Vodafone Anytime 75 - A great deal! (Vodafone Tariffs)

Member Name: The_Patriarch

Product:	Vodafone Tariffs
Date:	11/12/05 (1774 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Super Value! Online cheaper than In Store. Free Phone. Half Price rental for 6 Months

Disadvantages: Long Contract

**Introduction - Know what you want.**

So, what's the best mobile phone plan for you? Can you be tied down to a contract or are you happier with a Pay As You Talk? It's all relative, I know. I guess you have to ask yourself a few questions and then weigh up the best plan and deal on the market. How often do you use the phone for talking and how much texting do you do? What time of day do you use the phone most? Are your family & friends on the same network or all on different ones? Do you like to send pictures, photos or even video? Do you want to pay something for a phone, pay lots for a phone or pay absolutely nothing?

**What I need from my phone**

For me however, this is, without doubt, the best value contract tariff I've seen. In fact it's the best phone deal I've ever had - full stop!

Let's look at my usage. I probably use between 20 & 50 minutes talk time a month (yep, that's all. I'm tight fisted and prefer people to phone me), but I'm not so shy with SMS and MMS, and can rack up between 50 to 100 sending sweet nothings to my better half. My talktime MUST be Cross Network (Xnet) and at any time of the day (Anytime). In addition, I need to have a good phone with Bluetooth, Camera, quality sound etc - these don't come cheap.

**The Standard**

Having looked at all the networks, I would say that you probably need to have a minimum £20 per month contract to qualify for a good free phone. I was with Orange before and the best deal I could get, that included a good free phone, was their OVP O2 100. This gave me 100 mins Xnet Anytime and 100 texts. It cost me a minimum of £25 per month, but I did get a free Sony Ericsson K700i.

I never came close to using my inclusive minutes & texts! Additionally, I often incurred extra charges if I sent an MMS, browsed the Web or checked Voice Mail.

**The Vodafone Offering - At A Glance**

Now this Vodafone plan is a beauty! I came across this on the Vodafone website and it was one of their special online hot deals for the month. At a glance, the 18 Month "Vodafone Anytime 75" gives you the following for just £16 per month:

75 Minutes Anytime Xnet
100 Texts
Vodafone Stop The Clock
Free latest phone (mine was the Nokia 6230i with a FREE bluetooth headset)

However, "At A Glance" doesn't tell the full story; it gets better!

**Cost**

The Store price for this plan was £26 p/m, so at £16, that's an immediate £10 per month saving by buying on line! Mine was a special deal (probably because it's 18 months) where the first 6 months are only half price (only £8)! Now I've had this for nearly six months and although these deals are ongoing and still available, it may not be exactly the same as the deal I've got. Only one downside and that's the tie in for 18 months - but I think it's worth it.

**What's included**

Obviously the inclusive 75 minutes are at anytime and are Cross network, but - this is the good bit - the 100 free texts can be any combination of SMS, MMS, email or Internet browsing! Basically, as 100 texts are equivalent to £12, you are able to use the virtual £12 in any combination of messaging or browsing at the applicable Vodafone rate!! With Orange I would have accumulated additional costs to my basic monthly premium!!

In addition, Vodafone offer FREE itemised billing (another added expense on my old Orange plan). Also FREE of charge is browsing via "Vodafone Live", their own web content. And there's more! "Stop The Clock" allows you to talk for up to an hour at evenings and weekends and only use the first 3 minutes of your inclusive entitlement. This applies to all standard UK landlines and mobile networks. Finally, you also get to accumulate points on your NECTAR card although I believe that this is coming to an end soon.

**Customer Service**

Once ordered, my phone arrived the very next day and I was up and running in no time. Everything was explained fully and Vodafone Customer Services were very good and extremely helpful. They even phoned me later on to check everything was all right and to explain my entitlement and all the benefits. Nearly six months in and I'm very satisfied with the package and the service.

**Introduce a Friend**

On top of all that, I liked the package so much that I introduced my partner and I'll be receiving an extra £50 credit within 90 days! Quality!

Well, I hope I've covered everything. This plan is brilliant for me; there's no way I'll use all my 75 minutes, but I get all the messaging variations I need, free itemised billing, free browsing on Vodafone Live, a good quality "latest" phone (with free bluetooth headset) and I'm currently saving a minimum of £17 per month compared to my Orange contract!! What can beat that (except an extra £50 every time you introduce a friend)?

Summary: Vodafone low usage deal that is great value!