Vodafone contract query

artyeva

I've never had a contract with a phone company before so hopefully someone can advise... I signed a 12 month contract with them last year for mobile broadband - the dongle thingy.

Last August the dongle broke and I was given a new one but they made me sign a new 12 month contract. I fought this at the time so got a manger in the customer service dept to put it in writing to me that the original contract would stand - ie, ending not in August 09 but earlier - if you get me drift.

I'm only just after realising that it was up around this time so rang them this evening to find out the exact date it was finishing so I could sign up for another 12 months (as they have now dropped the price from €29.99 p/m to €19.99 p/m) They have on their system that it ends in August. But I have the e-mail that the manager sent me to say it would end in March.

Before I ring them again can anyone tell me if they contact you before your contract comes to an end to see if you want to sign up to another one or do they just ''assume'' you do and carry on? I really want to get out of this €29.99 one and get onto a new €19.99 one!!!!!

Random

Once your contract period is over it generally switches to a month by month contract with a 30 day notice period.

artyeva

Random wrote: »

Once your contract period is over it generally switches to a month by month contract with a 30 day notice period.

Umm - ok - so does this mean that I can cancel this one then and sign up to a new (cheaper) contract?

I must say I find Vodafone very difficult to talk to - they don't seem to be willing to discuss any options. Yer man on the phone actually said the words ''tough luck love, that's not what I have on me screen'' when I said that I had a different end date in writing :rolleyes:

Sam Vimes

how did the original dongle break?

As random says, after the 12 months it goes to a rolling contract and you don't have to sign up again but that won't happen until august. You can cancel now but you'd have to pay it off to august

Maybe you should talk to someone higher up about your letter saying your contract wouldn't be extended but the guy who wrote it might not even have the power not to extend your contract and might have just been saying what you wanted to hear

foggy_lad

if your original dongle was replaced under warrenty your contract should not have been extended, even if it was replaced due to you damaging it then vodafone should have at that time made it clear to you that getting a new dongle would entail signing up to a new contract otherwise the contract could be nullified as being unfair due to you not being notified of the term of the contract!

also the email from the manager can be seen as an addendum to the contract as you took him to be acting on behalf of his employer.

Ah-Watch

I switched to the 19.99 tariff last week from the 29.99 and I was still in contract, it didn't renew my contract which is up in june anyway, just give them a bell and ask to be move down to 19.99, they can't do it as its not on their systems yet but they'll just email it off to the billing department, there's no point in cancelling a contract to sign up to a new one if you dont have to,:cool: Let me know if you've any problems doing this

artyeva

foggy_lad wrote: »

if your original dongle was replaced under warrenty your contract should not have been extended, even if it was replaced due to you damaging it then vodafone should have at that time made it clear to you that getting a new dongle would entail signing up to a new contract otherwise the contract could be nullified as being unfair due to you not being notified of the term of the contract!

Ah-Watch wrote: »

I switched to the 19.99 tariff last week from the 29.99 and I was still in contract, it didn't renew my contract which is up in june anyway, just give them a bell and ask to be move down to 19.99, they can't do it as its not on their systems yet but they'll just email it off to the billing department, there's no point in cancelling a contract to sign up to a new one if you dont have to,:cool: Let me know if you've any problems doing this

Thanks to all who replied - here's the update:

I FINALLY got through to the original manager guy who said that I could either let my current contract continue at the current tarriff, OR get an upgrade to the new type of modem and get changed over to the new tarriff*. He was very nice and understanding about it and apologised for the rudeness and unproffessionalism of the previous guy I had spoke to on 1907. He did tell me that this would have to be done in a store though.

*Many thanks to Ah-watch here cause he wasn't too keen on the idea till I mentioned ''a friend'' had done this recently

Off I trek to me local vodafone store (it's just opened, you could still smell the paint) and spoke to the girl behind the counter. Honestly - what is WITH vodafone staff??? She couldn't have been ruder or less helpfull if she had tried. She said ''what are ya comin in here for, do you think we are going to give you a new modem without signing a new 12 months contract? Well we're not. Ring 1907''.

So I rang 1907. It seems if I wanted to get the new modem and change tarriff I'd have to sign a NEW contract, this time for 18 months.

So I've had to keep the crappy tempramental yoke I have, but did get the tarriff changed to €19.99 p/m and I'm free to quit having to deal with them ever again once I move in a few months and get home BB.

Sorted!!!:pac:

Before this I was thinking of changing to vodafone for my mobile but will stay with O2 now. No rudeness from their staff on the phone or in their stores, and they always suggest ways of making things easier to me, not me having to chase them. :rolleyes:

Ah-Watch

artyeva wrote: »

*Many thanks to Ah-watch here cause he wasn't too keen on the idea till I mentioned ''a friend'' had done this recently
No rudeness from their staff on the phone or in their stores, and they always suggest ways of making things easier to me, not me having to chase them. :rolleyes:

your most welcome;) but we're not all rude in the stores, that said we're an agent not a "Vodafone Store"
If you wanted the new modem you could buy it as a prepay broadband (think its around the 90e mark) but its hardly worth it if you will be getting home phone broadband! Happy your sorted though!!

jor el

A new modem may not even help anyway, as the dodgy connection could be down to the network, and not the actual modem.

You should take this non-helpfulness and rudeness from Voda as your queue to leave them.