Vodafone complaint

Ashok_2

Hello –

I’m writing to complain about an order I placed with Vodafone Business last Tuesday (5th January 2010).

I ordered the HTC HD2 on a £35/month contract for 24 months, clicking through QuidCo for £100 cashback. Before ordering I called up and asked what the delivery time was for online orders and I was informed that it was the next working day – this was important to me as I need two handsets for my business and although I already had both, one had turned faulty and the contract was coming to an end, so I wanted to start a new contract and get a new handset as soon as possible. Anyway having placed the order I called again on the Wednesday to check it had gone through okay and I was informed that it would definitely be delivered on Thursday, which was perfectly fine. I had wanted to check when it was being delivered so that someone could be available to receive the handset as I am often out of the home.

However, on the Thursday no handset was delivered, so I called once more towards the end of the day and received an apology, and a promise that the phone would be delivered the next day, on Friday. Although this was irritating I accepted that these things do happen and just asked them to ensure it was delivered as promised then. However, once more on Friday no delivery was made. Both days someone specifically waited in to receive this promised delivery. Furthermore, on Friday evening I received an email informing me that I needed to provide extra information to confirm the credit check for my business, despite having already received an email before telling me that this had been successful. Regardless, on Saturday morning I spoke to a gentleman in the credit check department who apologised and said that the reason the handset had not been delivered was because some extra checks needed to be done for the credit check, and that if I send the information immediately then he could guarantee delivery for Monday. Therefore I emailed the requested information across immediately, and spoke to the same gentleman again by phone to confirm Monday’s delivery. At this point the gentleman confirmed receipt of the documents but at this point he told me he’d have to put me through to someone else to arrange Tuesday’s delivery; the person I then spoke to told me that to get a delivery on Tuesday the online order would be cancelled and a new one would be placed through the phone system which apparently speeds up the delivery. I refused this because I knew if the online order was cancelled then I would lose the Quidco £100 cashback (and also explained this to the person on the phone), and therefore I was put back through to the person at the credit check department, who said he could arrange delivery for Tuesday through my online order anyway, apologising for the delay, and promising the delivery.

Come Tuesday, by the end of the day no delivery had been made once again, and someone had waited in all day. This time when I called Vodafone I received another apology and was told that the system stated delivery was due on the Wednesday. Of course at this point on three occasions delivery had been promised and not made, and I was sceptical of the delivery being made anyway. Fortunately I planned to stay at home today anyway so would not be inconvenienced if the delivery were not to be made. Surprise surprise, there was no delivery. I again called and received an apology, and a promise for delivery on Thursday which was the new due date on the system. However, after some persistence I was put through to a manager who apologised, and explained to me that the entire dispatch department was closed because they could not handle the calls they were reasoning, apparently due to the popularity of the iPhone. This I found absurd, how is it acceptable for the entire dispatch team to shut down communication with consumers? This manager apologised anyway and offered me a credit of my contract’s first month, and told me although she could not promise it like previous people had, the phone should be delivered tomorrow.

Although the month’s credit (value of £35) is appreciated, it certainly does not make up for the experience I have had. On four occasions now someone has waited for a delivery that was promised but then never made, and on three of these days someone waited specifically just for the delivery, clearly resulting in an inconvenience. Furthermore, although not mentioned above, on average each call to Vodafone lasted roughly half an hour. This is because on nearly every call I made I was transferred to different departments, put on hold, and on three occasions cut off after waiting for 15 minutes on hold, then having to call again. Not only has this wasted a great deal of my time but it has obviously cost me considering Vodafone’s customer services numbers are not free.

I’m posting this complaint on the forum here and also forwarding it to the UK CEO in hope that it will be resolved soon but also to raise awareness of Vodafone’s poor customer service. I should also mention that many of that many of the Vodafone staff I’ve spoken to have been completely unhelpful, and one told me that I shouldn’t bother writing to the CEO as I’d be wasting my time.

I really needed a handset as soon as possible, and expected for it to be delivered a week ago on Thursday. If I knew it would take this long I certainly wouldn’t have ordered with Vodafone. The experience I have had is quite frankly appalling. I can understand if a company can’t guarantee delivery immediately, but if this is the case it should not be promising delivery when there is a chance that the promise is not kept.

Considering I am I have signed a contract for 24 months I really do hope Vodafone’s customer services improve in this time.

Sorry for the length of this post but I wanted to write everything in detail.

Awaiting a solution,

Ashok.

DarkConvict

I experience with vodafone was not to bad thankfully, i hope you get your delivery soon.

I would definitley like to have a look into this for you, appologies for the delay in getting to this, you could air your concerns to the vodafone web team too.

Could you get in contact with me using this link here :

http://!!!!!!/JhPl0

Could you include the code WRT135 in the subject line together with providing us with a link to this thread and your username in the body of the email and we'll get back to you as soon as we can.
Many Thanks

Ben
Web Relations Team
Vodafone UK

Vodafone

Hi Ashok,

Reading through the chain of events you've experienced something doesn't sound quite right. I would like to investigate this situation further if you would allow me to?

As this is an account specific query, I will need further information to be able to look into it for you. Could you please contact me via the link below-

Web Relations Team

(Please quote the code WRT135 in the subject line and provide a link to this thread)

I am certain we can resolve this for you and restore your faith in our company.

Thanks

Sukhi
Web Relations Team
Vodafone UK

Ashok_2

Vodafone_company_representative wrote: »

Hi Ashok,

Reading through the chain of events you've experienced something doesn't sound quite right. I would like to investigate this situation further if you would allow me to?

As this is an account specific query, I will need further information to be able to look into it for you. Could you please contact me via the link below-

Web Relations Team

(Please quote the code WRT135 in the subject line and provide a link to this thread)

I am certain we can resolve this for you and restore your faith in our company.

Thanks

Sukhi
Web Relations Team
Vodafone UK

Thanks for the reply. I have done as you requested a couple of hours ago. I'd appreciate if you couild get back to me as soon as possible as I really need the phone and not having it up to now has inconvenienced me greatly and furthermore a lot of my time, as well as that of.a relative who waited for the delivery, has been wasted so I would expect some dort of compensation for that.

Ashok

Ashok_2

The phone arrived today, one week after the first promised date.

However, when I called the Vodafone Customer Services I was told that the PAC code information was not appearing despite me entering it when I placed the order online, and mentioning it several times during conversations regarding the delivery, and having been previously assured that my number would be ported over on the same day that the phone arrived. I was then told that I would have to wait till next Monday before the number would even be ported over. This is further to all of the problems and inconvenience that I have already experienced.

I ordered this contract from Vodafone Business because I expected to have it with me within 2 days. It did not. But moreover now having received the phone a week late I am expected to wait a further 4 days before I can even use the number I requested to be ported over. I don't understand how this could be considered acceptable. What makes it even more frustrating for me is that I mentioned that I need my number porting over several times during conversations with your customer service staff, and each time was assured that this would be done on the same day the phone arrived and I would be able to use my old number the same day.

The person I spoke to told me that she would issue me with a temporary number until Monday so at least I could use the phone and make use of my contract. However after ending this phone call (it lasted just over 30 minutes, most of which I was on hold) I realised the phone was not connecting to the network), and called your customer services once more. After waiting on hold for 15 minutes, I was put through to your Accounts department who apologised saying there was a problem with your system, and put me throuhg to the correct department. The lady I spoke to there told me that it was not possible for me to have a temporary number till Monday and I would just have to wait, completely contradicting the person I had spoken to before that.

So I'm sure you can see my experience with your company up to now has been terrible. Not only have I been inconvenienced and a lot of my time wasted, I've been stuck with a single mobile number for me to use, when for business purposes I require two, no doubt leaving me at a financial loss too having missed several important calls; this would not have been an issue if my phone had arrived last Thursday as I was promised. If I had known I would have had to wait this long I would have purchased my contract in-store or from a different network.

I am seriously considering terminating this contract with you and switching to another provider; if this is the experience I have had before actually even commencing the contract and using the phone, I would fear what would happen during the 24 month contract I am signed up for. I am able to get 800 minutes, unlimited texts and unlimited web browsing with the same phone from Virgin for the cost of £30 incl. VAT whereas this contract is costing me £30 + VAT. If I am to stay with your network I would expect to be compensated for the experience I have had since I ordered last Tuesday.

digp

give them a chance man.