Vodafone support complaints porting service ripoff

EddieMCR

Well..I have browsed this site for many a year.

But thankfully have not had such bad luck as to make a port to warn others ...that was UNTIL I moved my and my wife's mobile to Vodafone.

I have had a mobile for 25+ years ...yes way back in the day and I have in time been with almost all the providers. I was with Virgin mobile for over a year and was reasonably happy ...until the transmitters around here (Tameside) were "amalgamated" and then it became unusable ...so much so that after little evidence Virgin released me from contract ...(i said they were decent)

Anyways ..after contacting by phone the various networks, O2, vodafone, three etc ...I settled on vodafone as i was told that "whilst we don't guarantee 3g etc in your area ..the call side (2G?) is showing as good! ...I have fast broadband , and me and my wife (as we are no spring chickens) use the phone for well, just making calls ..nothing more ..so Good 2G is all we wanted

I ported over first and despite them telling me it would be 24-48 hours was actually 10 days! - I am self employed and was furious as my number was dead for over a week! ..Compensation ..Forget it! then i was told that my wife could NOT port over ...When i asked why they said that they only allowed one contract at an address for the first 3 months ...DESPITE having great credit scores ..it was vodafones ...POLICY.

So she bought a PAYG sim and ported her number over to that for the time being

What DID become apparent was the reception was NOT as promised ...the only place i could get even 2 bars in my house was upstairs at the front. Downstairs it flickered from no service to one bar and frankly i had to call support on my landline as the calls would terminate virtually every 2 minutes ..

It was at this time the nightmare really began . I was told various fixes and then the phone was blamed ..despite having the use of 4 unlocked handsets giving the same result ..technical were not interested. the system shows the postcode as OK, so it is OK. this went on for so long that I went over the 14 day return for full credit deadline ....So I was screwed.

the answer i was given in the local Vodafone store (as online chat to their egypt call centres is useless and phoning 191 guarantees you the same quality but with a battery-draining 1hr wait on ocaasion) the shop told me about "sure signal" its a box that you plug in and gives you great reception ....SORTED!

but no ...it was £100. I went home and bickered with support, but no way jose ...If i wanted to get reception at home (which i needed to for my business, I would have to fork out) ..so back to the store i went and bought it. It sets up reasonably easy and i was up and running in a day or so ..albeit £100 lighter and at least 10 hours (honestly) of my life wasted on support calls (mainly on hold)

another 2 months went past and it was time to port my wife from PAYG Vodafone to Contract ...That was TWENTY SEVEN DAYS AGO. My wife still cannot receive calls on her mobile and this must be the longest porting in history

They tell me its on its 7th senior management escalation.
I have spent ANOTHER 10+ hours and countless emails trying to get this resolved. I have wrote letters sent recorded to their Berkshire HQ and even directly to the CEO ...NOTHING

I have spoken to India, Egypt, South Africa and had frankly the same support you would get from untrained 10 year olds ...24-48 hours is all they every say. If you ask to speak to a manager, team leader or ask for a call back ...FORGET IT

I have been shouted at, argued with even laughed at, and recently when i recounted my experience on the vodafone forum and was advising others on how to structure complaints, and chargeacks and legally taking on the "vodafone termination fee threat squad" ..what was the net result...yep, my posts deleted and a final warning for a temporary ban ...I asked for the reason ...still not heard back ! (typical)

I guess what i am trying to say is that IF you have a choice of provider in your area (which i sadly dont) then you could NOT find worse and more USELESS service than Vodafone ...it is actually worth paying slightly more (i know its sounds crazy ..but its true) ...you will NOT get compensated for the phone calls you make to support, your time online or on the phone resolving stuff..NOTHING. the only time you will hear a voice from the UK is when you sign up and join vodafone ..after that God help you its the "egyptian shuffle"

Its a shame that you cannot READ the Vodafone forum before you join ...or you never would ..its support is in Meltdown and the place is a shambles. look at their facebook page ...LOL. In among the odd ADVERT to pad it out it is one issue after another ...i mean look at the posting times ..we are talking HUNDREDS in a small time period. Only to receive the SAME stock responses.

Dont say i never told you friends

Silk

EddieMCR wrote: »

Its a shame that you cannot READ the Vodafone forum before you join ...or you never would ..its support is in Meltdown and the place is a shambles. look at their facebook page ...LOL. In among the odd ADVERT to pad it out it is one issue after another ...i mean look at the posting times ..we are talking HUNDREDS in a small time period. Only to receive the SAME stock responses.

But you can read the Vodafone forum without joining.


The real lesson to learn here is not to rely on coverage checkers and to always test the networks by using a payg sim before you take a contract out.


It is well recorded that Vodafone have been having porting issues for quite some time and if it's till outstanding the best chance you have of sorting it out is to contact the rep on here and ask him to help.

andy13pandy

Like you I have spent the last, now, 4 days (over 4 hours on-line to chat and via mobile) trying to renew my contract with Vodafone. Your observations are 100% correct. They have some willing people and to be fair I did not receive and 'bad attitude' however their system changes seem to have removed all empowerment from even the managers. I am waiting on their response to my request for the last two months of my contract to be waived so I can port my number to a more competitive offer. Below is my post from last night. Hopefully someone will come back to us with a suggestion or perhaps I should sell my Vodafone shares!


Has anyone had the same elongated (hours long) process trying to renew their contract with Vodafone? I have spent 3 days talking/chatting to systems and people at Vodafone to get a new contract. Eventually ordered an i-phone however they tried to send it to my old address. After another 74 minutes trying to get them to change the address I eventually gave up and cancelled the whole thing. They have done nothing to try and recover me as a customer. I was under the impression all companies tried to keep their existing customers of many years? Is my experience a one off? Has anybody any suggestions as to how I get to someone in Vodafone who has the power to care for customers

Leon_W

You make some very good points EddieMCR.


They really should put a sticky at the top of this forum on how to deal with VODAFONE. My own tip being RECORD EVERYTHING !


Record all Online chats. Send the log back to yourself.


Record all calls. I use Smart Voice Recorder on an Android. put it on speakerphone and it'll record both sides of the conversation adequately.




From initial phone ordering to ending a contract RECORD EVERYTHING !


I have found on a few occasions they (Vodafone) only change their tune when faced with hard evidence otherwise I would have just been fobbed off the same as the rest of you.

Anon

There is already a well-populated thread on Vodafone complaints:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/295048

I don't think it is a sticky but may as well be as it is pretty much always near the top due to the number of complaints .

gtaz

I think there is a general issue with Vodafone at the moment in terms of their support, there clearly has been some changes. I have been a customer for a while but my recent experience has been poor, it feels like there is no avenue for someone to be the escalation point and own your problem. Customer Service should own your problem instead we get passed around as there is no single point of contact for problems.

My recent issue breakdown:
Pre-ordered upgrade.
Order failed.
VEA application failed.
Vodafone fix pre-order after multiple calls (luckily I found someone willing to spend time to fix it).
Despite early pre-order now have a stock issue due to upgrade not being processed.
Re-apply VEA, fails again.
VEA issue cannot be escalated, have to find a way to contact them direct.
Lose out on my mobile recycle price now due to delays on my phone!

I posted in the Vodafone complaints thread but the rep here didn't respond.

CS is very poor at the moment. I think people want to help but systems and process at Vodafone is preventing this.

gtaz

Ok, eventually got my upgrade and Vodafone have sent me the wrong phone...... Have spoken to 3 different people, with the final person cutting me off, this is a joke.

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Vodafone

Hi EddieMCR,

So we can take a look why it's taking so long to port your wife's number,

email me with your details via the link in our profile here.

All you need to do is copy and paste the link into your web browser and it'll take you to the Contact us form on our website. To make sure it reaches me, quote the code WRT135 - MSE in the subject line.

Once sent, you'll receive an automated reply with a reference number. Post back with this and I’ll check I've received it.

Hi andy13pandy,

I've responded to your other post with how to get in touch and we'll investigate your query.

Hi gtaz,

I've also responded to your other post and we'll be happy to look into this for you.

DaveCD

kingrulzuk

I’m pretty sure you guys will be back soon. And then don’t sayyou guys were not warn about Vodafone

juno

27 days isn't long for a Vodafone port. I'm up to 7 weeks.