Vodafone… You disappoint me.
I purchased my new phone on Saturday from Vodafone UK. I opted for one of their most expensive non-business packages, as I’m finding myself spending more and more on mobile calls. The package itself is costing me £50 a month (£600 GBP or $1,100 USD a year) so I expected Vodafone to bend over backwards for my money.
However, this is not the case - My Vodafone branded SE K700i has been modified by Vodafone so that it will only play DRM‘d MP3 ringtones. This was never (afaik) noted as a limitation on either the Vodafone or Sony Ericsson sites - In fact it isn’t a limitation on the other mobile networks. So now I can’t use any of the 1000’s of MP3s stored on my computer or iPod, I have to purchase them all over again… from Vodafone!
A Vodafone customer services representative told me that Vodafone are going to lose customers to other networks because of this… in fact they’ve just lost 1 customer… me!
I think I’ll go to O2, Orange, T-Mobile or one of the other networks and give them my money in return for a phone that works as advertised.
Shame on you Vodafone!
Posted on November 3rd, 2004 at 8:19 pm and filed under General, Technology.
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Trovster November 3rd, 2004 at 8:28 pm (Permalink)
That is really harsh. It’s a nice phone and you want to use it’s features, coz god knows you’re paying for them! Complain to their representatives, write letters. Surely they can give you software to unlock the “downgrade”. How about hard formatting the suck to factory settings, that might work!
Personally I’ve been on the Vodafone network for three years and it’s been pretty good. I rang up services with problems with bluetooth and email settings, they said they’d call me back…which they did…twice…once while I was in Birmingham shopping, and the other time when England were playing in football. They haven’t bothered to ring back and I don’t blame them, as I’m always busy! Heh.
Chris November 3rd, 2004 at 11:25 pm (Permalink)
Tried setting it to the factory settings, but it just sets it back to the Vodafone settings. :( I’ve done some further “research” and the only way to “debrand” the phone and restore the original Sony Ericsson settings & branding is to:
1. Purchase a T28 Data Cable
2. Download some software from MultiServer
3. Purchase a “Credit” from Face Off Mobiles.
4. Use the software and credit to download firmware, language and customisation files.
5. Update my phone with these files.
However I am told by Vodafone that this would void my chances of ever getting it replaced or fixed by Vodafone… so I don’t think I’ll be doing that. So after a trip to the Vodafone store and an hour of telephone calls… Its going back to Vodafone and someone else can have my money.
I just can’t believe that they denied it till they tried it out on an O2 handset. This whole mess has left me with a very bad impression of Vodafone. And the worst part is that I’ll probably get charged at full rates for the calls that I’ve already made.
Jason November 10th, 2004 at 5:16 am (Permalink)
Oh no! Why didn’t you talk to me about your phone business!! :-)
Vodafone are launching their first 4 3G phones today (10 Nov 04). And having just returned from Tokyo on Sunday I’m all 3G-Clam-Phone-Obessed, so desperate to hookup a voda-count!
Why am I saying this!? Damn, this is not helping you feel any better is it?
P.S Thanks again for linking to my site - you’ve actually helped increased my blog share rating in the last four weeks - keep up the good work.
Jason
Chris November 10th, 2004 at 4:49 pm (Permalink)
Jason,
I’ll give you a shout next time I’m looking for a phone. ;-)
I managed to get a K700i on a very good value for money contract thanks to a good friend who works for o2.
So I’m all happy now… no thanks to Vodafone.
And I’m only too happy to help you with your blogshare rating. :o)