I have been perusing the upgrade section of www.vodacom4me.co.za and it appears that obtaining a discount based on your selected contract package no longer applies, or the discounts are no longer applied as they used to be at least. The last time I upgraded in South Africa was in 2002, and at that stage I recall that selecting a Talk1000 package entitled one to pretty much any top end, major brand phone you desired. I am now upgrading my contract (which since returning to SA is a Talk 240), and it seems the discounts are nearly identical or marginal at best regardless of your contract package.
Whilst I was in the UK, service providers practically begged for your business by providing top end cellphones on lower grade packages, bundling uncapped ADSL lines on top of contracts, reducing contract terms to sometimes up to as little as 6 months, subsidising line rentals by sometimes >70%, adding free gifts that would put a smile on the dial of a wealthy Chelsea footballer's wife etc.
We on the other hand are going backwards it appears and Vodafone and the likes are subsidising their hefty discounts abroad, by raping the consumers of developing economies instead. The reason I come to this conclusion is because I cannot obtain a decent phone with the features I would expect in today's tech-savvy world, without paying in a hefty sum (in excess of R2k on most ocassions) on my Talk 240 package. That is lunacy, considering my bill is in excess of R1k consistently every single month, sometimes as much as R3k depending on how busy I choose to be. It is also lunacy that a Talk130 package and a Talk240 package share the exact discounts as one another. Well in what way am I being rewarded for contractually agreeing to provide the service provider with a much higher residual revenue, for 24 months to top it off?
I am actually pretty disgusted by the generally poor standard of service that I received whilst calling Vodacom to discuss this as well, but that is an aside point and worthy of its own thread. In general I am disgusted with (and I want to say Vodacom but they are not the only culprits) all service providers in this country.
What I want is a no-hassle upgrade either telephonically or via the internet (no it isnt minimal hassle whatever Vodacom claim), with a wide range of choices (not the minimal selection we currently have of delayed handsets), and friendly service. It isnt too much to ask; in fact it is the cornerstone of any service based company. I want the service providers to work for my continued business, instead of me spending the better part of a day researching the net in a failed attempt to find out release details and specs for all phones available, and soon to be available. I want release dates for those not yet available and indicative prices. I want discounts fairly distributed according to one's contract and I want pricing to be a lot more fair. In a nutshell I am asking that one service provider step up to the plate and look after the consumer before it looks after itself, because we will in turn look after you!
/end rant
Whilst I was in the UK, service providers practically begged for your business by providing top end cellphones on lower grade packages, bundling uncapped ADSL lines on top of contracts, reducing contract terms to sometimes up to as little as 6 months, subsidising line rentals by sometimes >70%, adding free gifts that would put a smile on the dial of a wealthy Chelsea footballer's wife etc.
We on the other hand are going backwards it appears and Vodafone and the likes are subsidising their hefty discounts abroad, by raping the consumers of developing economies instead. The reason I come to this conclusion is because I cannot obtain a decent phone with the features I would expect in today's tech-savvy world, without paying in a hefty sum (in excess of R2k on most ocassions) on my Talk 240 package. That is lunacy, considering my bill is in excess of R1k consistently every single month, sometimes as much as R3k depending on how busy I choose to be. It is also lunacy that a Talk130 package and a Talk240 package share the exact discounts as one another. Well in what way am I being rewarded for contractually agreeing to provide the service provider with a much higher residual revenue, for 24 months to top it off?
I am actually pretty disgusted by the generally poor standard of service that I received whilst calling Vodacom to discuss this as well, but that is an aside point and worthy of its own thread. In general I am disgusted with (and I want to say Vodacom but they are not the only culprits) all service providers in this country.
What I want is a no-hassle upgrade either telephonically or via the internet (no it isnt minimal hassle whatever Vodacom claim), with a wide range of choices (not the minimal selection we currently have of delayed handsets), and friendly service. It isnt too much to ask; in fact it is the cornerstone of any service based company. I want the service providers to work for my continued business, instead of me spending the better part of a day researching the net in a failed attempt to find out release details and specs for all phones available, and soon to be available. I want release dates for those not yet available and indicative prices. I want discounts fairly distributed according to one's contract and I want pricing to be a lot more fair. In a nutshell I am asking that one service provider step up to the plate and look after the consumer before it looks after itself, because we will in turn look after you!
/end rant
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