Why does Vodafone write-off carry over minutes and data when you switch to a better plan?

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frednz

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#226362 4-Jan-2018 10:18

I have a friend who is paying $19 every 30 days for her mobile phone plan with Vodafone but she receives only 500mb of data and 100 minutes of calls.

I talked to the Vodafone Call Centre and they advised me that she could switch over to a better mobile data plan which also costs $19 every 28 days, but it provides 1.25GB of data and 200 minutes of calls.

So I asked if she could be put on to the better plan and I was advised that, if she does this, all the carry over data from the old plan would be written off.

I can’t understand why Vodafone would want to write off all of a customer’s carry-over minutes and data before they would put that customer on to a better plan.

I understand that, when Skinny, for example, offers a better mobile plan to an existing customer, the carry-over data from the old plan is preserved. Now, why wouldn’t Vodafone want to do this to keep a long-standing customer?

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#1928898 4-Jan-2018 10:24

They are actually quite different as the old $19 is 12 months carryover and the new is capped carryover and the way the plans are built into the Prepay platform are chalk and cheese so the carryover from the old plan is wiped out, I know cause I was involved with both of these Prepay plans in my 17+ years working for VFNZ and just over 7 years on the technology side of Prepay and Postpay

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#1928899 4-Jan-2018 10:28

@frednz I could go into far more detail right into the counter tables in the database and how different they work between the 2 prepay plans but it's not my place to sorry, Lets just say it's more technical than Vodafone actually wanting to remove the carryover

On the new capped carryover plan you don't lose any carryover when changing the plan bundles

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frednz

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#1928906 4-Jan-2018 10:51

Linux:

@frednz I could go into far more detail right into the counter tables in the database and how different they work between the 2 prepay plans but it's not my place to sorry, Lets just say it's more technical than Vodafone actually wanting to remove the carryover

On the new capped carryover plan you don't lose any carryover when changing the plan bundles

Linux

Thanks for this information. From what I can see on Vodafone's web site the "My Flex Prepay" plans allow you to carry over only 500 unused minutes and up to 3.5GB of unused data when your plan renews, is that correct?

On the old plan, you could carry over up to 1200 unused minutes and 6GB of unused data over the maximum allowed period of 12 months.

And with the "My Flex Prepay" plan the carry-over minutes and data, as with the old plans, last for up to 360 days.

So, it looks like the Skinny carry-over data plans are much more generous (1800 minutes max and 15GB data max) and the Skinny monthly plan costs only $16 per month. So, why stay with Vodafone?

Rickles

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#1928920 4-Jan-2018 11:03

OPINION: Regardless of the "technology" or how any company sets up its billing processes, if I've taken advance money from a client/customer, then that money and/or services rightly belongs to them!

I appreciate that, like some airline tickets, a cheaper pricing has conditions about refunds, cancellations etc, but surely a company would want to at least maintain a good relationship and do 'the right thing"?

Starscream122

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#1928921 4-Jan-2018 11:04

She will be on a retired plan.

allan

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#1928925 4-Jan-2018 11:06

Also seems like a classic case of technical complications meaning the customer is disadvantaged. They don't really care what platform the plan options are running on, they just see is as blatantly unfair that they lose previously accumulated minutes/data in one scenario, whereas they won't in the other (new platform).

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#1928957 4-Jan-2018 11:40

Starscream122: She will be on a retired plan.

Sure is was retired a long time ago

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#1928960 4-Jan-2018 11:43

allan:

Also seems like a classic case of technical complications meaning the customer is disadvantaged. They don't really care what platform the plan options are running on, they just see is as blatantly unfair that they lose previously accumulated minutes/data in one scenario, whereas they won't in the other (new platform).

@allan This is why it's very clear when changing from a retired plan to the new MyFlex and your comment is not really that fair either as on the new plans customers get double the minutes 100 to 200 minutes and over double the data 500MB to 1.25GB the downside is 30 days to 28 days

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Starscream122

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#1929052 4-Jan-2018 14:19

frednz:

Linux:

@frednz I could go into far more detail right into the counter tables in the database and how different they work between the 2 prepay plans but it's not my place to sorry, Lets just say it's more technical than Vodafone actually wanting to remove the carryover

On the new capped carryover plan you don't lose any carryover when changing the plan bundles

Linux

Thanks for this information. From what I can see on Vodafone's web site the "My Flex Prepay" plans allow you to carry over only 500 unused minutes and up to 3.5GB of unused data when your plan renews, is that correct?

On the old plan, you could carry over up to 1200 unused minutes and 6GB of unused data over the maximum allowed period of 12 months.

And with the "My Flex Prepay" plan the carry-over minutes and data, as with the old plans, last for up to 360 days.

So, it looks like the Skinny carry-over data plans are much more generous (1800 minutes max and 15GB data max) and the Skinny monthly plan costs only $16 per month. So, why stay with Vodafone?

I have a friend that works @ Skinny and he said his plan data goes over 20GB when it renews and he's seen customers call up with 2k - 3 k mins on their accounts.

Rickles

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#1929072 4-Jan-2018 14:44

Personally, I know this sort of swapsies happens and has penalties, usually for cancellation or amendments, but again the company has taken money in advance of providing a service, so cannot be that difficult to say "Thank you for staying with us and taking up another plan option, and yes, your credit is applied/carried over"?

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#1929132 4-Jan-2018 15:30

Starscream122:

frednz:

Linux:

@frednz I could go into far more detail right into the counter tables in the database and how different they work between the 2 prepay plans but it's not my place to sorry, Lets just say it's more technical than Vodafone actually wanting to remove the carryover

On the new capped carryover plan you don't lose any carryover when changing the plan bundles

Linux

Thanks for this information. From what I can see on Vodafone's web site the "My Flex Prepay" plans allow you to carry over only 500 unused minutes and up to 3.5GB of unused data when your plan renews, is that correct?

On the old plan, you could carry over up to 1200 unused minutes and 6GB of unused data over the maximum allowed period of 12 months.

And with the "My Flex Prepay" plan the carry-over minutes and data, as with the old plans, last for up to 360 days.

So, it looks like the Skinny carry-over data plans are much more generous (1800 minutes max and 15GB data max) and the Skinny monthly plan costs only $16 per month. So, why stay with Vodafone?

I have a friend that works @ Skinny and he said his plan data goes over 20GB when it renews and he's seen customers call up with 2k - 3 k mins on their accounts.

@Starscream122 You are talking about something quite different capped carryover is working as designed it's an accounting / finance thing, The caps are set at a limit it's not a system restriction if Vodafone wanted to change it to 40GB and 4000 minutes they could, It's just preset limits

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frednz

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#1929141 4-Jan-2018 15:50

Rickles:

Personally, I know this sort of swapsies happens and has penalties, usually for cancellation or amendments, but again the company has taken money in advance of providing a service, so cannot be that difficult to say "Thank you for staying with us and taking up another plan option, and yes, your credit is applied/carried over"?

I agree, and here's another thing.... it seems that, at no time, did Vodafone advise this customer that a new "improved" plan was available. Why let customers carry on with an old plan when Vodafone know it's much inferior to a new plan?

But, she did get texts saying things like "Every Top Up Wins" or "You have a chance to win over 130 prizes". Now from a marketing perspective, why offer a whole bunch of incentives to stay topped up on the one hand, only to punish a customer (by cancelling carry-over data and minutes) when a switch is made to another improved plan? Do they really think customers like having their carry-overs cancelled?

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#1929144 4-Jan-2018 15:58

@frednz cause as soon as customers are sent an SMS you get threads on Geekzone " Why is Vodafone spamming me " I'm off to the DIA and cry like little babies " The new plans are advertised everywhere Radio, TV , Facebook, Bus stops and still are advertised today since they launched 2 years ago

Customers should be watching for changes in plans / addons on the carriers website

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richms

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#1929146 4-Jan-2018 16:01

Power companies also dont advertise to their existing customers about plans with lower rates. If you are happy with the value you are getting and not looking for better deals, why would they tell you that you can have things cheaper if you ask?

Richard rich.ms

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#1929147 4-Jan-2018 16:03

richms:

Power companies also dont advertise to their existing customers about plans with lower rates. If you are happy with the value you are getting and not looking for better deals, why would they tell you that you can have things cheaper if you ask?

Cause people want things handed to them on a golden platter with cotton wool on the bottom some people just can't think for themselves

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