Vodafone - Flexi Plan isnt that great

realisticthinking
By realisticthinking

So why does the vodafone flexi plan absolutely suck? not only is it basically the same prices as q-tel, and these temporary promotions amount to nothing really, except if you like to sit there and text the hell out your phone.

lets take the 110 flexi plan you get 110QR + 20Qr +130 vodafone minutes.

so that's 130Qr worth of minutes which is basically 260 minutes.

there is then your amazingly generous 130 vodafone free minutes, sounds great doesn't it. WRONG! these 130 minutes that you get can only be used to call people that have vodafone sim cards while in qatar, so basically you can currently call the other 1-3 people that you know that have vodafone right now. oh another thing these vodafone free minutes, this promotion only lasts until December, so you're going to have 130 free minutes every month until September to say call other people that you know which by that time could amount to 10-20 people. but you can't call land line or other mobile with those 130 minutes, what a complete and utter waist, of course these minutes can roll over, but they didn't specify if the vodafone free minutes would roll over into your next month, if you think about it, you might as well buy the shahry pack 130Qr and at least get 300 minutes worth of calls to anyone you would like.

I'm not saying that q-tel is any better, blackberry service is still a complete rip off, especially when in other countries you can get a whole package plus the BB service from around 20$-40$ while here the BB service alone costs 125QR, not including any minutes or none of that jargan.

So basically Qatar is still in a monopoly that has basically split identities. Since Q-tel owns a huge amount of vodafone qatar shares. prices are virtually the same with a difference of maybe 5 dirhams on calls.

Whatever happened to actually have a good customer relation care.

On another note, so as some of you have heard vodafone is currently selling the Iphone now, i call the customer service dept. last night, and they have absolutely no idea to the fact that they have started selling themselves. How is that even possible? Welcome to Qatar.

Whatever ever happened to agressive customer reach. Why don't these companies benchmark to companies which are more successful.
1st. we're stuck with these two.
2nd. we're stuck withe these two.

basically we are doomed to these rip-off prices until real competition actually arrives, if ever.

Whatever happened to free calls and SMS on weekend, free mobile internet. etc.

NOOO these companies just want to juice as much money as possible before they finally have to compete for customers.

Sure some people may say these prices are affordable, but to who, to the middle class and high class workers, whatever happened to the huge amount of the market which they honestly don't care bout, the low class workers, the students, whatever happened to target marketing? maybe offer low class workers, free international minutes when they buy credit (and not only during ramadan) or do what 1000 of other companies have done, no need to be creative. free calls after 10pm? give us something, so that we actually like you, and make our experience when coming to your retail store to actually be fun instead of a boring drag entwined with abuse of finances.

I apologize for rambling on. but this had me disguested with the way business is run today when it comes to these two companies.

By l_3_o_z• 10 Sep 2009 20:14
Rating: 4/5
l_3_o_z

but spoke his heart out. I don't work for Q-

Tel or Vodafone Qatar. Just trying to give a response.

I think you are talking about United States where there

are giant cellphone carriers like AT&T, Verizon,

Sprint, Nextel and T-mobile. All of them have calling

plans starting from $40 a month offering 600 minutes

with unlimited nights (starting from 9pm to 7am) and

weekends (Friday night 9pm to Monday morning 7am),

unlimited text and picture messages for $15 to $20 a

month. On top of that unlimited mobile internet for $6

and full internet for a PDA or blackberry for an

average of $20. They also have tailored plans for

families of 2 or more. Special packages for corporate

customers who use Blackberry and other data devices.

Those companies run ads on TV, radio and newspapers

targeting specific audience. Any company whose plans

are attractive and save customer the money scores more

business prompting competition among other operators.

But all of that requires good credit history or a

deposit of $200 and a contract for a minimum of 1 year.

In a not very distant past, it was all happening till

customers demanded more; that is; No contract, no

credit checks, no deposits and everything for less.

That prompted the launch of carriers like Cricket

Communication and Boost Mobile, where they have all you

can talk, text , picture, mobile web (for US only)

starting from $50. People started switching from major carriers to these 2. The major carriers stepped upto the

competition and started offering plans as low as $80

for all you can use yet enjoying nationwide coverage.

So my friend, Q-tel has taken a very good step in

competing against Vodafone since its launch in March of

this year. The more Vodafone offers, the more Q-tel

will to give to its customers. Thats what competition

always prompts. Just like you, I am waiting for the

time when any of these 2 companies offers free calls

after 10pm and free weekends. Or even better all u can

use (for Qatar only) for QR 400. hahahaha. till then,

my fingers are crossed.

By devil_davil• 3 Sep 2009 00:37
Rating: 5/5
devil_davil

calling rates are cheaper then Hala

u r saying the offers are to attract customers...so what..offer is offer..and these offers are better than Hala (i m comparing with Hala cause most of the 'low class workers' , students use Hala)

we now have QR 0.5 calling to any destination..while Qtel says its QR.29..u get .29 when u take the highest shahry whcih costs around QR 500

vodafone is currently giving 300MB free mobile internet,while Hala customers hav to pay Qr 10/ MB..

m sure when one offer ends they will come up with another..and also seeing this Qtel would also reduce their rates...thats why i still kept my Hala ;)

By shiva87• 2 Sep 2009 23:29
Rating: 5/5
shiva87

Use skype or other voip services and stop complaining.

Qatar has 1.5 million people, the other countries you are talking about have way more (10 times atleast?). You get higher economies of scale there (hence cheaper rates), you dont here (hence higher rates). Deal with it!

By realisticthinking• 2 Sep 2009 22:47
realisticthinking

ahh you finally said something useful, at least there's progress

Peace

By DaRuDe• 2 Sep 2009 10:57
Rating: 5/5
DaRuDe

Useful

great then i think you better set up a meeting with Qtel and Vodafone CEOs and get a solution to that.

Whinner

By realisticthinking• 2 Sep 2009 10:11
realisticthinking

DaRuDe : and that would solve the problem wouldn't? if you have nothing useful to say, keep it to yourself

Peace

By mintus• 2 Sep 2009 09:49
mintus

I dont think prices are to bad.

By DaRuDe• 2 Sep 2009 09:35
Rating: 5/5
DaRuDe

great go buy yourself mobinile sim and use that and pay extra lot for roaming maybe that will satisfy you.

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