Vodafone landline down for month with woman with heart condition and they do nothing.

hubb

elsien wrote: »

I'm struggling to see why you are unable to use a mobile when all you have to do is put the numbers in the same as with any phone. Many people your age and older use mobiles with no problem.
That doesn't excuse vodafones customer service but if being without a phone is so stressful then learning to use the mobile would be the obvious answer.

The issue is they have taken her landline service away, and being evasive as to why when pressed. She also has to pay for her calls when she had free calls on her landline as part of the deal.

Owain_Moneysaver

Norman_Castle wrote: »

Slightly odd that broadband is working but the phone isn't.

It's a fairly typical fault where there's a break in the wire - the broadband (being basically radio frequency) can jump the gap, but the phone requires a direct metallic connection.

One option for someone who needs a phoneline is to go to BT (or Talktalk) who offer free upgrades to Priority Fault Repair to eligible customers

http://bt.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/31633/~/i-rely-on-my-telephone-and-need-it-repaired-urgently

https://community.talktalk.co.uk/t5/Articles/Priority-Fault-Repair/ta-p/2204894

Or change to a company who are able to chase Openreach until a fault is resolved. Plusnet have a good reputation for this.

[Deleted User]

hubb wrote: »

I am writing on behalf of my 73 year old mother who lives alone with a heart condition. She signed up for the phone and broadband deal a few months ago. Around a month ago her landline went dead. She reported it. Vodafone said they were sending a BT engineer round next day. She waited and nobody came. After calling Vodaphone again she was told the engineer had been up a pole near her house. She spoke to more customer service people who both told her time slots for an engineer and both occasions nobody turned up. After complaining to the head of Vodaphone they sent her a pay as you go mobile (no credit) which she cannot use as she has no understanding of new 4G mobiles.

Even now she is being fobbed off with standard pre-written emails with jargon that goes over her head. I am genuinely concerned for her health as she is so stressed and without means for calling help on her landline. She is also paying full price for half a service.

I would appreciate the best advice possible, bearing in mind I am not the customer and have limited power. I just want the clowns to sort it.

Hopefully it's already been tried but has anyone plugged a different phone into the line to rule out a dead house phone?

hubb

Colin_Maybe wrote: »

Hopefully it's already been tried but has anyone plugged a different phone into the line to rule out a dead house phone?

Of course. New phone purchased and still dead.

JJ_Egan

( I need my landline back. I always was under the impression that a landline was the property of the houseowner more than some broadband provider. It cant have been theirs to take like that surely.)


No the landline is owned by Bt Openreach .
You neither own it nor your telephone number .




If you can use a phone or the internet you can use a mobile phone . That at least gives you a connection .
You are only 3 years older than me and many older people use a mobile .



I would phone Vodafone and ask for complaints .


How long is left on your contract ??
Not long or out of contract you can move .


BT BASIC

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6018252/bt-basic-line-rental-broadband-9-95

Croft12

victor2 wrote: »

Hi cracklingrose,

As suggested above, edit your post to remove your reference number.

Sort out with your son/daughter how to charge the phone you've been given and answer a call on it.

Then reply to the email and give them a time slot when you will be available to take a call. If you can have your son/daughter with you at that time then all the better. You can give Vodafone permission for somebody to handle your account on your behalf. It may need to be done in writing, but maybe an email will be sufficient.

If you're happy to handle the situaton by email, then you will at least have a written copy of the discussion. That of course takes longer, but anything said over the phone can be subject to misinterpretation and lack any proof of what was said.

Best advice there - give VF permission for your son/daughter to speak on your behalf. They used to let you do this verbally (indeed BT used to let me just say I had permission as long as I provided the account # for verification) but that may have changed.

elsien

hubb wrote: »

The issue is they have taken her landline service away, and being evasive as to why when pressed. She also has to pay for her calls when she had free calls on her landline as part of the deal.

Then has she asked that they divert landline calls to the mobile in the interim?
Surely that's still a better option than having no phone at all?

oldagetraveller

"Plusnet have a good reputation for this."
Really? I am not alone in thinking just the opposite.
I had an ongoing fault with my fibre broadband and PN arranged four OR visits to no avail. This was over a six months period so no urgency there.
They eventually washed their hands of it and said there was no fault. There most certainly was. They try always to blame the customer, the customer's equipment, the customer's internal wiring etc. all the time.
Because of this I moved, with the fault, to BT who were on the case to OR, the fault(external OR cable)was rectified within two weeks.

fchange

I have had a horrendous month after changing from BT to Vodafone. Broadband connection continually going down - once for 2 days. Spent hours on the phone - got to the point where I contacted CEO by linkedin that got me to the directors complaints line but still couldn't sort out the problem. I've had to change provider again. My advise if you are thinking of moving to Vodafone is don't.