Vodafone have announced they are phasing out the Vodafone TV service. These were provided via a subscription servers as well as via outright purchase through many retailers.

The unit was sold with an RRP of $189.

Vodafone have advised the service will be turned off on 30 Sept and have advised they will reimburse purchasers as per the following table.

Activation                                                                             Reimbursement
0 - 6 months (1 June 2021 - 9 Dec 2021)                            $179
7 - 18 months (1 July 2020 to 31 May 2021)                       $100
Over 18 months (23 Sept 2019 to 30 June 2020)                $75

Thuis means a user who bought their device less than a year ago has essentially paid a subscription of $89 on a device that was sold with a "free" subscription.

Previous vendors have tried "free" TV services and have failed (Igloo and TiVo) so it is difficult to imagine Vodafone being unaware of the costs and the only explanation is poor due diligence.

We would request Vodafone NZ review the reimbursement figures to something more reasonable. Expected lifespan for the device should be around 10 years as it is a solid state device with no moving parts.

It would appear CGA entitles users to take their device back to the retailer for a full refund once the service is terminated as the device will "not be fit for purpose". This will raise issues with the retailers and supplier (Vodafone). With this in mind, Vodafone should be providing all users with a much more reasonable offer. A suggestion is drop 10% of deice cost off the reimbursement for each year of use.