Contract Data Bundle Question

[broken1]

So my normal set up is a recurring data-bundle for 20mb on this specific phone. From the 12th of November, to the 12th of Jan - I need to have a 500mb bundle, on the same line - how can I arrange that? It has to be the same line as I will be using the phone as the 3g-modem, and there is no alternative.

Can I use up the 20mb and then buy a 500mb bundle as a once-off ad-hoc bundle in the same month, or must I convert to three 500MB bundles from Nov/Dec/Jan?

If I can buy an adhoc bundle after the 20mb is finished, is it right to assume it only lasts till the end of the month - and not for 30days?

 

[vodacom3g]

Yes, you can ad an ad-hoc bundle every month. They'll last till the end of the month, so maybe work out what you need per month and just buy that.

 

[ic]

So my normal set up is a recurring data-bundle for 20mb on this specific phone. From the 12th of November, to the 12th of Jan - I need to have a 500mb bundle, on the same line - how can I arrange that? It has to be the same line as I will be using the phone as the 3g-modem, and there is no alternative.

Can I use up the 20mb and then buy a 500mb bundle as a once-off ad-hoc bundle in the same month, or must I convert to three 500MB bundles from Nov/Dec/Jan?

If I can buy an adhoc bundle after the 20mb is finished, is it right to assume it only lasts till the end of the month - and not for 30days?

Yes, you can ad an ad-hoc bundle every month. They'll last till the end of the month, so maybe work out what you need per month and just buy that.

Yep, this is one of the ongoing problems with contract data bundles: they expire on the last day of the month they were activated in.

@broken1, you are going to need to add 3 separate Ad-Hoc CDBs: one for November, another for December and another for January.

 

[vodacom3g]

Yep, this is one of the ongoing problems with contract data bundles: they expire on the last day of the month they were activated in.

Contract bundles, by definition, start at the beginning of the month and thus lasts for 30 days.

I suspect you refer to ad-hoc, which can suffer from pre-mature expiration. Rest assured, the correct suggestions/requests have been passed.....

 

[broken1]

Thanks for the help. I dont mind paying the money, as long as I am connected It's one of those things.

 

[ic]

Contract bundles, by definition, start at the beginning of the month and thus lasts for 30 days.

One can have a Bolt-On CDB added on any day of a particular month, but it will still expire on the last day of that same month.

One nice thing about CDBs is that in months with 31 days, a CDB that is activated or starts on the 1st of that month, lasts for 31 days.

I suspect you refer to ad-hoc, which can suffer from pre-mature expiration. Rest assured, the correct suggestions/requests have been passed.....

I did mention Ad-Hoc CDBs, but the same applies to Bolt-On CDBs .

 

[vodacom3g]

One can have a Bolt-On CDB added on any day of a particular month, but it will still expire on the last day of that same month.

One nice thing about CDBs is that in months with 31 days, a CDB that is activated or starts on the 1st of that month, lasts for 31 days.I did mention Ad-Hoc CDBs, but the same applies to Bolt-On CDBs .

Bolt-on's ('Recurring' is proposed new name) also run on a full month cycle, i.e. from the 1st. Not sure if you can add it in the middle of a month. If so, it'll only be the first month. AFAIK, you can only change it for the next month.

Ad-hoc ('Once-Of') is the one where you need to be careful to just buy what you need for the remainder of the month.

So we have 3 CDB types:

1) CDB itself where you have a separate data contract that run for a 24 month period, bundles start on the 1st and last for the full month.

2) Bolt-on - where you add a 'recurring' bundle to your existing voice contract, bundles start on the 1st and last for the full month.

3) Ad-hoc or 'once-of' where you buy a bundle once and it lasts till month-end.

 

[ic]

Bolt-on's ('Recurring' is proposed new name) also run on a full month cycle, i.e. from the 1st. Not sure if you can add it in the middle of a month. If so, it'll only be the first month. AFAIK, you can only change it for the next month.

Ad-hoc ('Once-Of') is the one where you need to be careful to just buy what you need for the remainder of the month.

So we have 3 CDB types:

1) CDB itself where you have a separate data contract that run for a 24 month period, bundles start on the 1st and last for the full month.

2) Bolt-on - where you add a 'recurring' bundle to your existing voice contract, bundles start on the 1st and last for the full month.

3) Ad-hoc or 'once-of' where you buy a bundle once and it lasts till month-end.

I've used both Bolt-On and Ad-Hoc CDBs on my 4U contract, in the case of Bolt-On CDBs - I'm fairly sure that I used to be able to call 155 and ask them to add a Bolt-On CDB after the 1st day of that month - not sure if it has changed since I stopped using Bolt-On CDBs and switched to using Ad-Hoc CDBs due to problems I experienced with getting Bolt-On CDBs cancelled. All of this was quite a while back bcos I've been using PPDBs for quite a while now.

PS: IMO 1) above should be referred to as a 24M|2YR CDB.

 

[broken1]

Uhm...when I originally added by 20Mb bolt-on (recurring) bundle, I did it on the 17th or so of the month. They charged me pro-rata, and gave me 8.72MB of the bundle, valid till the end of the month! This was about 2 months ago or so...

 

[vodacom3g]

Uhm...when I originally added by 20Mb bolt-on (recurring) bundle, I did it on the 17th or so of the month. They charged me pro-rata, and gave me 8.72MB of the bundle, valid till the end of the month! This was about 2 months ago or so...

That sounds correct and according to the way I understand it.

@ic; No need to 'cancel' a bolt-on, just change it to 0Meg and let it die a natural death.

 

[ic]

Uhm...when I originally added by 20Mb bolt-on (recurring) bundle, I did it on the 17th or so of the month. They charged me pro-rata, and gave me 8.72MB of the bundle, valid till the end of the month! This was about 2 months ago or so...

I know VSP does charge pro-rata for the first month of a 24M CDB, will take your word for it on the Bolt-On CDB added in the 2nd half of a month - I doubt that other service providers [non-VSP] would apply the same fair principles.

@ic; No need to 'cancel' a bolt-on, just change it to 0Meg and let it die a natural death.

I remember that you've mentioned being able to do that on numerous occasions, admittedly I never did try doing that .