My Experience at the local Vodafone shop

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andynz

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#13979 8-Jun-2007 15:24

Thought I would share my experience of going to my local Vodafone shop to buy a new phone.

Thought it was time for a more business feature rich phone and saw a review of the Nokia E65 in Tone magazine last month. I decided I would like to buy a couple for our office and went along to the local Vodafone shop at Westgate, Auckland. The E65 was on display so asked for pricing information based on different term plans.

The assistant looked somewhat blankly at me, said whats the E65. I took it of the show stand and showed it to her. She said they wouldn't in be till later in June. I asked for the pricing information. More dis-interest, taped away at the computer and printed out some details for me.

When I got outside the shop, I looked at what she had given me, a print out of a US webpage describing the features of the E65. No pricing or plan information and nothing to do with Vodafone.

So what's my point? That I wanted to buy from an official local distributor, I would rather support a business which I perceive will look after me with local support. The reality was the assistant seemed uninterested that I was a business buyer and that I was prepared to spend around $1,800 on 2 phones. She would rather spend time selling cheap pink texting phones for stuff all money. This is not an isolated experience, I have had a similar reception before.

So In spite of not wanting to support parallel importing I went to Parallel Importers in Albany and what a great experience it was. They had stock of the E65, in fact stock of every conceivable phone you could think of. The assistant was helpful, knowledgeable and set the phone up to use. Oh, and I got a smile as well.

There may be some features that don't work on the Vodafone Network but it does not bother me, all I really want is to make calls, txt's and access our mail server which the E65 does a great job of.

So I am afraid I won't be going back to the Vodafone shop, they didn't really want my business. And thank you Parallel Importers, you provided great service and were helpful.

Cheers
Andy

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#74010 8-Jun-2007 15:33

Should try and see if your local/nearby IT channels do stock them or not. Given very limited numbers are distributed to IT channels, so it may take a bit of hunting. This is the same situation when in November, and for months, it was virtually hard to get one unit of imate JasJam, I got mine from a local IT channel (computer shop/guy/vendor) and saved myself $500.

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andynz

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#74012 8-Jun-2007 15:44

Didn't try our IT suppliers but did have a look on TradeMe. Could have bought it $100 less but I would rather deal in person in case there are any problems. You might save some dollars by buying online but the hassles you often have when there are problems soon cancels out the savings.

I just can't get over the lack of service from an official Vodafone shop. The "so you have bought a parallel import phone" section on the Vodafone webpage is quite bizarre. It tells me to go to my local Vodafone store for the best service.....

Interesting it lists other potential problems with Parallel Import phones as:
Dropped Calls
Missed Calls
Delayed TXT messages

I have had an offical Vodafone Sony T68i for years now and got all those problems anyway!

Cheers
Andy

andynz

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#74013 8-Jun-2007 15:47

Oh, and the Vodafone webpage says "so you've bought a parallel-imported mobile and you've saved some money".

Actually I bought the phone because of service, not price.

Cheers
Andy

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#74018 8-Jun-2007 15:52

if you get through the IT suppliers/channels, they're the same phones releases by Vodafone with NZ specific settings. Though if you get the phone from the knowingly parallel imports then, they're not NZ specific. At least getting through IT suppliers/channels, you get the warranty support from them, and you'd be actually supporting your local "store".

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andynz

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#74019 8-Jun-2007 16:02

Maybe that is something worth mentioning on the Vodafone site differentiating the supply chains.

As an importer and supplier of equipment, myself, I have always recommended supporting local suppliers because in the past they are the ones who will support you. But if they don't want to help, you naturally search for someone who is helpful. I wasn't after a bargain, just some help and to my utter surprise, it came from Parallel Importers.

Cheers
Andy

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#74020 8-Jun-2007 16:02

I have an imported E65 and highly recommend the phone. it's very cool, particularly the VoIP client.

If the VoIP features of the E65 are something you're interested in be wary of the Vodafone branded handset however. Until it arrives here we won't know what firmware it's funning and whether it's been crippled by Vodafone. Vodafone UK crippled the firmware so you could only use a mobile data access point for VoIP and not a WiFi access point. Vodafone Australia's firmware doesn't have this limitation and it's highly likely we'll receive the same firmare here but anything is possible.

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Ambrose_1

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#74043 8-Jun-2007 20:50

I went in to a Vodafone shop when I wanted to buy a new phone, i think it was a first mobile, they had 2 guys working there, one junior guy that didnt seem to know sh*t and another guy that was a arrogant ... It made me think, you sell phones for a living why do you think that makes you awesome?

NZtechfreak

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#74070 9-Jun-2007 08:06

I've also found the Vodafone stores singularly unhelpful for the most part, terrible product knowledge and service.

That said I will say that my experience of the Botany Downs store (the larger of the two, nearer Whitcouls) was great, and the Silvia Park Store is good also.

I got my phone (n95) through a parallel importer and I'm afraid to say that I will never be buying a phone from Vodafone again.

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rwales

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#74072 9-Jun-2007 08:43

Forgive my ignorance, I've never come across this term before. What exactly is a "parallel importer"?

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#74075 9-Jun-2007 08:54

A "parallel importer" is someone or a company that brings mobile phones to the country without going through Vodafone's official importing process, which includes branding the handsets, etc. In general they offer cheaper prices for the same model when compared to the ones in a Vodafone store.

Also folks, please note that not all Vodafone stores actually belong to Vodafone. Most store are third party companies, and I am sure you will understand that although Vodafone might have some control over them, traiining and most importantly the "smile" is not something they can "inflict" on these guys...

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#74076 9-Jun-2007 08:55

"A parallel import is a non-counterfeit product imported from another country without the permission of the intellectual property owner.

Parallel importers ordinarily purchase products in one country at a price (P1) which is cheaper than the price at which they are sold in a second country (P2), import the products into the second country, and sell the products in that country at a price which is usually between P1 and P2."

Thanks Wikipedia!

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NZtechfreak

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#74077 9-Jun-2007 08:57

freitasm: A "parallel importer" is someone or a company that brings mobile phones to the country without going through Vodafone's official importing process, which includes branding the handsets, etc. In general they offer cheaper prices for the same model when compared to the ones in a Vodafone store.

Also folks, please note that not all Vodafone stores actually belong to Vodafone. Most store are third party companies, and I am sure you will understand that although Vodafone might have some control over them, traiining and most importantly the "smile" is not something they can "inflict" on these guys...

Good point, although I was largely talking about the actual Vodafone ones, not the "First Mobile" Vodafone stores and so forth.

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andynz

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#74088 9-Jun-2007 09:59

freitasm: A "parallel importer" is someone or a company that brings mobile phones to the country without going through Vodafone's official importing process, which includes branding the handsets, etc. In general they offer cheaper prices for the same model when compared to the ones in a Vodafone store.

Also folks, please note that not all Vodafone stores actually belong to Vodafone. Most store are third party companies, and I am sure you will understand that although Vodafone might have some control over them, traiining and most importantly the "smile" is not something they can "inflict" on these guys...

I always thought that Vodafone stores were franchised or third party in some way but perception is everything. To the average person, the stores have the Vodafone branding on them and who owns them is irrelevant to the customer. Something Vodafone perhaps needs to be aware of more. By having third parties using your branding but offering sub standard service it is damaging and directly reflects on Vodafone.

Cheers
Andy

Loismustdye

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#74089 9-Jun-2007 10:10

Have you thought about placing feedback about theis issue with either the vodafone store itself or on their website. IT seems to me someone isn't do their job and I'm sur ethe boss wouldn't be too happy to know his staff have been useless. My local vodafone store i have had nothing but great help, staff are friendly helpful and go out of their way to discuss things (even if Ive made it plainly obvious I'm not actually going to buy the phone just yet). Ive found the digital mobile/first mobile etc to be less helpful.

andynz

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#74090 9-Jun-2007 10:25

Loismustdye: Have you thought about placing feedback about theis issue with either the vodafone store itself or on their website. IT seems to me someone isn't do their job and I'm sur ethe boss wouldn't be too happy to know his staff have been useless. My local vodafone store i have had nothing but great help, staff are friendly helpful and go out of their way to discuss things (even if Ive made it plainly obvious I'm not actually going to buy the phone just yet). Ive found the digital mobile/first mobile etc to be less helpful.

Your quite right that I should tell the manager of the shop but I have had something of a bad run with feedback to Vodafone on other issues. Customer Services are always helpful but, in my experience, can't help with anything apart from basic questions. Any feedback appears to go no where. I have tried contacting via the webpage before but never heard back. Unfortunatly my experience of using CS and the webpage are very very poor.

It was by chance that I posted in this forum concerning on going coverage issues and had an almost instantaneous response from a very helpful guy at Vodafone. He went above and beyond by loaning my a phone to try.

So experience suggests that this forum manages to bypass the "firewall" that is Vodafone customer services and give feedback to people who can make a difference.

A good example of the CS firewall is the answer you get when you ring 777. A good 5 minutes of talking at you and you can't bypass it (unless someone can tell me how) to actually talk to someone.

Cheers
Andy

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