Meteor won't LET me have the Hero.....

dragona

unless I also take out their data add-on. I am very annoyed, and not sure they can actually do that? I am on Bill Pay, old tariff that I want to keep, with no add ons. I went to Meteor shop today to upgrade from Nokia N95, and they told me that they insist on data add on with the Hero, as it is an *internet* phone. Quite honestly the girl and the guy in the shop spoke to me as if I was an idiot.

I only use my home wifi, and never anything else. Can they impose this condition? I am very pissed off.

Forgot to mention that after the fuss I made, they told me that they had no handsets in stock.yep.

IH77

sounds ridiculous given you can buy the phone PAYG without an internet add on??

Rsaeire

That's such rubbish. The majority of handsets they sell are "Internet" handsets. I've never heard of Meteor imposing such restrictions on their customers, so I would contact customer care for clarification and ring nearby Meteor stores to see if they are doing the same thing. This is most likely occurring because the agents will receive more commission if they get customers to add value-added services to their account, e.g. data add-ons, text add-ons etc.

dragona

IH77 wrote: »

sounds ridiculous given you can buy the phone PAYG without an Internet add on??

Exactly. I am so cross, I was beginning to lose my cool with the idiots in the shop. Apparently they received an email this morning informing them that the data add on is a condition. ??? as on bill pay, one might be shocked at the extra charges on the bill for Internet use.

I explained ad nauseum that I did not want it and why, but still they refused. They have to check with Head office to see if they can upgrade existing customers without the add on. What?????? BTW this was in the Mullingar branch.

Gillo

In fairness to Meteor, I work for O2 and have seen a fair number of customer get there hands on an iphone, and use it on bill pay without a data add-on (a certain amount would have been advised to get on due to the charges) come in with a massive bill.

The likes of the Hero, would normally check email in the backgroup and there are various other app's which may connect to the internet with a device like that one of the main features is having a decent web browser on the move so the tempation to use the data while out and about will always be there.

Meteor have to right to put various terms and conditions on the upgrade just as you have to right not to upgrade.

With regard to the reference to pay as you go, thats different if you don't have credit you can't use the service simple as, where as with bill pay you'll just run yourself a massive bill.

theteal

it's the "billshock", lads. apparently a high number of the initial hero purchasers have not taken a data add-on and continued to use it to it's full capabilities. . .there will be problems come billing time:eek:

how many customer's will actually confine their usage to wifi areas?

the OP is obviously a technologically aware individual and i imagine exceptions will be made for certain instances. . .when the stock comes back in

bigjohnny80

They are entitled to offer whatever products they wish surely at whatever cost they deem appropriate for their business needs?

Just as you are entitled to not purchase?

IH77

bigjohnny80 wrote: »

They are entitled to offer whatever products they wish surely at whatever cost they deem appropriate for their business needs?

Just as you are entitled to not purchase?

surely then this needs to be made clearer to the consumer in the form of a special tariff for the phone. I don't think forcing someone to take what is normally an optional extra is good for their business.

Mimikyu

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chrislad

Captain Morgan wrote: »

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You would think that but you'd be surprised. The likes of the people on here would be fine. Generally, they're fairly tech savvy and understand. Your average Joe does not. If I were to tell him 2c per kb, he'd just say grand, then come into me with a massive bill, saying that he didn't download anything! He just watched a YouTube video.

It makes sense though. The HTC is the first online phone that Meteor have really carried. Sure other phones had the option but this is constantly on the net, be it Facebook, Twitter, Syncing mail, contacts etc. Sure, you can disable these, but why not just get a basic Nokia if that's the case?

I've seen too many people with bill shock, and I'm sure the OP would be a lot angrier if he got charged the out of bundle rates.

As for commission, Meteor staff *do not* get paid for add on bundles. They were told not to sell the HTC without the package for the simple reason that people have bought it without the add on, and have been charged a fortune. Calling the people in the shop idiots for doing what they were told to do by the people who pay them just shows ignorance and rudeness on your part however.

Tusky

Hmm - How much does it cost to use the HERO on PAYG considering it is always on the internet ? Discounting wifi zones as I am rarely in them!

chrislad

99c a day up to a maximum of 50mb (You can dial *hash105hash to check how much you have left). After that, 2c per kb.

Davy

Why not explain the data charges and how much it would rack up with ;ie watching a video on youtube. Then the user takes full responsibility for the bill, cant come crying. Not perfect by any means, but being forced to buy the addon is a bad idea from meteor imo. If that was the case, they should have a 'Hero' price plan like o2 for the iphone.

Tusky

chrislad wrote: »

99c a day up to a maximum of 50mb (You can dial *hash105hash to check how much you have left). After that, 2c per kb.

So if you used the internet every day it would be around 30 euro per month + phone calls ? Pricey...

Mitch Connor

On PAYG they should have made a proper Data Add-on available.

Rsaeire

The key point here is that there is no choice. Any customer looking to buy a Hero from Meteor will have to be advised of why a data bundle is required, so why not use that time instead to explain that they have the "option" of adding a data bundle instead? This makes more sense, in my opinion.

Gillo

Rsaeire wrote: »

The key point here is that there is no choice. Any customer looking to buy a Hero from Meteor will have to be advised of why a data bundle is required, so why not use that time instead to explain that they have the "option" of adding a data bundle instead? This makes more sense, in my opinion.

In your opinion yes, talking as someone who has sold phones for over five years I can tell you the majority of customers will, half listen to you explain the data usage and charges and just tell you they don't want it, a lot of them think they know better and the sales guy is just trying to make extra commision. It's only six weeks later when the massive bill arrives, that a lot of customers grasp the idea.
Don't get me wrong other customers come in having researched data quite heavily but they are the minority.

Remember it's a lot easy for people to comprehend the lenght of time a call takes or how many messages they've sent, with date it's a lot harder to quantify.

That said it would make sense to have a Hero specific plan, I suppose it's a case of them cleaning the cups first.

Just a note, as I said I work for one of the networks, I'm only posting my own opinion here.

chrislad

Davy wrote: »

Why not explain the data charges and how much it would rack up with ;ie watching a video on youtube. Then the user takes full responsibility for the bill, cant come crying. Not perfect by any means, but being forced to buy the addon is a bad idea from meteor imo. If that was the case, they should have a 'Hero' price plan like o2 for the iphone.

Please refer to previous post. I do that. 5 minute YouTube video == apprx 50e. Average 3 min song is 60e.

It doesn't work. People just don't listen or assume they'll only use it a little bit. What you're saying is perfectly logical, but you really have to be doing this everyday to see it doesn't work with most people who don't know the difference a megabyte and a hamburger.

theteal

Rsaeire wrote: »

The key point here is that there is no choice. Any customer looking to buy a Hero from Meteor will have to be advised of why a data bundle is required, so why not use that time instead to explain that they have the "option" of adding a data bundle instead? This makes more sense, in my opinion.

the optional data bundle is explained to every customer signing up for bill pay. a lot don't opt for it (usually adopting a "ah, i'll see how the first month goes" attitude) even after a clear explanation of the per kb cost. then when the bill is received, these people are back to stores spitting fury.

the level of data usage with the hero by default will be a lot heavier than other phones. a hero customer in the above situation will be complaining about a much bigger bill. it appears meteor are just trying to avoid what is very likely to happen i.e. furious customers, abused staff, everybody sad

Mimikyu

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Tusky

chrislad wrote: »

99c a day up to a maximum of 50mb (You can dial *hash105hash to check how much you have left). After that, 2c per kb.

Is it the same on meteor ?

theteal

Captain Morgan wrote: »

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ah if only things were that simple is customerisalwaysrightland

Kensington

Captain Morgan wrote: »

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Ha! See to you and me, that makes perfect, logical sense!!! But in the land of customer service, where the big smart "I pay your wages" customer is NEVER wrong, it's always the idiot shop assistants fault - without exception. You could explain in language even a 5 year old could understand the sheer cost of data outside a bundle, drilling it in as much as possible, yet they will still come back in screaming and spitting at you when they get their four figure bill in a month because they've been on the internet on their phone every day.

paudie

Surely you can just close apps/widgets that are online all the time and then open them in a wifi zone.

You don't have to be connected 24/7 do you?

T-Square

dragona wrote: »

unless I also take out their data add-on. I am very annoyed, and not sure they can actually do that? I am on Bill Pay, old tariff that I want to keep, with no add ons. I went to Meteor shop today to upgrade from Nokia N95, and they told me that they insist on data add on with the Hero, as it is an *internet* phone. Quite honestly the girl and the guy in the shop spoke to me as if I was an idiot.

I only use my home wifi, and never anything else. Can they impose this condition? I am very pissed off.

Forgot to mention that after the fuss I made, they told me that they had no handsets in stock.yep.

You want the phone that embodies internet connectivity like no other,
but you don't want the data that goes with it?

Did you fall on your head?

dragona

Well all I can say is that Meteor should not assume we are ALL idiots. I want the phone on bill pay, I do not want the data add on, and I explained very eloquently why to the twits in the Meteor shop. I have every right to stay on my existing tariff, according to Meteor, and nowhere does it state that I am obliged to take out this data add on.

dragona

T-Square wrote: »

You want the phone that embodies internet connectivity like no other,
but you don't want the data that goes with it?

Did you fall on your head?

Excuse me?? I have no use whatsoever for internet connectivity outside of my home. Ever. Why should I have to pay Meteor their €15 a month or whatever it is for a service I will never ever use?

Kensington

dragona wrote: »

Well all I can say is that Meteor should not assume we are ALL idiots. I want the phone on bill pay, I do not want the data add on, and I explained very eloquently why to the twits in the Meteor shop. I have every right to stay on my existing tariff, according to Meteor, and nowhere does it state that I am obliged to take out this data add on.

But you CAN stay on your current tariff when upgrading? You just have to take an obligatory add-on.

dragona wrote:

Excuse me?? I have no use whatsoever for internet connectivity outside of my home. Ever. Why should I have to pay Meteor their €15 a month or whatever it is for a service I will never ever use?

Did you ask them would it be possible to have data disabled on your account? And it's only €5 for 250MB - you don't need the €15 add-on.

theteal

dragona wrote: »

I want the phone on bill pay, I do not want the data add on, and I explained very eloquently why to the twits in the Meteor shop.

dude, chrislad explained why the staff did what they did, no need to be insulting them, they just followed instruction

your issue is an exception, i imagine when the handset is readily available on upgrade you may be able to be accommodated - if you stop calling the staff names of course

dragona

theteal wrote: »

dude, chrislad explained why the staff did what they did, no need to be insulting them, they just followed instruction

your issue is an exception, i imagine when the handset is readily available on upgrade you may be able to be accommodated - if you stop calling the staff names of course

The handset is available, according to the shop. They just had sold out of upgrade ones....... I was absolutely not insulting to them. In actual fact, I am not even being insulting about them, other than calling them idiots for speaking to me as if I were one.

I very much resent accusations of calling people names. Not all the people on these boards are stroppy teens, you know!

Mimikyu

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Ciaran500

Kensington wrote: »

Did you ask them would it be possible to have data disabled on your account? And it's only €5 for 250MB - you don't need the €15 add-on.

She shouldn't have to have data disabled or have to pay only €5 extra. Simply explaining the potential costs should be enough, if they're really that worried why not just add an extra form explaining the situation that has to be signed when buying the phone.

Kensington

Ciaran500 wrote: »

She shouldn't have to have data disabled or have to pay only €5 extra. Simply explaining the potential costs should be enough, if they're really that worried why not just add an extra form explaining the situation that has to be signed when buying the phone.

You could get them to sign as many forms as you like - you will STILL get people coming back in after a few weeks screaming the shop down about their bill for €600 data usage.

Mimikyu

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Rsaeire

theteal wrote: »

the optional data bundle is explained to every customer signing up for bill pay. a lot don't opt for it (usually adopting a "ah, i'll see how the first month goes" attitude) even after a clear explanation of the per kb cost. then when the bill is received, these people are back to stores spitting fury.

You've missed my point. I'm referring to the lack of an optional bundle when looking to buy the Hero on Meteor, as the OP has mentioned Meteor store agents advised that the data bundle was compulsory, not optional.

While I can see where Meteor are coming from with this compulsory data bundle, I still don't agree with it. There has to come a point where a customer is responsible for their own usage; especially when they are explicitly advised how they will be charged if they use data. It might be said that it is harder for customers to grasp how data is consumed in comparison to calls and sms, but with the advent of all these Internet based services, social networking sites etc, there has to come a time when customers eventually grasp how these services work and how they are charged. It's not fair for customers to not understand something and just take it out mobile networks' customer care teams and store agents.

Davy

Give the customer the option to sign a wavier that they take full responsibility for their usage if they choose not to take the data add on. Unlike the present situation, is that reasonable???

Rsaeire

Davy wrote: »

Give the customer the option to sign a wavier that they take full responsibility for their usage if they choose not to take the data add on. Unlike the present situation, is that reasonable???

That's reasonable.

Mimikyu

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Gillo

Davy wrote: »

Give the customer the option to sign a wavier that they take full responsibility for their usage if they choose not to take the data add on. Unlike the present situation, is that reasonable???

Imagine the situation when a customer comes into a store or contacts the customer care about a 700 euro bill (I've seen them go well into the thousands), only to be told sorry you signed a waiver, it'd be a red rag to a bull. Yeah from the legal side of things it'd make sense, but from a customer experience point of view, it'd really aggravate the situation.

From seeing it happen else where, I have to agree with Meteors policy, it could be handled better, by introducing a new price plan, similiar to O2 Advance (the name name for the iphone tarriff) but what they are doing does make sense it reduces customers bills.

Shane O' Malley

Gillo wrote: »

Imagine the situation when a customer comes into a store or contacts the customer care about a 700 euro bill (I've seen them go well into the thousands), only to be told sorry you signed a waiver, it'd be a red rag to a bull. Yeah from the legal side of things it'd make sense, but from a customer experience point of view, it'd really aggravate the situation.

From seeing it happen else where, I have to agree with Meteors policy, it could be handled better, by introducing a new price plan, similiar to O2 Advance (the name name for the iphone tarriff) but what they are doing does make sense it reduces customers bills.

Got to agree with Gillo. It is the only responsible thing to do on this phone.

You cannot let people run up huge bills. Either Data Addon or No Data.

blaz

If networks actually had the customers interests in mind they would disable data for bill pay users without an add on. This way there wouldn't even be the remote possibility of bill shock. Who in their right mind would pay 2c per kb for data? The default option (2c per kb) is only there to scam customers out of their hard earned money. Of course they could do something sensible and actually charge normal amounts for out-of-bundle data, but that would be too easy...

For example data on the isp.vodafone.ie APN on prepay is reasonably priced for light users at 19c per MB, that's 0.018c per kb or more then 100 times cheaper than the 2c/kb default bill pay data tariff.

I use this APN on my iPhone, I use Google Maps and browse the Internet and have never used more then 5€ in data charges a month (that's about 25 Mb of data). With my usage pattern a data add on doesn't make sense and I am perfectly happy with the ISP APN. If the default bill pay tariff was similar to this tariff, bill shock would be a lot less common occurrence for customers without data addons.

cojomo2

blaz wrote: »

If networks actually had the customers interests in mind they would disable data for bill pay users without an add on. This way there wouldn't even be the remote possibility of bill shock. Who in their right mind would pay 2c per kb for data? The default option (2c per kb) is only there to scam customers out of their hard earned money. Of course they could do something sensible and actually charge normal amounts for out-of-bundle data, but that would be too easy...

For example data on the isp.vodafone.ie APN on prepay is reasonably priced for light users at 19c per MB, that's 0.018c per kb or more then 100 times cheaper than the 2c/kb default bill pay data tariff.

I use this APN on my iPhone, I use Google Maps and browse the Internet and have never used more then 5€ in data charges a month (that's about 25 Mb of data). With my usage pattern a data add on doesn't make sense and I am perfectly happy with the ISP APN. If the default bill pay tariff was similar to this tariff, bill shock would be a lot less common occurrence for customers without data addons.

Exactly.

The problem here is the price Meteor charge for out of bundle data. At over 20 euro/MB, its probably the most expensive in the world..

Rsaeire

While it's not the saving people are looking for, it has to be remembered that the 2c per KB charge is when the WAP APN on Meteor is used, while it's just over 4x cheaper when using the Data/ISP APN on postpaid; €0.0048 per KB / under 1/2 c per KB.

blaz

Rsaeire wrote: »

While it's not the saving people are looking for, it has to be remembered that the 2c per KB charge is when the WAP APN on Meteor is used, while it's just over 4x cheaper when using the Data/ISP APN on postpaid; €0.0048 per KB / under 1/2 c per KB.

... which is even more ridiculous. You're transferring the same amount of data on exactly the same network and paying 4 times the price.

scudzilla

About 6 months ago i got hit with an extra 100e on my bill for data, i looked at my bill and realised i was at fault and had spent too much time on the internet on my N95.
I paid it no problem but then called Meteor up and told them i wanted all data to be disabled on my contract. They were not too happy and said they doubted it could be done, i just told them that i was recording the call and had asked them to disable my data connection, making it impossible for me to go online, and if they refused, any bills i get in the future for data i would not pay.
They cut it off straight away, now i just go on wireless at home and work.

Gillo

People who only use wifi are a very small minority, sure the whole thinking behind the likes of HTC devices is to have data facilities while on the move. If you're at home why not just a PC?

chrislad

This is just going round in circles. As I've said, most people here are fairly tech savvy and would know how to use the internet, but your average Joe does not.

I still don't see why a massive issue is being made. Firstly, the first 30 days of your internet is free when you upgrade or get a FTC. Secondly, you are not contracted to the add on so you can remove this when you want. Mountains out of molehills here.

cojomo2

scudzilla wrote: »

About 6 months ago i got hit with an extra 100e on my bill for data, i looked at my bill and realised i was at fault and had spent too much time on the internet on my N95.
I paid it no problem but then called Meteor up and told them i wanted all data to be disabled on my contract. They were not too happy and said they doubted it could be done, i just told them that i was recording the call and had asked them to disable my data connection, making it impossible for me to go online, and if they refused, any bills i get in the future for data i would not pay.
They cut it off straight away, now i just go on wireless at home and work.

Why not use the phone to it's full potential and just opt for the 5 euro data add on?

samhail

Meteor business may have decided not to offer this phone on the old tariff plans as an incentive to customers to upgrade from the old tariffs.

its their offer/business.

Tarakiwa

chrislad wrote: »

I still don't see why a massive issue is being made. Firstly, the first 30 days of your internet is free when you upgrade or get a FTC. Secondly, you are not contracted to the add on so you can remove this when you want. Mountains out of molehills here.

+1 for this opinion!

Although, I have really enjoyed reading the thread!!

Dankoozy

buy unlocked.