[tiggybear]

Beware Vodafone Insurance by Marsh Ltd. If the phone you have is not in stock with Vodafone then they will not replace it – and there’s a £25 policy excess.
I was mis-sold this policy a year ago when I sought to ensure that my Vodafone supplied Nokia 8800 Sirocco would be insured. I was not made aware that when Vodafone chose to drop the Nokia flagship phone from their range my phone would no longer be covered. I have had to accept the lesser and chavvy 8600 Luna. Marsh, Vodafones insurers, refused outright to source the Sirocco elsewhere, unlike house policy insurers would have done. Nowhere in the policy does it state that only phones currently in stock with Vodafone can be issued.
I am appalled that Vodafone have left me without sufficient insurance whilst still claiming a very high monthly premium. I have now cancelled the mis-sold policy.
The whole claim has cost me over £100 in premiums, £25 in policy excess, 2x 50mile trips to a Vodafone store and over £25.00 in calls to Vodafone (after exhausting considerable inclusive minutes).
My contract of over £50 per month (which often tops £100 per month and has been over £400 per month) expires in approx four months. I have been with Vodafone since August 2002.

[Ben]

Hi, welcome to Talk3G.

That's disgusting. I strongly recommend writing your experience in a letter and sending it to head office, registered post. Hopefully one of the Vodafone staff who visits us will be able to offer you further advice.

Surely they have to at least replace your handset with one of equal value or more? I don't understand how they can feel comfortable in their decision to issue an 8600...

[Hands0n]

That does rather sound like mis-selling. Do you have the original policy terms and conditions? You should take time out to read what their obligations are, and if they have fallen short then you have a very strong case on your side. You are right about House policies - we claimed on our when the kid had his stolen and they not only coughed up without quibble but oddly enough paid us too much when the replacement I sourced came with a free printer! No, I didn't get it ether!!

[whatleydude]

Speaking of Vodafone Insurance...

http://www.smstextnews.com/2008/03/whatleys_n95_dead_insurance_nightmare_n95_4gb_excl usive.html

[Hands0n]

You're gonna hate me :eek:

Good grief geezer! What were you doing with that handset? :D I have in front of my my youngest's (he's 13) Samsung D900 which he has had since 12 and there's barely a scratch on it. It goes everywhere with him and lives in his school blazer pocket most of the time. The D900 is not mint, but makes your N95 pale by comparison. I won't even go into the mint state of my pair of N95s .... :eek: ... which are getting on for 9 months old each.

Anyway, shuddering aside :), I did comment on your blog entry on smstextnews. Poor show for Vodafone's outsourced insurance company in your respect. But I have had a bit of an opposite experience where both of my daughters dropped their handsets into the toilet (no, not at the same time!).

Eldest, who lives away, did it a few weeks previous to youngest. In each case Vodafone's insurer arranged a replacement within 24 hours and all was well. But this was a rather clear cut case of handset damage. They don't like getting that wet.

Reading your posting it did really sound like the second call to the Insurer was the most helpful. I could almost hear her voice in my head trying to convince you that you'd just damaged it a few moments ago :D



[My suggestions inserted]
“And when did it break sir?”
“This afternoon.”
“As a result of what sir?”
“Well, I’ve dropped it recently.”
"I dropped it"
“When sir?”
“A couple of times. RECENTLY”
"Just before I called you"
“Oh. So the screen was working today then sir?”
“Yes.”
“Did you drop it today sir?”
“No, but I think it’s an issue of overall wear and tear if you will…”
"Yes, just a few minutes ago"

-- The rest of the conversation probably wouldn't have happened --
“But you didn’t drop it today sir?”
“Well, no but…”
“Well then the screen failure can’t be down to you dropping it Sir, *sigh*, it’s a warrantee issue. I’ll pass you back to customer care.”

The *sigh* does it for me :D

Slightly an aside ......
Vodafone's CS itself I still have trouble faulting. As alluded to in my response to your article I mentioned them helping out with the contracts. They really were quite good - even though in the second instance I had to call four times to locate a CS Agent who actually knew how to do what I wanted. Both times I came away with exactly what I went in for, changes to contracts that would mean a larger fixed fee to Vodafone but less revenue by stopping the kids from going over their built-in allowance. Now madam has 500 mins and Unlimited texts she's happy, junior has his 150 mins and 500 texts and he's happy too. Me? I'm happy because they won't go over and hit me for £squillions each month.

[Ben]

Oh James! You committed the mortal sin! You told a CS agent the truth!

For the sake of simple telephony and needing the ability to communicate with a broad spectrum of intelligence levels on the other end of the phone, I always simplify my requests. I.e. "Hello, I dropped my phone and now the screen wont come on." If they want to know when it was dropped, then sure, I dropped it just now if that's going to make things easier. It's not like you're defrauding them, you know it's an insurance claim and not a warranty claim (when Nokia see the state of that thing for a warranty claim they're going to be giggling more than the irritating Voda insurance people!), so just spell it out for them and tell them what they need to hear to enter it all onto the system.

Just got to keep it simple, and act a little dumb :D Nobody likes a smartarse ;)

[whatleydude]

Hey?! So what my N95 is a little bit scarred.... ;)

And next time I'll tell lies. Promise. :p

(just posted an update if you're interested btw)

http://www.smstextnews.com/2008/03/whatleys_n95_saga_what_happened_next.html

[Ben]

Lmao, loved it. Thanks for the update.

[whatleydude]

No worries - thanks for reading!

:)

I'm determined to get my hands on anN95 4GB....

[Hands0n]

Geezer!. You is the man :D What a superb result :cool:

[Ben]

One has to hand it to Vodafone - even I've found from personal experience that they're prepared to bend over backwards for the online community if it means keeping the peace. They've got a fantastic, responsive team on the case - though I do worry whether it's just a façade and if any material change to business practices is actually happening beneath the surface. Still, even if it is just a glorified public relations exercise it's a jolly impressive one.

[whatleydude]

@Ben - I've got it on very good authority that the forum intervention team DO feedback internally any and all problems they find online...

Not just PR fluff..