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Great reply.
Did Voda come back to that one?
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Posted: 2004-08-10 13:33:00
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Yeh, their reply was:-
I apologise that my previous reply has not satisfactorily addressed all of the issues that are of concern to you and I have attempted to respond below, to each of your points.
Vodafone Live!
I appreciate the point that you make regarding the numerous ways of accessing the Live! service. As I mentioned in my previous reply, we are currently reviewing the usability of this menu, which will address the "more" option and the fact that some of the icons have been changed or moved. I can assure you that as part of this review we take into full consideration the extremely helpful feedback that customers such as yourself provide. We also use extensive market research to design and agree the Vodafone branding that is applied to the products. This does mean that unfortunately while some customers find our branding to be "garish" the majority are pleased with the look and feel.
Vanilla Version of the Sony Ericsson K700i
I have contacted our Device Portfolio Management team who have confirmed that the stock is customised at source and that Vodafone order the Live! version from the factory with our settings and customisation. I apologise that you have received conflicting information from ourselves and Sony Ericsson.
Website Image
Clearly in response to your initial correspondence we were keen to remove any image that some people found misleading from our website. I am pleased that this action was taken swiftly and I believe that the key issue was the fact that the non-Vodafone menu was on display, which has been rectified. The current image is a short-term measure that provides customers with an image of the phone to assist their buying choice, in the longer term we intend to replace this image to show the Vodafone menu or the Vodafone logo on the handset. In addition to this we are also changing the text on the website to refer to the fact that all Vodafone's handsets are configured with the Live! menu.
MP3 Player
My apologies as I had misunderstood this point. Upon further investigation I can confirm that Vodafone has decided to restrict the use of unprotected audio files as ringtones in order to protect our customers from inadvertent copyright infringement, and to protect our relationships within the music industry.
The phone has been pre-configured to only allow MP3 files to be set as a ringtone if the consumer has purchased the "rights" to use the content for this purpose. Vodafone do not currently support MP3 ringtones for this device as we require a DRM (Digital Rights Management) facility installed in our network to be able to deliver the "rights" to the consumer. This is explained further in the user guide and it is anticipated that MP3 content will be available for purchase via Live! by September.
Any music (MP3 or AAC) files transferred to the Vodafone variant of the phone from a PC without DRM cannot be set as a ringtone.
While I understand that this decision may restrict the functionality that you had intended for the phone I trust that you can recognise that Vodafone has taken a responsible position in attempting to protect its customers from inadvertent illegal activity.
I hope that I have addressed all of your queries, although I believe that you may not agree with some of the decisions that Vodafone has made. Unfortunately I am unable to authorise the sourcing and supply of a "vanilla" handset from Vodafone, as we would not be in a position to provide the level of post-sales support that you would expect. For example we would have no repair process for the version of software and no buffer stock to offer a replacement. I appreciate that the purchase experience may not have met your expectations and I apologise sincerely for the inconvenience that you have been put to.
As you mention, you do have a 14-day right to cancel, clearly I would prefer you not to take up this option but will appreciate your reasoning should you decide to follow this path.
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Posted: 2004-08-10 13:35:03
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A "Vanilla Version"!!
First time I've heard that term!
I think you should cancel you contract mate, they're doin nothing to actually sort your problems
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Posted: 2004-08-10 13:42:00
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The only way Vodafone will ever learn is if their customers walk. And I am not convinced they will learn even then. I have been a contract customer with Vodafone for eight years, and spend £40-£60 a month with them. Their treatment of me over my branded T610 has made decide to go with O2 from now on. Vodafone WILL NOT listen. If they don't want my money then that's their look out. I have also moved my four children's PAYG phones to O2 so we are all on the same network, so it's a double whammy.
Why do they assume I want to see Vodafone Live when I go online? I don't. It seems to me the only reason they do this is so I might buy some ringtones from them, but I won't. It wouldn't be so bad if I could change the homepage, but I can't. During my contract period using the T610, I have hardly used the internet, as it is simply too much trouble. I did use it a lot with my previous phone (T68i), which is now my second phone on O2 off-peak, and a joy to use compared with the branded T610.
So, roll on O2. Vodafone have a lot to learn about customer service.
[ This Message was edited by: lancs_dreamer on 2004-08-10 13:19 ]
[ This Message was edited by: lancs_dreamer on 2004-08-10 13:24 ]
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Posted: 2004-08-10 14:17:59
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My final response - Vodafone have chosen not to reply to this one for some reason!!
Vodafone wants to "protect its customers from inadvertent copyright infringement" and "attempt to protect its customers from inadvertent illegal activity". So now Vodafone is my nanny as well as my network provider? Will you be installing movement sensors to stop me using my phone whilst walking in case I trip over, or disabling the camera in case I take a picture of something I shouldn't? Do you think Apple would sell any iPods if they tried to protect their customers in this way? Do you think anyone would buy a VCR if this helpful paternalism were applied?
The week before I bought my K700i from you, I bought a Nokia 6230 on Orange with full functionality. They obviously think I'm a grown-up who can look after himself.
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Posted: 2004-08-10 14:18:52
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I gave my phone back to vodafone and told them all the things we all know... (it's crap!)
Ordered one from ebay instead (£200 + £20 shipping) from that hong kong place, being shipped out now.
Had a p800 and p900 before from Vodafone which don't have the vodafone live crap on them, so when i got my k700 from them i was like wtf!
I understand why they're doing it, they're looking for an extra charging platform (vodafone live) to get their 3g money back since 3g isn't going to happen yet. But at least i still have the option of getting an unlocked phone and use it with their sim.
When they start to block unlocked non vodafone live phones from their network that's really where i'll need to get the molotov cocktails out! ;-]
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Posted: 2004-08-10 22:33:29
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hahaha...Great work there steve...a truely professional approch.
I had a Vodafone branded T610, got over it within the 1st hour of using it. Got it flashed 1 week later....ever since then i have promised myself never to buy a vodafone branded phone again.
The mp3 ringtone thing....tottallyyy GAY!!!!
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Posted: 2004-08-11 01:15:13
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UGLY... hello orange logo on a gr8 looking silver phone! Thats the only reason i didnt get the otherisw cheaper voda
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Posted: 2004-08-11 08:49:41
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They make me so angry.
They have crippled mp3 playback to increase their revenue from downloaded mp3's and polychronics.
Protect users from copyright infringement my arse.
[ This Message was edited by: rmg on 2004-08-11 08:47 ]
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Posted: 2004-08-11 09:45:34
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Vodafone wants to "protect its customers from inadvertent copyright infringement" and "attempt to protect its customers from inadvertent illegal activity".
Actually the customers Vodafone is refferring to here are probably the content providing customers and not the end-users as ourselfs. I realized the same problem with my dad's Z1010 which couldn't play MP3 as ringtones unless they were "copyright protected" or whatever it is called. My K700 is of course non-branded since I would never - ever - get a branded phone.
Well, unless a super-duper phone is released only as branded.
@stevehuls - great work
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Posted: 2004-08-11 10:52:40
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