Vodafone FTTH - did I just got scammed?

kodi

Can someone give me a price for Vodafone 1Gb FTTH (BB or BB + landline), please?

What happened.

I was out of contract with them, paying happily 40€/month for my 100Mbit VDSL. In December I got a call that they are rising the prices and if I want to keep the price, I have to sign 12 month contract. I was very reluctant, because literally a day before fiber was laid down in my vicinity and the guys said it will go live in about 2 months. But the Vodafone rep said that I should no worry, just call them when it will be live, they just do the installation and all will be within current contract.

Due to some issues it went live a few days ago. So I went to the vodafone.ie, logged in (I have a mobile with them), got a nice 35€/month for 1Gb BB+ line in the basket, but as expected I couldn't fully check out (because still in contract). So I called their wonderful customer support.

What I got was the best offer for 75€ for 1Gb + landline after the existing customer discount + 50€ installation fee. I didn't expect that. So the nice lady said, that if I take the BB + TV package, it will be 60€ and no installation fee. I don't even own a TV, so I asked for the offer without one. So she reluctantly said that all she can do is 65€ for 12 months and then 85€. But because I am so good long term customer (I am with them from BT Ireland times) she can do something better. 55€ for BB+ TV + landline, no installation fee and put a note to give me similar discount on my renewal. She said that offer on the website is not valid, that's why it didn't go through.

Having in mind that the best offer I got was Eir for 50€ but the contract was 2 years, I reluctantly agreed. I was researching other providers, but basically what was left was Vodafone and Eir on the table. All the time the sales person was insisting to get 500Mbit, but she said that they are offering 1Gb down/200 Mb down, or 500Mb down/100Mb up - due to nature what I am doing the faster the uplink the better. I am not even sure if those speeds are true.

Basically after a walk and calming down (that call was really really stressful) I feel like it was a pure scam. The contract is not yet in effect (it will start with the installation after which I will have the customary 14 days of cool off period). Was I scammed? What are the real Vodafone/Eir prices for 1Gb FTTH?

banham

I have been with them since the BT days and have 150mb, plus calls and 100min mobile calls for €40 a month. It was €50 prior to this, but they gave me a 12 month reduction last January. Every year at renewal time, they try to sell the TV package but I refuse. They are pushing the TV package and give very good offers on it. In May thy phoned and offered me 500mb and TV with what I’ve got for €55 per month but I refused as I do not want the TV package.

I think you have as good an offer as you will get, from them.

Xcellor

I joined Vodafone back in June. Upgraded FTTH went live a week or so back. I phoned they upgraded me 40 euro month + TV and free installation. 500 mb package

TheDriver

I was out of contract with them and wanted to change to ftth and not a budge on full price. So they lost a 15 year long customer.

kodi

A little over a month later.

Yes, I was scammed. I had an option to upgrade right on the vodafone.ie page after I logged into my account. 1Gb broadband + landline for 40€ per month for 12 months -5€ rebate because of my mobile account. So 35€ for 12 months. I called their customer support (still don't know why). As soon as I said that I wanted to upgrade, there was a package with TV assigned to my account and an initial offer discount applied. At the very same moment, the option to upgrade on the website greyed out. I was told later that at this very moment this initial offer is one time only per account deal, so even if they removed the option that discount would be permanently gone. Then I was told that the cool-off period starts when services will be up and running. It was the 16th of July. 22nd of July technician called in to do the installation. Due to some issues with the duct they had to reschedule. So I got my fibre physically connected I think on the 6th of August. With only a basic setup with a promise, it will be configured on the next working day. My services were finally connected 17th of August. I had to do all the cabling myself, even when I was promised that it will be done by engineers. And I still had gaping holes in the wall that I had to fix, even when I was promised there will be no visible damage to the property (other options were to run the fiber around the house in the most visible spot). When I called about it I was told that the job is finished and I should raise my concerns when engineers were still on site. Also, engineers don't have RJ-45 crimpers so the promise of putting the router where I wanted was a lie. But they can sell me a Super WiFi upgrade if I find the WiFi coverage inadequate (the router is now located under the stairs, so it's surrounded by concrete walls).

Also, I asked when my cool-off period starts and got an answer that it actually ended on the 5th of August. A day before the fibre was connected. Oh, did you guys remember that I said on the 6th of August only the basic configuration was done? Yeah. It was configured as 100/100Mbit. A hundred megs. With a lot of retransmissions and about 2-3% packet loss to the next hop. It was finally fixed last week. Oh, and they don't have the capabilities to run 1Gb/200Mb. 1Gb/100Mb is the max. Two salespeople were trying to convince me that I am getting a 200Mb uplink, but it's achievable only when there is no network congestion. So I sent them speed test results done every 15 minutes for 4 days. Not a single time they crossed 100Mbit. At least they stopped telling me I have a 200Mb upload after I verified with their tech support and Open Eir...

I even got my phone running. And I don't watch TV, but decided to try it for the weekend just to see what this WinCE 5.0 device they provide is capable of. Well, I'm not impressed. 720p to the screen, most features are SD (some even look like they are 320x200 - no kidding). Every few minutes - pause. They did try to fix it for two days, but I finally just gave up as I don't need it. Just disconnected the tv box and put it back into the box. I cannot send it back (I don't want a new one, just wanted to get rid of it).

So I am stuck with Vodafone for the next 10 months, two weeks, and a few days. I was finally able to move the router from its well. Now just have to get the tech support to change the WiFi channels in it as that option was disabled from the user interface and my neighbor Gigabox sits in his window, working on the same channels, so if you want to use WiFi near that wall you can expect speeds of 0.2-0.5Mbps. If any.

I am writing this sitting in the Vodafone phone queue for the second hour now.

Beware!