Cable, moving house - any way to avoid "new customer" status ?

Forums › One NZ (including Farmside) › Cable, moving house - any way to avoid "new customer" status ?

mainlydata

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#205769 26-Nov-2016 08:46

I'm in Wellington using Vodafone cable and I'm about to move five houses up the road.

Once I started looking into this I discovered (I think) that this means I will, effectively, be a new customer.

So that means

- I'm on the hook for 12/24 months (can't work out which) and

- I can't continue with my grandfathered plan which provided me with what I wanted for $20/month less than I would be paying on one of their current plans

Just wondering whether others have managed to move house but not become a 'new customer' ?

I should say that fibre will be laid in my street before Christmas (not sure how long it will take to actually be commissioned) and so the thing about having to be committed for, possibly, two years is a significant factor.

Thanks

coffeebaron

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#1677770 26-Nov-2016 09:14

Use something like Skinny Broadband as a tie over until fibre is complete.

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phantomdb

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#1677771 26-Nov-2016 09:18

I've done a transfer if service before on cable. I think there was a small charge for memory.

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mdf

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#1677772 26-Nov-2016 09:19

We moved 6 months ago or so (within Wellington). Vodafone was perfectly happy shifting us without requiring a new contract. The new place did already have cable in from the street though.

Pumpedd

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#1677803 26-Nov-2016 11:10

Why dont you just ask them....

Linux

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#1677804 26-Nov-2016 11:13

Just request a move it's quite simple

Linux

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#1677807 26-Nov-2016 11:19

If you are lucky enough to get fibre laid in your street this year, then it is reasonable to assume that UFB will be available in less than 12 months.

Therefore why would you even consider going back to cable? (I'm stuck with it for another 3 years ).

If cable has NOT already been installed at your new address, then VF would probably want a 24-month contract.

Just use BigPipe xDSL over the interim period (no contract).

VDSL can be just as fast as cable, depending on your location.

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Batwing

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#1677943 26-Nov-2016 15:32

Just ask. I managed to avoid it as the HFC plan was, at the time I signed up, identical to fibre, so it was just a normal move.

Didn't stop them overcharging the next 4-5 months, but they did agree it was a normal move and not a new contract and therefore eventually credited all of the overcharges.

antoniosk

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#1677970 26-Nov-2016 16:00

You should ask, and people should stop assuming vodafone are going to be dicks about everything.

If cable is in your street, the odds are good it was connected to the house up the road before. If not, then accept that a human will have to spend about 4 hours connecting the house up, no different to fibre. Depending on the complexity of the hookup (eg aerial drop vs a bury), it is reasonable to expect some contribution towards costs incurred. In UFB land most ISP's are sucking the install commitment - but the key point is that they are sucking it, and not forcing the end user to - and VF may just continue to do so.

Now, if they do want to be foolish about it and lose you... then you have your answer. Cutting you to VDSL2 or Fibre WILL cost them at least $45/month in wholesale fees, and they STILL have to send a truck round with fibre installs. So they can spend $500 hooking you to a 'free network' they've just expensively upgraded, or they can pay chorus $560 a year to do the same.

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Antoniosk

mainlydata

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#1677975 26-Nov-2016 16:08

Thanks to everyone for your responses.

I should have made it clearer that I have had a discussion about this with VF on the phone some days ago and was told that I would be put onto a new account. I was surprised but at the time I was busy and so didn't ask about it and it was only afterwards that I started thinking was this inevitable ?

Just to be fair to VF I did, during the same call, enquire about extending my current deal to include a voice line so whether or not that triggered off the "you will have a new account" thinking I don't know ?

FWIW it does seem the new house has a cable connection from a previous owner. VF seemed to confirm that while I was on the phone plus I could see a certain amount of wiring which strongly suggested it.

Anyway - having read all the replies I will have another talk with them and consider the alternatives if I don't like the response.

Thanks again.

quickymart

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#1678000 26-Nov-2016 16:50

antoniosk:

You should ask, and people should stop assuming vodafone are going to be dicks about everything.

Problem is, that mindset has been caused by years of them providing shoddy, outsourced customer service. It's going to take a while to turn people's views around (assuming they have actually improved).