Ian Morris
Ian Morris loves televisions so much he's been banned from wedding chapels in Las Vegas for trying to marry them. When he's not romancing technology, he can be found watching American TV. Ian likes roast potatoes, but he doesn't like digital rights management.
Tuesday 11 December 2007, 12:01pm
Dear Vodafone, your data plan sucks
Recently I decided that I want to have the Internets with me at all times. I need to be constantly updated and entertained, so I thought I'd see what Vodafone could offer me by way of a data plan, as I needed a new phone too. I had a chat with the retentions department, who were useless -- but that's a story for another time.
I discovered you can have a data package for £7.50 a month. For that wholly unreasonable sum of money you get a pathetic 120MB allowance. The Vodafone person I spoke to told me that I'd have trouble using this much data, and that I could look at around 5,000 Web pages a month for that.
I laughed out loud at them, because as I'm sure you are aware, the Web has been more than just pages for some considerable time now -- there is video, audio and all manner of other rich content out there. But I won't be using any of it, because Vodafone is stuck in the 56k dial-up age.
So while the other people in the office are streaming things from their Slingboxes and ORB servers, I have to browse text-based sites and keep a careful eye on my downloads. A very careful eye in fact, because the 120MB isn't a soft cap -- once you go over it, you get charged £2 per megabyte.
By my reckoning, that would mean last week's Crave Podcast would cost me £50 to download. Not really worthwhile, even to hear Rory Reid's dulcet tones.
So come on Vodafone, why not join 3 and T-Mobile, and at least offer a half-decent limit?
Comments on this post
I'm really not impressed with Vodafone's customer service. I've now sent TWO letters to cancel my account. In both instances I've been told that Vodafone did not receive my cancellation letter. I DO NOT BELIEVE YOU. I'm also very annoyed that I cannot simply cancel my account over the phone when I can verify all my details including my PIN. I would like my account canceled IMMEDIATELY and I should NOT have to jump through hoops to do it. What is the point of having customer service and stores if you do not provide the highest level of service at all customer touch points. In the meantime I will be publishing this letter to every consumer advocacy group and blog about this. Shame on you Vodafone.
Posted by Not Amused on Thu 26 March, 2009 12:37 PM
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