Vodafone 3G USB key advert by Frankie Roberto

Vodafone 3G dongles are a wonderful invention, allowing me to run my businesses from pretty much wherever I like armed only with a laptop. Just as well because in August, which is one of my busiest months of the year, I spend 4 to 5 weeks on the coast.

In the old days I used to make do with internet cafes, but these days I don’t need to leave the comfort of my holiday apartment.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, since our existing Vodafone dongle is permanently loaned out I needed a new one to test Vodafone’s service in an area. Visiting the website of Vodafone Spain I went through the order process but was surprised to find I wasn’t asked for credit card details – or any other payment method either.

E-commerce without payment????

Needless to say, I was extremely sceptical that I’d actually receive the goods so pleasantly surprised when I had a delivery a few days later. The curious thing was that I was expected to pay the delivery man.

Are people in Spain really so suspicious of online fraud that they won’t enter their credit card details on a website, even when it is as large and well known as Vodafone? Perhaps.

But, what is to stop me ordering Vodafone dongles for all my neighbours? And why didn’t they make it clear on the website that payment would be made at the time of delivery? Perhaps they did tell me. But not clearly.