I have been with Vodafone for over 6 years. My mother, brother and father are also with Vodafone. None of us had experienced any problems with them to date and they were offering plans with the new iphone 4s that suited me. I went in today and requested the iphone on the $59 a month CAP plan (with $0 to pay for the phone). Unfortunately I am someone who is easily persuaded by salespeople, it's just my nature, so i always do my research first so I know what to get and don't get ripped off. The salesman today - and what a salesman he was - gave me every reason under the sun why I should go with their new INFINITE plan as opposed to the CAP plan, telling me the CAP plan is more for overseas calls while the infinite plan is better for local calls etc. Tried to sell me the most expensive one and i flatly refused. Eventually he had me agreeing to the $45 INFINITE plan with an extra $17 for the phone. All up not much difference to the $59 CAP. But then the extra charges come in, an extra $4 a month for another 700MB of data since it only comes with 500MB (as opposed to the CAP that has 2GB!) and then the insurance was offered as well. I was hesitant and he said don't worry all this has a 14 day cooling off period. To which I asked if that also meant changing the plan and he said of course, I could change the plan with Vodafone Customer Service. After thinking it over I decided I had been talked into something I didn't want and called customer service to change to the $59 CAP. He was very helpful and changed the plan and deleted the extra $4 I had bundled on for extra data and at the end of the conversation I also confirmed that the $17 for the phone (as part of the INFINITE plan) had been deleted to which he responded NO, I still had to pay the $17 as that was an agreement with the store. How can it be since every Vodafone store and online offer the same thing! I called the store and was told the following:
"The $17 is not reversible. Once I have signed up for the contract, the handset charges will be the same no matter what plan I change to"
I then called Vodafone customer complaints and told the lady the situation. I was then on hold and ten minutes later she returned to say there is nothing she can do about it, she has spoken to her manager and he said there is nothing customer serviced can do, I will have to enquire with the store. I told her that was not good enough and requested to speak to the manager. I was put through to the Accounts Manager and he still claimed that he could do nothing. I told him that was unacceptable and eventually he said he could offer me a $5 per month credit. This would mean that I am paying $59 a month for the CAP plan - which should include the handset for $0 plus an extra $17 that they claim I cannot get out of. With the $5 credit I am giving Vodafone $12 for absolutely nothing! Not Acceptable. I told the Accounts Manager that this result was not sufficient and that I will be inquiring with the ACCC to which he said "fine go ahead" and hung up!!
I have never experienced anything like this in my life. Firstly from the Salesman (who is actually the MANAGER of that store - Bondi Junction Westfield) - who didn't exactly lie but certainly did not give me all the information and the truth. Secondly why does Vodafone have a complaints department if they don't actually try and solve those complaints. If the account manager could credit me $5 he surely could credit me $17!
Is there anything I can do with this? It just seems like a complete rip off and I am now stuck with paying alot more than I wanted to for the next 24 months - money I can't really afford to just throw away like this...