Vodafone aims to keep customers with new phone upgrade deal

While this may well be good news for customers, particularly those with a penchant for unboxing, there's a clear benefit to the telco too: this is fairly canny customer retention move.

Vodafone Xchange, as the offer is dubbed, allows customers on a 24-month or longer contract to upgrade their device after a year, without paying fees to do so. All they have to do is send their old phone back to Vodafone in good condition – we're not sure exactly what the parameters are on that, but clearly you can't accidentally trash your phone and then claim a new one.

Well, that's not quite all, as the small print shows. While Vodafone is dangling shiny new phones in front of its customers, there is a caveat; they have to sign up to a new tariff plan.

Or as Vodafone itself states: "Only applicable when customers upgrade to a new Airtime and Phone Plan, and comply with Vodafone Xchange terms and conditions."

That's fair enough. But it does mean signing up to another plan, doubtless of 24 months or longer. And that is of course where the advantage comes for Vodafone. It gets to keep hold of its customers by constantly shoving new phones at them.

There's arguably also a customer attraction element here too. People who really know their phones and/or care about having the latest model may well sign up to a two-year deal when the knowledge that a new, desirable device is in the offing in a matter of months may otherwise have put them off.

That last point applies particularly to Apple users, with the hype preceding new iPhone launches showing little sign of abating.

Indeed, as it stands Vodafone Xchange appears to be targeted in particular at iPhone users. The telco notes that it is only available on selected new and refurbished devices at present and once again the small print shows that this means iPhone 16 series phones and pristine refurbished devices. It's not wholly clear how far Vodafone will extend the offer.

The telco is, of course, keen to hammer home how financially beneficial the deal is for customers too, noting that there will be nothing left to pay on their old phone plan – because they have to sign up to a new one, that is – and that it will give customers full value for their old phone when they exchange; should the customer's phone value exceed the remaining balance on their phone plan, Vodafone says it will credit them back the difference.

That's a lot of effort Vodafone is putting into persuading customers to get a shiny new phone... and stick with their service provider in the process.

You could argue that all this upselling runs counter to the sustainability message Vodafone and its peers have been pushing – hard – for the past few years.

It's OK though, because Vodafone has noticed the dichotomy and woven the green agenda into the launch of Xchange.

"As well as a great way to get a new phone every year, customers using Vodafone Xchange can give their phones a second life. Vodafone refurbishes or resells 97% of phones they receive back, with the rest recycled," it said. It also highlighted its battery refresh and lifetime warranty options for customers would prefer to keep their old phones lasting longer.

There's no conflict of interest in the fact that the Lifetime Service Promise and Xchange come from the same operator, Vodafone insists; actually, it's all about giving customers a choice.

"Whether that is getting a new phone every year or keeping their existing phone for longer, Vodafone offers something for everyone," said Vodafone UK Consumer Director Rob Winterschladen.

Compromising one's environmental credentials by encouraging greater device consumption and pushing the attraction of newness? Nah, nothing to see here...