Roland Perry Wrote in message:
When we got the first three last year the 12-month minimum version
was £1 pcm cheaper (so we took it); but when I got the fourth one a
couple of months ago the prices were identical and the staff member
flat out told us that they could see no reason why you'd take the
12-month.
I can only assume they are softening up their users to have a rather too fuzzy impression of what the term "contract" means, and wean them off the idea of "PAYG".

Since I always buy my phones unlocked, with cash, I have had this
type of contract (30-day) from Vodafone for *at least* 7 years,
probably more like a decade. If they're "softening up" their
users, they're taking a ****ing long time over it.

The only person making this complicated is you. It's really very
simple - they have two fundamental offers - Contract (post-pay)
and Pay As You Go (pre-pay).

The contract offering comes with a variety of minimum terms, from
30 days (for SIM only) to 2 or more years (if you also want a
phone subsidy). The choice of minimum term does not change the
nature of the contract. (I just checked, and the name of the APN
for my Voda 30-day SIM - automatically configured by push config
message when you put the SIM in a new phone - is even "Vodafone
Contract Internet".)

(Equally, setting up a monthly automated top-up on pre-pay doesn't
suddenly turn that into a contract, any more than my monthly
scheduled bank credit to Funda?ia Conservation*Carpathia means I
have a contract with them.)


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