Vodafone New Zealand and parallel imported Handsets

Forums › One New Zealand (including Vodafone, WxC, Farmside) › Vodafone New Zealand and parallel imported Handsets - part 2

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17 posts

Geek

#89582 5-Oct-2007 00:46

Back on topic... I will say that the whole parallel import thing is a bit stupid.. I mean really, the markup on most of the phones must be at LEAST 50% -- even resellers make a fair amount. Although Vodafone's probably paying quite a bit for pre-branding from the cellphone companies.

Hmmm i wonder what their accounts look like.

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#89594 5-Oct-2007 09:05

The bar to parallel imported is not related to how much Vodafone is making on selling handsets. It's about usability and support capabilities.

If Vodafone were to provide support for every single handset model in the world, how much this would cost them? And of course they would have to put some of the cost into their calling plans? Would you be happy to pay more for your voice call because someone bought a fake GSM phone and decided to use in New Zealand and Vodafone had to pay training, material, etc to support that only handset?

Also there's the capabilities. Vodafone can only assure some features work when there's control. For example the music store uses certain capabilities that are not available in every phone, or even the same model. A Nokia N95 sold by Telstra in Australia may have some diffrent features that are only available through Telstra, so how would you expect that to work here?

C'mon people just take a few minutes to think.

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#89653 5-Oct-2007 14:58

freitasm: The bar to parallel imported is not related to how much Vodafone is making on selling handsets. It's about usability and support capabilities.

If Vodafone were to provide support for every single handset model in the world, how much this would cost them? And of course they would have to put some of the cost into their calling plans? Would you be happy to pay more for your voice call because someone bought a fake GSM phone and decided to use in New Zealand and Vodafone had to pay training, material, etc to support that only handset?

Also there's the capabilities. Vodafone can only assure some features work when there's control. For example the music store uses certain capabilities that are not available in every phone, or even the same model. A Nokia N95 sold by Telstra in Australia may have some diffrent features that are only available through Telstra, so how would you expect that to work here?

C'mon people just take a few minutes to think.

I believe thats not the case.They should support those that aren't fake gsm phone and whats the difference between a parallel imported Nokia N73 and a Vodafone N73????
Why should they disable those that are parallel imported.

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#89661 5-Oct-2007 15:42

Vodafone do not disable parallel imported phones. They simply can't provide support.

Standard GSM stuff works in any GSM handset: voice call, video call, SMS and MMS.

What doesn't work is the Vodafone live! and specific stuff such as Vodafone Music Store, because these use specific profiles that must be customised.

Who says Vodafone disables anything?

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#89674 5-Oct-2007 17:30

They should just allow them to operate fully on the network to score the extra revenue. (My parellel N95 did everything vodafone offered)

Lying that their about higher instaces of "missed calls", "dropped calls" and other nonsense is just plain deception however and blatant lies.

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#89687 5-Oct-2007 18:56

paradoxsm: They should just allow them to operate fully on the network to score the extra revenue. (My parellel N95 did everything vodafone offered)

Lying that their about higher instaces of "missed calls", "dropped calls" and other nonsense is just plain deception however and blatant lies.

You use to post such interesting information, now all you do is post negative & often exaggerated comments. It's getting pretty boring to be honest.

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#89696 5-Oct-2007 19:46

paradoxsm: that their about higher instaces of "missed calls", "dropped calls" and other nonsense is just plain deception however and blatant lies.

I have had clients (and even read on GZ) of users using overseas phones with different firmware that have had issues receiving calls, receiving txt messages etc..

One being (not the best example) a users hacked iPhone with a broken baseband which did not allow him to receive TXTs.
I've also had clients upgrade their own devices to WM6 from other carriers around the world that have run in to issues, one today loaded WM6 and now is unable to receive phone calls.

I've seen plenty of imported phones run in to issues that are not just MMS/GPRS

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#89699 5-Oct-2007 19:51

cranz:
paradoxsm: that their about higher instaces of "missed calls", "dropped calls" and other nonsense is just plain deception however and blatant lies.

I have had clients (and even read on GZ) of users using overseas phones with different firmware that have had issues receiving calls, receiving txt messages etc..

One being (not the best example) a users hacked iPhone with a broken baseband which did not allow him to receive TXTs.
I've also had clients upgrade their own devices to WM6 from other carriers around the world that have run in to issues, one today loaded WM6 and now is unable to receive phone calls.

I've seen plenty of imported phones run in to issues that are not just MMS/GPRS

This is exactly why Vodafone say that Parallel Imported Handsets can & do have problems on Vodafone's network, some people around here seem to think that Vodafone make up stories, just for the hell of it (they know who they are).

Just because client A has a Parallel Imported Phone & has no problems with it, does not mean that "every Parellel Imported Handset Owner will not have issues of some kind".

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#89718 5-Oct-2007 20:51

cranz: One being (not the best example) a users hacked iPhone with a broken baseband which did not allow him to receive TXTs.

I've also had clients upgrade their own devices to WM6 from other carriers around the world that have run in to issues, one today loaded WM6 and now is unable to receive phone calls.

I've seen plenty of imported phones run in to issues that are not just MMS/GPRS

As for the Windows Mobile 6 problem, was this a Treo 750v? The solution is here.

Now, back on topic, theguy buys an iPhone, knowing that it needs to be hacked to work here, it's got a broken baseband and blames on Vodafone? Laughable. At least the other parallel imported devices are not a hack.

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#89734 5-Oct-2007 21:36

its not the best of examples but I was getting at how non vodafone approved firmware can cause issues, I'm sure you have run in to issues with phones over the years

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#89777 6-Oct-2007 01:57

And far more people including myself have had far more serious issues with Vodafone Branded hansets, The other were probably "branded" to another network or hack-unlocked (iphone) so those issues are to be expected. This is possibly where that blurb on the website came about... Do not buy any "branded" phone from a parallel importer as a bit of advice by the way.

From the first handsets to the most recent, the Vodafone firmware versions have always been known as "duds" with a lot more serious issues than the "vanilla" versions, T610, k700i, 6234 and we cannot forget that E770v and V3xx!!!!!!
I used to a lot of debranding and it was amazing to hear see the success stories when I changed the firmware!
The exception were the Sharps which were overall good branded phones and worked rather well..

As for negative comments, GZ is a place to vent, Vodafone have some very bad business practices and have a shocking history or lies, poor service and network integrity and ripping people off... I could attack your earlier comments and would have a field day to be honest but I have more tact that that.

Vodafone should just state: "You are welcome to use it but we cannot assist you or support it"

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#89785 6-Oct-2007 08:49

I think at the end of the day, Vodafone are not obligated to support imported handsets - and are in my opinion, completely justified.

Why? Quality, firmware, 'tweaks' can all cause issues.

When you buy locally, from a vodafone dealer, it means that Vodafone has tested the device and also will support it if things go wrong. Additionally, as they have placed the firmware themselves there - they know exactly what will happen on the phone and it is testable, if things go wrong they should be able to replicate them on test handsets without any issues.

The problem when you import a handset and you have problems:

How can you say for certain that there isn't something wrong with the phone?
How can you say for certain that there isn't something wrong with firmware? Using a hacked or modified firmware may cause unknown side effects, JohnR and I went down this road before and as has a few others.
Tweaks, specifically software tweaks can all cause funny things to occur.

Judging by some of the comments here, some of Vodafone sold handsets do have issues, however at least those are testable by Vodafone AND supported. They may be more expensive (no one is defending this) and might not have the latest range, however, if they sell them - there is a reasonable expectation that the phones WILL work for the services advertised.

As for Vodafone live not working correctly (hiding links etc) there are potentially several reasons for this (if the portal was left wide open):

Vodafone live would not be able to identify what level of support your phone has
Vodafone live would not be able to feed phone specific files to the phone (if applicable)
Some content such as the music store might not work - because of not having the specific Vodafone DRM implimentation. This would cause a bit of impact to Vodafones contact centers as they've sold a song that doesn't work on Joes strange phone from China. This also has becomes an issue with things like the CGA, so its better only to show content to phones that they know can support it.

I know from personal experience the dangers of using unsupported ROMS, the most recent with someones (hint that person is a moderator, but it isn't me:P) CDMA Titan, which happened to mess up a few things on the radio ROM. Obviously mobile support could not do anything for this person as something on the handset was causing very strange behaviors to occur on the phone.

Anyway, in summary - if you use an non supported phone, chances are that it will work but if it doesn't, then there isn't too much that can be done from a network end as in many cases it tends to be something on the phone. In the case of parallel importers - you may have a chance with them particularly under the CGA, however, that is really out of scope of support offered by the respective telco if its not a proven network or coverage issue (tested with a supported handset).

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#89814 6-Oct-2007 13:42

paradoxsm:As for negative comments, GZ is a place to vent, Vodafone have some very bad business practices and have a shocking history or lies, poor service and network integrity and ripping people off... I could attack your earlier comments and would have a field day to be honest but I have more tact that that.

Vodafone should just state: "You are welcome to use it but we cannot assist you or support it"

I talking about your comments in general of late, in many different threads. You exaggerate a lot & your choice of words is inaccurate.

Please don't humour me & try to imply that Vodafone are the only telco to have issues from time to time, as that is what it sounds like. Every telco has had a history of poor service at times, bad business practices, not being completely truthful all the time & generally frustrating the hell out of customers.

Vodafone are guilty just as much as Telecom, TelstraClear, Ihug etc, it is not exclusively a Vodafone problem by any stretch of imagination & you know it.

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#89815 6-Oct-2007 13:44

The irony of my glitches was when the account system went belly up, I had not used my N95 for 3 weeks but had been using my stock Voda issue 6234 as a precaution!...

For the same reason Telecom will not connect an imported handset, I have a couple of "test" handsets and both operate very glitchy on the Telecom network but calls and SMS work perfectly.

I'm totally for "not supporting" the handset but stating they all drop calls and delay tests is an excuse.

cranz

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#89816 6-Oct-2007 13:54

Vodafone: Some overseas-sourced mobiles have problems on the Vodafone New Zealand network

I don't see where it says All imported handsets will drop calls, I see Some phones will experience dropped calls etc.. and as numerous people have stated in this thread some do..

cokemaster: Anyway, in summary - if you use an non supported phone, chances are that it will work but if it doesn't, then there isn't too much that can be done from a network end as in many cases it tends to be something on the phone. In the case of parallel importers - you may have a chance with them particularly under the CGA, however, that is really out of scope of support offered by the respective telco if its not a proven network or coverage issue (tested with a supported handset).

I think this sums things up

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