Are Vodafone a rip off?

mmg2711

Hi

I was looking at buying a new phone, a Sony Ericsson W595. I am currently on the Vodafone network and never had any problems on it. Was pricing this phone and was wondering why Vodafone is much more expensive than other networks and giving away much less credit?, or am I missing something. eg , Meteor advertising €80 free credit, O2 advertising €70 free credit, Vodafone only €5. This phone costs €179 with O2, €159 with Meteor and €229 with Vodafone.

Are they really only giving away €5 credit? The last time I upgraded with them I think I got €60. The above figures I mentioned make no sense to me and am wondering why are they so expensive?

Vodafone
http://www.carphonewarehouse.ie/product.php/618/27/sony_ericsson_w595_black_/253ac05b3a2ca8ae66bd4d91525100c0

Meteor
http://www.carphonewarehouse.ie/product.php/637/27/sony_ericsson_w595_floral/253ac05b3a2ca8ae66bd4d91525100c0

O2
http://www.carphonewarehouse.ie/product.php/545/27/sony_ericsson_w595/253ac05b3a2ca8ae66bd4d91525100c0

Any help would be great.

Ah-Watch

Vodafone screw their customers over when they upgrade so now I only buy mine unlocked or buy it- Sony Ericsson w595 on the cheapest network and get it unlocked. My advice is order it online from Meteor (€139.99) and move your number to meteor and you'll get upto 120e call credit for moving. If you're not happy with Meteor then you can get the phone unlocked in an unlocking shop for about €10-€25 and move back to vodafone. Give Meteor a go and see how ya fair out?

mmg2711

Thanks, that's what I will probably will try. It makes no sense to buy from Vodafone at their prices. It really is a rip-off when you can acquire an unlocked handset cheaper than a locked Vodafone handset.

theteal

the W595 is actually €149.99 on meteor, also if you move your number over from a different network you are eligible for the grand sum of €131 call credit

ardmacha

ecell in England on ebay have unlocked W595s for about £160, delivered this will be about €200. They are sometimes slow to dispatch though.

krudler

Prepay bonus credit is going to come down in a huge way over the next while, €5 will probably become the norm for networks as Vodafone and O2 are both giving this now, no more 100 bonus credit for phones, its just not worth it to the networks when it could be spent on other offers for customers like free texts and such,all that has to be paid for somehow

Blue_Wolf

Ya vodafone are the most expensive and don't have the best coverage. Really depends on the area.

Ah-Watch

I honestly believe they've the best coverage (except 3G) but I dont buy my phone from them anymore as they're too expensive, I buy it on the cheapest Network and unlock it, cos i always want my phones unlocked anyway

Blue_Wolf

Nationwide they used to have. They have taken down a few masts. Some areas O2 are better and others Meteor are better. Nationwide perhaps they may still have the best but it's not 99% like the boasted about 4-5 years ago.

parsi

krudler wrote: »

Prepay bonus credit is going to come down in a huge way over the next while, €5 will probably become the norm for networks as Vodafone and O2 are both giving this now, no more 100 bonus credit for phones, its just not worth it to the networks when it could be spent on other offers for customers like free texts and such,all that has to be paid for somehow

It's a killer really. When Vodafone introduced their 5euro credit we checked our records and saw that herself had gone three years running solely on bonus credit. That was when you could get credit every month without topping up and new batches could run concurrently (buy phone with 80 credit in janaury, buy the same in february etc etc)

Now it makes no sense to buy a PAYG phone unless you need an actual phone.