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

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dejadeadnz

2394 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#1612508 16-Aug-2016 14:32

mattwnz:
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.

That's way too much common sense and ethics for people in this industry. No truer words were even spoken than when Theresa Gattung let slip years back that her telco relied on obfuscation.

ojo

167 posts

Master Geek

#1613244 17-Aug-2016 14:07

Rollover is just a contractless contract, anyway. Keep paying or you lose what you've stored.

Wade

2225 posts

Uber Geek

#1613250 17-Aug-2016 14:22

I am on 2D Pay Monthly, my bill for 10 July til 9th August falls due for payment on 19th August therefore I am on credit terms with 2D versus prepay where i must pay upfront before i use

Maybe pay monthly should be referred to as postpay so as to not confuse the punter?

frednz

1467 posts

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Inactive user

#1613417 17-Aug-2016 19:40

Wade:

I am on 2D Pay Monthly, my bill for 10 July til 9th August falls due for payment on 19th August therefore I am on credit terms with 2D versus prepay where i must pay upfront before i use

Maybe pay monthly should be referred to as postpay so as to not confuse the punter?

The letter from the CEO of 2degrees, Stewart Sherriff, was headed:

“An open letter to Spark and Vodafone Pay Monthly customers”.

To avoid confusion with the term “pay monthly” here’s a suggestion as to how the advertisement could have been headed:

An open letter to Spark and Vodafone mobile customers.

Does your mobile plan permit you to carry-over unused data and minutes?

If not, switch now to 2degrees!

It should be noted that Vodafone does not have a plan called “Pay Monthly”. However, they do have many different plans, such as Red +, On Account, Open Term and Prepay. If the advertisement had been headed as suggested above, then don't you think it would have been more to the point?

Fred

antonknee

1133 posts

Uber Geek

#1613454 17-Aug-2016 21:12

frednz:

The letter from the CEO of 2degrees, Stewart Sherriff, was headed:

“An open letter to Spark and Vodafone Pay Monthly customers”.

To avoid confusion with the term “pay monthly” here’s a suggestion as to how the advertisement could have been headed:

An open letter to Spark and Vodafone mobile customers.

Does your mobile plan permit you to carry-over unused data and minutes?

If not, switch now to 2degrees!

It should be noted that Vodafone does not have a plan called “Pay Monthly”. However, they do have many different plans, such as Red +, On Account, Open Term and Prepay. If the advertisement had been headed as suggested above, then don't you think it would have been more to the point?

Fred

Agreed that that would have removed any and all ambiguity.

But the way it is presently written is fine in my view given that the majority of the market (Spark + 2degrees together) refer to post pay plans where the customer receives a bill as Pay Monthly.

I really think you are splitting hairs here. The advertisement (and that's what it is, regardless of 2degrees framing it as an open letter) is not misleading or inaccurate. And I doubt it would have been intended to mislead in any case.

frednz

1467 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#1613636 18-Aug-2016 09:57

antonknee:

frednz:

The letter from the CEO of 2degrees, Stewart Sherriff, was headed:

“An open letter to Spark and Vodafone Pay Monthly customers”.

To avoid confusion with the term “pay monthly” here’s a suggestion as to how the advertisement could have been headed:

An open letter to Spark and Vodafone mobile customers.

Does your mobile plan permit you to carry-over unused data and minutes?

If not, switch now to 2degrees!

It should be noted that Vodafone does not have a plan called “Pay Monthly”. However, they do have many different plans, such as Red +, On Account, Open Term and Prepay. If the advertisement had been headed as suggested above, then don't you think it would have been more to the point?

Fred

Agreed that that would have removed any and all ambiguity.

But the way it is presently written is fine in my view given that the majority of the market (Spark + 2degrees together) refer to post pay plans where the customer receives a bill as Pay Monthly.

I really think you are splitting hairs here. The advertisement (and that's what it is, regardless of 2degrees framing it as an open letter) is not misleading or inaccurate. And I doubt it would have been intended to mislead in any case.

Great, we are making progress, there certainly is ambiguity in the advertisement and this should most definitely have been avoided. I think the ad is also inaccurate because Vodafone customers certainly don't have a plan called "pay monthly" and probably all their plans involve monthly payments under a contract.

I think that the ad is misleading because it implies that Spark and Vodafone are not dealing with their customers fairly and that these customers are being "robbed" of their unused data and minutes! You see, it's only at the very end of the ad that 2degrees admits that their carry-over data is "for up to a year", so they are also quite happy to "rob" their customers of their unused data after that time!

And 2degrees is overlooking the fact that Spark and Vodafone customers know what they are entering into and far prefer to deal with Spark and Vodafone than a company that can talk about robbing customers of data, just like siphoning petrol or having their groceries pinched. Come on 2degrees, do you really think you are going to gain customers with this sort of emotive nonsense?!! And perhaps someone can tell me how profitable 2degrees is, what is their latest profit and financial outlook? I certainly take these factors into account when deciding who gets my hard-earned money!

Fred

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