2degrees writes an open letter to Spark and Vodafone pay monthly customers

Forums › 2degrees (including Slingshot, Orcon, Flip, Stuff Fibre, MyRepublic, 2talk and Vocus) › 2degrees writes an open letter to Spark and Vodafone pay monthly customers

1 | 2 | 3

1467 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#1612141 15-Aug-2016 19:19

quickymart:

What Vodafone plan offers rollover data? I wouldn't mind being on that one.

Well, I've just received a text from Vodafone that says: "Your Prepay Carry Over 19 plan is due to renew tomorrow for 19.00 dollars. Top up now so you have credit to renew your plan and you don't lose your carry over."

So Vodafone's "open letter" to me as an established Vodafone Pay Monthly Customer is not actually applicable to me as I definitely have a 12-month Vodafone carry-over plan. So there is no need for me "to switch to a 2degrees Pay Monthly plan in order to keep my unused data each month, for up to a year".

Therefore, in my case, Vodafone is not actually unfairly depriving me of all those unused minutes and mobile internet data and I am very happy with the plan I'm on and the service I get from Vodafone. So, I thought I should point this out to Stewart Sherriff, the CEO of 2degrees who wrote the "open letter" to Spark and Vodafone customers.

Regards

Fred

thecatsgoolies

414 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#1612142 15-Aug-2016 19:22

You are a Prepay customer not Postpay this is clear in the SMS you are getting sent from Vodafone

frednz

1467 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#1612156 15-Aug-2016 19:27

thecatsgoolies: You are a Prepay customer not Postpay this is clear in the SMS you are getting sent from Vodafone

The letter in the newspaper from 2degrees was headed: "An open letter to Spark and Vodafone Pay Monthly customers".

Well, I'm a Vodafone customer and I pay monthly and I get a 12-month carry-over of unused mobile data and talk minutes. So, I think I'm entitled to assume that the letter applies to me!

thecatsgoolies

414 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#1612158 15-Aug-2016 19:30

Pay monthly is Postpay not Prepay and you don't pay monthly but every 30 days on the Prepay19 and 29 carryover Prepay plans on Vodafone

frednz

1467 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#1612165 15-Aug-2016 19:36

thecatsgoolies: Pay monthly is Postpay not Prepay and you don't pay monthly but every 30 days on the Prepay19 and 29 carryover Prepay plans on Vodafone

I think you are "splitting hairs" as far as the letter in the newspaper goes. Most people would regard paying every 30 days as "paying monthly" and I think 2degrees perhaps weren't aware that a large number of Vodafone mobile customers are in fact on a $19 monthly plan that has 12-monthly carry-over data.

Fred

thecatsgoolies

414 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#1612167 15-Aug-2016 19:39

2Degrees is 100% aware that Vodafone offer 12 months carryover on Prepay this is why the open letter stated ' Pay Monthly '

frednz

1467 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#1612175 15-Aug-2016 19:53

thecatsgoolies: 2Degrees is 100% aware that Vodafone offer 12 months carryover on Prepay this is why the open letter stated ' Pay Monthly '

Well, if I was the CEO of 2degrees, I personally wouldn't have published such a letter if I was "100% aware" that a large number of Vodafone customers are in fact on a 12-month carry-over data plan for which $19 is paid every month.

The letter talks about "the disappearance of your monthly mobile data" and this only happens on my Vodafone plan when the data has been carried over for 12 months.

Look, this letter was a full-paged spread in the Dominion Post on 15 August and a large number of people reading it would assume that my type of plan was covered by the 2degrees letter to Vodafone "pay monthly" customers. I think it's really stretching a point to think otherwise and I think Vodafone and Spark could be justifiably upset by what is said about them in 2degree's letter!

Fred

Sharesies kids

Free kids accounts - trade shares and funds (NZ, US) with Sharesies (affiliate link).

daparrot

128 posts

Master Geek

#1612180 15-Aug-2016 20:06

Ignoring the carryover data/calls side of things the big question one needs to

ask of all the players out there is why everyone steals my money that's on my

prepay account after 12 months if I forget to top up.

We are not talking about data or calls but cold hard cash.

I believe that anyone who expires money after an arbitrary date be it a

prepay phone account or a gift card should by law have to give it to a charity

rather than just pocket it themselves..

frednz

1467 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#1612182 15-Aug-2016 20:12

Hammerer:

frednz:

I have a Vodafone monthly mobile data plan and the unused minutes and mobile data are accumulated for up to a year. And Spark's "Skinny" company does the same.

So, is 2degrees unaware of these plans offered by Vodafone and Skinny

I'm pretty sure that the letter is about the current offerings from Vodafone and Spark.

If you go to vodafone.co.nz and look at the on account plans there doesn't appear to be any carry over or roll over of data.

http://www.vodafone.co.nz/mobile-plans/sim-only/

http://www.vodafone.co.nz/mobile-plans/other-on-account-plans/

http://www.vodafone.co.nz/red-plus/

Likewise for Spark, when I looked a week ago.

And Skinny is not the same as Spark: different websites, different ads, different plans. If the letter meant Skinny then it would be expected to say so.

When you say "Skinny is not the same as Spark", in substance (correct me if I'm wrong) I thought that Skinny was 100% owned by Spark?

So I think Spark could reasonably say that it owns a "no frills" company which offers customers the very services that 2degrees suggests you should switch to 2degrees to get. The fact that Skinny has a different website etc doesn't really alter the substance of the situation (IMHO)!

https://www.telegeography.com/products/commsupdate/articles/2012/01/13/skinny-launch-takes-rivals-by-surprise-nz-price-war-anticipated/

Fred

antonknee

1133 posts

Uber Geek

#1612194 15-Aug-2016 20:54

2degrees' letter is clearly aimed at on account/postpay customers which they (and Spark) both refer to as 'Pay Monthly'. Prepay is a whole other ball game and is referred to as prepay or in the case of packs like you have @frednz, value packs.

Skinny and Spare maintain themselves as separate brands in the marketplace, just as say New World and Pak N Save (albeit different as they are owner operated) or Toyota and Lexus and Daihatsu. Therefore, 2degrees is quite right to say that Spare do not offer carryover. Skinny do, but Skinny is not Spark and they do not offer Pay Monthly (on account/postpay) services.

The letter stands as correct in my view.

frednz

1467 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#1612201 15-Aug-2016 21:05

antonknee:

2degrees' letter is clearly aimed at on account/postpay customers which they (and Spark) both refer to as 'Pay Monthly'. Prepay is a whole other ball game and is referred to as prepay or in the case of packs like you have @frednz, value packs.

Skinny and Spare maintain themselves as separate brands in the marketplace, just as say New World and Pak N Save (albeit different as they are owner operated) or Toyota and Lexus and Daihatsu. Therefore, 2degrees is quite right to say that Spare do not offer carryover. Skinny do, but Skinny is not Spark and they do not offer Pay Monthly (on account/postpay) services.

The letter stands as correct in my view.

Fair enough that's the way you interpret the letter, but there are other reasonable ways of interpreting it as I have shown. The overriding principle of "losing" unused data that you have paid for is the most relevant consideration (IMHO)!

Although you refer to the $19 Vodafone monthly "12-month carry-over" plan (that I am on) as a "prepay" plan, in reality it's substantially more more than that because, if you don't pay the $19 each month, you lose all your carry-over minutes and internet data. So, there is a very strong incentive to keep paying $19 each month which isn't present in a prepay plan that doesn't have carry-over data. A "real" prepay plan does not "punish" you if you do not renew it every month!

And the last sentence of the 2degrees letter which says: "Because we believe in fair play" perhaps suggests that competitors don't believe in fair play. Overall, do you really think the letter shows a professional approach or "fair play" in advertising 2degree's services, quite apart from the interpretation issues we have discussed?

scuwp

3885 posts

Uber Geek

#1612299 16-Aug-2016 07:43

It's advertising hype. Nothing more.

Is it potentially deceptive, yep (what advertising isn't). Is it patently false advertising, nope, because as is clear from these posts it can be 'interpreted' different ways depending on the individuals perspective which is influenced by their own situation. Like all advertising it appeals to the human desire to get a better deal.

FWIW "Pay Monthly" to me means on a monthly account, not pre-pay.

Lazy is such an ugly word, I prefer to call it selective participation

sxz

761 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1612328 16-Aug-2016 09:21

frednz:

thecatsgoolies: Pay monthly is Postpay not Prepay and you don't pay monthly but every 30 days on the Prepay19 and 29 carryover Prepay plans on Vodafone

I think you are "splitting hairs" as far as the letter in the newspaper goes. Most people would regard paying every 30 days as "paying monthly" and I think 2degrees perhaps weren't aware that a large number of Vodafone mobile customers are in fact on a $19 monthly plan that has 12-monthly carry-over data.

Fred

No. You are only "pay monthly" because you don't use all your allocation. If you used it all in 15 days you would have to rebuy another package or top up in those 15 days. Same if you went to Australia for a week.

Real "pay monthly" allows you to use your phone as you wish and get a bill at the end of the month.

dejadeadnz

2394 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#1612386 16-Aug-2016 11:31

It's just advertising drivel to maintain this company's usual appearance/tagline of fighting for the little guy or whatever. On useful measures such as ARPU and number of enterprise connections, this company remains a distinct third player in the marketplace.

mattwnz

20157 posts

Uber Geek

#1612417 16-Aug-2016 12:28

scuwp:
It's advertising hype. Nothing more.

Is it potentially deceptive, yep (what advertising isn't). Is it patently false advertising, nope, because as is clear from these posts it can be 'interpreted' different ways depending on the individuals perspective which is influenced by their own situation. Like all advertising it appeals to the human desire to get a better deal.

FWIW "Pay Monthly" to me means on a monthly account, not pre-pay.

They probably need to be more specific as different providers have different names for their plans. In fact as the are specifically targeting these other providers they really should be very specific with the plan names, so not to confuse. Some pay monthly plans are prepay as others have said. You have to be very careful when advertising this way.

1 | 2 | 3