no refunds for lost phones while vodafone system "updates"

backhander_2

I just tried to get a PAYG vodafone sim blocked after my daughter left her phone in a taxi in Malaga. I was told that the system is "updating" and that they have no access until probably tomorrow. When I asked about liability for any unauthorised spending between now and then I was told this would not be refunded & when I queried this was told that if the phone was lost that was my problem not vodafone's. After a lengthy exchange of views with a customer service (you're kidding, surely) supervisor I was no further on - they apparently have NOTHING in place to cope with their current system problems and cannot even make a paper record of my call (quoting data protection act - tho how that relates to paper records is beyond me). I was also told that if there is any "freedom pack" credit left when they finally block the sim, it can't be transferred to another sim anyway. We only got this blasted sim because of the passport offer which I see from another thread is itself not without problems, so it goes without saying that vodafone will not be seeing any more of our custom.:mad:

Jon_01

Must be one heck of an 'update' if they're doing it in the day! These things are normally done over night to stop these problems happening . . .

I'd say if you've called them and reported it stolen then you've done you're part. They have the time you called in and any calls made after that should be voided. Its not your fault their systems on the blink.
I'd call back calmly tell them you want to talk to a team leader and do not get off the phone til you get to one (this messes with the agents call stats and will get them moving).
If the TL gives you the same rubbish ask for the Call Centre Manager (this may be a call back, they're not always around) take the name of the TL and the name of the manager and get a time for the call back. That should sort it. Good luck.

before_hollywood

sounds like a system has gone down and their tech people that deal with the systems have told them its a full day to fix it.
if a main call centre system goes down then they cant log a date and time on your file, an advisor might still have access to microsoft notepad or outlook express if their systems are microsoft based but if they are allowed to do this or have the systems to allow them to i dont know- i dont work for voda but i do work in a call centre.

depending on the call centre then sometimes team leaders have to call you back, as some companies wont let managers take escalated calls at advisors desks and various other rules, its all perfectly normal, just make sure if they give you a timescale they stick to it.

if it goes beyond something a manager can deal with there may be a specialist department for serious complaints, again this depends on the company but something similar will exist

poppy_f1

not much consolation however at least if someone has the phone and its payg they cant run a massive bill

jblackmore

You'd expect a company as big as Vodafone to have backup procedures - and to have a resilient system which can be recovered much more quickly than this !

Surely their service desk should be able to take call details on paper, and phone everyone back when system is back up and running.

Also if you have notified Vodafone as time/date, then any loss after this should be theirs - how Vodafone think they can make customers pay for failures of Vodafone systems is beyond me.

Clearly customer service at Vodafone has been slashed to cut costs - very short sighted !

backhander_2

vodafone back in my good books now - customer service supervisor did call back when she said she would (thanks Natasha) and said would refund any calls made. In the meantime Malaga taxi driver kindly returned phone so problems solved all round.