What's the reasoning for this? Why do businesses get charged more?
I'm not familiar with the details of the voda business plans, but generally speaking business plans have better SLAs than residential, which is why they cost more.
SLA = Service Level agreement
For example, if you have a fault on a residential plan, the SLA might say that the provider agrees to fix the problem within, say, 48 hours before any penalties or compensation is applied, whereas the business plan SLA might say the provider agrees to fix the problem within, say, 8 hours.
Or it might be something along the lines of a priority call centre. If you call up at peak times you have a call centre dedicated to businesses which is answered imediately instead of placing you in a queue for 20 mins.
Obviously to enable thse kinds of premum service, the comp[any has greater costs, which means they charge you more too.
If you are happy to take the risk, then by all means go on the residential plan, but be aware that it is the risk you are choosing to take and don't complain if you get a fault and voda doesn't give it absolute priority.
Thansk for your detailed reply.
That's all very well that they may have a better SLA and a dedicated business helpdesk, but surely this should be my choice.
What if i'm happy to have the same service as a residential customer?
I suppose If I wanted to give a pithy answer I would suggest that the best people to ask would be Vodafone themselves.
Have you called them and asked if a business can take a resi plan?
I suspect that you can take any plan you like - just make sure you are aware of the risks (around SLAs etc)
I know for a fact that with Telecom anybody, even businesses, can take a resi plan and anybody, even resi customers, can take a business plan if they want to.
Ragnor: Business plans usually have have better support options/hours and lower contention/congestion... however it depends on the ISP.
Not 100% true. In fact, business plans usually have WORSE support hours (i.e. 9-5) and in some cases worse support times to go with it (e.g. Orcon - business users have to wait on hold for up to 45 minutes, residential users up to 20 minutes).
NonprayingMantis: I know for a fact that with Telecom anybody, even businesses, can take a resi plan and anybody, even resi customers, can take a business plan if they want to.
You shouldn't be able to do this. Yes you can have a residential plan on a business account IIRC, however, if the location is a known business or industrial area you are likely to run into trouble.
Usual give aways such as you're address containing a shop number etc may mean you have to select a business plan.
You can of course have a business plan in a residential area, and on Telecom at least Business plans seem to offer better toll rates, however the rental is usually higher and you pay for local calls.
I agree on support, I have a Business Telstra Clear connection and can get through within a minute. I once made the mistake of calling residential and was told to expect waiting time of 20 minutes, then when I did wait they told me to call business which literally went straight though.
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