Vodafone promises contract fee refunds for unhappy postpaid customers
Vodafone is so confident about its network performance, it’s offering a money back guarantee for new contract customers if they're not happy in the first month.
When you sign up for a 24 month contract plan with a telco, the classic way to deal with any problems you have with the network has been to contact the telco, and if necessary, the TIO if your service was truly woeful.
Recent times have seen Vodafone and Optus jostle with deals that gave you the option to back out of contracts within a 30 day introductory period with no further contract commitments. Vodafone has aggressively taken that approach one step further with a full 30-day money back guarantee on any new consumer or business contract plan.
As long as you return any device on a plan in good working order within 10 days of requesting the cancellation, Vodafone will refund all regular contract charges to date and release you from the terms of the contract. It's also currently offering the first month of data usage free to new contract customers, subject to its fair use policy.
Vodafone is obviously feeling confident in its network quality, fresh off OpenSignal results that suggest it’s catching or overtaking Telstra in terms of broad Australian 4G availability.
Sounds good: What’s the catch?
There is some fine print associated with what Vodafone is calling its "Network Satisfaction Guarantee" that you should consider before signing up for a plan. You can only make one claim as a consumer per plan per calendar year, so any plans you might have had for bouncing from handset to handset with nothing to pay are unfortunately quashed.
Normal plan fees will be refunded, but any additional services, such as Vodafone’s very popular $5 international roaming fees will not be refunded. You’ve got to return your device(s) in good working order, and it has to be to a full Vodafone store, not a third party retailer even if they were the original merchant to take advantage of this deal, although Vodafone notes that your original statutory rights aren’t affected by the offer; it’s over and above existing Australian consumer protections.
If you’re keen on a new phone contract with Vodafone, here’s what you’ll currently pay for an iPhone 8 64GB with Vodafone on contract. You can adjust the device and specifics according to your needs by clicking on "filter results" below.
