I have constantly having poor coverage... That was not part of my contract with vodafone

I live in the Northern Suburbs of Darwin. I have no bars of reception in my house. If I go out into the middle of the backyard, I get 2 bars of reception max. Darwin city itself is a 10min drive from my house where I get 4-5 bars of reception. If I take myself to the shopping centre (10min drive in the opposite direction), I also get 4-5 bars of reception. Yet between these areas I get nothing. I do not understand how it is so difficult to provide such a small city that Darwin is with decent coverage in its surrounding suburbs. If I was driving out of town, I do not expect decent reception without 3G coverage, but when you are literally a 10-15min drive from anything in Darwin and its suburbs, that there are only a few key locations where I can get a decent amount of reception. I stay with Vodafone because I like what is incorporated into the Cap Plans and Cap Prepaid options, however it is very irritating that I cannot sit inside and make a phone call. And even when I do make phone calls (in the middle of the yard), more often than not the call will drop-out, because the reception dropped out for a minute or two for reasons unbeknownst to me. Grrrr!

My phone dropped out constantly and had no service when it went to the 3g network. Despite hours on the phone numerous suggestions the phone still did not work. So I changed networks to 3 what a joke now the same problem since Vodafone took over. I will be looking at different networks when my contract ends.

I have 3 businesses and I work from home. I have bought my IPhone on a Vodaphone contract. Marketing is critical for any business. It sounds pathetic - each 3rd time I speak to a client my phone reception breaks down and the call is cut off. Also, when I go to rural areas for my work - there is NO reception. How can I live 15kms from the CBD and only have 60% reception?!!!!!

My area used to get a minimum of three bars, now we are lucky to get any signal at all. Enough for occasional sms to get through/be sent but hopeless for phone calls. Vodafone denies any knowledge of service problems in our area and recommended the phone needs replacing. 3 different phones (using the vodafone network) need replacing? I don't think so!

Hi,

i have two major issues with vodafone since moving from 3, which are:
1) Call drop out. My wife is on vodafone and whenever i called here i have to always dial 2 or 3 times in order to complete our conversation. Quite frustrating.
2) As soon as i am away from Melbourne city there is no vodafone network, and i don't know why it also does not goes to roaming to any other network (not quite sure vodafone has roaming contract with which other company).

Have been just 5 months with vodafone, don't know how will i be able to continue my remaining contract with so much issues. Vodafone has not provided the service which is required. Regret to move from 3 to vodafone.

I have been on vodafone for nearly 2 years and have also shared the usual pain of contant dropouts and no reception. Ever since i started my service with vodafone i have experienced these problems, recently i called vodafone customer service to upgrade my plan and was on hold for a total of one hour and a half and in that hour and a half i spoke to 3 different departments. Customer Service put me on hold for 45 minutes and then I was informed that I was put through to the wrong department which was Sales and was then put on hold for a further 45 minutes to have the phone answered and to be told to please hold whilst he checked my account. All this only to be hung up on.... What a waste of my time. This is not good enough Vodafone, YOU ARE A JOKE!

They keep fropping out as an emergency service member good coverage is very important

calls constantly drop out
calls go directly to VM without ringing
VM's can take 12, 24 hours + to be received
cannot get coverage when travelling ie Central Coast, Regional Vic, anywhere on the Hume Hwy
cannot get data coverage in multiple places.

I have been with vodafone for 15 years..that makes no difference to them these days...customer loyalty. They never used to be like this...obviously the CEO's are getting greedy.
I purchased an iphone in March 2010 with a 2 year contract. It is my business phone. all the issues I have had, like dropping out, can't hear people, when I hang up the phone freezes, a lot of the time I have no reception whatsoever..I live and work in Randwick. The whole thing is crap and the worst thing is I can't compalin about it and don't know how to...because they don't answer the phone...and if after a 30-40 minute wait..they answer...the phone cuts out and no-one calls you back. I am in full support of any action against Vodafone, has this all happened because the CEO's want to cut costs and make more money themselves whilst we all suffer?

I often receive voicemail messages hours, if not days, after they have been left. MMSs are also frequently delayed to my phone. I work in Blacktown South and once I enter the carpark I lose all reception for my working day [8 - 9 hours].

Poor 3G reception and call drop out

can't get reception, calls fall out when in the car going under a flyover, or just going into our apartment; we have to sit on the balcony to be able to talk on the phone.

How about setting up a complaints area for NZ Vodafone customers. I have spent the last 3 years complaining about coverage in our area. Every time a sales rep rings, every survey I'm asked to complete, complaining to customer service, asking to speak to someone in their technical area who could help, emailing their website has been ignored. We live 3-4km as the crow flies from a major cell site, our settlement has limited reception but unpopulted areas further away have excellent reception

customer service is appalling, coverage is not good abd Lara is hard to cope with.
Service is unreliable and hard to conduct my business. I have been trying to resolve an USB Modem issue for 3 days

I changed jobs last October so had to get a new plan. When I signed up with vodafone I SPECIFICALLY asked about coverage for my street as I had previously had poor reception with optus but good reception with Telstra. The shop people showed me the green coverage map but I asked them to ring vodafone about my specific street. The response was First avenue in Jannali is sweet, no problems at all. The reality is service alternates between one bar and no service. Every call drops out, I have missed jobs,it has cost me money, it takes up to four days for text msgs .... In short my vodafone mobile is unusable at home.... Yet they say this is "sweet" .... It is a downright lie!

Was very cranky to find that my mobile got no reception in my local shopping centre, where my friends mobile (Telstra) worked perfectly.

I used to be a loyal Vodafone customer. I've been with them since the 90's and i'm afraid i have to start looking for a new provider.
Here's my tale.

I picked up an iphone 3GS particularly for 3G data access and particularly liked the fact that Voda offered free tethering so i could use it as a 3G modem when i am out in the field. Data has never been particularly fast, but i wasn't concerned. Since about mid 2010 though, data access on my iphone has been extremely slow and sometimes non-existent. Complained back then, no outcome.
September, went to NZ and used data to get Ski reports. The data access was much better there, and i used a fair bit. Happy to pay the bill, but got a call after i got back telling me i had to make a part payment on my phone bill to cover the excess. The operator was rude and persistent, quoting contract clauses to me. Naturally i told them to piss off and i paid it on my normal bill date. That made me angry. I got an apologetic phone call a week later, but the guy still wanted me to pre-pay. Ha ha very funny.
A few weeks later in October, my wife had a baby. Out of 30 SMS's that i sent after the birth, 5 reached their recipients, so a lot of my closest friends were put out when "i forgot them". Data access still slow, useless most times. Missing and late voicemails, SMS's etc. Complained again, was told it was my phone.
Shortly after, i dropped the phone, it broke so i claimed on insurance. Relatively painless process, except the store refused my request for a loan phone (even when i pointed out the ACCC finding) and it took a month to come back as a refurb unit. Lucky i was able to borrow an old phone from a mate. Interestingly, i had the same problems with voicemails and data once it came back Now, the phone has failed within the 3 months insurance warranty. Won't power on. I've made calls to Marsh (Voda insurance), the Voda call centre (useless), and 3 trips to stores and everyone is bouncing me to someone else and won't take the phone. One of the stores even bounced me to another store because they had no logins to their systems due to the 24 hour password changes after the privacy leak. Not to mention i can't get my bills from the links they email me so i have no opportunity to check them. I was charged a weird amount last month and i can't see the bill to make sure that i'm not being overcharged.
Another interesting thing is that the guy at the store i was last at mentioned that if i turn 3G off on the iphone, it works better. Isn't 3G kinda the point of a decent data network these days?

So, i think the TIO is my next stop. I would rather allow vodafone to sort this out, but they don't seem to want to and i can't think of anything worse than to spend another 2 hours waiting on hold again.

very poor reception when i am inside my house, call is constantly dropping out, and sometimes no network at all.
location of my area : http://maps.google.com.au/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Perrett+Avenue,+St+Albans,+Victoria&aq=0&sll=-37.736539,144.816467&sspn=0.009214,0.021136&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Perrett+Ave,+St+Albans+Victoria+3021&z=16

My iPhone stopped receiving MMS, calls drop and i get patches of no coverage in my CBD. I email their support, they auto-resolve my complaint with a bullshit FAQ page, make me reopen my own complaint, then tell me I've contacted the wrong department (via their own online form) and resolve it again. I tell them to forward it if the recipient is too useless to answer. Finally this happens, and they call four hours later than I specified, leaving VM that they'll try again same time next day - because the inept person in the first place couldnt give them the right time. I try to email again to give them the right time, since they won't leave a callback number, and they resolve it with "we're an outbound callcentre."

Thank god I've contacted the TIO. I just want out of my contract...I'm done with their ineptitude.

I gave up on Vodafone here in NZ after about a year of their pre-pay service. Their systems were just too stupid, their staff too condescending and unhelpful and their prices too high. We are blessed here with a new player in the field who saw the holes in Vodafone's service and decided they could do it better. I hope they survive.

On the matter of poor reception: a common cause is proximity to a PC. PCs are very efficient broadband radio noisemakers as well as being a common place for cellphones to live, be tethered and to charge. If you phone suddenly comes back to life when you get >10m from your computer, there you are.

Iphone 4s are a different matter, there your mistake is holding the thing in your hand.

Thanks for bringing Vodafone to task. They really are that fatal combination of useless and arrogant.

Sometimes I can't send or receive texts or calls or connect to the internet even when I have full coverage. They can't tell if it's my handset or their service. Sometimes my texts send 5 times. I use an LG Secret. Want to know who is at fault before I get a new phone

My really annoying issue with Vodafone is that I have sent text/MMS messages to local friends less than 50km away, and they either receive them a day later, or when I send a picture message, it fails to send, so I delete the unsent message from my phone, next thing they receive the message 4-5 times. This has happened with both text and picture messages. I have also sent text messages to my family to pick me up from somewhere and the message has not yet reached them, due to my coverage being so low (I am in Sydney metro area) so I have to either use a payphone to call instead. Usually around 5-24 hours later, they then receive my message.

dropped calls. bad reception in RYDE. it's like living in a 3rd world country

plans and deals are good with vodafone but they cant back it up with good coverage. When i search the web it takes ages to load simple pages. A few times lately it said i had 3G reception but it said no reception when i tried to go on the web? They need to give better reception

coverage not so much an issue, but all ive wanted to do for 23 months out of a 24 month contract is get my F-ING phone fixed, sick of being pushed back and forward to the store and the phones, not one person accepted responcibility for it. and the lovely machine i spoke to always said that it would do everything to help me, i dont see how spending 8 hours over 3 days on hold BEFORE i got to speak to anyone is helping. feel sorry for the people on the phones a little cause the hold time just sets up an argument.
VODA couldnt organise a shag in a brothel.

Lack of reception and calls dropping out. Also too much trouble getting on the net. Customer service very poor lately!

No mess but lots of frustration. On my occassions, calling from outside the front door of the house to Vodafone mobile inside the house and the response was 'No coverage' whereas calling the other mobile phones (Telstra & Optus) in the house were perfectly fine. These calls were made in the Perth metropolitan (10km from Perth CBD).

When I approached the Vodafone shop, the Customer Service Personnel told me it was either a faulty SIM (which they could replace) or a faulty mobile phone unit. I did both but the problem still persist.

The real problem lies with the VODAFONE RECEPTION.

I am constantly dropping out of service with Vodafone all of a sudden. I have been with Vodafone for the last 8 years and for the last 3 - 6 months I have had nothing but drama drama drama. I know that it has gone down hill because now it doesn't work in places that it used to. I will be on a business call and it drops out and it just looks sooooo unprofessional.
The plans / customer service etc are fantastic but having no reception or consistency is the problem.
In addition, you can't always dial out because it says "congestion".
It is ridiculous and causes a lot of trouble. Text messages also sometimes don't come to me or they can take hours.
Am OVER the "SOS" signal being on my phone.

Despite being in a regional location, I received reasonable reception from Vodafone, although I will occasionally have calls drop out, or go direct to voice mail. However, using the internet through my phone is appalling. I've gone the extreme of purchasing a Telstra Prepaid Wi-Fi device for data access. In my view, Vodafone have sorted their voice/text issues, by switching on 3G out here, but need to lift their game for data.

I have been a Vodafone prepaid customer for around 8 years and NEVER EVER have a had such crappy service until now. My text messages are CONSTANTLY delayed to the point of not receiving things that have been sent to me days previously. I don't get texts to advise me of voicemail messages when they are left and when i do, quite frequently i'll get more than one message leading me to call again thinking someone has left another message when in fact there is nothing. What a waste of credit. My internet is unbelievably slow and more often than not, wont connect in the first place. Frequently, when i try to make a call my phone just says, Network Busy or No Network Coverage. My service drops out continually from full bars to absolutely nothing all of a sudden. This happens quite frequently when i'm on a call and ironically happened the three times i attempted to call Customer Care yesterday. When i eventually spoke to someone regarding my problems they advised there were apparently no service problems in my area (i think the reason for my call and the difficulties to even get through to a Vodafone number clearly proves that little theory incorrect but whatever you say love) and that i can change my network settings to manually search for another provider such as Telstra or Optus if i do not have Vodafone service in a particular area. I queried whether using another provider was going to cost me more money when making calls etc and the operators reply was to tell me they couldn't guarantee it wouldn't. So why wouldn't i just change to Telstra or Optus? Apparently she had no script for answering this question. I was also offered "100 free minutes" as an apology for my inconviences. As my main reason for calling was because i had lost most of my credit the previous day sitting on hold to a 13hundred number (for unrelated reasons) and continually being disconnected and having to call back, i asked if this "100 free minutes" would work for any number? 'Oh yes, yes any number maam'. So i can call a landline or 13hundred number and use these "free minutes"? i asked. Oh no it's only to mobiles. SO IT'S NOT TO ANY NUMBER THEN? I hung up from this 'Customer Care Operator' feeling more disgruntled than before i had made the call (well, technically three calls). Not only did i have no real solution to my reported problems, the only thing she could suggest was going to cost ME more money!! I have always praised Vodafone in the past on their great deals for Prepaid customers and good service. But i am so greatly dissapointed by not only the problems but the lack of service when i called regarding these problems that once my supposed "free minutes" have been used, i'll be looking for a new provider. Any recommendations?

I had a vodafail broadband connection that worked for 2 weeks over a 4 month period. When I contacted vodafail they advised me that I was in a poor reception area... I live in the middle of the sydney cbd...whhaat? They then told me that there was no complaints department for their support area, only for billing disputes. I pointed out to them that this was a breach of telco law in this country and they completely ignored me and said that they would pass my complaint onto the relevant area... what area would that be if there is no complaints department for the support area? After months of no data connection i finally told them to cancel my broadband at no charge to me and they agreed as (in their words) "We are in breach of your contract as we could not supply you with a good internet connection". I have retained my mobile phone with them but I am sure it will only be for a limited time as I expect that their connectivity issues are only going to get worse not better unless enough people complain. Good on you Adam for setting this up. The power of the people will succeed!

I am away for the weekend in an area with stuff all coverage
I have been trying to divert my calls to a land line on my handset and it doesnt work
I have tried on the website and there is a communication error
i have called 1555 and told there is a 20 min wait
is this because Vodafail customers are calling in their droves to complain again
This "service" is now beyond a joke and i have called other companies to move my acc over
enough is enough

Im currently contracted with 3, the same issues are occuring with my services that vodaphone customers are experiencing. Am I able to join the class action? Are 3 and vodaphone seperate companies or as they have "merged" am I able to attempt to have my contract cancelled? I cant call customer service as I have no coverage, when I do the service will only allow roaming which I believe costs more!! Anyone out there have any information or are in the same situation?

im so sick of the reception, its got worst. i can barley get it at my parents house but before xmas i got full reception!!! how does that work.
Mobile internet has been absolutely atrocious. Connection and reception has been good, but the downloads are non-existent and I live in the city!!. its so slow and it times out all the time! where i live it should not be like this. considering changeing to another company if it does not improve

Mobile internet has been absolutely atrocious. Connection and reception has been good, but the downloads are non-existent and I live in the city!!. Downloads fail in front of your shops. How disgraceful is that?

Metro Sydney. Not able to get any downloads thru my prepaid broadband usb dongle.
This has been the case for the last 4 DAYS. Good reception and connects ok but cannot download a thing. Absolutely useless, VodaStuffed,VodaUseless.
I have had to dig out my slow old Telstra prepaid dongle to get connected to the net again.
I am not even going to bother to call LARA and get the customer service runaround,been there done that.
Vodafone network status web page indicates there are no service outages in NSW.
Yeah right, what absolute bullshit.
Vodafone, I hope you go totally bankrupt, as you have totally failed your customer base.
I am going to take my Vodafone dongle outside and smash it to tiny pieces with a hammer and send it to the do nothing CEO, then sign up for the Class Action.

Vodafone provides 2 gig of data every month on my plan and i hardly use it as i can't browse or download at all due to reception problem. As everyone mentioned, call dropping is not a new thing. Terrible service. Haven't called call center yet to complain but i heard upto 2 hrs wait time..?? What a Joke.

i signed up to get vodafone mobile broadband (The USB dongle thingy) it took 2 months for it turn up, I was billed for the first month. After much complaining the refunded the months charges and then gave me 3 months free, which never happened. I gave up on that over time.

For the past 2 months, the internet drops out every 2-3 mins but never disconnects. However the green light disappears and then comes back again.

I live in the Knox region in east Melb, yet signal strength is always between 2 and 3 bars. I upgraded the firmware and the software. The problem still persists.

I'm using Windows 7 on a dell mini.

Also, my mobile is with Vodafone, and it regularly drops out in several places if I'm talking while on the train. Black spots are at Heathmont, Nunawading, Blackburn, Box Hill, Surrey Hills and Canterbury. I used to have a Telstra mobile and it worked perfectly fine the whole way through.

The coverage maps shows strong signal for the whole area where I live and work etc. There's a even a black spot walking down Auburn Rd, Hawthorn.

I hope I can cancel the plan in Feb/March (about 6 months early) with no cost, so that I can get ADSL again and get a much more reliable mobile carrier.

Never have I been so disgruntled before. And I'm someone who has a very high threshold for this sort of stuff. Generally I can live with it and it won't bother me, but this is so frustrating. I can't use the internet yet they'll still charge me for it.

1- Reception drops out, and dialing out is an issue at times. A touch of irony is that when the Call centre called me back the call dropped out.
2- Worst Call centre ever. Can't understand a word they're saying and the connection is poor too. Even when you explain the problem they are clueless in solving it. Couldn't even work out from the mobile number details of the deal you had signed up on, had to call them back with an order number. Even when this happened they said no deal existed.People are poorly trained and they have hired a bunch of incompetent mugs.
3- Ridiculous long waiting times when contacting the Call Centre
Once the plan expires, so will my time with Vodafone forever.I will never recommend this telco to anyone.

I get 0 to 1 bar of reception in my house which means I sometimes drop calls.
On my trip from home to work via train, My reception varies significantly from station to station, some stations have a 3-4 bars other stations have 0-1 bar or no reception at all and I'm forced to use GSM networks. This is horrible any internet use.
In the Airport tunnel, Optus and Telstra have 3G reception, Three/Voda has none.
Plans are comparatively expensive now, and reception is poor, I'm moving to Optus/TPG/Telstra when this damned contract ends

1. My wife is on vodaphone. Coverage in Launceston coverage is pathetic and non existent on the east coast.
2. I am on telstra and I get a monthy text reminding me to pay my vodaphone account!!! I have never been with vodaphone and never will be.
3. Last year we spent three months travelling around SA, VIc and NSW ...mostly inland regions. Telstra coverage was excellent while vodaphone was virtually non-existant. This was a huge eye-opener for us. The wife has only 5 months left on the contract and cannot wait!

Too many reception black spots around Melbourne and outer suburbs.

1 Example: Since approx 1998 same 500m-1km radius on Camberwell Rd
Camberwell Rd Just near where it meets Glen Iris road, you will drop
you call without fail...that's if you can get reception.
(Telstra/Optus no issue whatsoever)


Too many country/rural area's no reception at all.

1 Example: Tarwin Lower / Venus Bay (Gippsland Vic)
You cannot get reception! Has been like this as
long as i can remember... circa 1994-1996.
As soon as you go past Inverloch forget it.
Have to drive to beach 5 carpark at Venus Bay,
jump fence walk to highest sand dune or stand up on
the park bench to get reception across the inlet back
to Inverloch/Wonthaggi (line of sight/weather dependent).
(Telstra/Optus, no issue all areas)

Billing.

When I was on contract with vodafone, invoices were never correct, seemed
to be always a month behind.

Customer Service.

A long time ago, before Lara also, used to very good.
I used to call them about my inaccurate invoices and staff would
be very helpful/knew the systems and products, or who to transfer
to if they could not help.

Now with that hindrance of Lara and when you get a staff member,
it can be really difficult, some need more training.

OMG The staff at vodafone stores, dont ask them for help, they have to use Lara!
How stoopid is that.

As a customer service representative and sales person at the store you should have full access to assist customers.

I have been with VF for years now. I never had to many call drop outs until more recently with an iPhone. With every call I make it will drop out at least 2-3 times in a short conversation. This is increasingly frustrating for me, as I am trying to run a business using VF's crappy 'service' and I'm the one looking like an idiot to my clients. I have found that the newer phones are the ones that are dropping out more frequently. In my own house where I usually get full reception, I am constantly out of service.

No coverage at all at my new work even though it says it is a covered area and even outside. Been on hold for 45mins twice only to hear that there was a technical issue and I'd have to call back. Sent 2 emails with no response. Still have not spoken to anyone after 25 days. Got my first email response yesterday saying that i would get contacted by their technical team soon and just added up the cost for me to cancel my contract! I pay a monthly cap yet I have probably sent a total of 3 texts only so probably spent less that $1 of my cap :( I just want to talk to someone!!! Bah!!!

We live in Bairnsdale and have two phones with Vodafail. Quite often we cannot even get coverage to call on.......it was OK until a few months ago and has just got worse and worse........

Where to start? I live in Dunedin NZ, actually in a village just 25Km south of the city centre. For 14 YEARS I have been trying to get coverage improved by VF! The latest generation of phones are worse than ever, coverage is now less than 25% of what it used to be and yet I still have to pay full monthly rates. Multiple calls, letters, pleadings, letters to the papers. NOTHING but broken promises! Aside from no coverage or the multiple dropped calls the international roaming charging is nothing short of a rip off. My latest bill of $500+ following two weeks in OZ is case in point. I even turned OFF all data roaming services and made or received hardly any calls as I was using Skype over a WiFi connection. There are charges for data on the account that don't even conform to their own reported charging plans. Go figure?

almost everyday no reception for no reason. Ye4sterday had major issues regarding this where i i was unable to make any calls or send messages.

Signed up again for 2yrs about 6mths ago because last time I was with this Telco, I found them great.I did my homework and looked at coverage maps, talked to vodafone staff in stores about coverage etc to make sure that they could meet my needs. I was told that in my area there was full 3G coverage and was only getting better as the tower upgrades would be completed in the very near future. I took the plunge and resigned. Mistake. Every time I call another Vodafone mobile (for free) it cuts out after a few minutes, not to mention that the service in my house is very patchy considering I live in a metropolitan area. The internet / apps are painful to load and have only gotten worse over the time. Coverage is unreliable, and like so many out there was told that it must be my handset and they swapped SIM cards. Coverage is worse. I feel thst customer service has slipped dramatically since I was last with this carrier and I feel they are just reading from a cheat sheet and do not understand what they are talking about. I am very dissappointed with my Vodafone experience this time and I am really hoping that I can get out of my contract as they have not fulfilled their part of the agreement and provided me with the services that I pay for. Not happy and neither is my workplace because they cannot contact me half of the time.

I have been with Vodafone for more than 4 years and recently moved from Melbourne cbd (where I experienced limited drop-outs and relatively good network connection) to ALbury, NSW. Since the move, I have had constant drop outs and hardly any network connection. I have an Iphone and was advised by customer service, after waiting 45minutes, to try turning the handset on and off. If it was a handset problem I would of been having issues in Melbourne. They have now told me they are looking into the network coverage in my area and I should have a response in about 7 days... We'll see...

Also, to the people that come on here and say that Vodafone customers should stop complaining, that we pay less than other providers so should expect some of these issues.. This is a site generated for people to air their grievances you morons. And why come onto this site to say stop complaining anyway? Have you nothing better to do with your time?

I have been a Vodafone customer for several years now, and until recently (since new year 2011) I have had no real problems with Vodafone.
Just in the last week I had found that there was a couple of times I stepped outside our office building in the area around Morningside/Colmslie in Brisbane, and had a barrage of SMS messages advising me of missed calls and a few SMS messages come through at once.
Missed calls? Had me thinking as to what is going on, as I have never had any service issues in that area previously.
This happened a few times over the last week or so, and one day I went to send an SMS or make a call in the office and I found I had no service, my phone sould see the Optus, Telstra, 3Telstra networks, but no Vodafone!
By now I'm wondering if my phone had developed a fault. I have a spare phone, a bit older but works OK. Same result. No service at the office.
That night I discovered that I had similar issues at home, where previously I have had no issues.
Further tests revealed that I could see other networks but not Vodafone, and there was obviously nothing wrong with my phone.
I called Vodafone's customer service, and I'm on the phone for an hour before I manage to talk to somebody, for whom English was obviously not her first language, it then took me another 15 mins to get her to understand that I was having service issues. She advised me that they were not aware of any problems with the network, I should get my phone checked, or purchase a new phone because mine was likely faulty.
I explained my tests and results, she took more details and advised me that somebody would contact me back, I gave her my vodafone number and a Telstra mobile number to get me on, in case the Vodafone number didn't get me.

I'm still waiting for that call back.

Yesterday, I did notice that my Vodafone phone was suddenly working OK in the office building, I once again had service as I did before, and the service had improved at home, but it never seems to be the same from day to day.

All these problems with service/lack of service have come about after Vodafone's merger with 3, so it would seem.

I'm not happy!

i have been a long term customer of vodafail, however during the past 8 months and esp the past 6. My service has become worse and worse. I live in a melbourne suburb with plenty of phone towers around and still my reception disappears and i also have the call just disengage while in on a call.

I have called vodaphone several times and followed there assistance and changed sim cards and even went to apple and obtained a new i phone, and performed a reset of the phone. i had there credit department call me back and after explaining to them the issues at great length and repeating myself they had no solution, even while i was on that particular call the phone disengaged as usual and i didnt even get a return call.

i explained to them that i am a truck driver and i cannot be pulling over each time i want to make a call, and i cant afford to be seen even touching my phone while in transit. I am sick of calling people back sometimes 3 -4 times in the course of ten minutes, also there are volume issues where the people i am speaking with can bearly hear me or the sound fades in and out.

I hope sometime comes out of this submission. When i have 2 hours spare again i will be calling them back !

The data network is MIA - missing in action. I have numerous examples of no coverage larges parts of the city, and suburbs. Also with my iPhone, any complaint is pointed at the device

Apart from dropping out up to 30 times a day last week (including one call where I dropped out over 8 times) I went into the North Sydney branch of Vodafone to get my new Blackberry replaced as the one I have is faulty. I showed the duty manager the issue with the phone delaying by up to 10 seconds when I am making calls and also the fact that when I use the answer and hold the call function it hangs up on the other caller. The duty manager then pulled up my phones details and stated that as I had bought it 50 days ago they would replace it there and then as it was outside the 28 day warranty to immediately replace a faulty hand piece. Obviously I wasn't happy about this and sighted that under the Trade Practices act they must replace a faulty good when deemed within a fair and reasonable time (which when only owning a phone for 50 days is of course more than fair and reasonable time). The manager wasn't able to provide me with a written copy of this policy and to date I haven't received the e-mail as promised of this policy. I also asked where they kept their copy of the trade practices act so we could review this in the store which they didn't have. Finally I asked that Vodafone's in-house council please call me to discuss this legal issue and obviously like most people who are with Vodafone I have had no reply. I have a SME with over 22 mobile phones so like many of you I will be changing all the phones over to another network when the phones come up for renewal :)

I always thought that there must be bad reception at my house and at my office. Now after vodafail I realise that maybe it is Vodafone is the problem. So many times I am talking to my niece and she says "I can't hear you" I always thought "must be because I am on a bus/train". Actually there is bad reception everywhere.

I am sick of this i never have reception for like 3hours at a time. I keep trying to make calls but get service not available which is a load of crap then why does my phone have full bar reception showing. Also i can never get reception to get onto the internet. This is ridiculous now i know how vodafone make their money but getting people on plans and not letting them use any of their cap usage! I am wasting my money paying for a service i cant even use. Get your act together vodafone! management need their rich asses booted out on the streets! Wake up vodafone this is daylight robbery!!!

Hi again, I work in Potts Point, NSW, just near King's Cross. My vodafone deal stated that I would be entitled to reception (perhaps a small ask), but on countless occasions I was able to receive a call, then a message like 'service unavailable'. Then, I moved out of the office to a make a call. Boy, my 'phone bill was high. So I'm faced with a mostly useless, expensive service... For what? My money! And when I call to complain, it costs, unless I call the 1555 number. This often takes 20-30 minutes or more, with no guarantee of a good outcome. It's the "faceless vodafone" syndrome. After several emails, a chap called Dirk kindly reduced my $338 bill by $100. Still, that's not enough. I want to get out of my vodafone contract ASAP

I recieved a text MSG from them saying your bill is going to be $179 (from a $69 cap) due to usage outside of your cap MSG **** for more information. So I MSG that number and recieve a text saying this number is currently unavailable please try again later (I wonder if they'll charge for both msgs...) so I call the number and recieve a detailed outline of my cap which says I have $393 of $400 'credit' available! So I call information for a WTF and get told 'sorry we cannot access that information as we are generating a bill for you, please call back in 7 days' WTF PEOPLE??!! 7 days to explain what you are doing?! Apparantly there is NO ONE within the company that could answer my question! ALSO I have the typical reception issues, i do have to say that my reception was fine up until a few months ago just after my son was born now it only works if I disable my 3G connection and only sometimes. I have people recieving msgs at 3am that I sent at 3pm - some only recieve half the MSG and some not at all. The icing on the cake was tonight, I had a car issue and was too scared of risking driving it home just in case I couldn't use my phone that I left it at a friends and she drove me home - at midnight! Now this was just movies with a mate - what if I was out with my 4month old son and I broke down in the 30 degree heat? It scares me, the whole purpose of my phone is redundant. END RANT! thank you website for letting me get this out!

choosing vodafone is possibly the worst decision i have ever made. i regret choosing them every single day. i drop out of service in most places and become un contactable. if only i wasnt locked in to a contract for another year. worst. network. ever.

Vodafone's pricing is pretty good but their network coverage and speed in all non-metropolitan areas on the west coast are a joke. I'd be better off with dial up rather than use the pre-paid wireless "broadband" stick I brought. They should really be called "wireless dial-up" sticks :P

happy to add my voice to all the others. I live in an isolated backwater called Randwick, and my iPhone spends more time "Searching" or "No Service" than actually connected to anything.
Only positive is that most the time my wife cannot contact me. Damn.
Got better reception during a recent trip to Noumea than I ever get here: despite Cyclone Vania!!
Thing is, generally complaining doesn't help. There are three ways to get your point across 1) with your feet, as you walk away, 2) with your wallet, as you close it, and 3) at the ballot box
I wouldn't be paying Vodaphone the compliment of actually complaining, because that betrays a naive faith that they would do something about it. Any company that allows its name to be as trashed as this clearly is being run by fools and clearly will not survive.
Make room down there in that grave OneTel, here comes Voda

I'm on a Vodafone $100 per month infinite plan and experience about a 40% dropout rate. That is, 40% of the calls I make and receive drop out mid-conversation. This rate is higher when I call other mobile phones whose carrier is Vodafone.

As somebody whose business relies so heavily on a working mobile phone network, signing onto this contract is one of the worst decisions I've ever made. So bad in fact, that I've asked Vodafone to release me from the contract because they have breached their Standard Terms of Agreement, which can be found here: http://www.vodafone.com.au/stelprd/groups/webcontent/documents/webcontent/dev_007573.pdf .

We were contacted by a vodafone agent a few months ago and offered a new phone on a 2 year plan. The wife said yes and received the phone. The paper work contained fraudulant details, including phone numbers that were supposed to be our home number but was an interstate number, false email addresses and other details. For the month that she had it she was unable to make phone calls the majority of the time. The free 3 months and $10 off per month was not provided as promised and we spent hours on the phone getting this added to our account. That took many phone calls to finally sort out. We also spent hours on the phone on our weekend trying to contact customer service in regards to not been able to make phone calls. On one phone call to customer service they hung up on us after they were unable to resolve our complaint. That was very rude! In the end we went to the ombudsman. So then vodafone called us (I dont know how they managed to get through with their rubbish network), the guy on the phone blamed my wife for the network issues and said that he would send her a simpler phone if she couldnt work out how to use the one she had. In the end we had the contract cancelled thanks to the ombudsman. Stay away from vodaphone!

I have major reception problems and I live close to the Sydney CBD. I was outside Star City the other day and had zero reception and couldn't receive an important call. Also have delayed texts and voicemail and call drop outs. I've had ENOUGH!! What the hell am I paying for?? I'm changing carriers tomorrow. Good riddance VF

I changed to VF 2 years ago and regret the day I signed the contract. I've had problems since that first day. I live 10 minutes from the CBD in Adelaide and my phone constantly drops out. Friends say they text me messages that I hardly ever get or they appear hours later. I work in the city of Adelaide and I sometimes do or sometimes don't get reception in my office. I've got 2 months to go and I can't wait to get out of this terrible nightmare...good bye VF

I think that all you vodafone customers that are having problems with your service should all just step back and think about what you are saying. Out of the three top talco's that been (Telstra, Optus and vodafone) Vodafone is the only one that was able to finally provide customers with unlimited call and texts and a new phone for $45, now at the end of the day when you have all finish having a cry to vodafone you might consider the fact yes you maybe getting call drops but at the same time you are paying alot less for alot more. Everyone knows that Telstra has the best coverage, you all new that when you signed up for a voda contract that it would not match to telstra's coverage, so it is really your fault that you are too cheap to spend the extra, i personally have had all of the problems described with vodafone and with three, however i do not complain because i like paying less even if it means call drops. You have all got to consider Vodafone's situation that they are currently preparing their network including merging of three hardware with voda, to cope with all the new customers plus all the ones from three so i would expect there to be some issues . I believe that things will get a lot worse before they get better and when they do get better aussie people will finally have descent coverage without having to pay through the roof IE TELSTRA.

Website is terrible,coverage patchy service disgusting,says it all really

Ever since I adopted the smartphone system in December 2009, I chose Vodafone due to their competitive plans and was unable to do any research (due to purchasing the phone as a replacement for a lost one).

I have never fully been satisfied with Vodafone's performance. Slow, continual dropouts of Phone and 3g signal and occasional delays in SMS. But in the last 3 months the dropouts have increased signifcantly and the network is slower than it has ever been.

I have troubleshooted till the cows come home no avail. I can understand the poor coverage, but poor provision of services is not good enough.

I live in Sydney, the coverage is sooo poor. People tell me they have tried to call but it doesn't even register on my phone. When I do get a voicemail that makes it through it takes about a day to get to me.. What the??

3G network is terrible, would be faster with two tins and string. Please fix it voadafone.

I am living in the Melbourne and I am constantly getting a message says there is no internet connection and my calls constantly drop out too. This is so frustrating and I couldn't believe that I have such a poor reception in the city.

I have tried to call Vodafone customer service which I believe in it was based in India and the wait time was ridiculous. I have called to ask a simple question and I was waited for 45 mins. Every phone calls took me 45 mins to wait as if I have no life and I would spend all my time to wait and listen to the repeated message " hang in there, and we would be there with you shortly".

I also tried to complain via internet but unfortunately the complaint eform was down too. Is anything at Vodafone is really working? I have posted a 2 page long complaint letter to them about 2 weeks ago and I heard nothing from them to date.

It's time for Vodafone to deliver a decent service and customer service.

Thanks for whoever set up this website and I hope it will bring a better outcome to all of the users in Australia

besides the usual overcharging on my bills and dodgy network coverage. i was most dissapointed with the poor customer service (took at least half an hour on hold everytime i contacted them and one time i was waiting over 1hour!!)when i finally got throught to sombody they were of no help at all, it took me at least 3 months to finally get some answers over somthing as simple as cancelling my contract! i will NEVER use this company again.

Bad coverage, drop outs & hopeless Internet connection.
Lara does not understand anything u tell her even after having 3 Aussie people talking to her.
Their billing system sux, not to mention the customer service or lack of.

Bad reception, drop out & Internet coverage.

the data reception from pocket wifi always dropped!! need to wait more than 5 minutes to get 1 song (3-4MB) downloaded!

really bad data reception for the broadband!!!

Travel up and down the F3 every day and call drop in 5 locations. I have no 3G coverage at home and call drop in my kitchen....AHHHH

Living in Dulwich Hill, cannot get phone reception in my house. LIterally have to walk onto the street to get coverage and if I do recieve calls or texts messages, they are usually delayed. Went to complain at the Vodafone store in the new Westfield on Pitt Street Mall. They gave me a number to call to fix the problem as they could not help me. And I had NO COVERAGE THERE EITHER! I walked a bit further down and then got coverage.

Maleny Q. 4552 - occasional delay in message delivery in & out.
Patchy reception even when line of sight with tower (N97 mini worse than N95 8G so partly handset issue). Complaint about reception on South side of town more or less brushed off by foreign call centre operator - need records & so on before investigation by tech. Seems to be a volume issue as well as signal - if the tower is busy there is no reception. I am buying a passive induction cradle & 12dB antenna kit to try improving reception at home & parents place

well i have a great day sitting on the phone, listening to music supplied by Vodafone customer service, oops did i say service, my issue is the coverage first off, it seams since they bought 3, there is no coverage, drop out after drop out, second, service from vodafail staff, oops i think i said service again, sorry...went into my local store not long ago, to get some advice on a matter, after standing at the counter for about 5 min, while the 5 staff sat on the lounge playing with there phones and computers, well it was enough time to fill out a survey form in the shop.....of cause, poor poor etc was my answer's, i went up to them and ask for some help, and got the death stare from all but 1, after all that i got, i dont know as a answer, now i see that they have spent millions on doing up there stores, what a wast of money, still the same staff.....why dont they sped the money on there coverage.
So i went in and signed up with Telstra, bit dearer but great customer service, and now i will have coverage, well when my number gets released, another issue, after waiting 7 hrs for that to happen, i rang them, hope your sitting down, i got thru and it only took 20 min, i get told that they had my DOB wrong, which i have corrected with them several times over the last 11 yrs, now i have to wait, another day.........gee i feel a bit better now, thank you for this site, i wonder if we can one for the banks

I bought my wife her first "expensive" post paid phone and initially was told that the town of lithgow had some problems for reception but we would not experience it unless we left town. We do not live on the edge of town. As a matter of fact we live in thew BRIGHT GREEN reception area of vodafone's coverage map however, over the town of lithgow, there should be a great big red cross that shows the coverage as it is now. We thought we were alone until we found out about the complaints.

The coverage in lithgow is so bad. My wife can only get reception in one corner of our backyard. We recently moved. 90% of places we looked at, we could not move to because the coverage was worse. Vodafone-Fail

Poor reception throughout metropolitan Melbourne, messages not going through, calls failing repeatedly. No 3G coverage despite 3+ bars and the 3G reception logo showing. Vodafail.

3G speeds are slow anywhere and everywhere including the CBD PERTH.
There are Black Spots where there is no reception at all, but there is shopping malls and such around.

I've only been with vodafone for less than 3weeks and the service provided is not to standard. I am Using Iphone 4 and it will take a minute or 2 to just update a status on Facebook. now i don't know if that is just my reception or even the phone but it is very disappointing. mainly jus FAIL on the Net speeds provided. SLOW

After reading a lot of comments and hearing a lot I have restrained up until now not to post anything here, but the time has come as now, am extremely frustrated and disgusted with the poor service and customer service for that matter given to us. Like a lot of people we have had the constant call drop outs, not able to call anyone even with full coverage shown on our phone's, constant call failed and the list can keep going as am sure you are all too aware. After several atempts with Vodafone and being on hold for up to 4 hours at one time we too have received the base answer of no its not us its your phone or it's your sim card, only after long persistance did they then say to us that "yes we are in a process of upgrading our system and yes we do seem to have a few teething problems". It was only after I contaced the Onbudsmen did they start to listen. Even after speaking with the resolution team we still seem to have issues with communication in what they offered us to do with our account. Promises, promises, it is getting beyond a joke. Now we have been offered to get out of our contract on the basis of us sending our phones back of which we have has just shy of 12 months. We currently use these for business although at this point we have had our own disgruntled customers as they have not been able to get hold of us with the current situation. Not too sure if I am being harsh or unfair but don't you think they would release you from your contract and let you keep the phone that you have been paying off for this period of time due to the anguish they have caused. If that they case and they want us to return the phones do you think they should give us a cheque for the difference of 1/2 the price of the phone. If it was Vodafone chasing one of their suppliers I am sure they would ask the same and persue until they got what they wanted.

Disgusted & Disgruntled

Live in Annandale, Sydney and can't get a signal in my house or throughout at least 40% of the city! The worst coverage I've ever had. Gutted I'm in a year contract.

We changed phone carriers... Big mistake to vodafone.. there is poor reception in my house, there is no reception at my parents or sisters places in Qld, my husband and I ring each other it drops out and it takes 3 attempts to have a conversation, i phoned to make a complaint and I was on hold for for and hour the first time and when I got through it dropped out so i haad to phone again and was on hold again.. when finally talked to someone they said there was nothing wrong with the service yet while we were speaking i could hear him and he couldnt hear me.. so again I phoned back and was told there was nothing wrong with the service. this has been going on since we changed phone carriers 1 year ago..I dont have any service at work either,,,We want out of the contract but it will cost us money to leave,, which i think is most unfair considering we are not the only people who are having trouble with vodafone,,, i cant wait to leave,,i will not be going back to vodafone when the contract is finished,, even if they resolve all this ... in my opinion it should have been recified sooner.... Not happy at all

I have been a vodafone customer since last four months. It was okay at first place but has been weird since last few weeks. I have been dealing with dropped calls, no network coverage, more than a day delay of voicemail, delivery failure of text messages and mms within Australia and even overseas, very very slow 3G, takes forever to load even facebook. No wonder I am one of those furious vodafone customers. We neef to put a pressure on them for a month free of service, wont pay monthly cap. Hope this helps the vodafone authority to fix it with a promise of good service!

I rarely can use mobile internet at home, i have to move my handset (iPhone 3GS) around sometimes hold my arm in the air. But more importantly, there is a confirmed problem with the Vodafone network that does not allow it to connect to Optusnet mail servers. I cannot send mail at all from my phone, and rarely can I receive mail. Error message "Cannot get Mail The mail server mail.optusnet.com.au is not responding. verify that you have entered the correct account info in mail settings." You can see this problem recorded on whirlpool forums. It has been going for months. I want out of my contract, my iPhone is useless with vodafone. I have reported this issue and continually told they are working on it and I will be informed when fixed.

I have poor reception at home in a bayside melbourne suburb and no reception at work in the eastern suburbs. My internet connection always drops out or switches between networks so freezes the page. So I moved house a few k's away (not due to reception issues) and the reception is still no better. I have a few people tell me they've sent me text's or called and I have not got it. Or alternatively I miss a call and get a text saying I have 4 VM, where were the texts for the other 3??

Vodaphone is a scam, they don't care about the customers, they don't care about their service and they don't care when the phones they sell are shit!

I lieve in Meadowbank, Sydney.
Has anyone had the same problem as I have?

I've been using vodafone for the past 4 months. SOmetimes it's really crap, but mostly were. (I couldn't get 3G connect for the first 2 weeks though)

However lately, the 3G coverage becomes really weak again. I can hardly use Skype to take to my parents oversea, and the internet speed is extremely unstable and slow...

The sadest fact is that it takes forever to be able to talk to Vodafone customer care center, and there's no one from Vodafone having the guts to tell everyone what the hell is wrong with their network issues.

Even if we cant use the mobile net, don't we have at least to have the right to know what went wrong and when the network service shortage will be fixed?!
And I'm sticking on a 12 month contract, DAMN!!!

When l signed up l specifically asked about coverage where l work. I work with kids so its important l have coverage... well l get none. I have tried calling them up several times and lm always put on hold for over an hour and a half to just give up before l can get put through to cancellations. I have asked if someone can call me back but l am told that sorry, cancellations cannot make calls to customers. I am constantly trying again but think that l am purposely being put on a dead line

Awful reception for calls, way worse for Internet. Call to complain and get fobbed off, it must be the phone they say! Now they have a new tv ad with stereotypical white austrailians playing callcentre staff. I have never talked with anyone with an Aussie accent, only (as far as I can guess) Indian. They do not listen to my complaint and obviously have a certain monologue to follow which they do not diverge from. I want out but after paying twelve months of a 24 month contract they want their handset back for nothing. Seems very unfair to me.

-dropped calls
-no service reception
-delayed messages
-Internet lags
-service unavailable when I want to check my balance

I have a 3GS iphone. Mainly it runs on 3G but not infrequently the vodafone 3G network seems completely unresponsive despite telling me I have full signal strength. Sometimes I can't make or receive any calls and txt messages refuse to send and I don't even attempt to get data because it just doesn't work. When I turn off 3G it works fine. This problem seemed to happen all of a sudden in my area (Main Beach, Gold Coast) but all my friends on Vodafone had the same problem so I knew it wasn't me. I couldn't call vodafone to complain (because I couldn't make any calls) so I emailed them and despite me explaining all my friends in the same area on vodafone had the same problem they sent a generic email back with a 'noreply' address stating that the problem was with my handset not their network. I knew they were wrong but just for completeness I put my sim into a nokia 3G handset and that didn't work either. When I left Main Beach everything started working again. I later discovered that turning off 3G seemed to fix the problem and now, despite paying for 3G data as part of my contract I leave 3G turned off so I can actually have a phone that works. My flatmate has had to do the same thing with his vodafone phone.

i live in the shoalhaven area. travel between sydney and south of ulladulla twice weekly. to be fair, i get OK reception/coverage whilst in sydney but .. have had a huge amount of drop outs lately.. coverage between waterfall to ulladulla is 40 -50%!!! looking at vodfones coverage map, i should get 100%% in those areas!i put up with there crap service for months but recently complained.. first call dropped out to their customer support , twice!!! next day tech support called and they dropped out whiile they had me on hold! next day i tried contacting them agaoin on 1555 and got the message" we are experiencing tecnical difficulties, call back"!! and on and on...! JOKES!! I CANT WAIT TO GET SHOD OF THESE CLOWNS!!

We have extremely poor reception here at Joyner (and almost everyone around me). I emailed them & got several responses suggesting my phones were the problem. 5 different phones (three different manufacturers) cannot all have the same fault in the same area.

Vodafone coverage is the pits here.

Love to go elswhere but I undertsand Telstra has the only decent coverage here but I won't go them. I hate them with a passion

I have a iPhone with all the normal Vodafone issues. I've been told that they'll cancel my contract if I talk to network. So I phoned them. They told me they needed me on a landline in order to check my phone. They gave me a 1300 to call. I did but it was the wrong number and the woman who answered told me I was ne of many.

The reception has become so poor! first I ignored it but now it is really driving me crazy! that is it time for a complaint phone call!!! i tried calling someone today and yesterday 6 times till it would actually ring! what a joke! ridiculous!