Pre Paid Data Bundles [PPDBs]

Should this thread be closed (locked)?

  • Yes, put it out of its misery

    Votes: 7 41.2%

  • No, I don't like euthanasia, leave it to die painfully & alone

    Votes: 10 58.8%

  • I'm confused, maybe all of the above

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    17
  • Poll closed .
adsl3g said:
You know something we don't???
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Only that Cell C still has to respond and that Virgin's price was based on their 1GB bundle. Cell C will have to come up with something close to Vodacom's and MTN's offers being "committed" to broadband.
sky.akash said:
We'll just have to see what VM's response will be if any. But for the present, an exodus to Vodacom will definitely be a good thing with regards to stability on the VM network:)
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Problem is I don't see people signing up for contracts. It really seems like Voda doesn't like prepaid customers not providing for them in the first place. They also have to kill the time limit on their bundles before I will use them. I will rather pay more to Virgin and not get my money stolen than pay less and let some of it get stolen.
 
Two years and 52 pages...

I was quite impressed by Vodacom's response to MTN's price drops. I even considered moving to Vodacom (on PPDB, of course).

So with great interest I started reading this thread tonight, (going back two years and 52 pages) skipping a few pages at a time expecting to bump into a post saying : "PPDB now available!!!".

That was 30mins ago, and now I find that Vodacom STILL HAS NO PPDB!!!???

How on earth did that happen? MTN had it for, well.. , since for ever. I can even add and remove bundles on my contract at MTN (I guess which is the same as the 'Bolt On' packages on Vodacom?).

So it seems like I'll be sticking to MTN.

Regards,

JJF.
 
It's called modularity and is something Vodacom has never heard about. They had to redesign the whole system to make it available. This was over six months ago and the bundles are still in "testing" phase. It is very clear that Vodacom is simply not interested in providing ppdbs. I will stick to Virgin and I don't have any doubt they will better the offer somehow.
 
JJF said:
So with great interest I started reading this thread tonight, (going back two years and 52 pages) skipping a few pages at a time expecting to bump into a post saying : "PPDB now available!!!".

That was 30mins ago, and now I find that Vodacom STILL HAS NO PPDB!!!???
JJF.
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I remember having this exact same experience ... only difference is that it was more than a year ago. :eek: :eek:

And back then I remember thinking how this thread was nearly a year old.. incredible.. :eek:
 
vodacom3g said:
How do you get to that?

I've often explained what the problems were. Why won't you believe me? Why would Vodacom turn its back on revenue?
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Sometimes actions speak louder than words. MTN announced ppdbs and they were ready and available. It's just beyond me how Vodacom in two years time could not implement it. Who in the world designs such a system?
 
Face The Facts

vodacom3g said:
How do you get to that?

I've often explained what the problems were. Why won't you believe me? Why would Vodacom turn its back on revenue?
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Ag v3g, lets face he facts, (and this aint an attack on you) VODACOM DOES NOT CARE FOR PRE-PAID DATA USERS. Its much more lucritive to bind data users to a 24/36 month contracts, and giving ppdbs will stop alot of subscribers to go over to contract. Even i would have been able to write a system to allow PPDBs in less than 2+ years. Who writes these systems, FIRE THEM, AS THEY ARE NOT WORTH THE MONEY YOU PAY EM
 
Sony_3G said:
Ag v3g, lets face he facts, (and this aint an attack on you) VODACOM DOES NOT CARE FOR PRE-PAID DATA USERS. Its much more lucritive to bind data users to a 24/36 month contracts, and giving ppdbs will stop alot of subscribers to go over to contract. Even i would have been able to write a system to allow PPDBs in less than 2+ years. Who writes these systems, FIRE THEM, AS THEY ARE NOT WORTH THE MONEY YOU PAY EM
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If Vodacom didn't want customers using data bundles without being locked into a 24 month contract they would've blocked the availability of data bundles on the 4U contract.
 
Okay unless Im missing something why don't people use the 4U Zero contract and add on the bundles as they so please? Does this solution not equate to Pre-paid bundles?
 
ic said:
Yep, I was about to post the same thing about the 4U contract :).

BTW, I updated the thread title this morning to highlight the month2month 4U [Zero] contract alternative to PPDBs - no use waiting forever for PPDBs when the 4U contract + data bundles has been available for years.

After so much time has passed, I'm beginning to think that Vodacom should cancel the R&D for PPDBs and instead market the 4U contract as Vodacom's de facto equivalent of PPDBs...2 reasons: [a] not many people know about the 4U Zero contract option - which is why Vodacom should market it better; and bcos of the word "Contract" which instills fear & loathing in most consumers and they avoid the 4U option like the plague...
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4U zero might be an alternative, but it's not equivalent to PPDB. It's still a contract, and therefore requires credit checks and a R199 connection fee.
 
ic said:
bcos of the word "Contract" which instills fear & loathing in most consumers and they avoid the 4U option like the plague...
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It is important to note that while 4U is a contract and therefore requires the credit vetting that all the providers demand before signing a contract...
It is a month-to-month contract - meaning that you are not bound by any of the 24month demons and you are in a position to cancel and get out on much shorter notice.
 
The 4u contract is by no means an alternative for PPDB`s. You could still get a large bill at the end of the month, unless you softlock your account which then in turn means that when you do need to use it later you just shot yourself in the foot with the soflock.

@ ajax, i forgot bout the month to month contracts, which is still a contract, and not pre paid
 
Sony_3G said:
Ag v3g, lets face he facts, (and this aint an attack on you) VODACOM DOES NOT CARE FOR PRE-PAID DATA USERS. Its much more lucritive to bind data users to a 24/36 month contracts, and giving ppdbs will stop alot of subscribers to go over to contract. Even i would have been able to write a system to allow PPDBs in less than 2+ years. Who writes these systems, FIRE THEM, AS THEY ARE NOT WORTH THE MONEY YOU PAY EM
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I wonder if they never heard of outsourcing. Seriously if this was a porn business the system would have been up and running within a week, guaranteed. :D

Another thing about the 4U contract is that people don't want to convert their number to a post-paid contract option of any kind as they then lose the flexible pre-paid option. Most of the people waiting for ppdbs want to use them with their existing numbers, the others have moved to Virgin already which is a far better option that the 4U contract.
 
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ic said:
BTW, I updated the thread title this morning to highlight the month2month 4U [Zero] contract alternative to PPDBs - no use waiting forever for PPDBs when the 4U contract + data bundles has been available for years.
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I noticed that.. I was just gonna come on here and ask why this has been done? :o

Contracts are EVIL! :eek: This 4U thing is just a devious little plan to brainwash people into thinking that they're not so bad...

DONT DO IT PEOPLE!!! :eek: :eek:

Vodacom can't be feeling the pinch yet or they would've released PPDB's long ago... get real, any old Grannie could code a PPDB system in less than two years.. :eek:

A company with so much resources cannot produce this in two years... puh-lease.. I'm not buying this... and if it really really is true then Vodacom should seriously consider giving their programmers the boot, cos they're not just pathetic they're ruining the name of geekhood! :p



//Now calming down...

Just my 2c .. :p
 
Cathryn said:
4U zero might be an alternative, but it's not equivalent to PPDB. It's still a contract, and therefore requires credit checks and a R199 connection fee.
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It seems like if you convert a prepaid sim to 4U zero you don't pay the R199. So just buy a R2 starter pack, load a voucher and then convert . ;)
 
Why is everyone treating this 4U contract like the plague? So what about credit checks? Banks love them when granting loans and financing. So far the only real valid reason/difference between a PPDB and this alternative is the ensured limit of not spending more than you paid for. Then does Vodacom provide a soft-lock option that will cap you when you hit your ad-hoc bundle total (which dynamically increases as you buy more ad-hoc bundles). If not then I can understand the need for PPDB's.
 
Syndyre said:
It seems like if you convert a prepaid sim to 4U zero you don't pay the R199. So just buy a R2 starter pack, load a voucher and then convert . ;)
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worked for me, they even credited my account with R23 when I got it activated. For my first bill Vodacom owed ME money :cool:
 
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