteor? on one of the links someone said that they switched to meteor and but the port hadn't gone through yet* and you described it as a "crazy network move". in another someone said they were having coverage problems with an unnamed network and out of the blue you said you were "secretly hoping it's meteor". Seems odd you would go on to recommend them

drunkmonkey wrote: »

If someone has a bee in there bonnet about call credit i'd recommend 3. Which I did in this case.

in one of the links on that page, someone said that bebo wasn't displaying properly on his o2 phone and you recommended he switch to 3 :rolleyes:

drunkmonkey wrote: »

What have you brought to the thread Sam besides having an uncalled for pop at me? What's your advice to OP about the "Meteor Call Credit Rip Off"?

i came here to put your recommendation in context as a person who takes every opportunity to recommend 3. the correct advice had already been given before either of us posted so i didn't feel the need to post until you took the thread off topic


*the reason being that porting had closed for the day and it would go through the next morning. meteor had done nothing wrong in that case, you just wanted to get a dig in

drunkmonkey

christ on a bike i can't believe i'm asking for your advice but how do you multi quote someone like you constantly do to me?

Actually no don't tell me it mighten be pretty...

Sam thanks for correcting me, It was bad form of me to give call credit breakdowns in a call credit thread, what was I thinking, how stupid of me, I must go out and give myself 50 lashes with a Meteor sim.....:p

Sam Vimes

drunkmonkey wrote: »

christ on a bike i can't believe i'm asking for your advice but how do you multi quote someone like you constantly do to me?

there's the multi-quote button between the quote button and the thanks button or you can simply copy and paste each quote into a single text box, the bits in between QUOTE=drunkmonkey;57599567] and /quote] (i left out the [ at the start of each or it would appear as an actual quote), like below

drunkmonkey wrote: »

quote

click quote on this post to see what i mean

drunkmonkey wrote: »

Sam thanks for correcting me, It was bad form of me to give call credit breakdowns in a call credit thread, what was I thinking, how stupid of me, I must go out and give myself 50 lashes with a Meteor sim.....:p

to be more specific, it was bad form of you to give 3's call credit breakdowns in a thread about meteor's call credit breakdowns and try to get someone to switch networks because they had a small issue caused by an uninformed staff member

drunkmonkey

Sam Vimes wrote: »

there's the multi-quote button between the quote button and the thanks button or you can simply copy and paste each quote into a single text box, the bits in between QUOTE=drunkmonkey;57599567] and /quote] (i left out the [ at the start of each or it would appear as an actual quote), like below


click quote on this post to see what i mean

Right i'm trying it, bet it'll end in a mess..


to be more specific, it was bad form of you to try to get someone to switch networks because they had a small issue caused by an uninformed staff member

I informed someone who was giving out about free call credit that he could get a better deal else where if free credit was his thing....in fairness if he had of walked into a phone store he would have got correct advice..

OP tesco is not the place to buy a phone...

Sam Vimes

drunkmonkey wrote: »

I informed someone who was giving out about free call credit that he could get a better deal else where if free credit was his thing....

which would have been fine (although off topic and pretty much irrelevant to the thread) if someone else had posted it tbh but as far as i'm concerned you have ulterior motives. the way i see it, you're not thinking to yourself:

"oh this person has got a bad deal. i think i'll recommend a different network even though he didn't ask for that. i wonder what would be better for him?? hmmmm, i think that in this case 3 might be good for him"

you're thinking:

"\o/ yay another chance to get someone off meteor and onto 3!!111!!"

drunkmonkey wrote: »

OP tesco is not the place to buy a phone...

this is true. i'm wondering why they're even selling meteor phones, what with tesco mobile and all

drunkmonkey

Sam Vimes wrote: »

to be more specific, it was bad form of you to give 3's call credit breakdowns

I also gave 02's and Voda(i couldn't find the breakdown for Voda). So I was being fair..

Poster had a problem with getting ripped off with credit on the new phone (that's not correct, that's bad advice), Simple solution give back the phone and get a phone with more free credit....

I presumed the Posters next question would be who gives you the most free credit, I saved him the bother of asking....

Nothing sinister or underhanded about it....

Sam Vimes

drunkmonkey wrote: »

I also gave 02's and Voda(i couldn't find the breakdown for Voda). So I was being fair..

in fairness now drunkmonkey, the world and it's granny knows that you only mentioned them to point out how crap they are.

drunkmonkey wrote: »

Poster had a problem with getting ripped off with credit on the new phone (that's not correct, that's bad advice), Simple solution give back the phone and get a phone with more free credit....

the way i see it the problem here is that he was told he was getting more than he was. had he been given the right amount in the first place and the right instructions about how to maximise it i highly doubt there would have been a thread because he'd be happy with his new phone

drunkmonkey wrote: »

I presumed the Posters next question would be who gives you the most free credit, I saved him the bother of asking....

Nothing sinister or underhanded about it....

but the problem, drunkmonkey, is that you always presume that. this is not just me being crazy dm, several other people have sadi the same thing to you. four months ago someone asked you "must you pimp 3 in every post?" and last week a mod told you to "stop going on about 3 already".

this is not like a live conversation dm, i can go back and view every post you've made and show that you're heavily biased towards 3. i wish you'd stop pretending that you always give fair and unbiased advice

drunkmonkey

I'm working on getting better with my doctor, it's a long road but hopefully i'll get through it...

This thread would have never happend if OP got a <snip> phone.....it's one complaint i've never heard....ya ya I know there would probably be another thread with a different complaint:rolleyes:

Sam Vimes

drunkmonkey wrote: »

I'm working on getting better with my doctor, it's a long road but hopefully i'll get through it...

This thread would have never happend if OP got a <snip> phone.....it's one complaint i've never heard

true. and it also wouldn't have happened it he got an o2 phone or a vodafone phone or was talking to a competent sales assistant.

btw, have 3 started to do upgrades on 3pay or is it still the case that you can only get a phone with a new sim and you have to make the choice between getting the credit and keeping your number?

edit: and none of this would have happened if it was vodafone's call credit offer that was better than meteor's and not 3's. because it's not about telling people about good offers, it's about telling people about 3's offers

drunkmonkey

Sam Vimes wrote: »

btw, have 3 started to do upgrades on 3pay or is it still the case that you can only get a phone with a new sim and you have to make the choice between getting the credit and keeping your number?

I've been doing upgrades in 3pay for a couple of months, you keep your own sim and get the free credit again top up x10 get 10 thing starts again for 8 - 10 mts.......there are T&Cs attached to getting an upgrade like you would have needed to top up etc...

Sam Vimes

drunkmonkey wrote: »

I've been doing upgrades in 3pay for a couple of months, you keep your own sim and get the free credit again top up x10 get 10 thing starts again for 8 - 10 mts.......there are T&Cs attached to getting an upgrade like you would have needed to top up etc...

i just rang 3 and asked about upgrade criteria. The first person hummed and hawed and transferred me to the upgrade dept where i gave up after ten minutes on hold then the second person said i have to top up e200 in 6 months to be eligible :eek:.

I asked if i was a customer for ten years but never managed to reach that figure in a 6 month period would i ever be entitled and he said no. Can you confirm that? Sounds about right to me because i've had my 3 sim for nearly two years and i'm sure i've put more than 200 in and i'm not entitled

drunkmonkey

Sam Vimes wrote: »

i just rang 3 and asked about upgrade criteria. The first person hummed and hawed and transferred me to the upgrade dept where i gave up after ten minutes on hold then the second person said i have to top up e200 in 6 months to be eligible :eek:.

I asked if i was a customer for ten years but never managed to reach that figure in a 6 month period would i ever be entitled and he said no. Can you confirm that? Sounds about right to me because i've had my 3 sim for nearly two years and i'm sure i've put more than 200 in and i'm not entitled

take if from someone in Ireland...here's the criteria ...

You need to be with 3 for at least 1 year, You need to have topped up by €200 in your total time with 3

And you would need to have topped up by a minimum of €30 in the last 3mts.....

you know there is a way round it but you might loose a legacy plan if you had it.....;)

Sam Vimes

drunkmonkey wrote: »

take if from someone in Ireland...here's the criteria ...

You need to be with 3 for at least 1 year, You need to have topped up by 200 in your total time with 3

And you would need to have topped up by a minimum of 30 in the last 3mts.....

you know there is a way round it but you might loose a legacy plan if you had it.....;)

while asking the guy to clarify if it was 200 total or 200 in 6 months he repeated the criteria i gave 5 or 6 times very confidentally, word for word each time as if he was reading it from a script. But what you said is completely different. Where did he get that info

edit: he also said you have to be with them 6 months, not a year. I think i'll ring up a few times and see how many different answers i get :P

Random

tvnutz wrote: »

How are the shops ripping people off? The offer is from Meteor,they tell shops like Xtra-Vision what deals are on at the moment etc and all places like Xtra-Vision do is sell the phone and tell you what Meteor's offer with credit is. The shop has nothing to do with credit,its all up to Meteor.

My answer is based on people saying the shop giving out the wrong info and the OP purchasing based on this.

drunkmonkey

Sam Vimes wrote: »

edit: he also said you have to be with them 6 months, not a year. I think i'll ring up a few times and see how many different answers i get :P

He's correct about 6mts, i've just dug out the upgrade criteria from my inbox...I called ds the first time...

this is the criteria the Gospel version:)

1. The customer must have spent a minimum of €200 with 3 and have a monthly spend of €10 or more
2. The customer must be with 3 a minimum of 6 months.
3. The customer’s spend for the previous 3 months is above the minimum requirements set by 3 (€10pm)
4. The customer’s account is still active, i.e. account has not been retired nor is it due to be retired

3 Upgrade tiers, bronze, silver and gold, €80, €90, €100

so now we have 4 versions:D

drunkmonkey

@Sam i've just burnt my steak, I hope your happy:mad:

Walkman

Simple criteria, you need to be with them at least 6 months, have topped up by at least 200 and top up at least 10 per month for the 6 months prior to your upgrade. Hope that helps sam. Drunkmonkey: Stop going on about 3 for god's sake. Nothing is gonna come of it only you getting banned. Give the information people are looking for in an unbiased way at let the people here make up their own minds.

Sam Vimes

drunkmonkey wrote: »

He's correct about 6mts, i've just dug out the upgrade criteria from my inbox...I called ds the first time...

this is the criteria the Gospel version:)

1. The customer must have spent a minimum of €200 with 3 and have a monthly spend of €10 or more
2. The customer must be with 3 a minimum of 6 months.
3. The customer’s spend for the previous 3 months is above the minimum requirements set by 3 (€10pm)
4. The customer’s account is still active, i.e. account has not been retired nor is it due to be retired

3 Upgrade tiers, bronze, silver and gold, €80, €90, €100

so now we have 4 versions:D

i just called again and got the above word for word. he even mentioned the bit about the account being active and the tiers. his one didn't give the figure for the minimum spend though.

those criteria are a bit strict don't you think? i've been with them since july 2006 and i'm still not eligible and it doesn't look like i will be in the foreseeable future

drunkmonkey wrote: »

@Sam i've just burnt my steak, I hope your happy:mad:

delighted

j-bone

i think you're all missing the point here...there is no such thing as "free" credit,,rather bonus credit for adhereing to a set of guidelines ie..minimum topup per month,,all mobiles are subsidised by the networks, so even if you never get 1cent in "free" credit,,you've still got a handset at a reduced price...go ask nokia...