Vodafone on Target

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#331681 18-May-2010 23:45

itxtme:
+1 I was a little surprised by some of the early comments in this thread, the average user is not tech savy enough to know the kinds of plans they need so hardly a major fail on their part!

Good job Paul, and Vodafone

I still hold to my opinion, though I do admit a modicum of sympathy for those that simply have no idea how to monitor their usage (as opposed to those that simply don't. We all know the type of people - they'd get "bill shock" and run to Fair Go because they couldn't be bothered checking how much they'd used) - that was a seriously confusing segment there with 6 different answers from 6 different places.

I would be interested to know though how many of those stores were Vodafone, and how many were First Mobile.

nickd

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#331690 19-May-2010 00:10

This may be a stupid question, but it is somewhat related to the data topic. If people are worried about getting a huge bill, why not just make it that the data function doesn't work once they hit the 100% mark? Similar to the way VF slows my broadband down to dialup when I reach my cap, give them the choice to either continue the way they are, or to have data access cut off at the limit.
(Feel free to make fun of me & my lack of knowledge

)

richms

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#331695 19-May-2010 00:29

Because these people were probably replacing another internet connection (prob dialup and stuck somewhere with no dsl available) and had a usage pattern already but no idea what they used.

Hell, even I couldnt tell you how much data I do on the lappy vs the real computer so if I was to move the lappy to 3g I would be none the wiser than those people about what plan to get.

As for stopping working when you reach a limit, even if it was like adsl and dropped to 64k, that is still bloody useful on a portable machine so people would just get the smallest plan and thrash it till its capped and keep on going like I did when I had woosh wireless.

64k is faster than 2g mobile, and that lets you get all sorts of stuff done. VF would never want to offer what would be effectivly flat rate 2g data by having it stop being broadband at the cap.

Richard rich.ms

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#331936 19-May-2010 17:24

Didn't VF have a problem with checking data once into the second bundle? could that have been causing some of the problems?

heavenlywild

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#331942 19-May-2010 17:38

It's all about personal responsibility isn't it?

I would say as a responsible company Vodafone need to make sure their staff explicitly tell customers that they must check their usage on a regular basis and ensure they know how. Perhaps even a handy little user card with each broadband connection.

Once that is done, the responsibility lies with the customer.

quickymart

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#331986 19-May-2010 21:20

Just watched it, must say I was surprised with the widely varying information given to the customers around usage alerts - shouldn't all staff be saying the same thing?

richms

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#331990 19-May-2010 21:40

I was not suprised by the random info they got. That has been what friends have told me about their vodafone retail experiances in the past.

And with the crazy branding vodafone let stores do who the hell knows if my friends were at vodafone or somewhere else?

Richard rich.ms

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itxtme

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#332007 19-May-2010 22:49

heavenlywild: It's all about personal responsibility isn't it?

I would say as a responsible company Vodafone need to make sure their staff explicitly tell customers that they must check their usage on a regular basis and ensure they know how. Perhaps even a handy little user card with each broadband connection.

Once that is done, the responsibility lies with the customer.

Bullocks, that is like a car manufacturer not providing a fuel gage and then saying that to ensure you dont run out of fuel check the tank every so often!! Have the systems in place and everybody is happy. Warning notifications the standard (comparative) to all other ISP's.

Anyway Vodafone have put their hand up and said we didnt do a good enough job - good on them!!

heavenlywild

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#332020 19-May-2010 23:32

itxtme:
heavenlywild: It's all about personal responsibility isn't it?

I would say as a responsible company Vodafone need to make sure their staff explicitly tell customers that they must check their usage on a regular basis and ensure they know how. Perhaps even a handy little user card with each broadband connection.

Once that is done, the responsibility lies with the customer.

Bullocks, that is like a car manufacturer not providing a fuel gage and then saying that to ensure you dont run out of fuel check the tank every so often!! Have the systems in place and everybody is happy. Warning notifications the standard (comparative) to all other ISP's.

Compare apples with apples. A car can lead to someone being stranded in the middle of nowhere and can cause serious consequences. Running out of data won't cause such serious issues, apart from the inconvenience.

Back onto your car example... with a car, the indicators don't exactly tell you how many ks you have left or how many litres are remaining... so really, your argument falls over there.

robbyp

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#332021 19-May-2010 23:40

heavenlywild:
itxtme:
heavenlywild: It's all about personal responsibility isn't it?

I would say as a responsible company Vodafone need to make sure their staff explicitly tell customers that they must check their usage on a regular basis and ensure they know how. Perhaps even a handy little user card with each broadband connection.

Once that is done, the responsibility lies with the customer.

Bullocks, that is like a car manufacturer not providing a fuel gage and then saying that to ensure you dont run out of fuel check the tank every so often!! Have the systems in place and everybody is happy. Warning notifications the standard (comparative) to all other ISP's.

Compare apples with apples. A car can lead to someone being stranded in the middle of nowhere and can cause serious consequences. Running out of data won't cause such serious issues, apart from the inconvenience.

Not really, it could cause businesses significant losses. eg someone can't check their email, and are not able to check their email elsewhere for some reason.

heavenlywild

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#332023 19-May-2010 23:46

Seriously, why can't people these days take some responsibility instead of blaming others for their faults / mistakes?

We all know how much money we have, why can't we take the care to find out how much data is left too?

It's too easy to blame on a large corporation. Anyway, I do believe Vodafone and other ISPs need to make notifications of data usage easier and better.

gopher

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#332165 20-May-2010 10:21

As somebody who has experienced this issue, I would like to say that I do agree with the comments about "personal responsibility". But let's face it, 50c a MB is absolutely ridiculous, even in one of the least competitive and most expensive mobile markets in the world.

Also I would point out that Vodafone do not offer any effective way of notifying and/or limiting the usage on their data plans.

Paul Brislen said -

We also send out TXT alerts at 80% usage and then again at 100%. If you're OA you get to double your data via bundle insurance, so you'll get another reminder at the new 80% and then a final, fourth TXT at 100%.

However my understanding is that this txt message goes to the actual data connection number only and if you're not using Vodafone's (wonderful) Connect software then you never get this (as is the case on my Mac)!

And as for the customer service. Since this has gone offshore this has deteriorated considerably! When I offered to pay the 3GB plan cost instead of the 1GB plan cost (about an extra $20 instead of the over $200 they wanted), I got nowhere.

Funnily I was contacted by the Vodafone Disputes team on Tuesday afternoon (just before I saw the Target promo on TV) and they agreed to waive all of the charges over and above the standard monthly charge.

Interestingly, Telecom offer a tailorable txt and email alert system that you can set up yourself with multiple alert levels and destinations (up to five I think from memory). Obviously the technology is available but you have to wonder whether it really is in Vodafone's interest to promote this ... (conspiracy theorists join in here).

I now use a T-stick on XT for mobile data and couldn't be happier

johnr

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#332168 20-May-2010 10:26

gopher:However my understanding is that this txt message goes to the actual data connection number only and if you're not using Vodafone's (wonderful) Connect software then you never get this (as is the case on my Mac

MAC software has had the SMS function for about 12 months

3.04.11.00

www.business.vodafone.com

John

Kyanar

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#332273 20-May-2010 12:18

itxtme:
Bullocks, that is like a car manufacturer not providing a fuel gage and then saying that to ensure you dont run out of fuel check the tank every so often!! Have the systems in place and everybody is happy. Warning notifications the standard (comparative) to all other ISP's.

Anyway Vodafone have put their hand up and said we didnt do a good enough job - good on them!!

Nonsense. Vodafone giving out info cards saying "THIS is how you check your usage on this handy website, your responsibility now" is exactly like the car manufacturer giving you a fuel gauge and saying "check it yourself, it's your responsibility if you run out of gas". Vodafone said that they felt the misleading information was what they didn't do well enough, not the bill shock happening in the first place.

MikeyPI

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#332357 20-May-2010 13:57

heavenlywild: Seriously, why can't people these days take some responsibility instead of blaming others for their faults / mistakes?

We all know how much money we have, why can't we take the care to find out how much data is left too?

It's too easy to blame on a large corporation. Anyway, I do believe Vodafone and other ISPs need to make notifications of data usage easier and better.

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