"Upgrading" a 3G contract

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Antonf

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My 3G contract will be 24 months old shortly. If it was a normal contract I would have been entitled to "upgrade" my contract (paying a ridiculous R150 fee for a few minutes' administration!!) and get a new phone.

I don't want another data card and there are no pre-paid data bundles available from the "leading" cellular network. Seeing that I have paid off my data card surely I am entitled to some incentive to stay with Vodacom?

Incidentally, the contract administration fee is R53 less to take out a new contract than to "upgrade"...
 
Antonf said:
My 3G contract will be 24 months old shortly. If it was a normal contract I would have been entitled to "upgrade" my contract (paying a ridiculous R150 fee for a few minutes' administration!!) and get a new phone.

I don't want another data card and there are no pre-paid data bundles available from the "leading" cellular network. Seeing that I have paid off my data card surely I am entitled to some incentive to stay with Vodacom?

Incidentally, the contract administration fee is R53 less to take out a new contract than to "upgrade"...
Click to expand...

You could always get a new data card and sell it for cash I guess?
 
My 3G contract will be 24 months old shortly. If it was a normal contract I would have been entitled to "upgrade" my contract (paying a ridiculous R150 fee for a few minutes' administration!!) and get a new phone.
Click to expand...

Sitting with the same story here. I have no reason to upgrade. Maybe to get that USB HSDPA dongle or something, but i've been living on a combination of MTN prepaid bundles and Virgin prepaid the last couple of months. Just waiting for my Voda contract to run out in Feb, then i'll probably look into something like iBurst [need cheaper bandwidth, not more speed] .

I've taken out an MTN voice contract recently, so i also got the phone i wanted...so i personally don't see the benefit of upgrading/taking out a data contract ?

The only way i'll reconsider a Voda Data contract if they actually make it worthwhile in terms of costs...i don't need a datacard, what i want now is
(a) FREE data [instead of free minutes]
(b) Some form of carryover
(c) No more bundles --> instead have cheaper tariffs based on your monthly subscription [like voice]
(d) Major improvement on Vodas billing/online services structure..it's absolutely absurd to take out my simcard, phone the calldesk [with a 20 minute waiting time] to ask them to change my bundles...[because the website is dysfunctional etc etc]
 
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Antonf said:
My 3G contract will be 24 months old shortly. If it was a normal contract I would have been entitled to "upgrade" my contract (paying a ridiculous R150 fee for a few minutes' administration!!) and get a new phone.

I don't want another data card and there are no pre-paid data bundles available from the "leading" cellular network. Seeing that I have paid off my data card surely I am entitled to some incentive to stay with Vodacom?

Incidentally, the contract administration fee is R53 less to take out a new contract than to "upgrade"...
Click to expand...

If you find a enlightened SP, they'll look at other ways to incentivise you, maybe a handset to the same value. Chat to your current SP, and if you don't come right, PM me and I'll put you in contact with one.
 
Hi Vodacom3g

Sent you a PM again regarding this...
 
ibanez said:
now that would only be fair given that any potential data not used within a month is still data purchased by me the customer..
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Dear ibanez

You obviously don't have a clue of economics! Let my try to give you a simple explanation:
You stop at a filling station on the first day of the month and you pay some tax. As a bonus you get a few liters of petrol, but the value of the petrol is probably less than the tax you paid. You use some of the petrol during the month, but on the last day of the month you return to the filling station and give back all the petrol left in your tank, but you don't get the tax back, or a refund on the unused petrol, because it is YOUR OWN stupidity that you didn't use all the petrol! On the first of the month the cycle starts again.

It is called the First South African Law of Screwed-up Economics. You will read all about it in the section titled: Screwing the Customer.

Why are you complaining? At least you got screwed!!!
 
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Like no network in Camps Bay sometimes, smtp not responding, frequent disconnects, etc... if iBurst was available nationwide I'd be off...
 
Antonf said:
Like no network in Camps Bay sometimes, smtp not responding, frequent disconnects, etc... if iBurst was available nationwide I'd be off...
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Are you in Camps Bay? High up or down on the beach front?

A very difficult terrain to cover properly with the mountains and cliffs.

I'll pick it up with you.
 
High up, above camps bay drive. Last night no network, not even when going outside. Signal strength very low, HSDPA card disconnecting all the time. Inserted MTN PAUG card and worked like a dream
 
Antonf said:
High up, above camps bay drive. Last night no network, not even when going outside. Signal strength very low, HSDPA card disconnecting all the time. Inserted MTN PAUG card and worked like a dream
Click to expand...

Asked the local radio guys to look at this. Copied you on the mail. Will you pass your addr. via mail, please.
 
Antonf,

Jeez, reading that made my head hurt but something in my heart resonates with what you're saying.

Do I owe Vodacom extra bucks for the screwing or is that just a free customer service?
 
I’ve just upgraded my 3G1 to 3G2. The dude in the Vodashop seemed a bit confused, mentioning that he could upgrade my contract or do a migration; ended up with the migration. V3G are these (upgrade vs migration) one and the same or is there a cost difference?

Thanks,

d
 
Ibanez,

You pay extra bucks for this screwing when you renew your contract.

Instead of R97 for a new connection, you now pay R150 to "upgrade" your contract.

This is necessary because you have proven over 24 months that you are a loyal screwee...
 
I just add ad-hoc bundles if I see I will run out... There is no cost implication if you migrate at any time. Even though the smaller ad-hoc bundles are more expensive per Mb, it is still more cost-effective than losing data, unless you don't lose too much...
 
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