Vodafone Change 'Unlimited' Data charges

[ZootHornRollo]

Hi,

 

It has become apparent on some other forums that Vodafone intend to change the way in which they manage customers on 'unlimited' data packages.

 

Packages were sold on terms of unlimited data with a fair usage policy of 500MB.

 

They are now intending to change contract terms for all existing and new customers and charge anyone going over their 'limit' @ a rate of £5 per 500MB.

 

These terms will take effect from 1st of June with Vodafone having yet to officially inform customers of this change but they have made statements on their website forum confirming that these charges are coming after 'accidentally' texting some customers.

 

Many users, including myself, occasionally go over their current 500MB fair usage limit and don't get penalised but we would be at least £5 worse off should that happen under the new terms. There are also customers who exceed their limit many times over who would be worse off and of course many customers i'm sure would not notice any difference.

 

Are these changes sufficient to enable customers to cancel their contracts without penalty as they would be a significant change to T&C's?

 

Even customers who don't currently go over their data 'limit' may still be effected in the future as they may change their mobile internet activity over time but i believe there may be a time limit on cancelling after they inform you.

[BankFodder]

Yes, I would say that you could cancel your contract on the basis of this. However, if VP don't agree, then they will try to destroy you until you see things their way.

[Mr lex]

Flagged up for Lee_vodafone

 

Lex

[what_todo]

 

These terms will take effect from 1st of June with Vodafone having yet to officially inform customers of this change but they have made statements on their website forum confirming that these charges are coming after 'accidentally' texting some customers.

 

i am the same, when on the move like you see you tube, use GPS, ect.

 

i have not seen any notice about changing the 'unlimited' data packages.

because if this does happen and there grounds cancel my contracts without penalty this will be done!!

[Lee Vodafone Company Rep]

Hi all,

 

Apologies the delay with my reply here - unfortunately I've not been in the office during the last couple of days so have only just been able to come back to you know.

 

In regard to the topic of ZootHornRollo's thread we have seen quite a bit of speculation on the out of bundle charges for Vodafone UK mobile internet users on forums and in the media. We wanted to clarify things. Here are the facts as they stand today:

 

In June we'll be introducing a free text service to tell our contract customers when they're approaching the upper limit of their data bundle. As the vast majority of our mobile internet subscribers (more than 97 percent) never reach the limit they will not be receiving the text alerts at all.

 

The minority of our customers (less then 3 percent) who do come close will receive a text telling them they are approaching their data allowance and advising them to monitor their usage going forward. At this point customers will not be charged anything more.

 

In the event that you'd like more information please see the announcement on our eForum here.

 

Many thanks,

 

Lee

 

Web Relations Team

 

Vodafone UK

[ZootHornRollo]

hi lee,

 

thanks for the reply.

 

I have been following this on other forums and it would appear to me that whilst the T&C's will be remaining the same (a contentious issue) the charges are in fact changing.

 

The terms & conditions do not state what the charges are for going over the FUP so it should be assumed that the charge is zero (any unclear T&C's are always ruled in favour of the consumer) and is being increased to £5 per 500MB.

 

Vodafone have also stated in a couple of statements that the charges are being introduced which would mean it is a new charge - hence the T&C's should be updated.

 

EIther way it is a change to T&C's and/or charges which means VF should be advising customers that they have the right to cancel their contract WITHOUT PENALTY is they so wish.

 

Trying to wrap this up as a 'free service' is bordering on ridiculous. It is a new charge, not a free service.

[locutus]

I still can't get my head around "unlimited" having a limit

[Lee Vodafone Company Rep]

Hi ZootHornRollo,

 

Thanks for coming back to me.

 

At this moment in time customers will not be charged for any additional data over the 500MB FUP. As of the 1st June 2010 we will sending free text alerts to those customers who are nearing this amount of data.

 

This process will continue for a period of a few months and in the event that a customer has continued to exceed FUP we will then contact them to discuss alternative options.

 

For more information please see the updated announcement on the eForum here.

 

Thanks,

 

Lee

 

Web Relations Team

 

Vodafone UK

Edited May 25, 2010 by Lee_Vodafone
Post edited to provide link to updated eForum announcement.

[essex_chris]

I found this site after googling "disputing early termination charges on mobile contract". I have just registered and hoped to start a new thread but this one seems appropriate to seek advice.

 

Apologies for the length of post, i suspect this is common on a forum like this.

 

I will copy some of a recent post of mine as it is a fair summary of my views (hope this is appropriate for this site)

 

I still hope (but barely) that Vodafone will see the error of their ways.

 

Vodafone should;

 

1.) ...only apply this 500mb hard limit to new contracts agreed on or after June 1st.

 

2.) ...continue to apply a 500Mb soft limit to existing customers, and in my opinion any new ones between now and June 1st unless the sales advice categorically states the full details and makes the customer aware, whether they ask or not.

 

3.) ...decide upon a sensible hard limit in line with realistic use of Mobile Internet with smartphones. 1Gb might not be seen as enough to many but would be a sensible compromise. use above 1Gb should be contacted and presented with sensibly priced options (£5 per 500Mb is actually quite reasonable IMHO).

 

4.) Enforce any new limit after making clear to customers both prospective through advertising/website, and existing customers by text/email/post that say two successive months of use over the hard limit would be chargeable at published rates.

 

This would represent a fair system which would be roughly in line with how policies have been sold for some time, allow for cost implications to the customer who uses data siginificantly above the average amount, and should remove the ability of a difficult customer to simply abuse the service by using gigabytes of data for 2-3months and then curtail their use for 1month to bring themselves back out of any charging zone.

 

I have my suspicions that Vodafone are using the classic tactic of scaremongering about very tough rules and enforcement of them, only to relax them a little and the vast majority of people breathe a sigh of relief, whilst still being charged more than they used to be.

 

I hope to be proved wrong.

 

When a company mistakenly advertises something and people try desperately to use the letter of the law to force that company to sell an item it's not fair on the seller and the customer should be ashamed.

 

When a company repeatedly advertises something and advises prospective customers to stay with them or to join, only to try to not provide what was promised it is not fair on the customer and the seller should be ashamed.

 

Both sides at times try to hide behind terms and conditions, confusing statements which do not specifically deal with the problem, or use the benfit of the doubt for nefarious purposes.

 

Vodafone bosses should be ashamed of this whole debacle"

 

What do you think?

 

Myself i have had a number of account problems with Vodafone in recent times - i am a 99% satisfied customer, although at times it seems a bit of work to get there, usually things are dealt with once Vodafone are pressed in my experience. I have been a customer with more than one tariff at a time since 2003.

 

I have been contacted by a representative of 'Vodafone Directors Office" after emailing both the webteam and copying that email to a well known high up Vodafone email address. I had tried 191 but with absolutely no luck other than an final offer of a £20 credit to my account, for over £50 of costs to myself which were Vodafones responsibility.

 

The person i dealt with was Amanda and was very helpful and largely very good at answering questions and dealing with specific queries.

 

I renewed a contract with Vodafone on the 22nd of January - this was for £35 a month, with a 50% retentions discount, for 600mins / 3000texts / 500Mb Mobile Internet with Fair Use Policy, and was given a free HTC Magic.

 

Since then i have actually been billed for a £40 tariff with discount - though i was only aware that the bills were higher than expected. Multiple calls to 191 informed me that this would level out due to changing tariff, date of payment etc. at no point was the £40 tariff mentioned.

 

I also paid £9.99 for Saturday delivery for the handset, and although it was delivered the box contents were incomplete - it lacked a memory card so certain major functions of the handset were unavailable to me.

 

After arranging for a 4gb micro sd card to be posted to me, i was told i would be credited the saturday delivery charge.

 

Until a few days ago this had not happened - given the new of the mobile internet warning texts i decided to contact Vodafone so was pleased when i got a call from Amanda representing the Vodafone Directors Office.

 

After a lenghthy explanation, discussing the details of the sale and the contract it was agreed that a credit to my account for the costs to me, and future credits each month to my bill of £2.50 would be applied to put my bills in line with the £17.50 standard price it should be. I am satisfied with this, but i post it as it gives some history to admitted mistakes on Vodafones part.

 

We also discussed the news of warning texts and the mobile internet limit, and i was told i would receive a letter with the details on Vodafones official position, as i was told that the eForum and 191 statements would not be official - what i was to receive would be.

 

A day later i received a call to apologise that i was told i would receive a letter, but that i would get an email instead. This is fine - anything official from Vodafone in writing would satisfy me.

 

When this email arrived it was a snipped version of many posts on the eForum, so somewhat disappointed i wrote back asking for clarification on a few things, and in return was sent back a more comprehensive announcement from May 11th which can be seen posted elsewhere. Not that i was sent a statement on the 12th but it was not Vodafones announcement from the 11th.

 

At this point in time i am informed that were i to request a PAC code at this time, my early termination charge would be in the region of ~£490.

 

My issue with my contract is that i was specifically informed multiple times by Vodafone staff on 191, the sales line who called me after i requested and received a PAC code in January, and from reading the Vodafone eForum that the Fair use Policy meant that 500mb was a 'soft' limit, and that it was intended to give Vodafone the means to restrict or charge users who tethered, streamed video, used P2P download services, and were excessive users of data. This was clarified upon being asked as 'gigabytes' of data, other specific comments from Vodafone staff verbally were that users going 50% over and using 750Mb, or double the limit and using 1000mb were fine as it is the tiny minority of multiple gigabyte users that Vodafone would target and charge.

 

I have now learned for certaint that should i use in excess of 500Mb each month more than once than i will be eligible to be charged.

 

To me this is a clear difference from what i was specifically sold. I have attempted to seek clarification from Vodafone but i get recent statements about 3% of users, or 'a period of time' parroted back to me.

 

I fully understand the need to charge users who abuse the Mobile Internet service, and should i sign up to a new contract with Vodafone i will happily pay £5 a month for each extra 500Mb data allowance, but this is categorically not what i was sold.

 

I am under the impression that whilst Vodafone can apply early termination charges to my account should i use the PAC code i may request, but i want to confirm the potential repercussions should i decide to dispute them.

 

Any assistance would be much appreciated.

 

Apologies again for the long post

 

Chris.

[locutus]

Probably best to start your own thread. I would also like to sing Lee_Vodafone's praises in sorting problems out for customers, lets see what he can do.

 

So, here's how I'd play it in your position.

 

1st start a new thread.

2nd follow this to get in touch with the vodafone webteam (mainly Lee deals with us on CAG)

Hi CAG members,

 

We thought it would be nice to introduce ourselves and to assure you all that our presence on CAG is with the very best of intentions.

Vodafone UK has recently introduced a dedicated Web Relations Team which is keen to seek out customers who’re having difficulties with their accounts and feel that they have no other place to turn to than CAG and other consumer forums and blogs.

Naturally, it’s not possible for us to help directly with account specific queries on CAG and as such we would encourage those members who feel we can help them to contact us privately and securely using the ‘Contact us’ form on the Vodafone website with your account details.

https://help.vodafone.co.uk/system/s...PARTITION_ID=1

 

When emailing us we would also ask that you either provide us with a link to your post or thread – if you’ve posted in another member’s thread please also provide your CAG username so that we can check what your query is – and state the code WRT135 within the body of your email to make sure it comes through to us.As soon as we’ve received your email we’ll endeavour to get back to you as quickly as possible.

 

Many thanks

 

Web Relations Team

Vodafone UK.

CAG members contacting us, add the code WRT135 in the subject line in order ensure that email gets routed into our queue.

personally I'd put a link to your thread AND your username in the email message to Lee.

 

Finally, update your thread with the reference number that the Vodafone "Contact us" sends you.

 

Just as a little testimonial for lee, take a look at this thread

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/telecoms-mobile-fixed-internet/259838-vodafone-complaints-vf-webteam.html

[essex_chris]

Thanks for that. I will follow your advice.

 

I think i may skip the part in regards to the Webteam as i am already in contact with Vodafone officially.

 

Funnily enough as i wrote that post i was reading some of the threads so i am hopeful. I actually want to stay with Vodafone - in my experience they have the best network, and i already have a SureSignal box as our house is a bit of a deadspot for all networks - working from home a lot this is a pain!

 

Thanks again