Are Vodafone really that bad?

grumbler

I know they used to be notorious for their CS as a mobile provider,  but hoped they improved over years. Am I being punished now for my stupidity?

My broadband switch was scheduled on the 27th. Nothing happened on the 27th.

On the 28th my old router stopped working, but the new Vodafone one, when connected, just pathetically flashed a red light. My landline didn't work either as it's supposed to work through their router now.

Called them from my mobile - "You connection was delayed until the 31st" (!). Luckily, my mobile is currently with them, and they added unlimited internet for a month for using my mobile as a hotspot. Not bad, but my mobile isn't a mobile anymore as I'm not the only one in my house needing internet. And my wife working from home has some device needing LAN connection to a router.

And guess what - a email today from Vodafone saying "It's great to have you with us .... [ha-ha] To install the line for new broadband we need to send an engineer to your address on 07 Feb (!)  ... between 13:00 and 18:00 .... Please make sure that someone ... is at your address...". And nobody can be at home on the 7th, that means yet another delay.

Not so 'great' for me so far to be with them. And I don't think that anything is wrong with my landline as I switched BB provider many times without any 'engineers'.

Nebulous2

I've a post about them here.  Vodafone non-activation — MoneySavingExpert Forum

In that case they seem to have ordered a new line instead of a switch. It sounds as though they might have done the same to you - they're coming to install a new line. 

I have them and I'm actually fairly happy, I've rarely needed CS but the connection has been more stable than it was with my previous supplier. 

Mnoee

I'm with them for fibre to property and have had no issues - their engineer tried and failed to connect us on the day promised, but considering the ground was frozen solid and covered in snow and he still tried, I didn't mind too much that he had to finish off the next morning. That was around a year ago, and I've had no reason to contact them since. 

If it helps ease the frustration, they paid me a small amount of compensation for connecting me a single day late without any prompting. They're signed up to the ofcom scheme, so you should get about £50 for their mistakes. 

https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-telecoms-and-internet/advice-for-consumers/costs-and-billing/automatic-compensation-need-know

Stonesmike

Had fibre installed today and reading through my emails last night from Vodafone I should have received a new router.
The engineer tried the original router but no success, so back on the original connection and now wondering if going through the hassle of contacting Vodafone for a new router?

I have been quite satisfied with Vodafone thou.

grumbler

It's not full fibre here, but my leaflet shows the same router ('Vodafone WiFi hub') connected to 'fibre connection box' for full fibre.

Stonesmike

grumbler said:

It's not full fibre here, but my leaflet shows the same router ('Vodafone WiFi hub') connected to 'fibre connection box' for full fibre.

Yes after around 5 minutes after posting on here the wi-fi went down, fortunately for me I digged out the right wire connections ( engineer took new ones with him 🙆 ) and all good now.

peteh1

Stonesmike said:

Had fibre installed today and reading through my emails last night from Vodafone I should have received a new router.
The engineer tried the original router but no success, so back on the original connection and now wondering if going through the hassle of contacting Vodafone for a new router?

I have been quite satisfied with Vodafone thou.

Hi, Thinking of joining VF on full fibre, did install go as planned (on time) and comms ok ?

read a lot of negative comments so a little worried, did you keep a landline as thats partly why im considering them.

grumbler

peteh1 said:

Stonesmike said:

Had fibre installed today and reading through my emails last night from Vodafone I should have received a new router.
The engineer tried the original router but no success, so back on the original connection and now wondering if going through the hassle of contacting Vodafone for a new router?

I have been quite satisfied with Vodafone thou.

...did you keep a landline as thats partly why im considering them.

Not sure about full fibre, but in my case (FTTC) it's

Your Vodafone broadband service comes with a Digital Voice Landline - our next-generation technology.
If you use your home phone, please read this information carefully. Don't use it? You can ignore the rest of this message.
What is Digital Voice?
Digital Voice uses your broadband connection to make and receive calls instead of using the older telephone network.
This means, instead of plugging into your home's phone socket, you'll need to plug it into your wi-fi hub.
Why am I moving to Digital Voice?
Openreach have announced that they're shutting down the traditional telephone network and all customers will be using digital voice technology by 2025.
To prepare our customers for this change all our broadband plans now come with Digital Voice services as standard.

Stonesmike

peteh1 said:

Stonesmike said:

Had fibre installed today and reading through my emails last night from Vodafone I should have received a new router.
The engineer tried the original router but no success, so back on the original connection and now wondering if going through the hassle of contacting Vodafone for a new router?

I have been quite satisfied with Vodafone thou.

Hi, Thinking of joining VF on full fibre, did install go as planned (on time) and comms ok ?

read a lot of negative comments so a little worried, did you keep a landline as thats partly why im considering them.

The installation company phoned me about 3 hours earlier to see if it was okay to come there & then, it wasn’t a problem for me tbh. The internet is definitely a lot quicker and regarding the land line I don’t bother with it these days.

johnbhoy70

If nothing else that is absolutely shocking on communication levels alone!! 

sibby_cash

Has anyone found an escalation route for Vodafone customer service issues? They were supposed to connect my full fibre on 1Feb. Despite numerous calls and online chats, the appointment was not confirmed and the engineer didn’t show up. Now they are saying that they can’t even give me an update on the next available appointment until 20 Feb. I can’t get anywhere with CS but can’t find any numbers that would allow me to escalate the issue either. If anyone has had success I would welcome some advice.