Vodafone Upgrading Problems

placeholder · 7 Feb 2008 at 12:48

I’m due an upgrade to my Vodafone contract this month so phoned up to see what I would be offered. I’m a heavy user and even though I’ve cut down I would put myself in the £50 a month bill area. Ive also been with Vodafone since about 2001, always with reasonably large bills.

The phone I really want is the N82 but I believe its not out yet on Vodafone? I was also considering an N95 8Gb or the SE K850i. Anyway when I phoned up I got the most unhelpful person ever who tried to sell me some crappy SE phone which didn’t meet my requirements at all. When I inquired about the N95 he just laughed and said it would cost me about £250 to upgrade!!

Anyway the point is that I go through this pointless charade every time I want to upgrade. I’m forced to threaten to cancel, get put through to the department for cancelling etc etc etc and eventually get given the phone I want after loads of cat and mouse conversations. Is there a quick way to by-pass this nonsense or do I just have to accept it’s a part of upgrading? I have to phone from work and I CBA being stuck on the phone for hours arguing. The thing is I don’t really want to leave Vodafone but if they call my bluff over cancelling then that’s what I’ll have to do. Also it seems that Orange and O2 are offering way better deals at the moment so given the phones I’m interested in should I just switch anyway??

Ta muchly for your opinions!

melbourne720 · 7 Feb 2008 at 13:42

Normally I have to go through that, but this time I got a TyTn II. It cost me 50 notes on 18 month contract, but that is cheaper than getting a new contract with it, and I have quite cheap bills (£20-£40). I'm still on the cheapest tariff

Maybe just ring up and hope you get someone who is less of a tool.

DavidQ · 7 Feb 2008 at 15:18

I had the same experience, I was on a £25.00 per month contract and my bill was always over it. They wanted to give me a reconditioned phone, I told them where to go. I'm now with O2 and couldn't be happier. On a 12 month contract which is expiring on the 15th of March.

placeholder · 7 Feb 2008 at 18:13

Yeah thats what really bugs me! There seems to be some people (regardless of network) who phone up and get what they want and others have to jump through hoops based on no really fact whatsoever other than whoever happens to answer their call.

It happened once to me and i got the N80 when it first came out ages ago but every other upgrade has been a nightmare. Theres no logic to it!

Nikolic · 7 Feb 2008 at 20:15

Did you phone upgrades? Big mistake. They always offer me the worst possible upgrades.

Phone cancellations, totally different people that are usually a lot nicer and give offers that are miles better. I'm a pretty light-weight user (~£20 a month) and walked around with a just-released E65 for £20 around this time last year.

placeholder · 7 Feb 2008 at 22:25

Yeah it was only upgrades i reached this time as the whole pattern was just repeating itself. I'll probably end up going through the whole cancellation process just to get a decend deal but its just such a waste of everyones time!

Alex_L · 7 Feb 2008 at 23:00

Nikolic said:
Did you phone upgrades? Big mistake. They always offer me the worst possible upgrades.

Phone cancellations, totally different people that are usually a lot nicer and give offers that are miles better. I'm a pretty light-weight user (~£20 a month) and walked around with a just-released E65 for £20 around this time last year.

This is the best advice. I never speak to upgrades these days, I always go straight to cancellations, and normally I find the staff much better informed and I get much better deals.

NiCkNaMe · 8 Feb 2008 at 19:08

Wish i'd gone through to cancellations... went to upgrades and ended up cancelling straight away

got my PAC on the way.

Is it likely they'll ring back with a decent deal ?

MrMoonX · 9 Feb 2008 at 00:09

vodafone in my experience are the most expensive and have the worst CS

LizardKing · 9 Feb 2008 at 03:25

NiCkNaMe said:
Wish i'd gone through to cancellations... went to upgrades and ended up cancelling straight away got my PAC on the way.

Is it likely they'll ring back with a decent deal ?

They did with me last year, about the same day the PAC arrived in the post.

I'm guessing that the offer your given is dependent on the voda operator and if there willing to loose/reduce there incentives. the one that phoned me up gave me a n95 8gb and car bluetooth kit on a £35 a month contract without much haggling, that was the upgrade department. (I couldnt be bothered to go through the "i want to leave" drama so I just suggested what phone i might like and took it from there)

placeholder · 9 Feb 2008 at 09:46

LizardKing said:
They did with me last year, about the same day the PAC arrived in the post.

I'm guessing that the offer your given is dependent on the voda operator and if there willing to loose/reduce there incentives. the one that phoned me up gave me a n95 8gb and car bluetooth kit on a £35 a month contract without much haggling, that was the upgrade department. (I couldnt be bothered to go through the "i want to leave" drama so I just suggested what phone i might like and took it from there)

See thats an example of what i mean! The guy i got in the upgrade department wouldnt move from £200 odd quid for the nokia N95 8Gb and tried to flog me some random SE phone. He even had the nerve to say 'You seem to like the expensive phones, why is that? You'll never need all the features they have". I just gave up at that point.

The thing is my basic contract is £25-£30 a month (cant remember) but my bills vary between £40 and £70 a month. In the past my bills were anything up to £100 a month due to travelling etc so I dont think i'm being unreasonable?

Theres no point in getting ratty with the upgrade people cos i guess its not their fault but the whole game playing with cancellations is a serious PITA.