Vodafone complaints

Silk

keep_flyin wrote: »

I have been a vodafone customer for 5 years, we've never had more than 2G signal and wouldn't expect it, but we used to be connected more or less all the way to local towns so if we broke down on the way we could phone for help, we can no longer do this. Vodafone say that we need to switch the phones to GSM only every time we leave the house which we've never had to do previously. Any suggestions that don't involve this would be greatly appreciated.

GSM is 2G so if there is only 2G available outside the house it may improve matters to just set the phone to 2G rather than the phone searching for 3G then 2G if left on the dual 2g/3G setting

keep_flyin wrote: »

When talking to a manager at vodafone yesterday the signal quality using the suresignal was awful so he put me through to suresignal support. She told me that I wasn't using the suresignal to make the call, which was impossible as we have no signal at all at home. Again I was told I have to change the settings on my phone to WCDMA/GSM to allow the sure signal to connect. I've never had to do this before. We're having the same issues with other phones, including those that are not LTE.

WCDMA is 3G
AFAIK the suresignal only gives out 3G so in order to get the signal at home you would need to have the phone set to the dual 3G/2G setting

keep_flyin wrote: »

Adding extra info as well, the suresignal issue apparently is due to my upload speed being too slow (we are on what is referred to as Market 1 or IPstream). The suresignal was ordered in store and no one explained it needed over 1mbps upload.

IPstream is the most common one so shouldn't be a problem, yes you would have problems if your broadband speed drops below 1 mbps but that's quite low and you would be best to do a speed test to see what you are getting.
Again AFAIK the more phones you use through the suresignal the faster your upload speed needs to be, so if you are using more phones in the house than you used to that may also be giving you problems

Loosetooth

mobilejunkie wrote: »

Sounds like you've done everything but the one thing you should have done (before reaching this point) - that is, follow the repeated advice on this thread and contact the Web Relations Team in the described way. All else is ALWAYS a waste of time which makes everything mucch worse -as you have discovered.

Well.... my reply is twofold.

First off you imply that I did everything other than the one thing that I should have and therefore what could I expect? This problem that I have been having has been going on for 2 years. And as a customer I have done everything that I should have. I have spent hours on the phone, I have made every effort to contact Vodafone and be reasonable, I have written, I have e-mailed and I have have Live Chatted. I have changed my behaviour as a customer to accommodate problems that Vodafone said were of my own making and, having done that, encountered the same terrible mistakes and lack of service. I could not have done more.... so to imply that somehow I am the one at fault and who has made everything much worse because I have "done everything but the one thing you should have done" is upsetting. As a customer (and a good one) I have bent over backwards and Vodafone should not be such a ************ company lacking in ethics to allow the situation to come to this point or put me through such a nightmare.

That is reply 1.

Reply 2.... I have only just found this forum and this place. This thread is so long that I have not fully read it. But I am doing this now, as a last hope, before I pursue legal means. So I thank you for your input.

keep_flyin

IPstream is the most common one so shouldn't be a problem, yes you would have problems if your broadband speed drops below 1 mbps but that's quite low and you would be best to do a speed test to see what you are getting.
Again AFAIK the more phones you use through the suresignal the faster your upload speed needs to be, so if you are using more phones in the house than you used to that may also be giving you problems

Speedtest reports
Download speed (Mbps) 6.60
Upload speed (Mbps 0.27
Ping latency (ms) 59.88

Sure signal support say that the Upload speed needs to be 1mbps or higher for the suresignal 3 to work (suresignal 1 didn't need this), I don't know anyone in a Market 1 area who would have this.

Vodafone are now silent calling me. Great customer service.

PeterOHanrahanrahan

Lee, please can you look into an issue which has resurrected itself long after being resolved. Reference 10550279.

mobilejunkie

Loosetooth wrote: »

Well.... my reply is twofold.

First off you imply that I did everything other than the one thing that I should have and therefore what could I expect? This problem that I have been having has been going on for 2 years. And as a customer I have done everything that I should have. I have spent hours on the phone, I have made every effort to contact Vodafone and be reasonable, I have written, I have e-mailed and I have have Live Chatted. I have changed my behaviour as a customer to accommodate problems that Vodafone said were of my own making and, having done that, encountered the same terrible mistakes and lack of service. I could not have done more.... so to imply that somehow I am the one at fault and who has made everything much worse because I have "done everything but the one thing you should have done" is upsetting. As a customer (and a good one) I have bent over backwards and Vodafone should not be such a ************ company lacking in ethics to allow the situation to come to this point or put me through such a nightmare.

That is reply 1.

Reply 2.... I have only just found this forum and this place. This thread is so long that I have not fully read it. But I am doing this now, as a last hope, before I pursue legal means. So I thank you for your input.

I wasn't implying you'd made matters worse; merely that going the "proper" route always does. The one thing which may have resolved it was contacting the WRT. If it's been going on for two years, why haven't you ended the contract and gone to a better network?

Loosetooth

mobilejunkie wrote: »

I wasn't implying you'd made matters worse; merely that going the "proper" route always does. The one thing which may have resolved it was contacting the WRT. If it's been going on for two years, why haven't you ended the contract and gone to a better network?

Well I think that the main answer to that will be ignorance, I did not know that I could (ie my last upgrade was for 24 months - I had, many times, exasperated requested the termination of the contract... and for mutliple reasons, overcharging, severe incompetence and changing the terms of the contract without my consent... Vodafone merely put you through to a Termination Team who request £100's to end the contract).

There was also not one problem... rather many of small problems which either overlapped or began as the last one ended. So human nature, in that situation, is to work through it... hoping that this problem would be, after it was resolved, the last.

Also modern consumer law/ombudsmans (methods of redress) require that the consumer do two things:

1) Act reasonably and

2) give the company involved a chance to resolve the situation.

And companies exploit that. So, for instance, Vodafone put my account into deadlock... but simply refused to send me a deadlock letter, to this day I do not have one. Well that makes accessing things like the Ombudsman impossible. Because Vodafone have not given up on resolving the situation... it creates a situation where the consumer (myself in this case) is stuck in a Catch 22... a company, in order to effectively rob you of some of the forms of redress, merely need to ignore you and reasonable requests and pay lip service to consumer organisations. This above example is not the only example but the one that comes to mind.

keep_flyin

Have just tried to email the company representative in this thread and the link in his profile is just sending me on another eternal loop.

Silk

keep_flyin wrote: »

Have just tried to email the company representative in this thread and the link in his profile is just sending me on another eternal loop.

Did you copy and paste the link as per the instructions ?

keep_flyin

I did that.

Silk

keep_flyin wrote: »

I did that.

So if you did and you posted the code in the box and sent the email you will have got an automated reply with a ref number. If you post the ref number on here as instructed the rep will be able to find it easier.