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^^^ By the way, that was my 2000th post!
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Posted: 2008-07-08 13:40:33
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Holy crap!
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Posted: 2008-07-08 13:49:51
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Feels like I'm spamming the New Zealanders topic now, but I just got me a reply from Vodafone:



And here's what I replied with:

Thank you for replying to my email.

It is rather disappointing to hear that you think that. The W910i was, at the time I purchased it, at an unreasonable price. It still is. There are several retailers in New Zealand that I can list, who sell the phone a lot cheaper (and their prices were similarly low at the time I purchased it too). Here are a few:

$500 at E-Town.
$470.25 at PhonesDirect.
$438 at Expert Infotech

If I had chosen to import from an overseas based supplier, a respectable website named Plemix.com can supply a W910i for just $403.56. Even with import charges, its still cheaper than your prices. I bought my W910i from Vodafone thinking that I would be paying extra for the benefit of having Vodafone support behind me, but I now find that it was not at all worth it. The nasty Vodafone branding that is emblazoned across the phone is crippling and restrictive at best. What's more, Vodafone Live as a service is broken and full of errors, and the (overseas based?) customer service team are rude and disrespectful. They refuse to believe a complaint unless the customer gets very angry, and even then they are resentful. Perhaps you should tell them how unreliable Vodafone Live actually is? I could have saved myself $300, got the phone, and a 4GB memory card and still had at least $100 to spare.

The thing is that Vodafone New Zealand brought out the W910i (and K850i for that matter) almost half a year after its global release, but Vodafone New Zealand still charged a price for the phone as if it were a brand new model. Overseas, the price of the model had already dropped significantly by the time it reached our shores. This is entirely unfair on New Zealand consumers, and I will try my best to tell people this, so that they can hopefully find themselves a better deal.

Your British counterpart, Vodafone UK, even sells the W910i for £160, which roughly equates to NZ$420! This is even cheaper than any parallel importer, so I fail to see why Vodafone New Zealand feels it must be so rude to its loyal customers, as to expect them to pay such ridiculous prices.

People are being ripped off enough with your inflated service charges as it is, without being ripped off for the phone they purchase too. Your mobile data charges are a joke in comparison to the rest of the world. How do you expect a common New Zealander to afford them?

I will never again buy a phone from Vodafone New Zealand. I will choose to import because I can have what I want, when I want, and at the price I want. Vodafone New Zealand can not offer me any of this. I only stay with Vodafone as a service provider because I have no other choice. As soon as Telecom bring out their new network, I expect Vodafone's days of dominance will be over. Vodafone is entering a period where it should be aiming to keep its loyal customers, not turn them away.

Regards,

Oliver.

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[ This Message was edited by: Muhammad-Oli on 2008-07-08 14:01 ]
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Posted: 2008-07-08 14:57:21
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Everyone should buy their phones through an importer! Why give voda the satisfaction of ripping you off for a handset and then charging the dearest prices on the planet for communications? We should all boycott Telco in NZ. Im gonna start something when I get back in October. They can kiss my ass! Commerce Commission here i come.
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Posted: 2008-07-08 19:49:58
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@M-O

Good on you for taking them to task over the issue of releasing phones in NZ late, then asking a premium price for them. This is scandalous and as you rightly said "rude" behaviour to thier customers.

Unfortunately, you've kinda left no room forward to negotiate with...

Anyway, it's becoming clear that importers are definately the way to go unless one wants the iPhone.

And speaking of the iPhone I'm heading into town tonight to take some pics. I'll put them up in the 3G iPhone thread. I have our video camera with me and if I can gather the nerve, I'll take some video and maybe use Windows Movie Maker to create a little something for You-tube. No promises on that though.
**Edit: 1st iPhone photo is up.**

I'm at Unitec ATM, just completed an aptitude test as a requirement for studying BCS; I just noticed a 3G+ symbol on the V640, has anyone else noticed this?

A speed test revealed the fastest HSDPA result I've yet seen:


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[ This Message was edited by: carkitter on 2008-07-10 08:41 ]
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Posted: 2008-07-10 07:46:53
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Sony Ericsson dot co dot nz list the W350 as available, anybody seen one?
Also, The Warehouse has the V640i for $249 - how cheap can this phone get?
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Posted: 2008-07-10 12:26:31
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Yeah I'm not worried about any kind of negotiation anymore. I expect they'll be keeping their wallet and their mouth shut - That is, they're not even going to reply to that and attempt to defend themselves. But if they do want to give me something to keep my mouth shut, then that's fine. It won't work though, and I'm still thoroughly annoyed with them.

I saw your iPhone photos. The event looks kinda dull, but I guess that's Vodafone for ya. It will be good to see how it turns out though.

As for that 3G+ symbol, I've never seen one on mine before. I haven't even experienced HSDPA-like data speeds yet.

EDIT: Ok, I have now seen the 3G+ symbol, but only in the menu under 'mobile networks' and then 'GSM/3G networks' in the connectivity tab. Don't think I'll ever see 3G+ in the status bar on this phone.
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[ This Message was edited by: Muhammad-Oli on 2008-07-10 12:48 ]
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Posted: 2008-07-10 13:46:04
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so whats this 3G+ thingy??
a pity it wasn't a wet cold night to test those ifone lovers waiting in line for their exclusive vodaphoney deals.
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Posted: 2008-07-10 14:18:50
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Nah, carkitter is out there. Gotta be nice to our fellow Esatonians! Wouldn't mind if it poured with rain in Wellington or here in Christchurch though. Rich bastards...

The 3G+ is just HSDPA. So its even faster 3G data speeds really. I don't seem to get it down here in Christchurch.
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Posted: 2008-07-10 14:23:26
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Hey everyone,

I'm a kiwi in Auckland, been checking out the esato boards for a while hoping to find myself my next phone (my K750i is dying and it's time to pull the plug - I can't even send proper txts with it). So I found the C902.

So here's the next thing: I could wait for a couple of months just hoping that Vodafone will release, but they'll jack the price up, OR I could just get it from a parallel imports store, which is what I think I'm going to do.

I was just wondering beforehand if any of you have had any problems with parallel imported phones on the Vodafone NZ network. I know it says that message on the Vodafone website about the risk of imported phones but are those just scare tactics to make you pay Vodafone's ridiculous prices? I just want to know if I'll be able to browse the net on the normal Vodafone plans and do videocalls and all the rest if I get an imported phone.

Cheers!

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Posted: 2008-07-11 02:40:44
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