Help How hard is Vodafone bloatware get rid of?

[jurrr]

Hi, I have the SGS2 ordered from phones4u (on Vodafone) as Vodafone proper didn't have it. I've heard phones4u have terrible support though, and now Vodafone does the same deal (18 months, free phone, 900 mins, 45 GBP / mo, 750MB data, Euro browsing) but with 300 more minutes (which I don't really need) - and phones4u is ignoring me.

However, phones4u will have the unbranded phone while Vodafone themselves will have a branded one with all the Vodafone bloatware installed.

How hard is it to get rid of the Vodafone bloatware? How much is the risk of bricking something when attempting to?

Just thinking to perhaps to cancel the phones4u order and reorder from Vodafone.

 

[PaulParanoia]

Hi Jurr,

Was just considering ordering this phone from phones4u myself but the website doesn't state if they have it in stock.

Did they tell you that they currently have it in stock?

Have they promised to deliver your phone tomorrow? I've heard that phones4u are ok as long as you don't need any support.

Cheers,

Paul.

 

[benald]

I've always gone through phones4u, never had a problem with support, Vodafone are worse in my opinion with support and dealing with problems.

 

[jurrr]

Did they tell you that they currently have it in stock?

Yes, but not sure if I can believe that.

Have they promised to deliver your phone tomorrow?

No, they didn't. I don't even have confirmation that my credit check succeeded.

 

[PaulParanoia]

Thanks for the update, let us know how you get on with phones4u. Really don't know if I should risk using them or wait till buymobilephones.net gets some more stock in.

 

[jurrr]

Simona N says:
I can see that your order has not been successful in our internal security checks. There are several reasons as to why this may be such as:1) Your card company were unable to verify and authorise your details2) The card you have used is not registered to your delivery address3) If you are a pre pay customer, then you may have reached your maximum allowanceI am sorry but for your own confidentiality and security, we can not find out exact reason the application has been unsuccessful.

 

[PaulParanoia]

Oh well, at least you can order from Vodafone now.

 

[jurrr]

Oh well, at least you can order from Vodafone now.

Yes, except I'm still not sure how difficult it will be to get rid of Vodafone bloatware (e.g., move to vanilla Android). Any ideas?

 

[PaulParanoia]

There's a guide over on xda-developers. Says its for O2, but I'm guessing it would work on Vodafone too.

[GUIDE] to Debrand & Rebrand back to O2 for Samsung Galaxy S2 - xda-developers

You could search their forum for further info or Vodafone specific instructions.

 

[jurrr]

Thanks - that seems reasonably easy!

 

[PaulParanoia]

I tried to order from phones4u today and got the exact same refusal.
Something fishy going on there as I know for a fact that I have good credit.

 

[jurrr]

I tried to order from phones4u today and got the exact same refusal.
Something fishy going on there as I know for a fact that I have good credit.

I ordered from Vodafone directly and passed the credit check, but despite saying on their website they have 14 phones in stock they sent me a letter saying I have to wait 2-4 weeks.

I went to the Vodafone store and they did a bait-and-switch first saying they can match the online deal and then bringing out the phone and saying I would have to pay GBP 5 extra per month .

I'm thinking of trying another order from phones4u and seeing which arrives first - from Vodafone or phones4u - and cancelling the second order then.

 

[jurrr]

Vodafone sent my tracking number, so things are not so bad it seems - they have some stock.

I also went to phones4u store and they did the same thing as the Vodafone store - first promised they can match the Vodafone online deal, then it turns out they cannot and will give me 300 minutes less. When they realized that they started to emphasize that they offer 25MB roaming data while Vodafone only lists 5MB (which is a silly argument).