What you say is true, however in our particular situation this would not be relevant as full police checks have already been done and after 5 years we 'automatically' become nz citizens.

But it's a somewhat irrelevant tangent to the discussion anyway because I have no intention of doing that.

Maybe it is immoral. Maybe its also bad customer service if he cant swap the commitment to Voda NZ which the OP is more than willing to do.

When I have committed to a 12 month agreement with VirginMedia for my phone, TV, BB and then moved house just several weeks later which was unforseen I was asked the postcode of the new address. They said there and then, Im not committed to paying the rest of the contract if the address isnt served by them.

Why cant the mobile networks, which lets face it are multi national conglomerates with sister companies in most countries, it beggars belief why they cant just move the contract.

Yep. Exactly. People, students, employees live in different countries for a year or two then move back or go to another country entirely - you'd think they'd want to retain their customers. Whereas in my case from now on I'll avoid using vodafone at all in *any* country, even though arguably they've done nothing wrong.

The services offered by the various Vodafone arms will differ, there's no saying Vodafone NZ would be equipped to offer the service that Vodafone UK do.


Not to mention, contract law varies between countries.
A UK mobile phone contract will hold little-to-no weight in New Zealand, therefore the OP would need to sign a contract in New Zealand, not simply transfer one over.

ummm. minutes. texts. data. wifi hotspots - those are the primary things and they exist in any first world country.

as for signing another contract, well sure, why would i have a problem with that? not that i've ever signed a mobile contract ever. it's all done over the phone or online.

and if there was any difference in the services offered they could say "these are the differences do you accept this"

honestly, i'm not having a go at you, i just think it really wouldn't be that hard for them to do.

You say that like it's simple but it's never just that.

What about things like tethering, even some networks over here don't offer that at all (IIRC).
Termination rates in New Zealand may be higher, meaning they'd make a loss offering you the same number of minutes for the same price.
There'll be different regulation, the networks will be subject to different rules.
There'll be more than that I'm sure but that's just off the top of my head.



Substitute 'sign' for 'agree to' then.

The point was more that you can't move your existing contract over there as it wouldn't be legally binding.
Therefore, you'd need to enter into a new agreement with Vodafone NZ and if you have to do that anyway, what's the motivation for them to match the terms of your existing UK contract?



No offence but of course you don't, because them 'simply' transferring your contract would be in your best interest.

In reality, you're asking a different company in a different country subject to different laws and regulations to take on a contract that has nothing to do with them.

I Suggest you do some research on group structures and learn why a company Cant move Customers from one Opco to another
Vodafone Uk, Vodafone NZ, Vodafone Germany are effectively all separate Companies.

Not to mention tax issues trying to straddle International borders like this.

You Will find the same situation with all the networks who have Opco's around the globe

not to mention the credit risk you now pose with a substantial lifestyle change

Their monthly contract rates are a little higher, but not so far off that it wouldn't be worth their while, especially from the point of view of getting a customer that they haven't had to do *any* work to attract, or give a phone to, in fact that would probably make up for any minor difference. Plus the future retention of the customer. Plus any additional monthly charges above and beyond the contract value. Your example is a very narrow view. There are plenty of people who don't keep within their allotted minutes etc.

Besides, you're also making the assumption that the contract would need to be identical. The could just offer their equivalent value tariff for the remaining length of the contract. *Then everybody wins*

Regulation is a moot point because you'd be agreeing to any changes here within the agreement of the 'new' contract.


Errr, yeah that's exactly what I meant. Why wouldn't you agree to a new contract I still don't understand your original point.


If you're (i'm) happy to agree to their terms this is also irrelevant, neither do they actually have to *match* the terms, see my previous point re equivalent value tariff for the remaining length of the contract.


This is nonsense (no offence) because it *is* in their interest, all major network operators are primarily interested in keeping their customers for as long as possible as ultimately this is more profitable (I'm sure I don't need to explain why that is) and if they're taking on the remaining monthly commitment from another country they are getting the customer FOR FREE, no marketing, no cost of phone built into contract. In fact it would be vodafone UK who would lose out in this example because the cost of the phone wouldn't even be covered if I was able to leave them at this point!


All these points are covered in the above discussion.

The other thing to mention is this - and this is a *really* good reason they should do it - vodafone NZ are rated as the 2nd best network in the area we are moving to (in terms of both voice and data coverage and data speeds) - so I wouldn't consider them as telecom nz are rated above them - so they'd be securing a customer they would otherwise not attract.

Plus also I'm never going to use them again in any other country nz, uk or otherwise because this lack of flexibility (for want of a better word) from a GLOBAL company is imo unacceptable in this 21st century world - and there's no way I'm the first person to feel like this so that's a good reason they should do it too.

huh?

you don't get a residential visa (or even a temporary work visa come to that) without *a job offer* ergo minimal risk. Especially for £21pm - have you even read the rest of the thread?

Plus new zealand credit ratings work the opposite way around to the uk. You start off with a good rating and it goes down if you default on payments etc.

Sorry, missed this one, yes we know they're all separate companies, however transferring products and contracts between companies is not impossible. You say this like it'd be as hard as turning lead into gold!

There's no tax issue that I can see. tax is added to the contract rate at the prevailing value of the country in question for the duration of the contract.

It's an interesting discussion that we've gone off on a tangent on, but I still really can't see what the obstacles are. Aside from their unwillingness to invest a "little" time and money in what would be a truly valuable level of customer service.

they are Separate Companies how difficult is that to understand

and this would be the same for all Companies around the world.

I think that's the crux of the matter - Vodafone don't really care enough to help you out...it is surprising though as you would have thought they would be happy to help you out.

Have no idea why all the posters on here throwing up difficulties are on about...all it needs is one Vodafone UK staff member to speak to one staff member at Vodafone NZ...I had thought it would be quite a common thing to do.

Indeed Alan. Global branding only serves them and not their customers. That's really all it comes down to.


Apparantly not difficult at all bearing in mind I stated that this was understood in my previous post. What's your point exactly? You keep stating this like it's the be-all and end-all - it isn't.


[citation needed]

Seriously. Please explain with examples and evidence why this would be so impossible. Simply making such a sweeping statement is just silly.

Really not at all that simple.

think of it as Vodafone UK and Vodafone NZ being two different companies that both to trade under a franchised Vodafone brand licenced from Vodafone group.

And no point targeting Vodafone as being poor because of this, its the same for all the global firms.

I challenge you to get evidence that t-mob, o2, three or orange would move you to another of their parent companies opcos.

I can assure you all will say it can't be done

Starbucks in Columbia sell coffee to Starbucks in England (this example may not be 100% factually correct but you get my drift)

Vodafone UK transfers it's ownership of a contract to Vodafone NZ who may or may not renegotiate the finer details of said contract with the mutual customer.

There are literally thousands of examples of companies in different countries whether associated or not trading commodities on an hourly basis. Why should trading a customer be any different?

And "really not that simple" isn't an answer, if you're going to make the statement you need to explain to me (us) why. Or at least prove your credentials as to why we would just accept such a basic statement.

Its clearly not as straight forward as you think otherwise you wouldn't have even posted the original question.

How does that make sense?

Legends Wear 7 is correct. It's not going to be possible for you to switch from Vodafone UK to NZ. They operate as separate entities.

What i suggest is:
1- pay off the contract by selling your handset to cover some of the costs
2- See if a family member/friend can take it off you