O2 Prepay Data plan

woodzie

I was just looking at the O2 website to see had they released any data plans for prepay customers and they still haven't. I left O2 in february because of this. Customers have been ranting on O2's forum for the last two years about it and were constantly being told something was coming soon and just looked at a thread on their forum and they are still giving the same responses.

Looks like O2 dont care about their prepay customers and trying to force them onto billpay plans if they want to get data.

Delighted I left, all the other networks have good prepay offerings with data for a while now and O2 have been dragging their heals.

What do you all think. Should they release a data plan for prepay or continue with what they are doing with their social link app

Mimikyu

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jordainius

Captain Morgan wrote: »

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Even Tesco have a decent payg bundle- €2.99 for 350MB for 7 days.

O2 are a disgrace on this. Over on their own forums customers have been asking for the best part of two years now for better prepay data pricing. Nothing has changed, O2 don't care. They keep saying "We'll pass on your feedback" or "Why not move to billpay?"

Part of the problem is that their customers are not forcing their hand- a few too many customers are all too willing to complain and hope that O2 listen and reward their "loyalty" (by the way, showing loyalty to a mobile phone company is bizarre if you ask me)

The only time O2 will change their minds is when a sufficient amount of customers port to other networks.

A bit like in 2008 when they (and Vodafone) finally started to offer free texts. Meteor had been doing it since 2002, but it took O2 and Vodafone six years to respond, why? Because it took about that long for Meteor to start eating into the market share and they hit the million customer mark.

The key is that O2 DO NOT care about what their customers want or how happy they are, because an unhappy customer is still a customer. If enough customers take their custom elsewhere, then and only then will they start to listen!

garyegt

the problem is that o2 themselves do want to release a plan like this. they were the first with the 50mb for 99c per day.

because they are owned by telefonica, spain they are restricting them from releasing any plans like this, as all the ideas have to go thru them first. its kind of a kick in the teeth for o2 tho.

i think that they want to get more people onto the billpay tho so they have people in contract etc. to me tho it does make more sense 2gigs on a 40 euro plan?

ardmacha

The key is that O2 DO NOT care about what their customers want or how happy they are, because an unhappy customer is still a customer.

O2 had some good policies and initiatives for customers in the past, but in recent times they have become anti-customer.

garyegt

ardmacha wrote: »

O2 had some good policies and initiatives for customers in the past, but in recent times they have become anti-customer.

i wouldnt go that far, they are just left behind. they did have the better plans about a year ago, but all the other networks have changed since. they really do need to cop on.

Basq

This bugs me about O2.. and I've considered moving from them numerous times because of this!

Even their Simplicity plan (€20 / €30) doesn't include a data bundle. Ridiculous! :mad:

drunkmonkey

Why are you still with them? All your friends couldn't be on o2...

garyegt

yeah i know! i worked in o2 customer care for 2 years and i had to try help retain people etc, but i really dont see the point.

the only thing they have going from them is realistically they do have the best 3g network. theres a 1gb addon for i think a tenner, you could try that? 97% of customers with a data plan like the advance plan only actually use 500megs. have you considered the sim only advance 150? 35 a month.

god dammit im doing it again:P

Basq

drunkmonkey wrote: »

Why are you still with them? All your friends couldn't be on o2...

Actually.. the people I ring most often people are - including my closest friends, my father and most importantly, the girlfriend.

Also, I live in a "black hole" with regards to network coverage. It's a relatively new estate near the centre of Sligo but it's piss-poor for coverage on all major networks - O2 is the best.

drunkmonkey

Sligo wouldn't be the best for coverage by any of them, you may hammer o2 about the pre pay data or try some of the others again their all constantly upgrading their networks.
Xmas is just around the corner so if they don't launch a pre pay data deal in the next few weeks it'll be another 6mts before the do anything.

Basq

Nah, Sligo's great for coverage for most of the networks.. it's just the estate I'm in has very patchy cellular signals.

Am hoping they'll launch a prepay data plan soon anyways or I'll seriously consider moving.

Davy

basquille wrote: »

Even their Simplicity plan (€20 / €30) doesn't include a data bundle. Ridiculous! :mad:

You can still get the data addons to this if you want, €7.50 a month for 250mb or €12.50 for 1gb

Basq

Yeah, but for €20.. I'd hope for it included.

€7.50 a month for 500MB is a bit pricey though considering their competition.

garyegt

ah now come on seriously..... ye all want somethin for nothin:rolleyes:

at the end of the day it is a business, and the competition are making little or no money selling these data addons so cheap

Basq

garyegt wrote: »

ah now come on seriously..... ye all want somethin for nothin:rolleyes:

at the end of the day it is a business, and the competition are making little or no money selling these data addons so cheap

gary,

To be fair, €7.50 bundle for 500MB of data is ridiculous. Consider:

Meteor have the free texts and 250MB when you top up by €20, Three has 500MB add on for €5 and Vodafone has free calls, texts and 250MB internet when you top up by €30 or else 39cent a day for 100MB.

If these operators can offer bundles like this, why can't O2? They should want to stay competitive. There's zero element of "want(ing) somethin for nothin" - I want a competively priced data bundle.. it's hardly a lot to ask!

drunkmonkey

basquille wrote: »

I want a competively priced data bundle

Well then face it your going to have to get a competitively priced network, you've just seen what o2 customer care are trained to think and it's not pretty:D

garyegt

and thats why meteor are up sh1t creek money wise.

the main thing to consider is how much it costs a network for data. it used to be maaaad expensive, talk and texts cost a network sweet funk all, data is the more expensive one, but the prices are coming down. its not good business sense to basically give away free data like. these companies need to make money

like if your not happy, then change to meteor?

Basq

drunkmonkey wrote: »

Well then face it your going to have to get a competitively priced network, you've just seen what o2 customer care are trained to think and it's not pretty:D

Very true!

I'll look into alternatives this week actually.

garyegt

drunkmonkey wrote: »

Well then face it your going to have to get a competitively priced network, you've just seen what o2 customer care are trained to think and it's not pretty:D

haha screw you im just being realistic like! but i do completely agree;) after all it is a recession and we all need to save the pennies!!

woodzie

I understand networks have to make money but if you look at the actual numbers and compare Ireland to similar sized countries in Europe such as Austria or Denmark, the networks make an absolute fortune here compared to those countries therefore they O2 should be able to offer a competitive data bundle without impacting hugely on the bottom line.

At present people will be reluctant to use the daily data as it cots a euro however a lot of people would buy a bundle for €5 say, therefore they will probably generate more revenue.

garyegt

woodzie wrote: »

I understand networks have to make money but if you look at the actual numbers and compare Ireland to similar sized countries in Europe such as Austria or Denmark, the networks make an absolute fortune here compared to those countries therefore they O2 should be able to offer a competitive data bundle without impacting hugely on the bottom line.

not as much as you think, phones are heavily subsidised here.

drunkmonkey

garyegt wrote: »

not as much as you think, phones are heavily subsidised here.

Yea but o2 make it back, 30pm for data on pre pay:eek:

The amount of school kids shoveling money into their phones for data would be alarming if the truth ever came out. o2 are making a fortune for no add on, vodafone and meteor aren't far behind them.

garyegt

trust me they aint;) ive heard a lot of stuff that they dont want the general public to hear:D

drunkmonkey

garyegt wrote: »

ive heard a lot of stuff that they dont want the general public to hear

What like, you can't get free calls to any network on o2 prepay, you can't make video calls, you can't get a data add on, you can't conference call, you can't send text messages after 12, you get spammed by them constantly.:p

garyegt

:rolleyes:

Keano

basquille wrote: »

Very true!

I'll look into alternatives this week actually.

I'd be interested to hear how your research goes Basq as most of the numbers I call are o2 and like you the gf is on o2. Having no data plan on pre-pay is annoying.

Keano

garyegt wrote: »

:rolleyes:

Instead of :rolleyes: why not tell us some of the stuff you know?

Sobanek

I actually thought about moving to Three and getting a 500MB addon for €5 but haven't decided yet really. It seems like a good deal.

angel01

garyegt wrote: »

yeah i know! i worked in o2 customer care for 2 years and i had to try help retain people etc, but i really dont see the point.

the only thing they have going from them is realistically they do have the best 3g network. theres a 1gb addon for i think a tenner, you could try that? 97% of customers with a data plan like the advance plan only actually use 500megs. have you considered the sim only advance 150? 35 a month.

god dammit im doing it again:P

I didn't even know they had a retention policy, they couldn't care less when I moved..

woodzie

O2 really are becoming a joke, just looked at their simplicity plans, they charge customers 35c per minute to ring customer care. What a joke, they must be really out to annoy their customers or see how many customers they can lose in the shortest time possible. Customer Care should be free!! I cant understand how O2 have gone from being the most popular network not so long ago to becoming one of the most despised and greedy networks out there.

garyegt

its 35c a call, not a minute. and for every call taht goes into customer care, it costs o2 7euro odd.

woodzie

This is what it says when you go looking at other call costs:

Calls to Customer Care Number 1890 99 55 02 35c per minute

It doesn't matter if it costs O2 €7 for each call, customer service should be free!

drunkmonkey

I thought it was 14cent to call customer care on pre pay and free on bill pay?

http://www.o2online.ie/help/contact_us.shtml

Doubt o2 have and 1890 number for customer care, There bad but hardly gone that bad.

Davy

drunkmonkey wrote: »

I thought it was 14cent to call customer care on pre pay and free on bill pay?

http://www.o2online.ie/help/contact_us.shtml

Doubt o2 have and 1890 number for customer care, There bad but hardly gone that bad.

Its new tariff terms for the simplicity plans. You use email or the o2 forum for customer care, or then the special number at a higher rate. Trying to save themselves money for man hours

drunkmonkey

Davy wrote: »

Its new tariff terms for the simplicity plans. You use email or the o2 forum for customer care, or then the special number at a higher rate. Trying to save themselves money for man hours

Sounds far from Simplicity, Should be called the new Theft plan. An o2 number calling o2 costs nothing as it's an on net call. There just gouging again.

Davy

drunkmonkey wrote: »

Sounds far from Simplicity, Should be called the new Theft plan. An o2 number calling o2 costs nothing as it's an on net call. There just gouging again.

Its not about the call, its about getting customers to use online CC so they dont have to pay as many to answer the phones

drunkmonkey

Davy wrote: »

Its not about the call, its about getting customers to use online CC so they dont have to pay as many to answer the phones

Who's going to be replying to the emails? Rubber Ducks?
A phone needs to be sorted straight away when someone has a problem, They've lost the plot.
It really sounds like there in serious difficulty if they can't afford some customer care agents to answer the phone when you've a problem with your phone.
Online has it's place and i'm sure it's successful but there in danger of becoming nothing more than a faceless webstore.

cardol

woodzie wrote: »

I was just looking at the O2 website to see had they released any data plans for prepay customers and they still haven't. I left O2 in february because of this. Customers have been ranting on O2's forum for the last two years about it and were constantly being told something was coming soon and just looked at a thread on their forum and they are still giving the same responses.

Looks like O2 dont care about their prepay customers and trying to force them onto billpay plans if they want to get data.

Delighted I left, all the other networks have good prepay offerings with data for a while now and O2 have been dragging their heals.

What do you all think. Should they release a data plan for prepay or continue with what they are doing with their social link app

I have just switched from Meteor to O2 as I went from Nokia N73 to HTC Smart. I couldn't get any internet connection for the first 3 days and for the second 3 days I can get online but then the whole thing goes offline and gives an error msg. O2 told me over the phone that their HTC phones give this problem a lot, and said to go into the store. The store told me that if I signed up to a prepaid plan, I wouldn't have the issue with online access. Apparently, I need the O2 Sense which is only available on prepay.

I plan to leave them. I was with Meteor on my N73. Don't rate Meteor much either, but then, don't rate much with SIM providers in Ireland. They all give better service and better deals to UK customers. I should know...:mad:

cardol

woodzie wrote: »

O2 really are becoming a joke, just looked at their simplicity plans, they charge customers 35c per minute to ring customer care. What a joke, they must be really out to annoy their customers or see how many customers they can lose in the shortest time possible. Customer Care should be free!! I cant understand how O2 have gone from being the most popular network not so long ago to becoming one of the most despised and greedy networks out there.

From calling Customer Care in the last 5 days as a new customer (for the last 5 days) the rate is 14c pm. Still horrendous, it should be free.

Whippersnapper

Looks like I'll be moving to Meteor aswell. No prepay data plan is ridiculous. I'll get the mother, the sister and the other half to move with me too.

Maental2000

garyegt wrote: »

its 35c a call, not a minute. and for every call taht goes into customer care, it costs o2 7euro odd.

So they attempt to recoup this money by charging PAYG customers but yet bill pay customers are free to ring customer care to their heart's content?!
They're crazy!
And meteor are copying them now I see...they used only have 1 customer care number for both bill pay & PAYG...1905. But I see that they've introduced a 17xx no for PAYG. Not sure how long ago though. What's wrong with these companies like?!

krudler

cardol wrote: »

From calling Customer Care in the last 5 days as a new customer (for the last 5 days) the rate is 14c pm. Still horrendous, it should be free.

Why? the majority of calls taken by phone care centres are things that people shouldnt have to ring in about to begin with, I'm talking from experience btw so please dont tell me otherwise. It costs the company money to deal with calls, a lot of them unecessary "what time is it?" is a great one :rolleyes: meaning theres a wait time for the people who have genuine queries. The amount of idiots that ring customer care about nothing, or just for a chat, or to be a nuisance, or to get the same answer that 5 other people in a row have told them for the same issue,or because they dont know which network they're with and just ring them all till they get their actual provider, is ridiculous. prepay customers especially are the worst for ringing in about nothing.
"whats my credit"
"you can check that by dialling *100# into the phone, you dont need to call us for it"
"ah I prefer hearing it from someone"
"sigh...."

I remember a notorious customer who rang in to us over 200 times in the space of a month after joining the network, now thats over €1400 this guy cost the company in agent time and resources, he'd topped up by a tenner in all the time he'd been on the network, do the math, they kicked him off the network. Unfortunately like everything in life, idiots ruin it for the rest of us.

Maental2000

krudler wrote: »

Why? the majority of calls taken by phone care centres are things that people shouldnt have to ring in about to begin with, I'm talking from experience btw so please dont tell me otherwise. It costs the company money to deal with calls, a lot of them unecessary "what time is it?" is a great one :rolleyes: meaning theres a wait time for the people who have genuine queries. The amount of idiots that ring customer care about nothing, or just for a chat, or to be a nuisance, or to get the same answer that 5 other people in a row have told them for the same issue,or because they dont know which network they're with and just ring them all till they get their actual provider, is ridiculous. prepay customers especially are the worst for ringing in about nothing.
"whats my credit"
"you can check that by dialling *100# into the phone, you dont need to call us for it"
"ah I prefer hearing it from someone"
"sigh...."

I remember a notorious customer who rang in to us over 200 times in the space of a month after joining the network, now thats over €1400 this guy cost the company in agent time and resources, he'd topped up by a tenner in all the time he'd been on the network, do the math, they kicked him off the network. Unfortunately like everything in life, idiots ruin it for the rest of us.

That's in all walks of life, especially in retail. People are idiots!!
But the networks should just introduce a code of conduct expected of customers, whereby if they call in with nonsense after a specific amount of times they'll be kicked off the network. That's only fair.
The provision of customer service is an absolute necessity for every company. Forcing your customers to directly pay for it is ridiculous. That's like walking up to the customer service desk in Dunnes and having to pay upfront before being served. Absolute nonsense.