Vodafone as an ISP

Forums › One New Zealand (including Vodafone, WxC, Farmside) › Vodafone as an ISP

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#1065304 14-Jun-2014 00:52

@ shelford, that does sound like a great deal. Makes me tempted to go for UFB.

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Lurch

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#1065327 14-Jun-2014 08:10

Vodafone can be slow to respond to support requests if at all.

Some of the forum posts (especially on their own forums) can be quite arrogant and Vodafone is never at fault attitude. You'll notice that these posts usually disappear or get get deleted. People have short memories though so all is forgiven in a months or so time.

Phone time for support can be long, however getting through to sales is instant.

Vodafone use to be the first to the party with update plans/pricing but seem to wait a few months after other ISPs before they make their move.

The connection is most of the time fantastic, download/upload speeds are great. There was an issue with Netflix, which seems to be fixed for most people once Vodafone followed suite and applied the suggested fix for an incorrect setting on their transparent proxy. This took quite sometime after Telecom/Slingshot etc fixed the issue, Telecom/Slingshot etc also responded really quickly about the issue. At first Vodafone was stating not our problem all working fine here, and it's illegal/unsupported/wont support it. I don't think/remember Vodafone ever owning up or posting on the Netflix forum post.

I get the odd days where I get DNS issues where I have to restart the router. But overall I can't complain for the actual product.

The deal I'm on is still cheapest option by $4 at $75* month for unlimited naked ADSL, I use to get $30ish off for on contract mobile but this discount has dwindled down to $10. Bigpipe offers the same plan for $79 a month so the on contract mobile discount really isn't what it use to be.

Will be switching when my current 12 month contract expires for a couple of reasons not related to the actual ADSL service. Will be sad as I've been with Vodafone 3 or 4 years, Vodafone was a great company and use to recommend it to people that came into our IT dept but the support has put me off.

*There is compass at $74.95 unlimited DSL but reading past forum posts I've ruled that option out.

DarthKermit

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#1065328 14-Jun-2014 08:22

^^^

I'm not sure if this is actually the case; but perhaps Vodafone stretched their resources (like support) a bit too thinly when they purchased TelstraClear?

I don't know how many TC customers went over to VF in the sale. Does anyone know how many? Or is that commercially sensitive information?

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shelford

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#1065330 14-Jun-2014 08:30

Think we have decided to take the deal. ufb is just too tempting.

My parents have been with TelstraClear for years and stayed with them after Vodafone acquired them. They are now switching to Vodafone as they are moving but whenever they have had issues it's been resolved quickly.

Handle9

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#1065332 14-Jun-2014 08:44

Lurch:
The deal I'm on is still cheapest option by $4 at $75* month for unlimited naked ADSL, I use to get $30ish off for on contract mobile but this discount has dwindled down to $10. Bigpipe offers the same plan for $79 a month so the on contract mobile discount really isn't what it use to be.

To be fair they did also drop the price by $20 so where you were paying $75 you now pay....... $75

antoniosk

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#1065347 14-Jun-2014 09:31

DarthKermit: ^^^

I'm not sure if this is actually the case; but perhaps Vodafone stretched their resources (like support) a bit too thinly when they purchased TelstraClear?

I don't know how many TC customers went over to VF in the sale. Does anyone know how many? Or is that commercially sensitive information?

Of course they did - try swallowing a 1200 person company and the most fragmented network in NZ history and see how well any company copes....

That iHug still features for provisioning and deployment in 2014 is a sign of how much work for $0 return it is to migrate systems and platforms. It's much easier just to manage your customer base and offer new packages to market and move customers onto those packages - offering tempting headline pricing and hiding price rises for the boring bits...

I've got a letter saying the Sky Basic pricing increases $3.07 to $48.07, matching buying from Sky directly. The charge for the digital box rounds up 5c to $15. To move to Sky would boost my costs to $88/month - $1000 a year for TV is already a pretty grim place to be.... And Wiring & Maintenance is $3.95 for wires on my house that have been in place for 8 years without fault.... what a laugh.

Most customers came over of course - all that happened is that billing changed and over time some leave, new ones join, mainly the ones who price chase for the cheapest combination. But inertia tends to win, which most consumer marketers know.... small price rises that are not enough to drive your base away until you losing in droves, then you put forward a crisis based repricing....

________

Antoniosk

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#1065351 14-Jun-2014 09:44

Lurch: ... Phone time for support can be long, however getting through to sales is instant. ...

+1
Very true - but that applies to most providers, not just VF.

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DarthKermit

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#1065361 14-Jun-2014 10:04

antoniosk: I've got a letter saying the Sky Basic pricing increases $3.07 to $48.07, matching buying from Sky directly. The charge for the digital box rounds up 5c to $15. To move to Sky would boost my costs to $88/month - $1000 a year for TV is already a pretty grim place to be.... And Wiring & Maintenance is $3.95 for wires on my house that have been in place for 8 years without fault.... what a laugh.

I wouldn't get Sky, it's just too expensive IMO and just another bill to have to pay. A mate of mine is paying $100 a month for his Sky package (probably gone up since he mentioned that cost). $1200+ a year to watch TV? No thank you.

Why don't you cancel your Wiring & Maintenance insurance? That'll save you $47.40 a year.

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scuwp

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#1065395 14-Jun-2014 10:25

Changed to VF a couple of months ago. Thus far couldn't be happier with the sales, seamless changeover, speeds, reliability, or one fault that we had in the early days which was reasonably attended to. Yes the faults team can be hard to get hold of but their call-back service (when offered) worked well for me. Call wait times were as much if not longer on Telecom IME.

Lazy is such an ugly word, I prefer to call it selective participation

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#1065685 14-Jun-2014 19:21

DarthKermit: ... I wouldn't get Sky, it's just too expensive ...

Agree 100%
I'm on VF unlimited cable broadband (excellent) and VF cable Sky (not excellent).
I'm having all sorts of problems with cable/Sky, which freezes so often it's almost unviewable (despite 3x recent call-outs to the VF techs).
And the programs are cr*p.
And the price has just gone up (again).
I'm still on (24-month) contract with VF/Sky, with a Early Termination Fee of $299.

VF cable broadband +1.
VF cable Sky -1.

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dejadeadnz

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#1065686 14-Jun-2014 19:27

Lurch: Vodafone can be slow to respond to support requests if at all.

Some of the forum posts (especially on their own forums) can be quite arrogant and Vodafone is never at fault attitude. You'll notice that these posts usually disappear or get get deleted. People have short memories though so all is forgiven in a months or so time.

And unfortunately as one who's been on the receiving end of some.... let's just say rather unpleasant behaviour of certain staff on there, I had to insist on my complaint be escalated to their head of complaints before any action was taken. In general, connect to VF for the sake of a decent connection but don't hold out too much hope for personalised service and polite treatment when things go wrong.

DarthKermit

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#1065693 14-Jun-2014 19:43

dejadeadnz:
Lurch: Vodafone can be slow to respond to support requests if at all.

Some of the forum posts (especially on their own forums) can be quite arrogant and Vodafone is never at fault attitude. You'll notice that these posts usually disappear or get get deleted. People have short memories though so all is forgiven in a months or so time.

And unfortunately as one who's been on the receiving end of some.... let's just say rather unpleasant behaviour of certain staff on there, I had to insist on my complaint be escalated to their head of complaints before any action was taken. In general, connect to VF for the sake of a decent connection but don't hold out too much hope for personalised service and polite treatment when things go wrong.

I know what you mean. I had a certain VF regular on here very unhelpful for my issue and wouldn't even say why. Never mind.

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AKLWestie

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#1065694 14-Jun-2014 19:46

I have no experience with Vodafone as an ISP, but I am a bit worried about what the door knocker / saleman told you.

First the "$230 credit" towards your account. The profit margin for fixed boardband is quite thin these days and subsidise a customer with $230 is a lot of money. I wouldn't sign up to a deal like this unless it is in writing.

How long is your home's drive way? I think UFB install only includes 15m of fibre (I could be wrong), if you have a long driveway you may need to top up some $$ to get the install done (from what I heard, no fact to back this up). Once again, I would not sign up to a deal if this is not on a written contract.

May be someone have UFB installed with a long driveway can comment.

I personally would not put too much trust on a door knocker.

dejadeadnz

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#1065701 14-Jun-2014 20:12

DarthKermit:

I know what you mean. I had a certain VF regular on here very unhelpful for my issue and wouldn't even say why. Never mind.

Sometimes being unhelpful is the least of VF's staffers' problems. What I completely can't stand (and this is coming from the POV of a guy whose job requires me to deal with the most serious complaints by clients against a listed company - stuff that involves allegations of serious misconduct by staff, in many cases completely fabricated - and stuff that is seen as potentially reputationally damaging) is the constant passive aggressiveness/over defensive nature of the communication. And not to mention their tendency to not listen/read what is said and written and just repeat their standard scripts.

solaybro

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#1065710 14-Jun-2014 20:21

I wouldn't sign up to a deal like this unless it is in writing.

This is probably the best advice. If you are unable to get the deal in writing then assume the deal doesn't exist.

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