Advanced vs Retarded Vodacom Customers.

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VD - why don't Vodacom simply drop the Advanced and Standard data bundles?

I've always been one for options - but perhaps when it comes to data bundles, simple is better.
 
VodacomData said:
I went to the site on my Blackberry , saw the promo , clicked or tapped on the banner and it said 20Gb Prepaid and Topup once-off data bundle promotion.

Forgive me for being ignorant here , but i am still trying to see how this is a Vodacom error when all the information is readily available on the mobi site.
Click to expand...

I just went back to the site, and I found the following:

Web page not available

The web page at bla bla bla might be be temporally down or it may have moved permanently or it may have moved permanently to a new address.

I don't know about you, but I'm now tired of this matter. I'll just accept the fact that Vodacom, like other cellphone operators (and banks and insurance companies etc. etc.) run their businesses in a way that they make millions of rands out of customer "mistakes". I've lost about R500 in OOB charges and I probably have a better chance of getting pregnant in the next minute of than getting that back. Vodacom has stolen my money, and there isn't much I can do about that, except by "spreading the word" as widely as I can to ensure that other people don't get "suckered" like me.

If this practice was performed in Europe the European Commission would be all over you like a bad rash and Vodacom would face a fine of a large amount. But I guess this is the price for living in a Banana Republic.
 
CyberMatix said:
I just went back to the site, and I found the following:

Web page not available

The web page at bla bla bla might be be temporally down or it may have moved permanently or it may have moved permanently to a new address.

I don't know about you, but I'm now tired of this matter. I'll just accept the fact that Vodacom, like other cellphone operators (and banks and insurance companies etc. etc.) run their businesses in a way that they make millions of rands out of customer "mistakes". I've lost about R500 in OOB charges and I probably have a better chance of getting pregnant in the next minute of than getting that back. Vodacom has stolen my money, and there isn't much I can do about that, except by "spreading the word" as widely as I can to ensure that other people don't get "suckered" like me.

If this practice was performed in Europe the European Commission would be all over you like a bad rash and Vodacom would face a fine of a large amount. But I guess this is the price for living in a Banana Republic.
Click to expand...
About sums it up, funny that the page now has disappeared.
 
diabolus said:
Lol, only a quick scan in this thread it is quite clear , Vodacom have one hell of a confusing product. Most people have no clue what is going on and what is standard and what is advanced and when and how and who is on it. Half the people don't even know whether promotions are applicable to them or not.

I suggest Vodacom get with the program and make their offerings simpler, you should not need a lawyers degree to traverse the Vodacom Maze of data solutions.
Click to expand...

It's done that way on purpose. The more confusing you make the product the more people you can sucker. You also cannot compare one operator's products directly with that of another, exactly because of all the confusion. You can also make a lot of money doing this. Not all of the customers that walks into a little trap will do anything about it, some won't even notice. Other will fight a bit and then give up. With all the extra money you get you can afford to buy a whole army of lawyers that will fight off the rest.

It's like a field with little land-mines all over the place. If you make a small wrong step your foot will be blown off. Vodacom then takes all these blown off feet and sells it on the open meat market, with the money going into their bank account. Eventually you will grow another foot, but there will always be a scar left. My legs are full of scars.
 
diabolus said:
Lol, only a quick scan in this thread it is quite clear , Vodacom have one hell of a confusing product. Most people have no clue what is going on and what is standard and what is advanced and when and how and who is on it. Half the people don't even know whether promotions are applicable to them or not.

I suggest Vodacom get with the program and make their offerings simpler, you should not need a lawyers degree to traverse the Vodacom Maze of data solutions.
Click to expand...

It's done that way on purpose. The more confusing you make the product the more people you can sucker. You also cannot compare one operator's products directly with that of another, exactly because of all the confusion. You can also make a lot of money doing this. Not all of the customers that walks into a little trap will do anything about it, some won't even notice. Others will fight a bit and then give up. With all the extra money you get you can afford to buy a whole army of lawyers that will fight off the rest.

It's like a field with little land-mines all over the place. If you make a small wrong step your foot will be blown off. Vodacom then takes all these blown off feet and sells it on the open meat market, with the money going into their bank account. Eventually you will grow another foot, but there will always be a scar left. My legs are full of scars.
 
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VodacomData said:
I went to the site on my Blackberry , saw the promo , clicked or tapped on the banner and it said 20Gb Prepaid and Topup once-off data bundle promotion.

Forgive me for being ignorant here , but i am still trying to see how this is a Vodacom error when all the information is readily available on the mobi site.
Click to expand...

This one? There's no "click here for T&C's". To me it looks clear: 20GB for R499 - no conditions.

dsc3214p.jpg
 
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VodacomData said:
On standard your out of bundle rates are higher , while on advanced the out of bundle rate is the same as the in bundle rate.
Click to expand...
one more thing that i don`t understand why do vodacom offer me advance data when i buy data @ a vodacom store. i mean i will never have out of bundle rate, because i buy a data bundle that they send to my sim card, that will only be applicabale if i buy airtime, and convert it to data.
 
VodacomData said:
If you click on the add again it will also say that it is for prepaid and topup
Click to expand...

Why would I want to click on it again? Remember I am a retarded user, if you don't tell me that there is T & C behind the banner, how would I know? I hate banner adds. I make a point to not click on banner adds. Unless there is a good indication that I should do so. And in this case there wasn't.

On the full site the add banner has a "read more" on the right hand site. On the mobile site it doesn't. Why?

Don't you believe there should be consistent standards concerning functionality over your sites? Or is that a bridge too far to cross?

If the "read more" isn't required, am I supposed to smell you have have T & C behind it, why then have it on the full web site, I could use my same sense of smell to get to that as well? To have it on the full web site is therefore a total waste of time.

My friend, nothing personal, but you seriously have no case. Any halfway competent lawyer will pull your argument to bits in 10 seconds flat.

Why don't you do a poll? You think you are right and I am wrong. Do a poll and let's see.
 
CyberMatix said:
It's done that way on purpose. The more confusing you make the product the more people you can sucker. You also cannot compare one operator's products directly with that of another, exactly because of all the confusion. You can also make a lot of money doing this. Not all of the customers that walks into a little trap will do anything about it, some won't even notice. Others will fight a bit and then give up. With all the extra money you get you can afford to buy a whole army of lawyers that will fight off the rest.

It's like a field with little land-mines all over the place. If you make a small wrong step your foot will be blown off. Vodacom then takes all these blown off feet and sells it on the open meat market, with the money going into their bank account. Eventually you will grow another foot, but there will always be a scar left. My legs are full of scars.
Click to expand...

Exactly. Like what they did with their recent price hike, 1GB now costing ~15.8% more than before (see my thread for proof)
 
VodacomData said:
The way i see it , is that there was T's and C's on the site , you cant blame Vodacom for you not reading it. We will be reversing the charge after bill run.

Regards

VD
Click to expand...
VodacomData said:
I went to the site on my Blackberry , saw the promo , clicked or tapped on the banner and it said 20Gb Prepaid and Topup once-off data bundle promotion.

Forgive me for being ignorant here , but i am still trying to see how this is a Vodacom error when all the information is readily available on the mobi site.
Click to expand...

So you looked on one phone and it doesn't say click for more details.... Has vodacom ever heard the old saying the customer is always right?

False Advertising... http://www.asasa.org.za/
Even if they give you your money back still report them... I'm a long-time vodacom customer but I'm very wary anytime they have a "special" on, there's always "special" terms and conditions to go with it...

Why show someone who doesn't qualify for a special an advert that doesn't apply to him and then not tell him that he has to click to get info on the terms and conditions not mentioned in the ad
 
With the danger of flogging a dead horse, I did go along and clicked on the ad banner. It then gave me the following:

29GB Prepaid & Top Up once-off data bundle promotion

Surf the internet with this summer's hottest mobile data deal

Downloading movies and music? Socialising on Facebook or Twitter? Sending emails?

Then get 20 gigs of broadband on the go when you purchase a Prepaid or Top Up once-off MyGig 20 data bundle bundle on Broadband Advanced for only R499 between 7 November 2011 and 9 January 2012.

You can purchase unlimited bundles and all data bundles purchased carry over until the last day of the next month

Back

So this is the Terms and Conditions? Looks to me like a lot of marketing blurb, that my retarded brain is hardwired to ignore. There are multiple problems with this:

1) I know that I'm not a Prepaid Vodacom customer, I have a phone on contract and that suggests that I'm not (I guess). How do I know whether I'm a Top Up customer? When my car runs out of fuel I go to the petrol station and I Top Up. So I'm a Petrol Station Top Up customer. If my phone runs out of data I go to the Vodacom web site where I'm registered, and I go to the section where I can Purchase Once Off Data Bundles. There I'm presented with a list of data bundles where every second one is Advanced. The only difference between the non-advanced (note, nowhere does the term Standard appear anywhere), and the Advanced is that the latter is more expensive. So I'm a cheapskate and I buy the cheaper one (I'm not an Advanced type of person). So I choose a "cheapskate" option and I click on it, and Viola, like some kind of magic, I am TOPPED UP, and I can proceed with my non-advanced life. So I'm a Top Up Customer, well no, apparently not according to Vodacom. What do I have to do to become a Top Up customer, well I don't have the vaguest idea. If I'm not a Top Up customer, what the hell did I just do?

2) The Marketing Blurb (otherwise know as the T&C) tells me to go to Broadband Advanced to go and purchase this nice offer. So where exactly is this Broadband Advanced?

Is it a Broadband Advanced Shop somewhere?
Is it a person with the name of Broadband Advanced?
Is it a Broadband Advanced planet?
Is it a Broadband Advanced page on a website?

Well I got to a page called Purchase Once Off Data Bundles where there is some mention of Advanced stuff, and I know I can buy once off data bundles there, so I reckon this is close enough, I am Topping Up after all, and I'm on a page where the word Advanced and Once Off appears. Is this right? Well again I don't have the vaguest idea (apparently not).

3) You can purchase unlimited bundles: That's cool, how much do these unlimited bundles cost? No price given? Do I have to go and look somewhere else for their T&C? Again, I don't have a clue.


So it is clear that this whole lot is just a comedy of errors. I even see at the top of the page I just purchased a 2.3 Gig package. No, I actually purchased a 2.5 Gig package. I'm not very good with sums, but 2.3 and 2.5 aren't the same.

I rest my case.
 
Hi Everyone.

I have also 'burnt' myself once.

If Vodacom says "special", it means you need to pay particular/special attention to everything.

They are also very nicely covered under their "terms and conditions". If something doesn't work the way you expected it to work, go read the T&C. The topic WILL be covered there.

I have learn, don't do anything on a contract SIM. Get a prepaid SIM, at least then it won't allow you to purchase something if there is no airtime loaded.

My 10 cents worth, or in this case +- R3620
 
T-Man said:
Hi Everyone.

I have also 'burnt' myself once.

If Vodacom says "special", it means you need to pay particular/special attention to everything.

They are also very nicely covered under their "terms and conditions". If something doesn't work the way you expected it to work, go read the T&C. The topic WILL be covered there.

I have learn, don't do anything on a contract SIM. Get a prepaid SIM, at least then it won't allow you to purchase something if there is no airtime loaded.

My 10 cents worth, or in this case +- R3620
Click to expand...

I have a very simple question: Why do you as a customer have to jump though all kinds of hoops to prevent your SP ripping you off?

This is a lot of Cr@p, and something should be done about it.
 
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