I live in the Sydney area and have been with Vodafone for many years. Since I upgraded 6 months ago to my new smart phone, I've had problems with poor internet service, barely any 3G coverage. I've also had sms problems but fortunately these have been limited. I rang Vodafone on an unrelated matter recently and was placed on hold on 2 occasions for nearly 20 minutes each time with no answer. I hung up both times with no answer. I will say when I was finally able to speak with a real person rather than Lara, the staff were very helpful. Its a shame that the staff are let down by poor service in the management of the company.

i have to divert my phone to differnt carrier just to recive call's to my business number that will VF
i have been with this company for over 14years every day i have many drop out's and network unavailable when in Wide Bay region

blah blah blah blah..cry us a freaking river...all the networks in australia suck..how about u build ur own networks..then we can see how good they are.....

I've been with Vodafone for 22 months, until around June this year, reception was fine, since then, I cannot make phone calls because I don't get reception in my own house, I don't get it at work or at uni.
On the odd occasion that I do have reception, it drops in and out constantly and results several 'failed calls' and multiple disconnections. If it doesn't disconnect, I can barely hear the person on the other end due to distortion.
I went in store about 2 months ago, and was told that it was a faulty phone, and that because I didn't purchase an extended warranty (despite paying insurance every month) I would either have to pay $200 to replace it under insurance, but it would need to be sent off first. $250 for a brand new phone, or to pay out the rest of my contract for $320 and go on a new contract.
As soon as I have found a new carrier, I will be leaving Vodafone, and never returning.

We cant get a reception at Harrington on north coast NSW. Can get it with other networks not vodaphone

I am constantly dealing with not being able to access applications, receiving SMS's MMS's DAYS later, phone calls that dont come through, friends/family/colleagues constantly complaining that they cant reach me. I have lived in two areas recently that are by no means remote and very close to Sydney City, why on earth should my maximum service bar be 2 the majority of the time!? Then to get any help/service I have to wait forever on hold to speak to someone who gives you advice things such as 'try turning your phone off' or blame the reception on the new Iphone. I have always had trouble dealing with bad customer service from Vodafone but am now kicking myself that I stayed with them as the service is only getting WORSE!

I've suffered the same problem as most of you. The very poor to absolutely no internet coverage and when you do finally connect it drops out repeatedly!! A useless service I've had to continue paying for over the last 24 months as you cannot exit the contracts. Same goes for the mobile phone account... no coverage, calls dropping out, delayed or totally missed texts and voice messages. So frustrating!! I JUST WANT OUT!!!!!

I live in the city - right smack in the middle of Brisbane - there should be NO EXCUSE for lack for coverage but I have had so many calls drop out, I've lost count. I have had days where the 3G has been sooooo painfully slow, I couldn't load my email! Did I mention I live right smack in the middle of Brisbane?!

I have been with 3 now for the past 8 years. Since merging with vodafone my coverage has dropped drastically. I have no service anywhere. I have the iPhone 3GS. This has to stop. I can have full coverage and still not be able to make a phone call or send a txt message. As i travel alot around Australia, Its really hard to find recepetion anywhere.

I've left Vodafone for Virgin after finishing a two year contract. Never was I able to receive 3G reception on my phone despite being told that my area had 3G coverage before entering the contract. I told numerous customer service people, who's response was to look at the Vodafone coverage map and say "well you area should be covered by 3G". Well it's not. And not one of those people decided to do anything about the feedback I gave them to suggest that 3G was not working properly in my region. Swapping to virgin on the Optus network has put my internet speed through the roof, compared to what it was while I was with Vodafone. Good riddance to bad rubbish.

I have been with vodafone for around 10 years, the service has just been getting worse, I am using an iphone but can not use 3G, if I put my phone on 3G service I lose all reception, I even got a new sim card as I thought that may help, I have tried the sim card in another phone still I get no reception if the phone is set to 3G service. I am trying to send a message right now I have coverage but the message will not go through!.There is no reception in Seven Hills area, I travel around Australia alone alot and most of the time I have no reception.

I've been with Vodafone for about 2.5 years. I saw one contract out (a corporate one), then a few months ago my partner and I bought retail iPhone plans. While the signal has generally been ok for us, we do live in the middle of Sydney and don't travel to outlying or regional areas very often. That said, in the last month, things have changed.

Recently, we've had many problems with undelivered and delayed SMSs and extensive delays with voicemail notification. Worse still, we've been unable to call out countless times over the last couple of weeks due to apparent network congestion. This is entirely unacceptable. Excuses of huge influx of customers and the takeover of 3 are invalid - Vodafone should have made provision for this from the outset. It only serves to prove how incompetent the management are at all levels.

Customer service at Vodafone is a complete joke, to say the least. I've made countless calls that have proved fruitless, often because I simply don't have the time to wait for hours for Mr/Ms Patel in Mumbai to answer my call, and when they do, I get no satisfaction other than insincere and rehearsed responses. Emails are seemingly not read by a human, as the automated responses (if you get one), do not address the original message.

I've also had reason to contact Vodafone on behalf of a friend who is on the same corporate contract I had until recently. Although the Vodafone website stated (at the time) specifically that calls to the corporate number 135888 will go to an English-speaking person located in Australia, they did not. They went to Mumbai, or somewhere in that part of the world. Despite that, I was thankfully able to avoid that stupid, time-consuming and frustrating Lara, which/who should be shot and buried, along with those in this company who have driven it into the ground in recent times. Nevertheless, the problems were not resolved, and that was two months ago. We keep trying.

Vodafone needs a shake-up. While all telco's suffer the same cost and customer service cutting drives, this is by far the worst in my experience. They are not providing the service that they purport to offer, which is tiresome, frustrating and costly.

I am covered by the '3G' coverage map where i live and i work in the CBD, but i can only manage to get 1 bar of service, or the phone is constantly searching, no service, or i dont get '3G' coverage. This is pretty crap service from a company who is meant to have coverage for over 97% Australia. Phone calls always cutting out and messages either wont send or are sent and received hours afterwards as well.

Living on the Sunshine Coast...NO RECEPTION!!! So frustrating after numerous calls to Vodaphone...they say they don't promise reception in houses...but why do we have to walk onto the road to talk!!! Messages not received...phone drops out mid conversation. We will not be renewing our contracts!

I always though something was weird when alot of my friends are asking me about the SMS which i havent been getting or getting them days later after they ask me about it. Im constantly unable to pick up phone calls or my calls would go straight to message bank when im sitting right in front of the phone. My clients tell me im very hard to get a hold of and they stopped looking for me at times in emergency. I work right next to the RBH and there are specific spots with on reception on Vodaphone here. Also on the way home everyday there are spots on the SE Freeway where the phone will guarenteed to disconnect me from the calls im on everday. The basics of having a mobile phone is to be able to make and receive calls. If vodaphone cant even provide that they why are they allowed to be in business?

spent 3weeks trying to get them to give me service i actually signed up for not the $150 extra each month on the bill for stuff i didnt sign for when they finally fixed it the real trouble started,constant mobile broadband and phone dropouts or no network coverage.Now having hugh trouble with my windows internet browser,not the only person having the same problem now know 5 others all vodafail customers.Vodafail has good plans to suck you in but useless service and supply

3 months into a contract- No reception where I work- In the middle of PARRAMATTA for goodness sake! Worse reception at home!! Absolutely no reception is shopping centres- bad when someone is trying to call you to remind you to pick up something you may have forgotten! I am happy with the phone and with the deal of being able to call 3 and vodafone numbers free of charge, in fact had converted all mobiles in the house to either 3 or vodafone (eight mobiles in all!).... so disappointed... we have 21 months of crap reception to look forward to. Vodafone you were on the right track, fix the problem please. My daughter is in Thailand WITH NO PHONE RECEPTION, despite organising that BEFORE she left :(

I signed up for a whiz bang offer in 2001. I ended up with a phone that was so big it wouldn't fit in my pocket (motorola a series). The problems began the moment I walked out the door. The battery would last just 4 hours in standby. I'd carry two batteries with me just to last the day. Support said that it was normal! Bullshit!

The network coverage was worse than telstra by a country mile. I couldn't make calls indoors from an office in balwyn, just a few km from the cbd! Hopeless.

The phone from hell would not be repaired. The customer service was non existent. So I stopped paying the bill and whenever they rang me with demands for payment, I told them payment would be made immediately if they give me a replacement handset.

I think you know how this ends. Bill goes to debt collectors. I tell them to suck it. Account holder get nasty annotation in credit file. I complain. They get written off.

Anyway, about a year ago we moved up to the nsw border and my wife was with voda despite my dramas earlier (they never listen). No signal in the town. Not even 2g. Nothing.

So sometimes we'd get one bar from the next town. One fleeting bar of signal. But most of the time the phone just sat searching and chewing through battery.

Needless to say they expected us to pay out the contract. Yeah right. So I threaten to call the tio. Of course we'll let you leave early, they say.

Worst telco in the country. Don't use.

I was with Vodafone a few years ago and everything was fine. I switched to Three for a couple of years and no problems either. August this year I switched back to Vodafone to take advantage of a 'great' offer and based on my previous good experience. Oh how wrong was I. I have had nothing but poor reception, call drop outs,late messages etc. and now I know I am not alone. Bring on the Class Action and lets bring this mess to an end Now.

I sent an email to Vodafone and got the below response... I followed the instructions and called the provided 1300 number but it was NOT the disconnections department but the general contact line. The woman who answered the phone was very polite but but had no idea of Who 'Lara' was. She put me on hold to find the right area for me.. when she returned SHE SAID SHE TALKED TO SOMEONE IN THE RIGHT AREA AND EXPLAINED THE SITUATION AND SHE IS PUTTING ME RIGHT THROUGH TO THIS PERSON.... I WAS THEN ON HOLD FOR 20 MINUTES AND GAVE UP.

The handling of my complaint is totally unacceptable!!

My email to Vodafone:

Hi,

I have been very frustrated over the past months with poor service from my Sydney Elizabeth Bay address. However it wasn't too much worse than the Optus service I swapped over from.

I have now moved to 6-8 Oxley Ave in Redcliffe QLD and the service level is way below acceptable. I have a problem with 90% of calls. Either the call won't connect at all or the reception is so poor I can't understand a think or the call drops out half way through. About 40% of the time people try and call me it goes straight to voice mail.

I rely on my Mobile for business and this is not acceptable service by any standard.

I want Vodafone to let me out of the contract and take the phone back at no penalty.

I am very frustrated by now and need to let you know I will pursue this relentlessly in public and legal if necessary.

Please reply within 14 days.

Kind Regards
Pierre


Vodafone's response to me:

Dear

Thank you for your email.

Unfortunately we are unable to assist with disconnections or contract rescinds via this medium.

Please phone our disconnections team to arrange by phoning 1300 650 410. When you are connected to Lara, please quote "cancel my service".

Our disconnections team are available 8:00 am to 8:00 pm Monday to Friday and 9.00 - 5.30 Weekends and public holidays.

I look forward to hearing from you should you require further assistance.

Kind regards,

i signed up for a contrcat 4 months ago, before i signed up, i asked them to check that i would have good reception at my address. they did this satilite check and told me that i would be covered. But to my fustration, the downstairs of my gets no signal! i have to go upstiars. so the $750 worth of calls i get a month ... never get used im lucky if i get to $300. thats not value for money, i would have gone onto a cheaper contract.

I was a loyal "3 mobile" customer for many years but ever since they have joined with Vodafone the reception is crap and calls continuously drop out. I am in the process of looking at alternative companies for all mobiles in our family. I will not renew my plan with 3 mobile/Vodafone.

My husband and I have now suffered for 12 months of our 24 months contract with Vodafone using Vodafone Blackberry Bold Handsets. I am a full time working mother 32 weeks pregnant and a 2 year old at home. We have no home phone connected. A reliable mobile phone handset and mobile service provider is all I am asking.

VODAFONE PLEASE - release us from our contracts so we can find a provider that we can rely on should an emergency arise in our home. If I go into labour or have a sick child I have to leave our home and stand out on our street to make a phone call. We have stayed for over 12 months, I'm sure we have paid our dues.

Vodafone Service Problems
- No service coverage in our own home in Cameron Park (Newcastle) intermittent poor to no covereage within about a 2 hour travel radius in any direction. We have moved house and the problem moved with us. We are actually return customers to Vodafone and on resigning I was assured that their network coverage had been dramatically improved and I shouldn't have the same problems relating to service for our area.
- Made multiple attempts to call Vodafone Customer Service for assistance and are advised the wait could be anywhere from 20 - 40 minutes regardless of the time called. On one occasion when i could endure the wait I was told someone from technical support would phone back and I never received a call.
- Solution offered by Vodafone is to take both of our handsets into the Vodafone store they were purchased from (which has now closed down) and they will send them away for testing - another inconvenience. Also advised if I can't find our proof of purchase documents they can't help despite them having complete details of our purchase, handset, and contracts on file.

Vodafone Handset Problems
- Both Blackberrys continually turn themselves off, both midway through calls and while not being used. Progressively getting worse over time and now takes up to 6 hours to turn itself back. (I have a Telstra Blackberry (same model) which works without the same problems.
- Vodafone sends no notification to it's Blackberry customers of software upgrades or when they are available which are essential for efficient Blackberry operation. Have to search the web to find them yourselves.

i was previously on pre paid however was convinced that i should go on a 24mth contract with Vodafone and was lead to beleive that they had great coverage. I have since found out that this is not true. I have either no signal at all for hours on end or constant drop outs, txt msg's that take hours to send, voice mail days late and picture msg's that just wont send or take all day to do so. On some occasions i have even had to stand in the street to get a signal its just pathetic, not good service at all.

There is no customer back up. To them you are a number on the bottom line. I was with them and had the same masses of problems until I did my own digging and found that where I am they rent 2 megabytes of an 8 megabyte system. At 32 k per line that means 250 connections and after that anyone trying to connect gets booted or "Network Busy". After numerous calls to them I found this out by a Telstra tech. Vodafone denied all this though and insisted I send for another Sim card as mine was "faulty." Yeah a passive device faulty. I had to change carrier and they made me pay my plan out instead of letting me out of the contract from lack of service. They have no integrity and deserve everything they are going to get.

To Whom it May Concern:

I have just got off the phone after WAITING well over an HOUR for my concerns to be heard, only to have the women on the other end of the phone tell me that "I have to ring back between 8am and 8pm" to talk to someone who can help.

To say I am disgusted and disappointed is an understatement. Considering this ladies voice comes on every 5minutes saying "sorry for the delay we will be with you shortly". Please explain to me how WAITING over an hour is being with me shortly?

All I am trying to do is CANCEL my Vodafone account when my contract runs out on the 29th of December 2010.

I have been with Vodafone for quiet some time now, but that will end on the 29th of December 2010.

I will be going through a different company where the Customer comes FIRST!!!

Regards,
A Disappointed Customer

PS I have also rung Vodafone on another occasion only to be hung up on. I do not understand how they have any customers left.

vodafone coverage in the area where i work has gone from average to worse to at times non existence. The company i work for had upto 100 or more mobiles with vodafone but because of lack of coverage have now switched to another carrier. I have constantly spoke to vodafone about this problem and its really hard to explain to somebody in mumbai that you not gettin the service you pay for, its even harder to fathom when you are workin not half a kilometer from a mobile phone tower.

Hi i've been spending the last two days trying to sort out this mess Vodafone has put us in. I haven't been getting decent coverage for well over 4 months now. I have been to stores on numerous occasions and have only ever been referred to the incredibly long waiting call centre. So with some time on my hands decided to sort this mess out with them, believe it or not i actually got somewhere yesterday however when i had to talk tot he Loyalty Department was cut off and unable to get a hold of them again. Now on day 3 of trying to sort this crap out and am currently sitting on hold still to speak to the loyalty department, just about to hit an hour wait as well. This is absolute poor customer service no one should be expected to wait this long to sort out any issue and the staff in stores should be much better trained and equipped to deal with issues.I know if i was to give out such poor service at my work we wouldn't have a company to work for much longer, due to not being able to keep any business.

BEEN ON VODAFONE FOR OVER 8 MONTHS NOW AND NOT EVEN A ISSUE WITH COVERAGE OR HANDSET.ALL THE PEOPLE ON HERE ARE IDIOTS.UR ALL HAVING A WHINGE AND VODAFONE IS WORKING ON THE PROBLEM.SO GIVE THEM SOME FREAKING PATIENCE AS U WOULD DO THE SAME THING IF IT WAS TELSTRA OR OPTUS AS EVERYONE WOULD WHINGE ABOUT ANY ISSUE REGARDLESS OF THE TELCO.

im a business customer..we r a Syd Construction Company..i have 16 connected phones.. + 4 mobile boardband cards..bills always paid on time,
some have BB and some standard + some HTC + iphone with data..
ive been with Voda for 5 years and when we first signed up..Voda was the best there was..leaders in their game... now...absolutely rubbish..
berely any 3G signal in Sydney CBD or Sydney itself or HSPDA or EDGE network for that matter...
delayed msgs, constant drop outs, slow data, blackspots, not even 2-3 mins on the phone, network cant decide over standard GSM, HSPDA, EDGE or 3g, all dont have any signal strength...i have projects running through xmas and new years and this is absolutly ridiculous...i cant even hold a conversation with them..
purchasing hardware is a story of there own...delays, promises, orders cancelling for no reason, do these people even have phones? because it seems like they dont..!
unfortunately i just re signed up just before this all happened!! wish i didnt.! i pay $599 a month and for that money..we are not getting the service we should be getting...if i provided a service and didnt perform, i would get dragged over the coals for it..so why should these telco companies get away with it..!!!!! i would love to join the class action..

I have been having problems with both my vodafone mobiles for about six months. I was having calls divert straight to voicemail without ringing and then getting the voicemail through up to about 3 days late. Text messages were also coming through days late and on numerous occasions i was left stranded and unable to use my phone because it had no reception. After numerous calls to vodafone they convinced me that it was both my handsets (supposedly a coincidence - but they were adamant that it was NOT a vodafone issue), so i went out and purchased two brand new phones which it turned out i didn't need, because the problems persisted. I then spent 16 hours on hold over the next three days to try and find out what was going on. Eventually the ombudsman gave me the customer resolutions number - they again insisted there was no network issue and coincidentally both my new phones were also faulty. Even after the first news report about vodafones network issues started to come out vodafone were still telling me it was my phones ( all four of them that were faulty) not network issue. They even promised me credit which they never actually credited. Not only are they incompetent but they are liars - everyone of them.

I have been with vodafone for over 4 years. For the first 3 & 1/2 years their reception and customer service were spot on. Over the last 6 months however, myself and my partner find that a lot of our calls constantly drop out, some txt take hours to send and when they arrive, two or three of the same message are received. I have tried to upgrade my plan to a bigger monthly cap, and in store staff pretty much said the only thing they can do is start new plans, they were no help at all. When I did call Vodafone I was on hold on 3 occasions for just over an hour each time. I never got through to them as the first two I gave up waiting and the 3rd time I was disconnected. Will be going elsewhere when my contract is up in 2 months.

AT HOME ABSOLOUTELY NO RECEPTION WHATSOEVER (GOODNA) SOMEDAYS IT TAKES HOURS JUST TO SEND A TXT AND WHEN I DO GET RECEPTION WHEN OUT AND ABOUT I GET THE ANNOYING ECHO OF MY OWN VOICE AND CONSTANT DROPOUTS.ALL OTHER MOBILE PHONES HAVE RECEPTION AT MY HOUSE BYE BYE VODAFONE (THERES A TOWER ABOUT 600 METRES AWAY FROM MY HOME)

Poor reception - situated under the harbour bridge - still can't get reception.
Somebody shoot Lara! Waited for hours on the phone to contact customer support (and I do mean hours) to be told that my issue about being unable to log in to MyVodaphone issue was temporary and would be resolved straight away. Now a month later still can't connect!
They should lose their licence as these issues are not accidents - poor service is one thing, Lara is deliberate and crap and their lying non customer service is a disgrace.
Lets take them on - apparently all calls to the onbudsman cost them $60!

I live in Mascot, NSW (2020)
When i joined Vodafone sister company (Three) in June this year i was told from a three sales assistance (by phone) that three had great coverage in my area. I also doubled checked this up on three own website, which confirmed that there was good coverage in my area.
After than joining three, little did i know that the service of three in my area and most of the suburbs in and around my area of the eastern suburbs had next to no service at all.
I have to walk 50meters up my road just to get some sort of coverage. At my sister house in Botany 2019, there is no coverage at all. I also do notice when driving around the Eastern suburbs area my phone coverage will go from 1 bar to roaming.
I ring up there customer service centre and complain almost ever week and i always get the same excuse that there must be maintenance of the service going on in my area and it should be fixed soon (without giving me date)
They did tell me i could switch to Vodafone if i wanted to get out of my contract with three, but it would be a two year contract from date at switch not when i first joined three.
The funny thing is when im with friends at different places (Hunter valley or the Westerns suburbs or even down the coast) we compare our phone coverage. Most of my mates have full coverage at all theses places (there with the other big mobile company Tel@tr@) and nearly all the time i have no coverage at all. I than have to use there phone to make calls
Im now locked into my contract for another 1 and a half years. If i would have known how bad it was i would have just joined the big mobile company Tel@tr@.
Regards
Craig from Mascot

I live in Mascot, NSW (2020)
When i joined Three in June this year i was told from a three sales assistance (by phone) that three had great coverage in my area. I also doubled checked this up on three own website, which confirmed that there was good coverage in my area.
After than joining three, little did i know that the service of three in my area and most of the suburbs in and around my area of the eastern suburbs had next to no service at all.
I have to walk 50meters up my road just to get some sort of coverage. At my sister house in Botany 2019, there is no coverage at all. I also do notice when driving around the Eastern suburbs area my phone coverage will go from 1 bar to roaming.
I ring up there customer service centre and complain almost ever week and i always get the same excuse that there must be maintenance of the service going on in my area and it should be fixed soon (without giving me date)
They did tell me i could switch to Vodafone if i wanted to get out of my contract with three, but it would be a two year contract from date at switch not when i first joined three.
The funny thing is when im with friends at different places (Hunter valley or the Westerns suburbs or even down the coast) we compare our phone coverage. Most of my mates have full coverage at all theses places (there with Telstra) and nearly all the time i have no coverage at all. I than have to use there phone to make calls
Im now locked into my contract for another 1 and a half years. If i would have known how bad it was i would have just joined Telstra.

My tip would be to "Don't join three" It might be bad to say this, but if you really want phone coverage join TELSTRA.
Regards
Craig from Mascot

Constant calls drop-out, network not available for phone calls, sms, etc for at least 5 hours on a Saturday, or for shorter period on a regular basis, data / internet network not available or very very slow most of the time. It took 5 minutes to load a web page!

I live in the Wakehurst Parkway/Spit Bridge area of Sydney. Calls drop out and my phone goes into "SOS" mode in my house and on the roads near my house. I can pretty paint black cross on the roads where all the dead spots are between Warringah Road and the Spit Bridge. Addtionally my house is in an elevated postion, not in a valley so should be in a good position for reception. Also, while on holiday in Queensland near Bundaberg, I had no reception for a week while others I was travelling with who had Telstra services, could not only get reception clearly where we were staying, but also 40km out to sea. Roughly once a fortnight I get garbled interference on a call resulting in having to hang up and reconnect with the other party. I will NEVER use Vodafone again. As soon as the contract finishes (if I can wait that long) - its DIVORCE!

My Iphone 3GS consistantly drops out with three on the vodafone network for long periods of time. There are only certain rooms in my house I can get reception; Living in suburban Brisbane.

I currently live in St Ives in NSW and about 6 weeks ago moved service provider from Three across to Vodafone because I wasn't getting good coverage on both my mobile and internet connection. Vodafone and Three are affiliated and Three advised me that this would be a good option due to the fact that the area I lived in did not and could not provide me with a good coverage. I was also given the option of upgrading from an iPhone 3 to an iPhone4 for no extra cost on a plan. At first the mobile coverage improved substantially, then about 10 days before Christmas the coverage kept dropping out until all I could receive was the odd intermittent voicemail or text. It was extremely frustrating as I am self employed and I rely on my mobile for work. Then on 16th December, my partner was involved in an accident and he tried to contact me but couldn't get through and could only leave me a voicemail. I received this as I was driving and had to race home to get a spare mobile (with Telstra connection) to be able to call and discover that he had been taken to hospital! It was an extremely anxious and scary experience. We all rely on mobile phones for our communication needs and especially in an emergency but this was just unacceptable. Two days before I had attempted to contact Vodafone but I was advised that the call wait was in excess of 40 minutes. I then called Three who put me directly through to Vodafone. They advised me that they would have to test the area coverage and would get back to me within 72 hours. Seven days later I had a voicemail message from a technician to say that he was very sorry but there was nothing they could do because I lived in a "bad" area although they were attempting to improve their coverage there - a case of like it or lump it!!! On Saturday 18th I visited a Vodafone shop who advised me that it most likely my phone that was the problem, not the service but could only suggest that my phone be sent away for repair and would likely take a few days. No loan phone could be offered as a replacement - so I would be left without a phone altogether!
I am writing this from the UK, I arrived here on 21st December to spend Christmas with my family and the service has not improved, in fact it has got worse. The coverage is intermittent, but mostly non-existent. I tried to get the advice from a Vodafone store here in the UK and they advised that it wasn't the phone that was at fault, it was definitely the coverage.
I was relieved to read the internet news that there is going to be class action against Vodafone as this has not been a good experience. I will definitely not be paying my bill and will be changing service providers as soon as I return to Australia.
Alison

Poor reception/internet and very poor customer service. I am locked in to a contract till 2012. How I wish I can opt out now. But that is not possible as I am tied in to the the contract.

I have a 3G Mobile stick which never connects to a 3G network and I live in the middle of Melbournes CBD! It constantly drops out and is very frustrating, I will not be renewing my contract when it ends next month, this has been a constant problem since the start.
Just bought my wife a new mobile and this appears to be doing exactly the same thing, it is useless when connecting to the internet and regularly drops out.

Everything was fine until mid December, after I received the SMS apologising for the network issues that I didn't notice. Since then I've been unable to make phone calls from my home in the Northern Suburbs, which led to substantial additional cost on Christmas day calling rellies overseas - the calls would have been included in my cap, and multiple failures on sending and receiving SMS which has disrupted meeting friends visiting from the UK.

I have a 3G Mobile stick which never connects to a 3G network and I live in the middle of Melbournes CBD! It constantly drops out and is very frustrating, I will not be renewing my contract when it ends next month, this has been a constant problem since the start.
Just bought my wife a new mobile and this appears to be doing exactly the same thing, it is useless when connecting to the internet and regularly drops out.

I connected a 2nd business phone to my account 4 weeks ago, and to date can not still send or receive sms to this phone and number, despite numerous calls to their data team ( may I add 2 hours in waiting time) the problem has not been resolved, know how are you supposed to conduct business with this sort of debargle. Let alone the fact my phone gets full reception at my place but my mobile broadband only gets 1 bar and consistently drops out. And to top this off traveling by train on Sydney's Lower North Shore to the city I experience 6 complete signal loses, yes thats right in the heart of Sydney reception is just not there, arnt we living in the 21st century and doesn't vodafail claim to reach 98% of the population????

no reception and im completly OVER IT... hurry up and be fixed

I have been a vodofone customer for years and this past 2 months have been the worst i have ever experienced.I'm constantly experiencing no reception call drop outs, connection errors and network busy. It is extremely frustrating not being able to call people when you need to. It causes me severe frustation and anger.I wish vodadone would just sort out there mess or reinburse some costs for the constant call backs i need to make when the call drops out.

I sub-contract to a courier company that uses Vodafone for their mobile/handheld data terminals and have no coverage in my own home at the moment so I can't even start work as the network appears to be down, in areas where even optus provide coverage (not much better in my opinion) vodafone doesn't even scratch the border, I stupidly signed on to vodafone for my ex's phone and she has a phone that plays up constantly, she could have bought it outright for less on prepaid, and then doesn't get coverage in metro adelaide WTF are they doing???

I have been with Vodafone for just over a year. I gave never experienced reliable service, and over the last few months it has gotten worse. I live in Roseville and in a bit of a valley, so weak signal there was never really a surprise, but now I get complete loss of service about 50% of the time. Here are some other examples:
1. The 3G performance is slow most of the time, no matter where I am and even with 5 bars signal strength.
2. I have experienced being in the middle of Canberra City and losing 3G coverage when I needed it.
3. Performance generally in Sydney I find to be very patchy at best.
4. Last week I was in a car (as passenger) and on the Hume Hwy at Campbelltown there was no 3G at all for many miles and at times there was no service at all. So I was on one of the major highways, at one of the largest suburbs of the largest city in the country and I couldn't make a call. I wonder what would have happened if we had an accident and I needed to use my phone for help?
5. At one time in November I had no service at home for nearly two days. I called Vodafone on my landline and they swore there was no outage. The person then said they would put me through to a second level of support and hung up on me. I couldn't be bothered calling back and waiting on hold for another half hour and explaining it all again - somehow I think they are ptmrobably well aware of that....

i never have 3g coverage, to make a call takes about a minute to start calling, never recieve mms till midnight or sometimes never....i hate vodafone and will never go back unless problems are fixed after my contract is up....even thinknig of paying my way out its that CRAP....nothing worse then having a phone that is useless....ive lost my temper had enough....my fathers telstra shits all over my phone, so fast and never a problem...thats where im going next unless vodafone gets fixed ASAP and good !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I found it ridiculous that while at the MCG with vodafone signage everywhere my iPhone claimed i had no reception.

I have been with Vodafone for many years however over the last 4 months have had very unreliable service.. Calls constantly fail and cut out,Emergency calls only and internet on my blackberry ( the reason I need this phone is internet ) is extremely slow or non existent.
I have called so many times waiting on hold for almost an hour each time for the first 6 times to be told " there were NO coverage issues! " This btw is AFTER all the Vodafone shops admitting there were coverage issues.
Then after several lengthy coverage checks with a team leader taking two weeks to complete ( was told 3 days ) again to be told there is NO issue. This has been going on for 4 months!
I want out of this unreliable, incompetent company as they are breaching their contract with me and many others.
I manage to pay my bill on time every time and I expect "service" for that fee.- Too much to ask for VodaFAIL?

Was with Telstra had no reception in the area, moved to Vodaphone have beeb with them for a few years has been ok since recently, when phone calls are cut short and messages are received hours later, I'm running a business and some people who are not with Vodaphone done understand the frustrations of having to constantly keeping re ringing and apologising, when its not me. Stupid me just got into another contract just before major drop outs started to happen, they now have me hooked

Being on the Vodaphone network is most frustrating, you never know when you will stop getting calls. I have been dealing with Cancer all of 2010 and have had days when no one can contact me including my Doctor.
This is not good enough.

I am a doctor who relies on good mobile service. I spend $114 a month on a Vodafail plan and have done for >12 months and another 10 months to go before I can end the contract. I hardly use the service because of its poor coverage. Initially I complained and a very helpful Vodafone staff member said I could cancel the contract. Later that night with no warning my service was cut off whilst I was on call at the hospital. I was put through to 'customer renetion' and was blackmailed into keeping the contract - he would reconnect me there and then if I would promise not to cancel the contract!! He had me over a barrell because I needed the service, albeit very unreliable whilst on call that night". I did nothing further at the time and signed up with Telstra the next day. So I have two contracts at present coating $264 a month - Telstra works perfectly well where Vodafail doesn't. I would very much like to join the class action. Dr Miles Meyrick Queensland

I took my laptop and VF Mobile Broadband to Mt Gambier as I was there for the family Christmas. I tried connecting on Mon 27 Dec. I needed to run the payroll report to send to our payroll dept. VF had me on my mobile for 4 hours trying to fix the problem. They told me that there was good coverage in the place I was. I found a search item on my computer that scanned for broadband signal. It found Telstra and Optus but no Vodafone. I had to abandon trying to connect and had to wait till I got back to Melbourne the next day to run my payroll report. Staff will be paid a day late because of this.

Well where do I start, I live on the south coast of nsw and the overall vodafone reception is very very poor! Forget using 3G on vodafone im lucky to get one bar of service in the city!! My messages arrive 2 days late, my calls drop out, i receive messages 1-2 days late. Could you imagine if im in an emergency?? Who do I blame then, hmmm makes you think! You sign the contract which states vodafone has 98% coverage, well what a load of crap that is. Vodafone is having a lend of all their customers and just like to palaver us! So lets get together and get this issue resolved quick smart!

Sunshine Coast, a major tourist area. Have to leave house to get phone reception. Mobile Broadband can't receive anything! Was promised major improvement this year....2 days to go.
Husband uses Telstra, reception 100%.

Vodafail? My god people, did you not choose to go to Vodafone as it was the better deal? What, you were expecting, like reception and customer service as Telstra for a fraction of the cost?
The way the general public treat these sales assistants instore is just plain shameful.
They are somebodys' daughter/son, mother/father, someones friend, they have good days and they also have shit ones, they are the products of misinformation given by VHA CEOs.
Unfair to threaten to spit on them and treat them with such disrespect instores.
Australia, you should be shamed!
Stop complaining about someone told me this, and someone told me that and start reading the fine print before you sign! How about as average everyday people we investigate what it is we are signing up to, read forums and ask our family and friends?
How about we take some blame for our actions and start being proactive about resolving our issues instead of complaining about them

no internet coverage 4 days n mms messages are blank no pics signed up recently 4 2 years

Ive been with vodafone for 5 years now and have always had problems!!! I always drop out of reception and 'error in connection' always comes up when i try to make a phone call. I have to try time after time to finally get through to family!! Its getting to the point now that im thinking of switching companies!

12 months in to a 24 month contract, Service has always been the same. SMS take days to send/receive, Pxt msg take longer if they will send at all. Voice msg are also delayed. Have often had complaints from people trying to contact me that they cant get through or that they left voice msg that i never received.Reception when it is available drops in and out. All in all I'm over Vodafone. If I wasn't on a contract, I would have changed providers ages ago.

At times I cannot get reception on my mobile phone within the CBD. My Mobile Broadband plug in signal is usually poor to very poor. I received an sms that was sent in the afternoon on Christmas eve at 4am Christmas Day. Not good when my Mum's on her last legs in hospital. Tried to ring my son, who was five minutes away and had no service.

Bad reception and poor customer service. Everytime you call, you get a different answer and none of them help in anyway. My iPhone 4 is crap and the service on it is crap, drop-outs and the timing when receiving or sending messages can be out by more than a day.

I had been with Vodafail for over 13 yrs and over the past 6 yrs, I have seen a steady decline. Steady at first, but its now a LANDSLIDE ! I got out of my contract and changed to Telstra by arguing and arguing and arguing that if they can not provide me with a service, I can not be expected to continue paying for something I DO NOT RECEIVE ! Eventually they caved in but. Last night I heard that VODAFONE have set up a special number to log complaints with their network and the number is 1555. THIS NUMBER IS NOT NEW, ITS THE VODAFONE NUMBER EVERYONE DIALS FROM THEIR HANDSETS FOR FREE. NOTHING IS NEW, NOTHING HAS CHANGED, YOU STILL GO AROUND IN CIRCLES ON THEIR 1555 MENU UNTIL YOU EITHER HANG UP IN FRUSTRATION OR GET DROPPED OFF IF YOU HAVE SIMPLY MOVED 1.05462 millimetres to the left AND THE SATELLITE HAS BECOME CONFUSED AND DROPPED YOUR CONNECTION. EVENTUALLY WHEN IF YOU GET THROUGH AND YOU HAVE BECOME OLD AND GREY, THEY VERIFY YOUR MOBILE NUMBER AND IF YOU DROP OUT, THEY DONT EVEN BOTHER TO PHONE YOU BACK THEY SIMPLY DONT CARE, ARE THE WORST TELCO IN THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE. THEY ARE SIMPLY THERE TO TAKE YOUR MONEY AND GIVE YOU NOTHING IN RETURN.

We recently moved from overseas where we had great Vodafone prepaid. Disappointment was ours when I locked into seemingly generous combo-plan. We live 20 minutes from the city & have no broadband reception despite being shown on map before signing up that there would be no problem where we live. I missed the hoped contact with overseas relatives and friends during our relocation and @ Christmas. I spent at least 15 to 20 hours on the phone with Indian call centres in the first 2 mths. I have had to pay upfront $ 300 out of budget for internet installation and now have much higher monthly bills. We are locked in on vodafone still but the cancellation team offered foc months as compensation. They changed our plan to calls only because we get some crappy phone reception. But any more call drop outs we will be pushing to cancel all Vodafone services. I feel more confident we can not be turned down cancellation this time knowing so much of the country share the Voda-pain. Thanks.

I have joined vodafone on there new uncapped deal paying $45 per month for unlimited phone calls, text, video calls to any phone in Australia and 1gb of data per month.
My biggest issue is the 3G internet. It does not work 90% of the time. And if it does work it is 10x's slower than I internet dialup connection.
I do get phone call drop outs here and there. But not that bad really...I have not really tested my phone outside the CBD area.
What I found amazing after I joined is that on top of the 1Gb of data included in my plan. I also get a bonus 500mb of data per month. But whats the bloody point of this when it does not actually work 90% of the time. Getting hold of a person in some hidden Indian call centre is impossible.
Why would a company with a cripped network sell one of the best internet deals in Australia. And now that they are only charging $45 bucks for unlimited calls to any phone or mobile in australia I could only imagin that people taking up this deal will flood the already crippled network even more. Vodafone you are not providing what I have paid for. How in the hell do they get away with this! I dont see any point in writing or contactig the TIO. Im sure most people have already done this.

I got a BlackBerry business plan back in August 09. First couple months were fine. After the first few months, the handset itself started stuffing up, and calls would constantly drop out, or I wouldn't be able to access the internet etc. I used to spent 4 hours a day on trains to and from work, so the main reason why I bought a BlackBerry plan was to make good use of my travel time to reply to emails I didn't get the chance to during the day. Most of the train journey, I had no reception (from Central to Picton via Campbelltown). Picton itself (a small town 85km south west of Syd) had fine reception MOST of the time.. so why didn't suburban Sydney have the same?! In May this year I moved to Doncaster just outside of Melbourne, very suburban and very close to the city.. reception constantly drops in and out, calls will hang themself up and often I won't even have enough service to send texts - despite the Doncaster Shoppingtown store telling me it would be fine! I can't use my BlackBerry anymore because it turns itself off all the time and the trackball just does not work. Vodafone told me that my only options are to either cough up the money to buy a new handset even though it's not my fault that it is stuffing up, or just deal with it. So, not having a spare $800 lying around, I am now using a really crappy $60 handset that I can't even email or internet on - even though I am still paying Vodafone $114 to do so. SOOOO MAD. Thinking I may go to the TIO because I need to get out of this plan and join with someone actually capable. Grrr.

On top of not having coverage in the city centre of a capital city, i have had my bill screwed up last 3 times, I keep getting paper bills and texts to say they are unable to email my bill due to something to do with my email. So I call vodafone after waiting 1 hr & 40 mins, am told email is already set up and I will need to do back in que to speak with a data operator. No way. Call another day, wait 50 min they email my bill to me and get rid of random charges. Get another txt yesterday to at again unable to email my bill and it's over charged again....so looks like I'm calling again....

Vodafone CEO in Adelaide paper says the lack of coverage was 'limited to the CBD'....That is BULL S**T. Read the comments on this site from SA....all from the CBD?? I lve 9km from the CBD, and have mobile internet coverage worse than a slow 56k dialup connection. I hate Vodafone- full stop.

I have been experiencing call drop-outs for months and usually have to call the person back to let them know I didn't hang up on them. I am a pre-paid customer and the call drop outs make me use my credit up faster than usual. Over christmas has been shocking and I have often had no network messages for prolonged periods of time. I have 3 children and am a single mother and my phone is my lifeline to them when I am at work or out and about, and it is stressful knowing that I cannot rely on the phone service, for my children could be trying to call me for an emergency and unable to reach me. Not to mention the extremely loud beeping that comes out of nowhere right in my ear when the call drops out, have been having headaches and ringing in my ears. Calls drop out approximately 12 times a day. Unbelievably annoying, frustrating and very poor service. It is unnacceptable.

I live in Cairns City and there are pockets that it does work across town but when I am work One street off the Esplanade I get no coverage at all and at home Cairns North i have to stand at the back of the house........On top of that Lara should be sacked.... i am so pee'd off that i have already been on the phone for 20 mins with Lara then have to explain myself to customer service agent who does little to understand or help... Out of Contract in Feb moving over to Telstra who i know have good coverage

We live in a new estate in western melbourne but the area has been established for well on 5 years now. We struggle to get any reception in our house full stop let alone any 3g reception and have constant delays on SMS, calls and voicemails. I have been a Vodafone customer for over 5 years now and this is by far the worst experience I have ever had with them. My phone is almost unusable at home which defeats the whole purpose of having one.
To make matters worse...I have been over billed the last two months for a mobile payment plan. When I called Vodafone about this, the said I must have signed up for that.....r u serious, I have been on this contract for over 12 months now and this plan only came about when there was a billing system change.
I will give them 1 more month to fix it otherwise I am off to TIO....

Vodafone CEO in Adelaide paper says the lack of coverage was 'limited to the CBD'....That is BULL S**T. Read the comments on this site from SA....all from the CBD?? I lve 9km from the CBD, and have mobile internet coverage worse than a slow 56k dialup connection. I hate Vodafone- full stop.

been on vodafail for over 3 years. i'm a small business owner and the constant issue of poor reception, poor internet performance and terrible customer service is a joke! i'm constantly getting voicemail messages up too 5 days after they were made, obviously this costs the business money, not to mention the effect on my customers! as i type i have lost the ability to make and recieve calls for some reason, i'm located in the Cairns CBD, a city with over 100,000 people! Something needs to be done about Vodafone's inability to cater to the market and back up the promises they make in their contracts!!!

At present my Vodaphone coverage is ok though calls are still dropping out occasionally; this could be cause I'm in Sydney, a major city. However, up till a few weeks ago, I had major problems not receiving voicemail/text messages, calls constantly dropping out etc. I spent at least 8 HOURS QUEUED ON VODAPHONE WAITING FOR SOMEONE TO TALK TO ME, not including calls that dropped out after 45 minutes waiting. When I accidently got locked out of my online Vodaphone due to incorrect password, it was quicker to wait 24 hours and try again than try and call Vodaphone to get it reset!

I eventually got a replacement phone under warranty as the seller thought the software might be the problem and <touch wood> my voicemail is now working ok.

My impression is that the 'old' Vodaphone was great, their call centre was in Australia and calls were answered quickly. That was one of the major reasons for me choosing Vodaphone, that their call centre was NOT in India like 3, who I had major problems with. However, since they took over '3', the problems have escalated and they don't seem to be doing anything about it.

So I'm very disgruntled...
Take care
Marianne

OK. Want to get properly connected?

I sometimes wonder whether the problem with VodaFail is that its network is stuffed at the design level, and they don't have the skilled engineers to fix it. Hiring extra sales staff is more up VodaFail's street. Does anybody know whether they outsource their engineering side?

Stop being unconnected while waiting for the possibly impossible to happen.

So go on paying out your VodaFail contract, so that you don't fall foul of a credit rating agency. Then grit your teeth, or take a valium, and immediately get a second contract with another provider that has excellent coverage and fast connections. In other words, cut your losses. The double payment will not go on for long, and is a small price to pay for being properly connected.

At present my Vodaphone coverage is ok though calls are still dropping out occasionally; this could be cause I'm in Sydney, a major city. However, up till a few weeks ago, I had major problems not receiving voicemail/text messages, calls constantly dropping out etc. I spent at least 8 HOURS QUEUED ON VODAPHONE WAITING FOR SOMEONE TO TALK TO ME, not including calls that dropped out after 45 minutes waiting. When I accidently got locked out of my online Vodaphone due to incorrect password, it was quicker to wait 24 hours and try again than try and call Vodaphone to get it reset!

I eventually got a replacement phone under warranty as the seller thought the software might be the problem and <touch wood> my voicemail is now working ok.

My impression is that the 'old' Vodaphone was great, their call centre was in Australia and calls were answered quickly. That was one of the major reasons for me choosing Vodaphone, that their call centre was NOT in India like 3, who I had major problems with. However, since they took over '3', the problems have escalated and they don't seem to be doing anything about it.

So I'm very disgruntled...
Take care
Marianne

I signed up to their Infinite plan 8 days ago - after checking coverage maps, buying a sim and trying it out in handsets in and around my house to really check the coverage available (as maps have a tendency to lie) - I have had great difficulty with reception. I am lucky to have 1 bar of service, sometimes goes to 2 (for 5 minutes maybe). The service does not change if I switch off 3G on my iPhone 4. I often switch between the Edge network and no reception. Shopping in Brisbane I had no reception, my phone dropped out and said "Searching" for over an hour, before I went to a Vodafone store to swap SIM cards (I was told this would rectify the problem and it hasn't).

I can send a text message, though it takes multiple attemtps for it to go through, without getting the big red ! next to it. PXT are a hassel to send, as these often fail as well. My calls frequently drop out as soon as they connect and when I have received a phone call, the person on the other end, cannot hear me, nor I them.

What can I do? This was not the service that I had signed up for when I decided to go with Vodafone.

I have to not move, not breathe, and leave my house to make a call so that the satellite can SEE ME ! otherwise I cant make calls ! The constantly ask me to advise them where, when, what date, what time, what location I did and did not have coverage. I told them that if they wanted the information they needed to pay me because I dont get paid to drive the streets of Melbourne and logging in good and bad spots !

To be honest I am on a good, competitive plan, but at times my signal and network coverage is rubbish. Logs on but won't send or receive data. So I am on this great plan, but can only use it for about 2 weeks of the month. I guess you can be on the best plan ever, but if you can't use your phone or internet it doesn't mean crap....Please get it together Vodafonbe, I don't really want to move on with another carrier.

Signal drops in and out like you wouldn't believe. I would expect better as I live in a city and Vodafone claims to have a better network than anyone else. Frequently comes up as No Service. 3G drops out constantly also and when you can actually get on line it is very slow. Also Voicemails are not coming through until a couple of days after they have been left. VERY FRUSTRATING! Like many people on here though - I'm stuck in the contract....

A friend of mine sent me a text on the 24th and I received it last night at 11:00pm almost 5 days after the text. The 3G coverage on this network is woeful. I can hardly get onto the app store on my iphone and to even search google takes forever (if it connects to the internet at all). I switched from Virgin at the end of my contract for my previous iPhone as vodafone were more competitive. I realised from the day I switched what a mistake it was. It's the worst reception ever.

I had an iPhone 3GS on Contract, my Email was going into the outbox, then sent items but for over a month, it was not actually making it to my clients. I had thought all my messages were being received & there was no declaration on Vodafone web site as far as any outage or service issues. When I spoke to Vodafone they confirmed there to be a problem & they were 'working on it'. Vodafone refuse to put such outage in the public arena! I have ported out from Vodafone to Telstra due to the problems. I cancelled the contract with Vodafone & threatened to taken them to Supreme Court after they threatened to put an adverse CRAA on my record. They quickly dropped this. They did not after this contest my porting out & dropped the remainder of my contact. I have had to enter a new contract with Telstra for a further 2 yrs, but I now have great coverage, no drop outs & mail actually gets sent! This was not the only issue, but it certainly cost me a lot of money due to email failures.

The phone reception keeps dropping out and I have to turn my phone on/off a couple times to get signals. have not recieve any invoice through my email, when trying to contact customer service , have to wait for almost half an hour but the problem is still not sorted ( eventhough they said the have ). Called up a couple times to unlock my phone since 4 months ago but still have not been done... Very bad company

I live in Rosebery NSW,during the xmas week, I couldn't make/receive any phone calls while I'm home even my phone shows there is reception. Sending SMS was a pain as I have to try a few times and locations to get it out. experiencing massive delays for incoming SMS.

Numerous complants to the TIO have resulted in nothing- I've never seen a bigger toothless tiger.

EXTREMLY BAD RECEPTION, I HAD JUST CONTINUED MY CONTRACT AFTER BEING A LOYAL CUSTOMER TO VODAPHONE SINCE 2006. I upgraded from an old phone to an IPHONE. NowI had bad reception in areas before but it wasnt as bad, but now that I have 3G internet I use my phone alot for that and it is VERY VERY SLOW and in most cases doesnt have enough reception to work efficiently. On an $80 per month plan I have been advised I can get the same plan with better reception for a much cheaper price with Optus. Problem is Im stuck in this stupid contract.

NO MOBILE RECEPTION IN SOUTH CAIRNS, I HAVE TO GO ON THE DRIVE WAY TO MAKE PHONECALLS OTHERWISE THE CALLS DROP OUT IF IM IN THE HOUSE. PROBLEMS WITH SPAEKING TO CUSTOMER SERVICE 30+ MINS WAIT!

Live out at Gawler where 3 coverage is poor.

Used to be able to roam onto vodaphone network, but no longer can. Just get "no signal"

Thankfully 3 and Telstra roaming still active as a bavkup

Man- have I been waiting a long tiem for a site like this!!
Vodafone are an embarrassment to telco's worldwide. Where shall i start with my "issues"......
Complaint 1: I was transferred to Vodafone for my mobile broadband coverage, after they bought out the '3' network. I was sent a Vodafone modem, and asked to return the 3 modem, which I did. Every month for 6 months now, I have been getting charged $99 on my bill for not returning the 3 modem, that Vodafone have admmitted they have recieved and 'lost'. Even supplying the Aust Post reciept number and date of sending was worthless. They have sent me an extra THREE (count em) pre-paid envelopes to return the modem I have already returned, and I tell them this every month without success. Every month I complain, every month they apologise, and promise to fix it. Now I am getting nasty 'overdue- pay now' emails for the modem I have already returned. i have cancelled my direct deposit for VF bills, as I actually missed a house payment, when VF took the $99 from my account, for the fourth month running. This is serious s**t, and has the potential for me to lose my house, or- at the very least- affect my perfect credit rating.
Complaint 2: No mobile broadband coverage in my house!! I have complained numerous times, only to be told 1) I am in a bad coverage area, and there's nothing they can do, 2) It's a 'software issues', and will soon be fixed (HA!), or 3) I must have installed illegal software on my computer, which is corrupting it. Excuse me??. My coverage rangers from 'poor' to 'very poor'. I no longer use the internet at home, as it is worse than a slow dialup connection. i am paying for a service that is unuseable.
Complaint no 3: When Vodafone took over 3 mobile, they assured me my contract with 3 will be honored, and will expire in Feb 2011 (as my 3 one was going to). During my last session with Vodafone Customer Service (an oxymoron if I've ever heard one), I was politely informed that what I was told the first time wasnt true, and my contract had been extended by two years, from the date of VF taking over 3. This happened without my permission or knowledge. I told the Indian call centre (who are nice people...but totally f***ing useless at resolving complaints) that it would be a cold day in hell before I stayed with VF after Feb 2011.
I urge everyone to log onto Piper Alderman's site, and show these big telco's that they cant get away with this sort of behaviour.

no coverage, battery life doesnt even last a day (battery will expire well before technicslly supposed to) delayed messages and voicemail, for the last 4 weeks and still now, lost work a as a contractor to the amount of around 5000 dollars, lost trust with clients and associates , cause for frustration and overall counter productive

No 3G data on my iphone, none of the apps will connect, sent many emails to support, they've offered me 2 months for free, how about make it free until you fix your broken network.

Anyone know what the reception is like in Gippsland??

I have been with vodafone for years. When we first moved into our house 4 years ago, reception was good, now we are lucky to get it even if we stand on one leg on the clothes line. Sometimes we get reception in the kitchen, then other times people tell us that they have been trying to call us for hours but the phone is out of service, yet we have not moved it from where it was when we had reception.

Lately, I have been UNABLE to print my bill up from the internet. They want us to access our bills from the internet, yet I can't get to it. I refuse to pay the bill till I see the whole bill. So what do they want......

I have two mobiles through Vodafone, one for myself and one for my partner. Both of us are continiously pulling our hair out at the absolute lack of reception that is available through their service. It is not unusual for us to receive text msg many hours later after they have been originally sent. Voice mail services aren't much better either....but here is what really gets to me. I am an Australian Defence Force member about to be deployed overseas for a period of 8 months....and in preperation for that, I contacted Vodafone to request a suspension of my phone for the period that I am away as I would not be using the service. Let me point out that i merely wanted to SUSPEND my service not cancel it, so when I returned from active duty, i would recommence my mobile telephone service. I was told that the maximum amount of time they would suspend my service was three months and that i would have to pay out the remainder of my plan if I wanted it for longer. Tell me this, we as Australians support this company by signing up with them and paying our bills on the due date month in month out, but when i comes to providing support to us, it is simply too much to ask. I am 100% behind this website and what it stands for and it couldn't be put simpler...VodaFAIL!

I am with the 3 network and they were fine until they were bought by vodaphone. I am on the $69 plan and was paying around $70-$80 a month. As soon as vodaphone tool control my bills are now in excess of $200. I have done nothing different in the way I use the phone. I was not informed by 3 that they were being sold to vodaphone and when I called them, after hours of being on hold, their help desk was anything buy helpful and I was left with no questions being answered. I am now stuck with a rediculous plan that doesnt meet any of their side of the contract, no reseption and no way out of the contract for another year. This phone company is an absolute joke and I would even say it is a crimanl act.

I've been with Vodafone for years. Never had a problem using an old school phone up to about 2007, then upgraded thru work to a BlackBerry. Intermittent issues commenced then. Work account was moved across to Optus earlier this year, so I went back to Vodafone for personal use as I can only get thru to my brother who lives overseas via Vodafone. From day 1 with an HTC Legend I noticed huge delays in data download and, when in the US for 4 weeks in September/October, noted an almost constant inability to detect Wi-Fi. No noticeable improvement when I got home but thought this was the phone, rather than the network. So I called Vodafone and, after waiting on hold for 56 minutes, finally got thru to someone - yes they were in India, but he was very nice and very helpful. With hindsight, they obviously knew of the issue by then because he was very specific in asking me if I believed my complaint was with the handset or the network. At that point I still thought it was just the phone, based on stuff I'd read online about the HTC Legend. So I got my iPhone4 and could hardly believe it when I realised that the situation was even worse! It functions slightly better if I turn 3G off, but that's kinda defeating the purpose with an iPhone and the improvement isn't all that significant anyway. All of this in the knowledge that I'm paying an extra $32 a month on my contract for the so-called 'upgrade'. So after their CIO announced in the press some weeks back that there were indeed issues and that the company should've acknowledged them sooner, I sent them an email asking why I should have to continue paying the additional fee on my monthly contract when the problem was clearly with their network / coverage all along and was probably little or nothing to do with my handset. The reply I received? A copy-and-paste reference to how I can upgrade my contract. Top marks to Vodafone for correctly interpreting a reasonably simple email question...not! I understand they're probably getting smashed by this issue; I also understand that Telcos worldwide are struggling (to some extent) under the weight of massively increased Smartphone uptake over the last 18-24 months. In the end, as the consumer, that isn't my problem. To my mind it's a fairly basic equation in a fee-for-service industry: provide full service = charge full fee; provide partial / intermittent service = charge partial fee. It's that simple!

A number of issues - when I forst changed over to Vodafone I was unable to receive picture messages. I emailed Vodafone and they told me to ring a number from a phone other then my Vodafone mobile - it's the only phone I have - ridiculous! Took several weeks to have the problem sorted. I was charged 4 times for sending ONE picture message. At 45cents per message it's not super expensive but it adds up. My husband has had Vodafone since March 2010 and he was finally able to receive picture messgaes a week ago (20 Dec). Only took them 9 months!!!! I often get messages a day or two after they were sent. Can't say I've have probs with coverage which is good at least as it seems many people do.