[Vodacom] Top-up accounts

[ebendl]

I am looking at upgrading my Weekend Everyday+ to something like a Topup 315. This is because I would like some more controlled spending, and I will be doing more peak time calling.

I was wondering how the Top-up packages compare to other packages in terms of upgrading and phones? For example, the Talk120 package is also R315 per month, would you get the same type of phone on both packages during an upgrade? (Incidentally, if you call only MTN/CellC during peak time, which is the highest charge, you could do it for 130 minutes, which is the same as the Talk120 package. But if you call Vodacom, you actually gain more minutes).

Furthermore, I am in month 18 of my 24 month contract. So if I should change packages now, would I get any benefits when upgrading (assuming the Topup 315 account is rated higher than the Weekender).

Thanks all!

 

[Gunny]

rather get a Talk200s R430 and better call costs.
Better value for money in my book

 

[ambo]

And another thing to be aware of (since this is the VC Broadband forum ) - is the fact that TopUp contracts cannot have data bundles attached. So you will be paying R2/meg for any data you use.

Due to the fact that TopUp is based on the pre-paid billing infrastructure - this will only be possible once the pre-paid data bundles (eventually) become available.

 

[ebendl]

But if you take R430 (for the talk200) and divide it by 200 minutes, you get R2.15 per minute. Thus, you're paying this amount per call, even if you're phoning another VC number on a weekend...

Whereas with the top-up, you're scoring more 'minutes' when making VC calls over a weekend (since you're definitely not paying R2.15 but only R1.08 per minute).

The only way I see how you can score, is:
- Better contract benefits (more services perhaps? Such as the data bundles)
- Better phones on the talk package (it would have helped to see how much you really pay for the phone and how much for the contract).
- Perhaps if the talk packages also assigns you an internal amount of 'free' rand, and subtract only the correct amount from that amount based on the call you're making
- More convenience (i.e., you don't need to top up and can just continue dialing).