Vodafone and incompetence!

thetriggerhappypwner

Hello MSE users...

This situation is a little complex so I hope that the way I write this is understood in the way I have meant it to be understood.

I have been having service issues for some 3 or 4 months now, all the time, I rarely get 1 bar of service on my phone, and I am on the outskirts of a city, a very big city of some few hundred thousand people. This is a big city and I expect a very good service.

Today at around 14:00 I contacted Vodafone and spoke to a so called customer service agent from Cairo, Egypt. I explained the above to him no less than three times and the solution he came up with was a new SIM card. Note that I have had a new SIM card already no less than 3 times so far, and I just think its a chain of "fobbing me off" with rather feeble excuses. I eventually got extremely annoyed and frustrated and requested a manager, he replied that he would get a manager to call me back which I know never happens based on previous experience, I refused and said that I would like to speak to one immediately. He asked me to hold on, I waited around 3 or 4 minutes when someone calling himself "Hassan" from Cairo, Egypt answered. I reiterated the issues I am having and he just answered with him saying that he had passed the problem to thier "networking department", which is the same thing that happened 3 weeks ago when I told them the same thing was happening, they then said that they would get one of the engineers to call me, to which I heard nothing, the same thing was said this time, but I was not going to take that for an answer. I accused "Hassan" of fobbing me off which he accused me of verbally abusing him, I don't see how since saying this is not verbal abuse, regardless of where you are. I asked him to explain how saying he was fobbing me off was verbal abuse to which he refused to answer me. I said that I would be filing a complaint on Monday about him and I hung up the phone. The call was recorded and he it will be seen that I said nothing "abusive" and that I did nothing wrong.

This is in my view is a shortfall in customer service and is borderline incompetence.

I value other MSE users thoughts on this.

Thanks in advance.

AJXX

Sorry to burst your bubble but from what you wrote you sound demanding, aggressive and unreasonable.

If you have truly had 3 new sim cards then the issue is either your phone, local environment or the network in the area - if it's not the phone and you've not made any changes at home that might cause interference then it sounds like the call center was doing the correct thing by sending a report to the network engineer (note Vodafone likely don't own the mast or share masts, etc...) so these things take time to resolve.

Do you know anybody else with Vodafone having problems in the area? If not it's likely something to do with your phone or home.

The trick when dealing with any call center is to be patient, understanding and nice, no matter how angry or fobbed off you feel - because as soon as you start being arsey, the agent looses all willingness to help you, and at that point you're not going to get what you want because you're just yet another voice on the end of the phone whining at them - so they zone out and stick to their script/process like gospel.

You've started an uphill battle with Vodafone now, as no doubt the agent and subsequent person you spoke to have made notes, which future agents will read and automatically be cautious with you.

I know Vodafone CS can be rubbish, but you went totally the wrong way about this and forgot the golden rule of always be nice to someone you're expecting to help you.

On a side note; I fail to see how any of the agents actions justify "incompetence" - you admit yourself being "extremely annoyed and frustrated" - as far as I know most call centers these days allow their agents to terminate calls when the agent feels uncomfortable, I felt uncomfortable just reading it, no wonder they terminated the call.

I'd re-think how you deal with call centers from now on, you might view it as "shortfall in customer service and is borderline incompetence", but from what you wrote I'd suggest you where being a bit of a rear end and got what you deserved.

mobilejunkie

AJXX wrote: »

Sorry to burst your bubble but from what you wrote you sound demanding, aggressive and unreasonable.

If you have truly had 3 new sim cards then the issue is either your phone, local environment or the network in the area - if it's not the phone and you've not made any changes at home that might cause interference then it sounds like the call center was doing the correct thing by sending a report to the network engineer (note Vodafone likely don't own the mast or share masts, etc...) so these things take time to resolve.

Do you know anybody else with Vodafone having problems in the area? If not it's likely something to do with your phone or home.

The trick when dealing with any call center is to be patient, understanding and nice, no matter how angry or fobbed off you feel - because as soon as you start being arsey, the agent looses all willingness to help you, and at that point you're not going to get what you want because you're just yet another voice on the end of the phone whining at them - so they zone out and stick to their script/process like gospel.

You've started an uphill battle with Vodafone now, as no doubt the agent and subsequent person you spoke to have made notes, which future agents will read and automatically be cautious with you.

I know Vodafone CS can be rubbish, but you went totally the wrong way about this and forgot the golden rule of always be nice to someone you're expecting to help you.

On a side note; I fail to see how any of the agents actions justify "incompetence" - you admit yourself being "extremely annoyed and frustrated" - as far as I know most call centers these days allow their agents to terminate calls when the agent feels uncomfortable, I felt uncomfortable just reading it, no wonder they terminated the call.

I'd re-think how you deal with call centers from now on, you might view it as "shortfall in customer service and is borderline incompetence", but from what you wrote I'd suggest you where being a bit of a rear end and got what you deserved.

Have you ever used the normal routes for sorting out the endless problems which Vodafone create??

It doesn't matter how nice and patient you are - the outcome is invariably the same - i.e you start out with one problem of their creation and end up with ever increasing problems whilst being endlessly promised things which never happen.

I've had yet another problem with them today - so on Monday it'll be off to the Web Relations Team - AGAIN!!

OP I think you should have learnt your lesson by now - Vodafone telephone, chat and just about every other method you can use is a complete waste ot time. Don't waste even more of your time attempting to make a complaint; they will continue to fob you off, promise call-backs (yeah, right!!) and ignore letters. Follow the instructions and contact the Web Relations Team. THAT works.

OneADay

mobilejunkie wrote: »

Have you ever used the normal routes for sorting out the endless problems which Vodafone create??

It doesn't matter how nice and patient you are - the outcome is invariably the same - i.e you start out with one problem of their creation and end up with ever increasing problems whilst being endlessly promised things which never happen.

I've had yet another problem with them today - so on Moday it'll be off to the Web Relations Team - AGAIN!!

OP I think you should have learnt your lesson by now - Vodafone telephone, chat and just about every other method you can use is a complete waste ot time. Don't waste even more of your time attempting to make a complaint; they will continue to fob you off, promise call-backs (yeah, right!!) and ignore letters. Follow the instructions and contact the Web Relations Team. THAT works.

Well maybe you should stop using Vodafone and quit whining on for years on end about everything, repeating yourself again and again.

thetriggerhappypwner

I have been trying to resolve this for some time and got nowhere.

As for my phone being the problem; the nearest Vodafone transmitter is 2 miles away, I live on the second floor of a block of flats and am on the outskirts of a major city. I would expect to get a relatively decent signal, wouldn't you? I have a mate who is also on Vodafone, he has a similar phone to me and when he is here, he barely gets a signal if at all, his address is a mere feet from the transmitter I mentioned above and both of us get full service when we are there. I fail to understand how a signal that good up close could degrade to almost nothing over 2 miles otherwise that would mean that nobody has a signal if they live a mile or two from a transmitter surely.

I have already stated that if this matter is not resolved very soon, I shall cancel my contract and find an alternative to Vodafone, perhaps Virgin Mobile (broadband, phone and TV are already with Virgin Media and I have had a great service from them aside from one or two blips that you can expect given no service is fault free, but this has been over a period of 7 YEARS!) These issues with Vodafone have been going on for the last few months and it is appalling.

@mobilejunkie - I agree with you, this is why I would not allow him to arrange a non-existent call back that as you said would never happen.

@OneADay - I can't sadly, I am locked in to a contract until September 2016.

@AJXX - I have had my phone checked, several times and the engineer was unable to find anything wrong with it. The phone is working just fine, that rules out my phone and the SIM card because of this and the fact that a friend has a different phone and the same thing happens and he is lucky to get a signal if at all.

In places like Halesworth in Suffolk for example, I expect spotty service, there is no transmitter nearby, if I remember correctly, it is in Bungay, some 12 miles away, so in that regard, I accept it, but I dont live there, I live in a major city of hundreds of thousands of residents, and a transmitter only 2 miles away, I expect a good signal.

By the way, I have had full service, as in all the signal bars lit up, but that was a long time ago and on THE SAME PHONE that I have now.

forgotmyname

Norwich is a tiny spec though, number 38 on a list of urban areas by size, West Midlands and Greater Manchester are 10 times bigger in area. And more than 10x bigger in population.

Mate lives on the North side and he had to stick his head out of the upstairs bedroom window to get a decent signal.
Google the transmitters and see where the closest one is to you.

thetriggerhappypwner

This may be the case, but Norwich is still a big city...

mobilejunkie

OneADay wrote: »

Well maybe you should stop using Vodafone and quit whining on for years on end about everything, repeating yourself again and again.

Ah... you're back. I missed your brainless feedback.

warwicktiger

Message to the OP, welcome to the waiting list for the Ex Vodaphone users club, search the threads here, their incompetence will force you to change sooner or later!

There is a Vodaphone Rep on here, "Lee" I think from memory, he did make some progress but by then it was too late for me. You will continue to be fobbed off, save patience, go now!

Yes I may sound bitter, but its purely based on experience!

thetriggerhappypwner

As I have said, I am locked in to a contract until September 2016! I can't.

mobilejunkie wrote: »

Ah... you're back. I missed your brainless feedback.

Not sure I follow this...

warwicktiger

thetriggerhappypwner wrote: »

As I have said, I am locked in to a contract until September 2016! I can't.



Not sure I follow this...

You can if you pay up the contract!