Vodafone complaints

travel_freak

I would warn anyone thinking of applying for Vodafone mobile broadband not to bother - and this is after having sung their praises previously on this site.

Having recently signed up for a new business account we have experienced no end of connection problems with the new account. From day one with dongles not working and cutting connection every 10 minutes. Customer services show zero respect or willingness to help and, as has been reported above by others, when you complain they just bounce you around phone queues which play recorded options. One actually told us "he could play games too". They simply don't care about your predicament when you are unable to get online to operate your business. It is pointless asking for the name of the person you spoke to as when you ring again to speak to that person you are told there is no-one of that name. Game playing pure and simple.

Only after sending a formal complaint by email were we assured that the problem would be sorted out and offered 3 months free line rental. Having spent most of yesterday and all of this afternoon trying without success to get online with messages coming back saying "no network available" or "searching for network" but never actually connecting, were we finally able to get online recently this evening (this is a Business account remember!) but only on a 2G connection which proceeds at the pace of a snail and is impossible to use. When we manually selected the option to change from 2G to 3G (the method of connection we have used with another account for over a year without problem) we received the following message: "you are not allowed to connect via 3G".

So although Vodafone have said they were sorry and offered three months' line rental what they have actually done is to offer three months of a virtual inability to connect what is supposed to be a business line. This is a serious handicap and incredible inconvenience and has resulted in loss of business.

I would warn anyone who does not want their blood pressure to shoot throught he roof not to bother with Vodafone but to try any other provider who might be more reputable and might care enough about its customers not to treat them in the way we have been treated. Rant over - but will be continuing it with Vodafone for what it is worth. Will definitely be bringing the entire history to the attention of the ombudsman.

travel_freak

I have just come across this (http://forum.vodafone.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=16029&st=60) makes for very interesting reading - it seems there are many others experiencing similar difficulties - it is reassuring at least to know we are not alone in facing this but remain appalled by Vodafone's failure to remedy the problems and their lousy customer service.

To actually deliberately prevent one's ability to connect to 3G is unbelievable. As I say, if you want a reliable connection don't choose Vodafone!

kasey128

Vodafone_company_representative wrote: »

Hi Guys

wilf55, alex399, kasey128, apf666, twinkletwinkle and RenegMC - I can look into this for you. Send me the details via the Contact form with a link to your posts and WRT135 in the body of the text (so it routes straight to my team) and we'll get you all a solution.

kriptikchicken - You'll know me from the eForum Team.

I know that this has been a difficult situation for you.

Sending the phone directly to RIM to be looked at, rather than having a standard repair was an option. It was never something that you had to do. The option of phones to use while it was away was also your choice.

On a personal note, myself and Tom are continuing to work hard on this situation behind the scenes. Even though we don't have news to give you as regularly as we'd like, please don't think that you have been forgotten - because you definitely haven't and we wil have an update to give you soon.

Thanks

Kirsty
Web Relations Team
Vodafone UK

Thanks for the offer of help, too little too late. I used the e-mail address from this site for the ceo of vodafone and I had a phone call the next day. Why did customer services/head office take over 2 months and they did nothing. He sorted out my issue and appologised, I was also offered 3 months for free off any new deal I wanted to take out. Thing is iam so disillusioned, disappointed and disgusted with the attitude of vodafone customer services that I have moved service provider, maybe if more people did this vodafone would get there act together.

CathJo

CathJo wrote: »

Back in July I ordered a Nokia Pay as you Go from Vodafone. When I received it and contacted Vodafone regarding unlocking it, they told me it was a handset that was impossible to unlock, and I could send it back.
That was no problem, they sent a courier to collect it. That was in July.

When I got my credit card statement in August, I realised I hadn't recieved a refund so phoned/emailed etc.... and have had no luck whatsoever.
They have got the phone and will not give me my money back. Surely this is illegal?? Where shall I go from here-Trading standards? Citizens advice? My credit card company? Any ideas????

The level of customer service I have received has been absolutley shocking and I will NEVER give custom to Vodafone again...
I have got 2 babies and have not got the time to be on hold to customer services for an hour like I was with my last phone call. Please help!

Just to update, I received a phone call and email from Lee Saunders of the Web Relations Team on 25 august and emailed him the info he required.
I have still not had a reply, have sent another 4 emails, and have just spent another hour on the phone being passed from department to department.
The last woman I spoke to, Sam, was supposed to be phoning me back immediately. That was over an hour ago. This company is a complete joke.

If anyone from the Web Relations Team can get in touch, I would appreciate it. Lee must still have my phone number.I have tried emailing with WRT 135 in the body of the email as you say, but just keep getting emails back in broken english with no understanding of what I require.
Also does anyone have Guy Laurence's email address?

Many thanks, yet again

stramash

Just want to say thanks for all the useful info on this site.

Since signing with Vodafone I have had nothing but problems. I signed up firstly to a mobile broadband account, then a month later, to a mobile phone account.
When my mobile arrived I phoned the call centre (India) to activate the sim. Hours later and no joy, and for some reason my mobile broadband has ceased working. I phoned back to be told that for some reason the staff had activated the sim that came with my phone as a mobile broadband account and deactivated the old one. (why???)
They said they would send out a new sim within 48 hours by express delivery...
5 days later it arrived, I phoned call centre to activate, and guess what? They did it again!!!
Called AGAIN, and was again promised sim within 48 hours. Wasn't happy after last debacle so found a UK number; talked to a lovely girl who sorted everything in less than 90 minutes - activated correct sim as phone and as broadband.
Great!!!


Problems over?

Or just beginning?

There then followed a few weeks of peace, though poor mobile broadband performance (which may just be my area)

Then last week I went to bank to withdraw cash for birthday night out only to be told I was 200 over my overdraft limit!!
Went home, checked my online account and phoned bank, to find that vodafone had sent a £454 direct debit demand!! (this for 2 x 15 p/m accounts)
Phoned the call centre (now on speed dial) and was told that I had incurred a cancellation charge of 307 for cancelling my phone account early...

Eh?? I cancelled nothing...though sorely tempted.
I asked the agent to look at notes and tell me when I cancelled it, and how. Surprise, surprise - no such notes. Also told me my monthly internet bill was 99.85!!! (I don't download music or films) Queried this - was told to take laptop and dongle to vodafone shop for checking (inconvenient)

Rather p*ssed off by now, I came online and found this site and in particular a post with ceo office e mail address.

Composed a polite but severely dissatisfied e mail to that address - explained the situation and how annoyed I was, threw in oftel/ofcom mentions, not to mention office of trading standards.

Then went on holiday for a week on Scottish coast. Nipped in to internet cafe this morning and lo and behold!! An e mail from ceo office. (from a nice man called Gavin Dodd) at this address (if you e mail ceo this is where it goes)

DirectorComplaintOffice@gb.vodafone.co.uk


He apologised profusely for the mistakes (which had also included a 10 overcharge on my monthly phone tariff) reiterated that the cancellation charge and an amount to cover my bank charge had already been credited to my account, also gave me a full refund on data usage for august (103.41) and gave me a free data usage upgrade to 5gb.

I still lost several hours on the phone and a night out (due to no cash availability) but am reasonably happy with the outcome.
Now to see what the next problem is!!


But would recommend that anyone needing to complain use the email address in this post and direct it to Gavin Dodd!

Vodafone

marq wrote: »

The outstanding issues:

1. My account is still on a £25/month tariff, whereas my contract is for a £20/month tariff.

2. My bank has refunded the erroneous bill amount to me but I am not sure that VF's accounting procedures will like this and I don't want to be charged for late payment, nor black-marked on my credit rating. VF have not followed up the bank's DD refund request with me to find out what the problem was, or to issue a corrected bill.

3. As well as the refunds I expect for the wrong tariff since I joined Passport, I was of course granted that £10 discount on my first bill, which I fear will be swallowed up in all this mess. Frankly, since the errors have continued since then, and caused me financial harm (albeit quickly rectified), have required me to chase them, in the face of a stunning silence from VF, I will be expecting not just that £10 but further compensation of some kind.

4. So far, my quidco transaction appears to have tracked, though I fear that with all the messing about and the fact that the number they originally issued was cancelled, I may not get my £120 cashback. However, I have hope, because it's the same SIM and the same account that this has all happened on...

...and apart from anything else, the web relations team are going to put everything right now. Right?

Hi marq,

As you've already been in contact with us on the eForum I'll try to locate your details from there and get back to you as soon as I can to get your outstanding concerns sorted out.

misc2050 wrote: »

I’ve recently experienced a catalogue of problems with Vodafone customer services and so far I've made 11 phone calls, spent around 5 hours on the phone to Vodafone staff and despite reassurances that my problem would be resolved and that a manager would call me back, my phone remains disconnected and I've yet to hear from anyone at Vodafone.


On the 29th of August I made my first call to Vodafone to find out why my bills were coming out higher than I was expecting and at the end of that call I asked for my PAC code to be given. I was told that I couldn't have my PAC number yet because I was still in contract (due to expire in 2011). I was stunned at this statement and explained to the member of staff that I had cancelled an unwanted upgrade some weeks earlier and that perhaps this was a remnant of that. After some time on hold the staff member confirmed that this was the case, but instead of rectifying the issue immediately she asked that I call back in 2 days and speak to someone then! I immediately asked to speak to a manager and was told that they were busy and that I'd receive a call back.
Later that day I grew tired of waiting for a call-back and decided to call back into customer service myself. The next staff member I spoke to in the upgrades department itself seemed more helpful and following his advice I asked that my price-plan be change to a 'sim-only' one and that my PAC code be ordered. The member of staff confirmed that both actions had been completed and I ended the call.
It was not until I awoke to find my phone displaying ‘limited service’ that I realised that something else had now gone wrong. I once again rang Vodafone and was now told that my number had been disconnected. This call and the 8 others I've made since, have all been to re-instate my line, which was disconnected without any prior authorisation or consent on my part. Each time I've called I've spoken to different people in different departments, each concluding with a reassurance of a resolution and a call-back from a manager. Neither of these has happened!

Simply put, Vodafone’s customer service has been a disgrace so far, and if I ever manage to obtain my PAC code from them, I'm certainly going to port over to O2.

Hi misc2050,

I'm disappointed to hear about your recent experience here.

In the event in this has been sorted ourt could you email your details to me using the 'Contact us' form on our website here and I'll take a look at this for you.

When sending the email you'll also need to include a link to this thread within the body of it and state the code WRT135 in the subject line.

damindra wrote: »

I was asked to pay on 8/6/2009 £300 into my account. I did so, and then was charged £470 in July as the £300 was not paid into my account. I have so far incurred £151.12 reserve fee on my bank account, made numerous calls to your customer services, and may i add on most occasions told lines are busy please call again later. I was advised to get an indemnity on the £300 but was unable to because it was a card transaction, NOT a direct debit payment. I was then advised the money would be back in my account in 24hours, after 48hrs this had not been done. I was then advised its 5-7working days, again after over a week still not back in my account. I then get a giro slip today for a credit of £298.39 NOT £300, so i then try to get through to settle the matter, sorry to busy please call later. I then got to the Cribbs Causeway Vodafone branch and am told by the store manager to go the bank to pay the money into my account, ridiculous as the giro slip is worthless, it should have been a cheque. I then call another 3 times finally getting through to Monica, who tells me i have to wait another 5-7days for the 298.39 NOT £300 to go into my account. Money has still not come back nor a cheque, now 3rd September 2009 (over 2 wks after promise of cheque of the amount being sent to me) and have been told the money now will go into my Bank Account, this is after first speaking to Collections Department (who told me they cannot help in the matter), who then put me through to Pay As You Go customer services and then Contract Pay as you Go. I have then been told to attend the Vodafone branch with proof of bank charges and they cannot access the notes to enter the details. They now have said they will contact Vodafone tomorrow (4/09/09) to sort this out.
Currently the amount owed due to the ‘mistake’ is £459.68 ( this includes call charges of £10.17)
Hows that for rubbish service!!

Have now sent direct email to CEO of Vodafone, sent letters to 3 vodafone complaints and OTELO, next stop is OFCOM!

Hi damindra,

I'm aware that your concerns are currently being addressed following the receipt of your email.

Be sure to keep us updated once it's all sorted out.

Thanks,

Lee

Web Relations Team

Vodafone UK

Vodafone

kasey128 wrote: »

Thanks for the offer of help, too little too late. I used the e-mail address from this site for the ceo of vodafone and I had a phone call the next day. Why did customer services/head office take over 2 months and they did nothing. He sorted out my issue and appologised, I was also offered 3 months for free off any new deal I wanted to take out. Thing is iam so disillusioned, disappointed and disgusted with the attitude of vodafone customer services that I have moved service provider, maybe if more people did this vodafone would get there act together.

Hi kasey128,

While it's disappointing to hear that you're leaving us I'm pleased to see that you've been able to get your concerns sorted out.

Should you need any further help in the future just let us know.

CathJo wrote: »

Back in July I ordered a Nokia Pay as you Go from Vodafone. When I received it and contacted Vodafone regarding unlocking it, they told me it was a handset that was impossible to unlock, and I could send it back.
That was no problem, they sent a courier to collect it. That was in July.

When I got my credit card statement in August, I realised I hadn't recieved a refund so phoned/emailed etc.... and have had no luck whatsoever.
They have got the phone and will not give me my money back. Surely this is illegal?? Where shall I go from here-Trading standards? Citizens advice? My credit card company? Any ideas????

The level of customer service I have received has been absolutley shocking and I will NEVER give custom to Vodafone again...
I have got 2 babies and have not got the time to be on hold to customer services for an hour like I was with my last phone call. Please help!

Hi CathJo,

I remember trying to call you last month and replying to your email.

I'm aware from your post yesterday that you've replied with the information I asked for but for some reason it hasn't come through to us.

Don't worry through I'll locate your details again and get back to you as soon as I can.

ajrobson wrote: »

Dont know if anyone could help or advise...

Im currently trying to lower my tariff from £35 a month to £15... only 3 months left... But CS have told me I can only reduce this by £5 a month.

Iv spoken to a guy in the shop before this who couldnt change it for me but advised thats what I can do as I could change to any tariff after 9months of my contract... This is also what I thought Id signed up to.

Basically been on hold for about an hour to two guys, one trying to do a deal for me, then put the phone down, the other just blatently rude and abrupt. (Also Iv been with Voda for 5 years and there seems to be no reward for loyalty?)

I also argued if I asked to be placed on a £75 tarif theyd oblige to which they agreed. If theres no limit on increasing the tariff, is it even legal to limit the reduction? All seems like outsourcing centres trying to achieve bottom lines rather than sticking to set contracts.

Manager to call back.. Any suggestions on reasoning/arguements to use? Ombundsmen for example?

Reason I want to buy out is because Ive just spent a week trying to sort out my contract that was sold to me as an 18month renewal although they said it was a 24month deal... Result as theyve changed but seriously fed up with these guys now!

Any takers?

Hi ajrobson,

Firstly, let me clarify that our policy regarding changing price plans does require customers to complete nine months of their agreements before they're able to request a reduction which can then only be done in £5.00 per month incraments.

It's a shame that you're looking to leave us and if you'd like us to take a look at things for you just email your details to us via the 'Contact us' form on our website which you get to here.

When sending the email you'll also need to include a link to this thread within the body of it and the code WRT135 in the subject line.

Thanks,

Lee

Web Relations Team

Vodafone UK

Vodafone

stonekent wrote: »

I am gutted I never thought to check out MSE before signing up with VF. :mad:. I am having a torrid time like alot of people on here with the total lack ownership & responsibility VF staff have for customer complaints.

I cannot access my Voicemail since having my new contract 2 weeks ago, and I have been told on each phonecall to CS something different as to why it does not work. The last contact I had I got through to the technical department only to be told by the person who answered that he was basically going home and could not do anything so call back on Monday!! I have never heard of anything so ridiculous so I retorted "well what am I supposed to do in the meantime" and before I completed the sentence I was put back into the loop of calls!!! unbelievable!! I eventually got a CS rep to give another BS excuse that the problem was to do with the ported number and the issue has been known for a couple of weeks ..........yet I have inconveniently not been told about this!! What a great company. I was then told I need to call the porting department on Monday!!!!! I'm guessing on Monday i will get a different excuse again and my voicemail still won't be working. I will keep you all updated.

Has anyone managed to cancel a contract after 2 weeks of being with Vodafone? I really don't want another 2 years of this hassle as I have been told I don't have a leg to stand on if i want to cancel as the service has been connected.

Hi stonekent,

I'm disappointed to see that you haven't as of yet been able to get this sorted out.

However, I'd definately like to try and help to get to the bottom of this and get it resolved.

Could I ask if you've tried the troubleshooting guides in our Help Centre here at all to see if this helps to fix things?

If you have and things still aren't sorted out then I'd recommend visiting our eForum where our moderators would be happy to help you further.

travel_freak wrote: »

I would warn anyone thinking of applying for Vodafone mobile broadband not to bother - and this is after having sung their praises previously on this site.

Having recently signed up for a new business account we have experienced no end of connection problems with the new account. From day one with dongles not working and cutting connection every 10 minutes. Customer services show zero respect or willingness to help and, as has been reported above by others, when you complain they just bounce you around phone queues which play recorded options. One actually told us "he could play games too". They simply don't care about your predicament when you are unable to get online to operate your business. It is pointless asking for the name of the person you spoke to as when you ring again to speak to that person you are told there is no-one of that name. Game playing pure and simple.

Only after sending a formal complaint by email were we assured that the problem would be sorted out and offered 3 months free line rental. Having spent most of yesterday and all of this afternoon trying without success to get online with messages coming back saying "no network available" or "searching for network" but never actually connecting, were we finally able to get online recently this evening (this is a Business account remember!) but only on a 2G connection which proceeds at the pace of a snail and is impossible to use. When we manually selected the option to change from 2G to 3G (the method of connection we have used with another account for over a year without problem) we received the following message: "you are not allowed to connect via 3G".

So although Vodafone have said they were sorry and offered three months' line rental what they have actually done is to offer three months of a virtual inability to connect what is supposed to be a business line. This is a serious handicap and incredible inconvenience and has resulted in loss of business.

I would warn anyone who does not want their blood pressure to shoot throught he roof not to bother with Vodafone but to try any other provider who might be more reputable and might care enough about its customers not to treat them in the way we have been treated. Rant over - but will be continuing it with Vodafone for what it is worth. Will definitely be bringing the entire history to the attention of the ombudsman.

Hi travel_freak,

In order for me to take a look at this further for you could you send me an email with your details using the 'Contact us' form on our website here?

When sending the email you'll also need to include a link to this thread within the body of it and the code WRT135 in the subject line.

Thanks,

Lee

Web Relations Team

Vodafone UK

travel_freak

Just an update on my above posts re mobile broadband - our business account has been completely dead for in excess of 6 days causing tremendous stress at a hugely busy time for us. Vodafone have done absolutely nothing to rectify the problem and in order for our work not to dry up completely we had to finally buy an emergency Orange mobile broadband dongle (which is working without any problem). We have been dealing with Customer Relations in Stoke but still nothing is/has been done to get us back online. The last we were told by their "technicians" was that it would take at least 48 hours to conduct the preliminary stage of their investigations and that then if an engineer needed to visit the site they could give "no timescale" for repair and the system working again.

In desperation at not having emails answered and unable to ring due to the "game playing" admitted to by their telephone staff we went into store and they told us there had been network problems in our area recently which they thought had been resolved. Clearly they had/have not and yet Vodafone did not make any attempt to contact us to explain there were network problems and nor did they offer to conduct any network test during the several telephone conversations we had with them days ago when we first lost our connectivity.

Instead we were fobbed off with different dongles, uninstalling and reinstalling software and trying different SIM cards amounting to hours of wasted business hours and enormous frustration.

We have lost substantial business, suffered incredible strain and been put to great expense and are currently still without a Vodafone mobile connection.

There have been no updates, courtesy calls and following a long email seeking recompense still no reply to that email.

I would again warn people to be very wary of Vodafone. We shall be pursuing this all the way to the Ombudsman and beyond if we do not receive suitable recompense from Vodafone but even that will not take away the stress of the last week. If you want a reliable mobile broadband service and anything approaching good customer service I would strongly suggest going elsewhere.

travel_freak

Hi Lee

It seems our posts have just crossed with one another. I have already sent a detailed email to Kirsty in your customer relations team at Stoke. Prior to this when the connection was first lost and your telephone staff kept cutting me off and bouncing me around I am certain I also contacted you via the means you are suggesting above so you should already have all the details.

Nevertheless, I will endeavour to re-send you the email I sent two days ago to Kirsty which explains everything - the email before this several days ago addresses your telephone staff deliberately cutting people off and advising me they could "play games".

I hope to receive a formal reply to my email within the 5-day framework requested. I did also copy that email to Arun Sarin as suggested on another thread somewhere on MSE.