| You can buy a race car...just with training wheels |
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| Written by Philip Roy | ||||||||||||||||
| Tuesday, 15 July 2008 15:35 | ||||||||||||||||
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There have been a number of people posting around the 'net that you can in fact buy an iPhone on prepay with Vodafone NZ. This simply isn't true at this point. What these people call "prepay" is simply buying the phone for the large payment price, not signing on to a plan and thereby being restricted to using the iPhone on Vodafone's other network. In short, paying to not have access to all of Vodafone's services...even if (like me) they were prepared to pay a premium for 3G connectivity on the rare occasions they might need it. To me, this is like offering a race car up for sale, but then telling us that you'll only ever get training wheels with it.
As I've repeatedly stated here, on other forums and on the radio, my desire is to get Apple's superb new product and not pay the exorbitant plan fees that Vodafone are charging. I have no need of Vodafone in that way. But I do have need of Vodafone to some degree and really truly do want to do things "by the book" rather than look for alternate solutions. I have no need of the Vodafone network to make regular calls. Other than phone the help desk (which I'll now pay $1 for), my calling on my mobile is scarce. I have a need to send the occasional SMS message...and I need (and want) Vodafone for that. However, for 98% of the time, I'm not going to have the need to make use of their network for data...I have wi-fi at work and home for that. But...I also don't want a phone that excludes me from that option. On the exceptionally rare occasions that I might want to use the phone in that way, I want to be able to use 3G if I decide. I have no need, nor desire to pay a monthly fee simply for that purpose, when it is not a service I need monthly. I am more than willing to pay a high "per minute" fee for the times that I might make use of their 3G network. But give me that option Vodafone!! Don't deny that option to me! The fact remains that people going out and buying an iPhone for full price are not getting the full use of the phone...until they agree to sign on to a (or use an existing) plan. Those attempting to post here or on the online petitions are wrong to suggest that pre-pay is an option. Or let's put it another way..."prepay" is often referred to as "pay-as-you-go". Well I hate to tell those purchasers, when it comes to 3G...you can't go! Come on Vodafone, give the people of New Zealand who want an Apple iPhone the right to get one and use it how they want and pay for services when they need it. Give us the iPhone on prepay! Footnotes:
The views and opinions expressed in commentaries are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of NZiPhone.com and its readers. Authors are responsible for the integrity of their article's content and must guarantee that its publication does not infringe upon the proprietary rights of others. Related Articles
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Comments (5)
Fastred
said:
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Hmm... Phil why do you feel the need to control comments? Seems a little OTT to me Phil... |
lowededwookie
said:
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... Actually isn't data available as an option to prepay users? I know it used to be. Not really sure because I'm a plan user and have been since the days of BellSouth. |
Philip Roy
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...Seems a little OTT to me Phil... That's fine...but you're probably not dealing with the emails I am saying "Hey, you got it wrong, prepay is available....it isn't!"...or others I'm receiving of people being told by retailers (yep..people who actually sell these things) that they can buy an iPhone and just use it on prepay with no issues. They're not being told the full detail there....and I'm on 'response overload' to these people. Better just to point them to this commentary. Phil |
yuutamichael
said:
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Change of heart Well, I went in to a 3rd party Vodafone retailer today after getting frustrated yesterday talking to the incompetent staff at an official Vodafone store. The answers I got seemed to be accurate and they made me have a change of heart over the entire prepay option. Before I always said that I was on the opposite side of Phil because I just wanted good plans from Vodafone. From what I learned today is that there is that you can't buy the phone at full price and go one of the iPhone plans and cancel when you want. If you buy the iPhone full price and go on an iPhone plan you're still stuck in a 2 year contract with a hefty canceling fee. From my limited knowledge and from what the person at the store said: there's no way to go on account without at least a one year contract. I was a little surprised and assumed that it was like the states where you can go on account but cancel at any time if you don't have a subside to pay off. Now I'm with Phil, I want prepay as an option. I want to be able to use my phone only when I want to. I'm glad you're here fighting the good fight Phil. Hopefully things will change for the better. I'm one hundred percent behind the iPhone on (consumer friendly priced) prepay crusade. My other question, that I've raised before, is what happens to the early adopters when Vodafone's iPhone plans change for the better? They'll be stuck with terrible plans that they're obligated to wait out. These are the people that were so excited about the product that they waited in line and signed up for ridiculous plans. When Vodafone starts offering better plans, whether because of competition, government pressure or to sell more phones, these users won't take well to being left behind. After all, they're the ones that paid the most just to get the iPhone. Apple learned the hard way that early adopters get really upset when things become cheaper and in America Apple had to offer $200 gift certificates to early iPhone buyers. Doesn't Vodafone see that they're heading down the same path? They should immediately change the plans to be called low, medium and high usage with the promise to early adopters that when bandwidth goes up they'll be upgraded too. |
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