My wife’s Vodafone contract finished at the beginning of July. We hadn’t had any problem with them, and saw no reason to switch providers, so we decided to renew her $29 Cap and upgrade to a more modern phone. After much research I managed to convince her to move away from her beloved Nokias, and get an Android Smartphone – the Samsung Nexus S.
So, all we had to do now was to go to Vodafone’s website, log in, and see a big ‘Renew Contract Now’ button, right? Well, unfortunately it’s not that simple. I spent hours on Vodafone’s website trying to find a way to renew that contract. And in the end, it turned out to be impossible. The option is simply not there, and they come back with the message that we have to call them or go into a store to renew/upgrade a contract. How ridiculous!
Renewing a contract should be much easier than signing up a new customer on a contract
- There is no number porting involved
- They don’t need to verify identity or address or do a credit check
- They don’t need to collect any information from you – they already have it all
We contacted online customer support, and got the same line about phoning or going into a store. They did mention though, that online contract renewal was a popular request, and they would pass it on. Glad to see at least someone is doing something about such a popular request. I just can’t understand how it wasn’t an obvious development, and why it hasn’t been possible at least for as long as it’s been possible to begin contracts over the internet.
Out of interest, I then went and checked other mobile phone networks. From what I could see, Optus, Virgin, Three and Telstra all had this same ridiculous policy – to renew or upgrade a contract you needed to call or visit a store. It was unbelievable! I encourage each of you to put in a request for this functionality at your mobile network, and see if we can get this system fixed!
If anyone knows why this is the state of play, please let me know. I’d also be glad to hear of any providers which do allow contract renewal online, or information about this improving at any of the previously mentions mobile networks.
As a side note, my wife loves her new phone!
