Vodafone - no signal due to mast down can i get out of my contract ?

myself321

Hi there

The mast in my area is been down for nearly 5 weeks , I am unable to make/receive any calls or texts.

Whilst i have had a refund for my line rental for the month, this problem has been ongoing for nearly 5 weeks and is still not corrected . I am having to make all my calls from my land line, most of these are to mobiles. The cost incurred to myself is quite high, much higher than £ 25 , what my contract is each month for 750 mins 250 texts.

i have spoke to customer service today and they can still not give me a time when it will be up and running.

If it gos on for much longer would i be able to leave my contract for free as they are unable to provide the service i pay them for ?

i understand they may keep refunding my line rental each month till the problem is sorted but for me the cost is much higher than £ 25 a month as i am using my landline all the time to call mobiles
many thanks

fiish

You need to have a closer look at your contract terms to see where you stand on this. I don't have a Vodafone contract so I can't advise you.

Purely speculatively, I don't think this is grounds for cancelling your contract, yet. You could ask them to waive your line rental for the entire duration for which you have no service (which you have already done); and I do not think you can force them to compensate you for the calls you have had to make using the landline as those are beyond their control and thus their responsibility.

On another hand, you might have grounds if this goes on for much longer (say if you go 3 months without any service whatsoever). Best to talk to them and try to negotiate a fair solution to both of you.

Besides, if they keep refunding your line rental, you could use the money to take up a SIM only deal with another operator that does have coverage in your area - you'll get nearly the same or more minutes/texts for that £25.

baldelectrician

I would write to them giving them 7 days to have the situation rectified- remember they can install a generator if there is a power supply problem.

Take advice from Ofcom before cancelling

myself321

hi there

it is a power problem, they said the power equipment was stolen and was waiting on new equipment to arrive , and when it does the need to do lots of health and saftey checks, before turning the power back on .

how do i contact ofcom? many thanks

baldelectrician

myself321 wrote: »

hi there

it is a power problem, they said the power equipment was stolen and was waiting on new equipment to arrive , and when it does the need to do lots of health and saftey checks, before turning the power back on .

how do i contact ofcom? many thanks

They seem to be talking cobblers-
http://www.hss.com/index.php?g=41340#SpecificationTitle

They can hire powerful (silenced) generators suitable for residential areas, they are not cheap, it may be a cost issue.

From what they tell you the mast is fine- it's just the power supply.
Hire stuf is insured and they can offer a replacement same day - so 5 weeks seems like a urine removal. Typical Vodafone

The generator just plugs in to the mast and the supply is switched over to generator (using a changeover switch)

MrMan08

Not quite an answer to your question, but a useful piece of information (I hope).

You could divert calls from your Vodafone phone to your landline or another mobile

You can do this via the Vodafone website... Or if you head to somewhere with coverage and key *21*target number# and call..

Calls are then diverted, Vodafone seem to state that the calls will not be billed from your minutes - but separately at your standard rate... But for me they come from my minutes.

myself321

i have just had the following email from Vodafone, regarding the mast

Thank you for contacting Vodafone Customer Services about the network coverage in your area. I'll be happy to help you with this.

I am sorry to learn that you are facing some difficulties regarding the network coverage in your area.

I am sorry to let you know that we are still facing some technical problems with our site.
I do apologise for the inconvenience caused to you.

Our technicians are working on it and it will be resolved soon. Please note your fault reference number is . You can check the status of the fault using the reference number.

I am happy to offer you 2 months half price discount on your line rental. If you accept this offer then please confirm it back to me.

I’ll look forward to your reply and in the meantime, if there’s anything else I can help you with anything else please feel free to contact me.
Kind Regards,
Shailesh Manjreka

My question is , if i accept this offer , and the problem continues for another 3 weeks are so, do i have no comeback on them for compensation, as i have already accepted an offer they have made me ? many thanks

baldelectrician

I would seek advice from ofcom, and hold off on their offer.

myself321

many thanks for all your help

Cavey

I've been lurking on this thread for a while and I find this a little intriguing/confusing.

Now, I don't expect the service to be 24 hours a day, 365(-ish) days per year, but I would expect the service I agreed to in the initial contract to be mostly maintained. And surely if the service level drops to become unacceptable (relative to the initial service level) then the customer should be released from the contract in order to find another supplier.

Or am I to understand that, under the terms, Vodafone do not have to re-establish a service in an area if the initial outage was not their fault? And do Vodafone expect the customer to keep paying because they could always use their phone in London if they didn't mind the journey?

Surely the supplier is obliged to reconnect the supply as soon as possible, even if that means sub-contracting another party to temporarily fill the gap.

(Why can they not take an agreement with another company and use their tower until Vodafone's is fixed? It might be that they repay the favour in another area in the future.)

baldelectrician

Talking about cooperation ;

http://www.business.orange.co.uk/servlet/Satellite?pagename=Business&c=OUKPage&cid=1044133941153

More than a few days is taking the michael.

If you have legal advice with your house insurance I would contact them.

I would personally consider* giving them 7 days (as you have already gave them 4 weeks) to rectify the situation and terminate the contract. Remeber regardless of the terms and conditions you have paid for a mobile phone service where you live and you have been denied this. The courts take a dim view on big companies with catch all clauses in contracts to snare the little man.

*take legal advice before going ahead