High Pay In Charges

C

calvincoetzee

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Hi everyone,

I'm due for an upgrade on my Vodacom Weekender Everyday contract, I was going through the upgrades and am suprised how expensive phones have become.

Is it just me or is asking R6000 + for mid range phones such as the N85 (excuse if not mid range)
OR
R4500 for the N81 8 GB
a bit too much?

What's going on at the moment,
looks like on top of the weekender they want a R1200 pay in on the N81 8 GB which I thought would be for free, since the phone was released back in Oct 07 it's not exactly the latest thing to hit the streets.

Also I noticed that the HTC touch pro is R9000 + (the price of a notebook computer.... :confused:)

Can anybody explain the high prices for mobile phones?
 
I mentioned exactly this in a MTN thread. I got my HTC TyTNII about a year ago on a Procall120 package; had to pay in about R1000. Same phone a year later pay in is about R4000 on the list I saw. What happened??
 
Typical of any company...greed. Although you have to take into account exchange rates, taxes etc. but still they should not be that much. As we have all known before its just plain greed and I suppose in some cases informal collusion.
 
calvincoetzee said:
Hi everyone,

I'm due for an upgrade on my Vodacom Weekender Everyday contract, I was going through the upgrades and am suprised how expensive phones have become.

Is it just me or is asking R6000 + for mid range phones such as the N85 (excuse if not mid range)
OR
R4500 for the N81 8 GB
a bit too much?

What's going on at the moment,
looks like on top of the weekender they want a R1200 pay in on the N81 8 GB which I thought would be for free, since the phone was released back in Oct 07 it's not exactly the latest thing to hit the streets.

Also I noticed that the HTC touch pro is R9000 + (the price of a notebook computer.... :confused:)

Can anybody explain the high prices for mobile phones?
Click to expand...

it's just Vodacom, compare with MTN, you'll find no pay-ins for the same phones. Vodacom averages at least R1000 more than MTN on contracts right now.
 
ASAIK the high pay-ins on contracts nowadays is due to the fact that the SPs are not subsidizing the phones as heavily as they used to.

In the past you could get a high-end phone for free on a low-end contract, because the SP paid for the phone, and you basically got it for free. They have realized that this is an unnecessary addition to their overheads, and have thus stopped subsidizing (to the the extent that they used to in the past)
 
what about Italk cellular my last contract with them was pro call 120 and you didn't have to pay in the phone was free.. scary how every company in SA is set to rip you in one way or another, im on 02 here and my contract is 40pounds a month free N96 unlimited text, unlimited web, and 1000 free anytime minutes.
 
calvincoetzee said:
Hi everyone,

I'm due for an upgrade on my Vodacom Weekender Everyday contract, I was going through the upgrades and am suprised how expensive phones have become.

Is it just me or is asking R6000 + for mid range phones such as the N85 (excuse if not mid range)
OR
R4500 for the N81 8 GB
a bit too much?

What's going on at the moment,
looks like on top of the weekender they want a R1200 pay in on the N81 8 GB which I thought would be for free, since the phone was released back in Oct 07 it's not exactly the latest thing to hit the streets.

Also I noticed that the HTC touch pro is R9000 + (the price of a notebook computer.... :confused:)

Can anybody explain the high prices for mobile phones?
Click to expand...

But it retails for R8500!:p

Ill suggest you get the N82 for R600 pay in
 
Last edited:
LOL @ you Vodacom okes.

You are all funding those kark ads with the frikken meerkat!!!

:D Way to go!
 
MTN has woken up to a trick or 2, it's called number portability and they driving home the initiative by offering these phones at premiums way below what their competitors are offering them...

I cannot understand how Voda, Virgin and Cell C hope to remain competitive with their exorbitant rates..
 
The simple solution is to dump Vodacom when your contract ends and move to MTN. I did 2 years ago and everything has been better for me.
 
I am looking at the N85, pay in of R4200, it is a lot of money for me to just fork out, but the phone is good to justify a pay in, although, R4200 could be used for something else.

I see MTN is offering phones at very good prices, thanks sandman.

Although, can I port to MTN and still get my new phone?
I think the main reason why I'm not to keen on MTN is because of their data services, many people complain that it is unstable at the moment.
 
calvincoetzee said:
I am looking at the N85, pay in of R4200, it is a lot of money for me to just fork out, but the phone is good to justify a pay in, although, R4200 could be used for something else.

I see MTN is offering phones at very good prices, thanks sandman.

Although, can I port to MTN and still get my new phone?
I think the main reason why I'm not to keen on MTN is because of their data services, many people complain that it is unstable at the moment.
Click to expand...
Yes, I have data bundles with Vodacom and I use the E220 and E272 modems. Vodacom's internet speeds/performance seem to be consistently better than anything I've seen using MTN.
 
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