LANDED HTC ONE!
This was one of the most frustrating upgrade experiences I've ever gone through. I have been calling the upgrade department for about 3 weeks now trying to secure an HTC One. I was given the run around each time. Most of the operators have no clue of whats actually potting. Some say the phone wasn't available, others, that there was stock but the system was down, others that stock only coming at the end of May. Today when I called, they informed me that all stock was shipped and they had nothing left (Lovely)
I usually always do a pay in amount UPFRONT when signing a contract and buying a phone. The call center could never provide me with any sort of cash pay in amount which I couldn't understand. They kept trying to push me to pay it over 24months and just said "It will cost x amount every month". When I did the math, it worked out to about R5600 over 24 months.
Anyways, I gave up on dealing with the idiots at the upgrade department. They are absolutely clueless. I then phoned about 8 Voda shops in Gauteng to see if anyone had any stock. Apparently, each store places its own orders for phones from the Vodacom warehouse. Vodaworld was first point of call, but they had already sold all their stock in a few hours. 6 other stores had stock 'coming in the next few weeks'. Then finally managed to find a store with stock (Bedford Square) - They literally had a single HTC One left. I asked the lady to secure it for me, and picked it up today.
Very happy with the phone, it has lived up to all the reviews (and yes, I am an HTC fanboy). The phone has real solid build construction and feels good in the hand. The store also had no problem with me paying upfront, and the pay in amount was about R4k on a Talk 130 (Similar to the new Smart M). That's a saving of R1600 against paying it off for 2 years. The sales lady informed me that this is how Vodacom tries to sell its phones to most sheep....errrrr i mean.... people via the call center. They don't even give you the upfront option.
Now, accesories for this phone are very limited, you will mostly likely struggle to find any variety in covers or screen protectors (for at-least a month or two). So I ordered from MobileFun.co.uk (they do intl shipping):
38464 InvisibleSHIELD Screen Protector - HTC One
38255 Case-Mate Tough Case for HTC One - Black
You really don't have a choice with this phone, you have to buy a cover. The reason is that the camera lens sits flush with the back and so its vulnerable to scratches. If you are someone who keeps your phone in his pocket all day long, it might not be a problem.
Lastly, its really cool to finally trial out the Vodacom LTE network. Speeds were almost 20 mbits up and down.