Vodafone Data Traveller is a Con! (1 Viewer)

[barryd]

There has been quite a bit of interest and discussion on here about internet access abroad and the Vodafone Data Traveller service has been mentioned a few time by myself and other as a possible cheap way of connecting to the internet abroad.

Basically (we thought) it offers you up to 25mb of data allowance a day for £10 a month or £2 a day. Well, it does but only on your phone. If you plug your phone into your laptop or try and use your sim in a dongle they will know apparently and charge you £10 a day!!!

I just got off the phone to them after a rather heated 45 minute phone call where I tried to get them to explain why they would charge me £10 a month for 25MB a day on my phone for browsing but if I then plugged my sim into a dongle or used my phone as a mobile and did the same browsing on my laptop using just up to the 25MB I would then be charged £10 a day. I never got a straight answer and basically in the end its just the way it is and I think its a bit of a con, loads of people will get caught out.

They reckon they will know if your accessing the internet on a laptop using the phone as a modem or with the sim in the dongle. Im not sure if this is a bluff. She says they always charge £10 a day for anyone accessing the net using a phone as a modem but I know this not to be true as when I hook my phone up to my laptop to quickly check emails abroad I have only ever been charged per MB or part of. Usually between 50p and a £2 for very quickly checking emails on webmail.

So the question is, has anyone yet put this to the test and had their bill?

Until we know more I would avoid this service if your thinking of using it as a cheap means of internet access abroad. Its a shame if its true as it looks initially like a good deal.

I find Vodafone very difficult to deal with. They are renowned for pulling fast ones and on numerous occasions I have questioned my bill when its had dubious amounts on it and always they have been wrong.

BD

 

[Pat4Neil]

Hello Barry

I think i know where you are coming from

I have just upgraded two phones a week apart, the first one the mucked up the contract and tried to short change me, I got customer services to listen to the phone call, and it was there in black and white.

I tried to get a good deal on my second upgrade which was a month or so early, I ended up getting a cracking deal after about 3 days of trying. Well when the contract came through the 25mb daily european allowance was just the £2 a day add on not the daily allowance for £10.00 per month which was included in my contract. I again rang customer service who took forever on the phone and it is not going to be on my contract but as £10 per month charge credited back £10 so not costing anything, more error for mistakes to happen.
I do feel the last two weeks of sorting out these phones have been a right mission, I have been disappointed with them, 15 years we have been customers but it dont count for much, but I guess that the price you pay going we big corporate companies.

I make sure that i keep accurate records of the time and who I spoke to and pushed for the phone call to be listened too.

I am worn out now. I think if you use your sim with a laptop they call it tethering I might be wrong there but I know its expensive and something that is not recommended to do now.
I am relatively new to these smart phones I have so much to learn, but the way I was being treated I felt like putting it all back into the box to them.

Pat

 

[callumwa]

There has been quite a bit of interest and discussion on here about internet access abroad and the Vodafone Data Traveller service has been mentioned a few time by myself and other as a possible cheap way of connecting to the internet abroad.

Basically (we thought) it offers you up to 25mb of data allowance a day for £10 a month or £2 a day. Well, it does but only on your phone. If you plug your phone into your laptop or try and use your sim in a dongle they will know apparently and charge you £10 a day!!!

I just got off the phone to them after a rather heated 45 minute phone call where I tried to get them to explain why they would charge me £10 a month for 25MB a day on my phone for browsing but if I then plugged my sim into a dongle or used my phone as a mobile and did the same browsing on my laptop using just up to the 25MB I would then be charged £10 a day. I never got a straight answer and basically in the end its just the way it is and I think its a bit of a con, loads of people will get caught out.

They reckon they will know if your accessing the internet on a laptop using the phone as a modem or with the sim in the dongle. Im not sure if this is a bluff. She says they always charge £10 a day for anyone accessing the net using a phone as a modem but I know this not to be true as when I hook my phone up to my laptop to quickly check emails abroad I have only ever been charged per MB or part of. Usually between 50p and a £2 for very quickly checking emails on webmail.

So the question is, has anyone yet put this to the test and had their bill?

Until we know more I would avoid this service if your thinking of using it as a cheap means of internet access abroad. Its a shame if its true as it looks initially like a good deal.

I find Vodafone very difficult to deal with. They are renowned for pulling fast ones and on numerous occasions I have questioned my bill when its had dubious amounts on it and always they have been wrong.

BD

I have used it abroad, France only act ually, but normally on my iPhone as I can access most thing from there such as e-mail, YM chat with the family, Facebook, etc, all within the 25 mb limit.

The problem if you put this sim in your dongle first of all you will have to ensure you stop everything on your laptop that has auto updates from doing just that..

This includes your anti virus, windows updates, adobe updates and so on with many softwares. These will munch that 25 mb allowance in seconds....

Now when you put your phone sim in your dongle, it also depends how you set it up to connect, as there are different settings for what would be normal web data access, and what your smartphone will connect to. (APN's etc). This could possibly be how Vodafone can tell which way you have connected.

I have been with Vodafone a long time and whenever I had an issue, ok I had to call them, but I have always got re-imbursed and given some free credit each time....

But for sure you need to check the small print because many of the staff in store are not up to speed, as they have so many tarifs, contracts, rates, deals etc......

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[barryd]

Thanks for the replies. I have posted this across all the forums as I know lots of people were hoping it was the answer so sorry if you see it everywhere!

I dont normally take my iPhone as I prefer the camera on my nokia but I may have to this year as I do need to keep in touch with emails.

How did you find accessing the net abroad on the iPhone? I find it quite slow in the UK.

 

[callumwa]

Thanks for the replies. I have posted this across all the forums as I know lots of people were hoping it was the answer so sorry if you see it everywhere!

I dont normally take my iPhone as I prefer the camera on my nokia but I may have to this year as I do need to keep in touch with emails.

How did you find accessing the net abroad on the iPhone? I find it quite slow in the UK.

The one thing I will say with the iPhone and I know it is also true for other phones. If the 3G signal is weak, it is better to switch 3G off and use 2G or Edge. I do this all the time when I'm on the ship and it then works up to about 12 miles from the coast., but if you put it back to 3G, nothing.

Unless you are under a 3G antenna it can be quite useless sometimes........