Yeah. Me too. I got a Samsung Galaxy S and my wife a Nokia. Both DOA. Can't download any apps because of constant poor reception. Storepersons trying to tell me that we need to upgrade the firmware. What a load. I may as well use my old Nokia and wish I had never left Telstra. Complete an utter waste of my time with Voda. No wonder the plan is so cheap - peanuts for monkeys huh. I am going to stop paying the bills and claim that technically the contract has been terminated by them by not meeting reasonable standards. This is a case for an Unfair Contract if ever I saw it.

My latest 24 month plan with Vodacrap expires in a few months today. Telstra, here I come!. I'm so sick and tired of constantly having 1 bar of reception often replaced by "searching" while at the geographical dead centre of Sydney. My work mobile which is on Telstra, never has less than 5 bars where ever I take it.

For over one and a half months, I have had many problems with Vodafone related to this topic of crap reception and in return, our phones use more battery to pick a signal, therefore worse battery life. My iPhone 3GS constantly says No Service yet with OPTUS, i got full bars. On the 16th of December, I decided to move my entire family to OPTUS and leave vodafone after all this crap. Its such a joke - why arent they called AT&T? I had five phones on the $99 Timeless and they have just lofe $500/month of customer. It took to long to resolve and what made me move also was the CRAP and horrible customer service who in a positive way, give you the flick!
BYE VODA - HELLO OPTUS!

Try going interstate to small towns and see the "SOS" or "Searching for Network" note on your phone, with no signal for an hour or so until you reach a major town. Moreover, in my opinion, the oursourcing of call centre operations to India has been a big failure!!!!!!!! These guys are not organised, have the wrong reasons for all our questions, and don't even understand simple solutions of "switching browsers" to ensure that the International Roaming Data Bundle is used correctly. After about ten calls, one technical guy finally solved it. I had to write to the PR team to get a callback from their customer resolutions team.
The problem with Vodafail is that their outsourcing the call centre operations has been a disaster, because those guys are not trained to offer solutions!
Get your act right and stop making a fool out of your customers!

Messages coming through from calls 12-18hrs late, but the phone was on in the first instance showing reception! Data transfer rates are appauling, dropped calls etc.... At the end of the day you pay for a service that is simply not being provided. Over 1 hour spent on customer/technical service, 40 minutes of which you are kept on hold for the next person to ask you exactly the same thing! Then advised it will be escalated with a response expected in 'about' 6 days. Completely unacceptable.

Messages coming through from calls 12-18hrs late, but the phone was on in the first instance showing reception! Data transfer rates are appauling, dropped calls etc.... At the end of the day you pay for a service that is simply not being provided. Over 1 hour spent on customer/technical service, 40 minutes of which you are kept on hold for the next person to ask you exactly the same thing! Then advised it will be escalated with a response expected in 'about' 6 days. Completely unacceptable.

It doesn't matter if you are on the ground or you are on the 37th Floor of a CBD building, the bar just barely shows any impulse. Spoken a number of times with the company but all you get is lip service. The latest one (which i am very impress - NOT!!!!) is the merger with 3 which apparently can provide some comfort..like to see a full bar as far as what i am paying for. Not to worry helping my self by switching to Optus.

after years of Telstra bashing i think i am finally going to have to eat my hat. Even Telstra's service is better than Vodafones, and their network is far superior. I foolishly took on the business plan with vodafone because it was so much cheaper and had a massive handset rebate...seems you get what you pay for. With the number of call drop outs i am sure it has cost my business more in lost business than the money i saved by going with Vodaphone. I never thought i'd do it, but i have to get in bed with the devil and change to Telstra...at least my business can operate then.

voDaPHoNe you are failing yet again just writing this message you SERIOUSLY INFURIATE Me.. WORDs alone cannot describe my digust, DIsMaY, diststain, DiSTASTE'' for Vodafone...... You can pay for my therapY.... you ruin my work, Social life and LIFE altogether.... Constant no service, reception, internet access bla blah blah it doesn't stop... I have had enough!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You really suck assssssssssssss!!!!!!!!!! Telstra next week for the win!!!!!!!!! Somewhat of a paradox using this lovely service to write this message !!!! Raaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh

Every call drops out after 5 minutes. Often the reception just goes to no service. Have to use 2G setting on the iphone (as recommended by Vodaphone support) as when on 3G data doesn't work properly, emails and voicemails come through up to a day late, calls go straight to voicemail without the phone ringing and then the voicemail doesn't get to the phone for 24 hours meaning i miss appointments, data is painfully slow...anything else? basically at vodafone supports own admisson 3g doesn't work properly and their advice is not to use it...sounds like vodafone is spruiking a product they know doesn't work...illegal? I think so.

my phone has no coverage at all,i tried to ring my wife on friday but the line kept dropping out .i had no bars when i did i had six missed calls. i rang vodaphones sister company 3 who iam with .iwas transfered to an indian call centre i could not understand him he hung up on me.

I'm in Point Cook Victoria, according to the Vodaphone coverage map, Point Cook is good coverage... I have had no network service all day. Its beyond a joke, I can't run my business without my phone.

I'm located in south east sydney about 15 mins from the CBD, and constant dropped calls / no reception / no data connection happen almost all day everyday.. Voda can't blame congestion, cause Kogarah is NOT that congested

I'm a doctor and use my phone to be on call. But how on earth am I to be on call if there's constant reception drop outs or when I go indoors and there's no reception? Voda's fail affects not only me but my patients. Sort it out Vodafail!

I bought an HTC Desire HD 2 months ago. I live in Manly & commute to Chatswood daily. For half of the way I got no to very little reception, and for the other half it is very random. 1km away from Chatswood CBD (on boundary road) I usually have no reception at all, hard to believe.

Yesterday, from Manly to St Leonards I had no data at all, only as we reached St Leonards it suddenly started to work (and I rebooted the phone a couple of time just to be safe).

So yeah, absolutely not impressed, it's a disgraceful service and a total ripoff.

Lets start with the delivery of my new iPhone, advised of a 3wk wait 5weeks later called waited on hold for 45mins. My phone had not been ordered fast foward 4wks phone finally arrives 9wks in total.

My wireless net is on average poor service or no service i live in the heart of the northern beaches my girlfriend with optus always has 3g coverage? My broadband is also hit & miss if it will connect to a usable server.

Vodafone also had a system issue in early feb in which my bill wasnt debited from my acc. I called & was advised it was paid, i advise it hadnt been debited so i dont know how it was paid. In June i recived a letter advising of the system issue & that my account would be debited to correct the bill, I rang voda to find out the total of the bill & was advised the letter was incorrect & I was upto date. July voda try to debit the "owing amount" on my account & it is dishonoured, I call voda & am advise i havnt paid my bill since feb when they direct debit my acc? I advise of the previous calls, I was told I was lying & that i need to pay the bill. A week later my phone was blocked 6 phone calls later 3 more rude advisers & finally after threating going to the communications ombardsman is my "owing amount waived" & my account reinstated.

At the end of my phone contract after having had a sims card with voda since the Nokia 5110 was the bees knees I'll be moving.

constant drop outs have made basic business near impossible. last two months of bills have sky rocketed $500 over already large caps. However my recent experience has now left with no choice but legal action as it has put my job at risk. As a pilot for a major airline i am currently on a standby roster. This is a month of being on call to be at the airport within two hours to crew a flight that has been disrupted. My company was unable to contact me due to the vodaphone network (potts point syd)and a flight had to be cancelled disrupting hundreds of passengers. A serious incident that i now have to answer to. I travel the world both for work and leisure and Australia's communication network is significantly worse than most third world nations. This failure of regulation and basic infrastructure is unacceptable.

Took months for telstra to get my home phone going and then several more months to get the billing right. If I had a dollar for.every minute spent on the phone with a Telstra 'customer service rep' I'd have built my own network. Vodafone took 10 minutes and I was making unlimited calls to anyone in Australia. Telstra and Optus rip off their customers and are a disgrace.

Vodafone IS the biggest network in the world, BUT with the LEAST number of base stations/cell sites, certainly in Melbourne, Victoria.
I foolishly bought a USB data dongle, believing the coverage map was correct, and the data speed was 1.5 mb's...IF it would connect...my Telstra mobile was 5.6 mb/s.
Vodafone's so called "support" is a national disgrace. Some poor shlepper in Egypt, who thought Australia was Austria!
How they continue to get away with this probably shows how good their advertising is......pity the network operation isn't as good as the advertising.

In the end my local Safeway / Woolworths took back the dongle, as apparently they had done with several other complaining customers.
I live in a major inner suburb within 1 kilometer of a VF base station, not the back end of regional Australia.
Remember folks, the TIO is our best friend, as is the Australian Comp and Consumer Authority.
Funnily, Australia is one of the few places in the world where Vodafone is not the number 1 or No 2 network, and it's Australian alliance with Hutchison 3 into VHA has made the situation worse for consumers, as much of the 3 "traffic" has been transferred to the under-resourced VF network.
It's a crying shame as VF was always a good quality network, even though small, until recent years.

I ring my wife on Vodafone and continually get dropped off.. is she having and affair? Or maybe the Vodafone network is just crap...
Hope the crisis centre in Canberra isn't hooked up to this overseas ripoff.

Signed up with Vodafone 9 months ago. Their website did (and still does) show full 3G coverage in our area, even double checked this with sales staff. Never had more than half signal strength and only access data via my own wireless connection at home.
Complained last week and was told coverage issues were a temporary issue (what for nine months!!??). Escalated through to their network faults department who did confirm that my suburb does suffer from poor network coverage (thought I already told them that!!). Upshot is that they're waiving the CAP fees for the next two months to see if the coverage improves. If not they've agreed to cancel the contract without any fees. I asked about compensation for the previous nine months an not receiving the level of service I'd signed up for, "Sorry there's nothing we can do about that".
Oh, and why is the 'we'll phone you back' option when calling the customer service department, only available randomly?
Finally, this is a classic, I waited on-hold for around 40 minutes (call-back facility must have been on lunch) only to be told that I'd have to call back in at least 4 hours because all their systems were down - priceless!!!
VODAFONE - Wake up or leave it to someone who knows how to treat people.

My wife SMS's from the car out front of our house (Leichardt) - 12 hours later I get her SMS. She's on vodafail to - so it unclear if her or my coverage is to blame. I dont care any more - I'm going to Telstra

The past couple of months have been more than a nightmare! I have spent literally hours on the phone to some poor call centre worker in India trying to get some sense out of them as to why the service I am paying for is not being provided.
I have missed out on work due to messages not being delivered until hours later all because my phone is not ringing due to network issues.
I get no service, dropped calls, failed calls, late voicemails, no 3G coverage, unable to send texts.. I have just been informed that I live in a low signal area, funny how this happens even when I'm in the middle of Sydney!!
This is totally unacceptable Vodafone!!!!

I have an iphone 3GS with Voda. It's very slow to get a 3G signal even in built up areas, frequently reverting to slower connections. But my biggest annoyance is that even with a strong 3G signal it often half-loads a webpage and then stops. Several refreshes of the page, closing/opening Safari or resetting the iphone are required. On my wifes iphone on voda it is not unusual for text messages to be 1-2 days late. It's funny how we have been complaining for months and it turns out we are not alone. It has even brought me to the point of saying I will have to switch to Telstra for a better network - who would have thought?

Besides the crappy service, bad voice and data, Vodaphone also blocks access an entire country you cannot call Cuba, although the agreement says that all international calls are allowed, it also blocks access to skype via internet tethering(when using the inet by connecting the phone to the pc).

I've been on Vodafone for about four years now. I have some areas where I know coverage is limited. But I can accept this as it is usually in areas that I am transiting through.

I recently signed up for the pocket wifi. It is working fine for me. I use it for my iPhone when I am not in a normal wifi for data. Speeds are great. Happy with the price.

One thing that does to get me with Voda is the long long long wait times. When I called to make dome prepurchase enquiries about the pocket wifi, wanted to see if I could use bonus dollars for purchase, Lara told me it would approx 40 mins until my call was answered. I thought what a joke.

I think Voda should sort out the call centre and reduce answer times for people. And put a public notice in the paper And their website to advise people who have been having problems that they acknowledge this and that they are working to resolve it. I think a good will gesture may be to credit all contract customers and prepaid some credit to say Sorry.

Thankfully I am no longer with Vodafone. But when I was having issues, I couldn't even get coverage in one of their Melbourne CBD stores. They still insisted it was a problem with the phone, but turned bright red when their own phone also had no service.

My wife switch from Telstra, and has not stopped complaining about the lack of reception, receiving txt messages 2 days latter and not receiving voice messages at all. At one time she was trying to send a MMS, it kept failing, then the other person recieved it 5 times the next day, and yes, she was charged for it. She is going back to Telstra.

Was living in the centre of Sydney and getting almost no reption for months and have now just moved to Melbourne Cannot use 3G to access the internet, have trouble making calls even when I have full reception and txt message come through 24 or even 48 hours late Get your act together Voda Wish I never switched from Telstra

What a Joke. I recently received a Brochure from Vodafone saying that they and "3" are now part of the same family and wanted me to switch my Wireless Broadband from "3" to them because they could offer me BETTER COVERAGE than "3" in the area I live in on the Gold Coast.
I set up the "switch" with Vodafone and the USB & SIM card duly arrived. After 6 hours on the phone to Vodafone THEY could NOT give me a connection at all. I can only thank my lucky stars that I didn't "port" my "3" mobile sim phone No to them otherwise I wouldn't have been able to continue using my "3" wireless broadband. To put it quite clearly - "3" is not the best mobile broadband BUT it is certainly heaps better than the Vodafone experience that I went through.
A gentle reminder to everyone - "Don't fix what ain't broke".

words like 'customer service' makes LARA the automated system go into spin

NO RECEPTION..NIL..NONE... IN TOP RYDE SHOPPING CENTER...EVEN IN FRONT OF THEIR SHOP...SHIT SERVICE.....BEEN WITH THEM FOR 6 WEEKS,SHIT SERVICE

I live at the top floor apartment at rhodes and considering all the developments and at least from where i am, i really didn't expect to not have reception at all. My calls kept getting dropped out and most of my msgs arrived after the event happened or even the next day or none at all. Considering other countries like Philippines, where economy is not as good as Australia, and yet they still manage to have signal in most places such as elevators and underground car parks. It's very appalling how they managed to let there customers hang in there without a word about their issue. And now when everyone is frustrated about their service, that's when they try to inform their customers. Isn't that a bit too late? It kinda feels unfair that we paid for the service we asked for and yet they inform us 12 months after issue started.

Signal reception of the North Coast of NSW is very patchy. Get off the Pacific goat-track (Highway) and signal strength often drops to zero.

WE ARE SMALL BUSINESS AND WE HAVE BEING PROMISED BETTER SERVICES THAN OPTUS BUT ON THE CONTRARY IT'S WORSE, AS NO COVERAGE AND LINE KEEP DROPPING, TECH SUPPORT IS POOR AND FRUSTRATING. Our gov absolutely doing nothing to protect the people of NSW and we have left out to the big corporate.

On your alternatives page, you cross off Thinkmobile as being Voda wholesale. This is only half true - Half their plans are Voda (what they call the "Swift" network plans) and the other half are on Telstra 2G (the "classic" network plans).

I was on Voda pre-paid in 2008 (awful - dropped calls, delayed smss, atrocious customer service) before switching to Thinkmobile Classic (Telstra 2G network). Thinkmobile's network was great for domestic usage but I had some issues sending international smss (their international SMS provider didn't have a service to Taiwan). For the price, Think were great and their call centre is in Australia.

For at least a year now I have received voicemails sometimes several days late, sometimes almost a week late. I initially was told this was to do with my phone being on global roaming. That was changed. Then I thought it was to do with the poor mobile reception in my workplace but that still doesn't explain receiving messages often several days late as I leave the building every night.

Useless! Phone is 50% useful as the rest it's out of reception. Damn u voda. And damn ur children and childrens children !

I have wireless internet service with Vodafail. I moved across from ADSL service from Iprimus, as it was impossible to connect to from about 3pm till 9pm. Anytime when school kids got home home till bed time it was shocking.
Vodafail had great advertizing, I went from unlimited download for $69.95 pm with Iprimus, to 6GB per month for $59.95 , BUT The first 6 months were half price.
The service was average from the start, would often drop out- and then the software would not reconnect. You would need to reboot before you connect. Other friends of mine have the same issue. I wondered if it were an Apple thing seeing I am a Mac user. Friends who use Windows have the same experience.
I started to phone or email with complaints. Spoke to lots of people in India - or should I say I tried to speak to them, but got spoken down to and spoken over most of the time. The Indian Call Centre staff are very good at following a script BUT crap at listening.
So lots of comments - like you dont have 3G coverage - you should not be out customer - well my answer to that - was when I signed up online - I was living here too. So if I could not access the network with enough signal - why did you allow me to become a customer, AND why do your coverage maps say I have enough coverage,
Then they send me out a Sharing Dock. After 6 weeks finally got it to work, but I only get EDGE coverage on it. However its more stable.
Complaints got me a 50% discount for 3 months, and the offer I could leave my contract. Signed up for Telstra 3G wireless broadband. Shocking customer service, got the dongle thing USB Stick - but could never connect. The device said I had network, but could never get it to work. Lots of phone calls, to Manilla, same sort of crap as Vodafail, its a faulty stick, its a faulty sim - repacements sent out. No difference.
Meanwhile my Optus mobile phones are struggling to connect, yet when we built this house in 1995 the coverage was fantastic.
Not sure how we will go with the NBN - or the costs that are going to be involved. But from what I can see - its Telstra - 0 Vodafail 1 (purely because you can connect) and Optus 1 .
PS when I speak to someone they always want to call me on a landline - which I dont have anymore - as the call keeps dropping in and out. Whattha??

The CBD is really slow and in my office everyone but vodafone users get 3G.
How ever they currently have many network upgrades on the way which have been awarded to other companies other than the PIPE deal, so over the next few years it should get better, I get unlimited calls, so being the tight ass I am, I have to stay as I just got a HTC Deisre HD, a bit hard to exit, otherwise I would go with TPG, my mate has TPG and says it is the best.

My iPhone has been dropping calls, missing calls and basically unable to access the internet for the last few months. Complained to VF - they said it was the handset, after having me reset the phone, take out the sim and sorts of other useless technical support they deciced to take my handset for repair rather than just tell me it was their network. I bet theyll find the handset fine and want me to pay for that as well.

i live in glebe which is only a few km from the sydney cbd. coverage is terrible,no connection much of the time and even going outside it's hard to find a sweet spot. stayed on line for almost 20 minutes got someone who after a while tried to tell me it was corrected. it isn't and i just can go through that again.

Definitley not as good a coverage as it used to be. Seemed to get worse after the large hail storm in Feb and I assumed it would be fixed. Regular areas with no coverage, calls drop out. All this between Camberwell and the CBD of Melbourne.

Constant dropouts, pour reception, late text messages, worst vodafone has ever been

I was a customer of Digicall the predecessor of Vodafone back in the early 1990's and now Vodafone. The company has deteriorated very rapidly in the last 3 years.

Their biggest failing is their Indian call centre. When you are a prepaid customer with a problem you are on hold forever - I'm talking 20 minutes, before someone in India answers your call. Then they are overly deferential - must be part of the culture while they keep putting you on hold and saying bear with me while they try and solve your problem... but then don't resolve it. You end up hanging up.

Whoever Vodafone Australia's head of Customer service is, the moron who came up with the idea of the Indian Call centre to save the company money - should be sacked.

Vodafone in Australia is a company on the pathway to ruin. In England they still have their act together - just not the Australian operation. The entire Australian management team should be sacked, and bring in new people from overseas.

The bad service extends to the stores. Staff - who look like they are on the minimum wage - aren't properly trained and trash the company to the customers.

I live on the North shore in Sydney and calls drop out every day at particular spots on my journey from Roseville to the City. I know where the spots are and warn my mother when I'm talking to her that the call will drop out in about 1 minutes time when I know I'm approaching the vodafone blackout spot.

Vodafone is a company in freefall due to its totally incompetent Australian management team.

The company is worse now than Digicall was when it was first set up back in 1995.

I am currently contemplating switching to Optus or Telstra and I am a customer who spends $100 a month.

After months of troubles with an old unlocked Telstra 3g phone on the Vodafone network my partner relented and got a SE Experia X10. And we thought we had problems before... The fun only just began. 90% of all calls in either direction end in dropouts, terrible conversations due to dropouts, late messages, and general frustration. Useless customer service over the phone. Useless customer service in the stores. It doesn't end. I am also on Vodafone and don't have as many issues on my old GSM phone thankfully. Never again...

I can NEVER get reception. It continually drops out. Every time I call I wait for 40 - 60 mins and I have my phone logs to prove this. Whenever I e-mail, I never get the response I need. My contract is ending next month and I am out as soon as this happens!!

Ive been in contract since Jan when I signed up for an iphone and broadband for my laptop. The coverage has gradually gotten worse since I signed up. I live and work in the CBD/Surry Hills/Bondi Junction, yet I am constantly without service, with calls dropping, going directly to voicemail, unable to make calls, data will not work, and text messages do not come through/send. The broadband for my laptop only works 50% of the time so I am unable to do the things I need to as GPRS is too slow.
I have been complaining for months, and all I have heard is excuse after excuse, and lies after lies. I have even caught call centre staff out on things that have been untrue. I was told it was because I lived in a brick building!!! Well if my friends Telstra phones work fine in my apartment, then why can't my Vodafone phone??? Finally I found out who to speak to at the head office in Australia, who promised an investigation, and depending on the outcome I could terminate my contract early with no exit fees. After several weeks I still had not been prvided with answers. I emailed them one final time telling them I wanted a resolution within 48 hours or I would esculate my concerns to the ombudsman. I was contacted 2 days later and let out of my contract with 14 months remaining provided I give my phone back. Thats fine... Telstra have free ones if you sign up with them, along with a reliable network.
What i am most annoyed about, after readng the recent media coverage, is that Vodafone were aware of the issues from the start, yet still keeping signing people onto their network. They lied to me about the issues and made me spend hours on hold, to try and get some answers instead of being upfront and doing the right thing. Vodafone is a disgusting excuse for a company, and they should not be able to operate in such a way.

Tried to set up global roaming before going Os. Was on hold for 55 min and the the Indian customer service officer picked up and call went blank. My calls keep dropping out and when I text customer service for a balance of my usage half the time they don't reply back. Can't wait for plan to be up I will be going to telstra at least you get what u pay for and better coverage

For 6 months I haven't been able to send emails. Each time I call the help line I get some new story about how it is a network problem they are working on, or it's not our fault but its the mail server company we are contracted to, or some other story. Nothing is ever done, I can't understand how they can get away with such a blatant failure to provide a basic service. Anyway, my contract is up next week and I'm off and never to return. Of course I will spread the word to everyone I meet.

I'm horrified by the good service I've received. Not a problem for four years. F-o-u-r y-e-a-r-s! I didn't have a clue there was a major network issue going on until the likes you made it known. Thanks, I would've been in the dark forever!

If some tries to call me, it says that my call barring is active.
If I am trying to call someone, I am getting the same message.
Since today morning, before around 11am i called my friends and after 11am its happening to me.
I called customer care and they ****ing says that I have to visit vodafone store for change my SIM. because it is A NETWORK ERROR.

What a service!!!!!

Crows Nest - continued.....Oh yes, forgot to mention I would get text messages and voice messages the next day, and had no 3G network coverage.....5km from the Sydney CBD!

Zero coverage or service in the sydney CBD, or anywhere for that matter. I have been in situations where people have been trying to reach me and it goes straight to my voicemail. Messages take forever to send, it is beyond a joke. I called wishing to cancel my contract. I called - and after being hold for 1 hour and 30 minutes i was transferred to another department. She then said i had to go into the shop to get a new sim card. I did. It still didnt work. I was told i would get a call back at 1pm. That never happened. I then called THEM back and was on hold for another hour, to be transferred, then told that the system wasnt working and they couldnt access my account details. I then called back again after they had tried to reach me, but due to the fact i get zero coverage, couldnt get through (funny that). I called back again, to be told that despite vodafone being open "24/7 for contract customers" they the disputes department and contract department was only open 9-6 and to call back tomorrow. The woman in the vodafone shop said she understood and just to call up and get them to approve the transfer of the phone number to another carrier so i could start using my new phone etc. I tried that, vodafone wouldn't help and said ...again... to call back tomorrow. I've emailed the ombudsman and this is getting beyond a joke.

I am lucky if I can get more than 24M out of my 1024M monthly data quota - not for want of trying! Searching... for another network!

Vodafones communication is the poorest ive ever encountered! but not as poor as their reception/service!!! sick of these indians not understanding what im saying! I NEED TO GET OUT OF THE CONTRACT!!! stupid pricks

Vodafone's service has been crap for at least the last 6 months. I can't even drive from South Melbourne to South Yarra without the data network completely stopping. The only way to get it to work is to change from 3G to 2G and then back again.

Calls drop out when not even moving from one spot.

The 3G data network is slow compared to Telstra/Optus connections when testing from the same location on my Vodafone service.

When my contract runs out I will be switching to Optus or Telstra as Vodafone has even worse service in regional Victoria with 0% 3G services.

Pick up your game Vodafone as you can do better than this. Maybe add a shite load more capacity to your network so it is actually usable!

Ported to VF only to find areawhere I work is non existant to Vodafone. 7 colleagues at work can't even see the newwork at all. Sometimes I get 3G signal but no phone reception (if anything) Customer service wants me to phone from another handet to show it's not my phone. Hey I got 7 people who can prove it isn't my phone.
Customer help ?? An offshore unit who have no idea where Sydney is. Apparently It's in Bathurst. Well Same state anyway.

My iPhone cannot read the MyVodaphone website, so I can't see what my account is doing.

Might have to port out after only being in less that two weeks

My Land line internet dropped out yesterday so I had to rely on my phone to give me access to the internet for work. Low and behold it would drop out every 30 seconds and when it was connected it would only download slower than dial up. I know it downloads faster than that since when I first purchase the phone\contract it was pulling down 2Mbps and would only drop out on occasion. Unfortunately I have noticed the network performance of VF degrading a lot over the last month. I called help desk but after 30 minutes on hold I gave up. Seriously if you are going to offer plans with generous data caps for a cheap price you better make sure your hardware has capacity to handle it! Thankfully my ISP (Internode) were fantastic and speedy in fixing my connection, maybe Voda should take a page out of their book.

45 mins on hold to get to vodafone, then a referral to Blackberry, cos it must be "a Blackberry issue". 45 mins there. No resolution. Who paid for that and for the hour and a half of my life I want back? Me. Shouldn't have got either the handset or the service contract. This is a freakin radio network. I thought we'd sorted out radio comm's in the 1950's?

I used to be with vodaphone 20 years or more ago. ditched them back then for the same problems people are having today. Drop-outs, no service, no reception. All FLUFF NO SUBSTANCE 20 years ago, same today. Pull the pin and go with a more relibable provider. U'll be happier.

re Tim

Live in the Illawarra and work at Hebersham (Mount Druitt )in Western Sydney. There are 17 spots along the 1hr 15 min journey where there is no coverage & the line drops out & many others where it sounds like I am talking underwater like a chipmunk. One of those lasts for six minutes! Vodaphone won't allow calls to Telstra's Directory Assistance line even though this has been the national phone inquiry line for decades. It diverts the call to the Vodaphone 123 line (should be called the Oh Deary Me line!) and which is slow while they google a number because their database is inadequate. At least 5 out of 10 inquiries can't be satisfied and I often give up in disgust, many times after three and four minutes of waiting. After I was so disillusioned about not being able to get a phone number for Westmead Children's Hospital in Sydney for at least seven minutes of waiting and three separate phone calls, I rang the Customer Service line (long wait & the phone kept dropping out)and someone did call me back the next day and they promised to look into it and get back to me....that was five months ago and I have heard nothing. Also unable to dial 1900 lines (for competitions). Great disappointment with the Customer Service Centre for help being run out other countries. I am offended at the odd hours they SMS me with their tripe marketing & I am over not receiving texts promptly from my teenagers who we bought phones for in case of emergencies. Receiving them 2 days late hardly helps a crisis. It is not good enough and I am leaving, never to return. The website has been ridiculously slow & convuluted to get answers from over the years and I feel like we the customers are just the cash cows. The management & corporate handling of this has been laughable to those of us who work in companies who do care out their customers and work hard to improve services and keep clients informed. It's an emabarassment. Bye Bye

always dropping out on calls. The service was great up until about 6 mths ago. Data is absolutely a waste of time its so slow both on the phone and the Ipad. Seriously Voda you need to lift your game and lift it real quick. If acquiring the 3 network and there people has put some strain on your system sort that shit out and sort it out fast!

I have had a Telstra Mobile for as long as I can remember, and I never really understood the "paying for the premium" line they used to use when the bill came in. But I would happily pay double at Telstra to ensure my mobile works. I have no coverage at home, suffer 25 - 30 drop outs a day and the data service is just no existant. It got to a point today that I had to make a phone call i took the sim out of my pre paid Telstra Next G Broadband modem and put that in my phone to make the call. Voicemail messages days late, txt msg's just not arriving or going and when the call is connected, the quality is just shyte.... Give me Telstra any day of the week!

I also signed for two years, for the first time and I'll probably be gone when the contracts up. The reception is middling to say the least - and yes I work and live in an urban area. I'm forced to make short calls and/or repeatedly recall clients, friends and family during most attempted calls. The drop out rate is the worst Ive experienced with Telstra, Optus and now Vfone. It was better with Optus in the early-mid 90's. That would be a joke, in 2010, if it wasn't costing me money.

"Perhaps you should do some research into the other telcos...
Telstra are always having outages, Optus have had 3 MAJOR network outages (meaning completely no service at all) in the last 12 months in one state alone!
I'll stick with Vodafone thanks...a world leader and the only truly genuine mobile telco in Australia."

Spin doctors getting despirate now!

I live in New Farm, 1.5km from the center of the City. I can't get reception and when it rains, I get absolutely no reception. Vodafone, one day I want to be just like you.

If people threw money at me for two years and I didnt deliver on my promises, I would be rich too!

Perhaps you should do some research into the other telcos...
Telstra are always having outages, Optus have had 3 MAJOR network outages (meaning completely no service at all) in the last 12 months in one state alone!
I'll stick with Vodafone thanks...a world leader and the only truly genuine mobile telco in Australia.

I am on Vodafone's post-paid mobile internet plan. For the first month, everything was plain sailing. On the second month, the data transmission dropped suddenly. My USB dongle could connect to the network, but could NOT transmit any data.

Called Vodafail's customer service and got put on hold for 1/2 an hour before actually speaking to a human; even then, I had to strain to understand his English which had a VERY, VERY strong accent.

I was taken through a whole series of troubleshooting steps which involved many more calls to customer service and trips down to the nearest Vodafail shop (which might as well be in Beijing). I was finally told that the base station that my USB dongle connected to was faulty and it would take a week to fix.

A WEEK!! A whole freaking week without internet during my exam period when I had to download notes off my school's network. Had to take the trouble of lugging my notebook down to school.

After the base station was fixed, I received no phone call from the tech team despite reassurances that I would get a call from them.

How reassuring is that?

In addition, I could not check my data entitlements via myvodafone.com.au on MANY occasions.

Been on hold for 5:12 Hours now...

I called back as soon as the original call I was on dropped out or I was hung up on! All I want to do is to cancel my newly signed (3 weeks) $100 Ultimate 24 mth plans x 3. I believe you have 28 days to terminated a newly signed contract, should said Telco be unable to provide products or services as advertised...

There network may have be oversubscribed & exceeded max capacity, & supply of sub standard handsets which find it difficult to receive any signal - yet coverage maps indicate full 3G - Crapple!!

As for Customer Service, still waiting... Will share an update!

I am on 3 and supposedly 3 and Vodafone are one now. I used to have issues with the 3G network with 3 over the last 6 months however the 3G network seems to be improving however I do not have any call drop out issues. Guess 3 is getting better after Vodafone merger!

Nearly at the point of having to to transfer 4 business phones to the evil empire (OUCH!) Constant drop outs, network busy messages, sms taking hours to arrive, rang Vodafone and was told I should switch carriers if I want reception. Been with them since analogue days and until now no major problems

Bitterly regret switching from Optus to a 2 year contract with Vodafail. I thought my new phone was the problem for poor reception, dropped calls etc. Took it back for service but it's no better. Vodafail's network is shockingly poor in many areas of Canberra. I've just spent 2 weeks in Perth and it was just as bad there.

I was using the 3 network for my wireless internet access till a few months ago. As with Vodafail, hopeless throughput and connectivity. Seems the 3 virus has now affected the Vodafail network due to their recent purchase. Do what I did, spend your money elsewhere. Vote with your feet.

My phone has been dropping out several times a day for the past two weeks. Reception is bad even in inner city Melbourne. I was promised I would have reception in country Victoria and was shown a map of Vodafone's area of coverage which included the area I wanted to go to. Crapola! I had no coverage at all. Wouldn't want to be there again, and in trouble and unable to use my Vodafone mobile to get help. Also, how about a refund on all those texts sent out dozens of times that you said you would refund me?

Vodafone is saying that the problem is only in Sydney CBD. That is not true. I have had a 3 usb modem, iphone 3GS which didn't experience dropouts, slow internet. But during the last 4 months i have noticed that the dropouts have been happening many times both day and night, connecting and downloading data have become very slow. I paid extra for data for my iphone but never use much coz i cannot connect to the internet.3 was ok before until the merger with Vodafone. I only realised this when i took out another smartphone plan with Vodafone, and they offered more data but now wondering how i can use them considering their worsening network issues. Yes, when i called, i also experience long wait, 1 hour for only a short conversation then i was transferred to another section, but i decided to hang up coz i was being made to wait for at least 40 minutes again. I live and work outside Sydney CBD and i cannot connect to anything when im at work, that is for 8 hours of my day. 3G always goes down, and turn to GPRS or Edge, which become impossible to enjoy the expensive smartphone plans we signed up for. They should be banned from offering services until they fix their network. In the meantime, they should cancel subscriptions too and let customers move to other network/s.Vodafone is just ripping us off.

94% Australasian coverage!!!!! THEY ARE JOKES!! i operate in the Shoalhaven area NSW, Kaima to Ulladulla. If i got 50% i would be happy! so what the ;F; does that do to the national average ???, and this is on the populated eastern seaboard!! THEY ARE KIDDING!! cannot wait to be shod of this contract!! they wank around in their corporate cocoon. try making your website a bit more user(complaint) friendly, and you would be snowed under!! WAKE UP and SMELL THE MANURE !

I was on a pre-paid broadband service provided by 3 on their 3G network for more than 2 years and was a happy customer. Recently it was absolutely not usable for vodafail. I started using Telstra pre-paid broadband.

Fought a seven month pitch battle with Vodafail over a number of issues you are all aware of - voicemail coming in weeks late; phone not receiving inbound calls although you have reception; not able to make calls out (i.e. call failure) although you have 5 bars; data so slow it's not worth using (wifi hotspots for me!). Their 'help desk' tried the usual: a) put me on hold forever; b) told me the usual 'something wrong with your phone routine - not their network c) become the trouble shooter for vodafone network issues - yey sure if you pay me I can do that (i.e. document time/place and get them to call you as the problem is occuring - sure if I didn't have to wait an hour I could do that!); d) keep you on the 'help desk' merry go round until you just quit and give up. Well for me it just pissed me off more, and I finally got out of my contract last week. Although the funny thing was that when speaking with their 'help desk' to finally get rid of the contract two days ago, the phone dropped out three times, although I had 3 bars reception (after waiting an hour and a half each time to talk to them as well, sure this was the final way of Vodafail to stop me getting out of my contract!). Gone Telstra now ... at least I have good coverage and I can receive and make calls now!

Either my text messages stay for 3 hours in "sending" status or they are displayed as "sent" but the receiver actually receives them LATE!!!! I have no reception in the city???? AND "LARA" is a useless piece of crap!

I have a business with five blackberry handsets that don't work on a network that can't support basic telephony that is slowing destroying my business. Vodafone's solution: remove and reinsert the battery and all will be better!!!

Either zero reception or 1bar wherever I go. What's the point of going mobile if you can't be in contact with people!!! You would think being their main service offering they would actually do it well! Very frustrating and pathetic!!!

signal and network dropouts everyday which are annoying. I thought this only happened to me. Guess hundred, thousands are in the same situation. I still have some time in my contract but definitively I will shop around once it's finished...

I have only noticed that reception drops out while on the phone between lidcombe and newtown from 3G, to 2G then E for Egdge theen back all over again. Also in western Sydney, this issues of reception remain just as crap. very little 3G coverage for mobile broadband or mobile calls and in blacktown station, just forget about even trying to update your facebook status, twetter or anything alike because it will take you until seven hills to even update anything and even then between seven hills and blacktown the reception drops dramatically to E........so Vodafone, isn't the power to me to make you change your dodgy ways????

Recently took a family driving holiday to FNQ from Sydney. Vodafone signal dropped out on Sydney's North Shore and didn't return for the 6 weeks of the trip. My wife's Telstra reception however was fantastic.Beyond expectation! A message via Carrier Pigeon or Cobb and Co coach would have got to its destination faster than one via Vodafone. Their network is as useless as 'tits on a bull". Can't wait to change to Telstra.

I had no idea they were so bad when I signed-up last month,got sucked into it by seeing their ASHES ad. Worst network ,dont know what to do just signed the contract.

Appalling customer service. Terrible coverage. Pack of money grabbers.

Coverage map says - Yes
But not connection ever available
that's Vodafone for you
Ps AAPT is Vodafone network

I thought it was a problem with my iPhone but after reading the article in The Age I too am suffering from vodafone. Pages on the Internet won't load, reception drops out in the city all the time and voice messages are taking 24 hours in some cases to come through. Appalling service and not good enough. I am missing important messages from clients because of vodafone.

I was with '3 mobile' and when time to upgrade my handset, I was told '3' was merging with Vodaphone so therefore I had no choice but to change to them also. I was also told at the time that Vodaphone had better coverage, which now seems very doubtful as my phone often has poor or no signal in the middle of Sydneys CDB or in my home in the Southern suburbs of Sydney (which was never a problem with 3)

Since changing over, i have had nothing but problems. see following:

The handset took approx. 3 weeks to deliver (not 3 days as told).
Vodaphone canceled my '3' sim card without notification to me so i was left without my business phone for 2 days.
Trying to set up voicemail was a nightmare - it took more than 30 minutes as i kept being redirected back to the top menu with the recorded message not being saved.
my plan (supporting 2 gig of data) would not let me connect to the internet.
phone calls break up or contain static or do not connect. When speaking to customer (NO)service there is a contact distracting echo over the line.
Wait times for customer support are absolutely horrendous on the many times i have had to call. Often to the point that i just give up as i run out of time on my lunch break.
When i politely asked customer service if i could lodge an official complaint i was told that Vodaphone did not have any customer feedback lines.
my phone did not arrive with a user guide. (not sure if this is vodaphone or phone co) i had to search for one online.

I used Vodaphone 10 years ago and the service was horrendous then also. I remember them charging me for months after finalizing my account with them and it was a nightmare trying to sort it out. Them at one point threatning legal action. In the end i just paid for months i didn't use as i felt i wouldn't be able to afford the legal fees. Obviously things haven't improved since then.

Action needs to be taken

after talking to a CSR about network issues cause little to no coverage the second you step inside a building and how the EDGE network seems to actually work BETTER then the 3G network for data, he assured me that it was a problem being looked at and fixed. he also said he would have a technician look into the reception issues inside any buildings and he him contact me the following monday, it WAS 4 WEEKS before he got back to me!!!

vodafone isnt a dog asshole let alone a mobile telco!!!!!

Yeah, I've had terrible network and phone problems over the past few months like everyone else.

But add this in. Vodafone texted me yesterday to announce a deal at 'my nearest store', which happens to be in another State.

At 10:45pm I received a new text from them saying 'Oops, we realised we sent you the wrong store' then proceeded to direct me to a store in yet a different State.

Get it together Vodafone. Nearly 11pm is too late to be texting customers and twice sending grossly inaccurate information is just incompetent.

The customer service is a joke - some third rate call centre out of mumbai where a person reads from a screen and has no idea what is going on.

The reception is some bad it is not funny. Dropped calls, no net, just ridiculous.

The lies of the customer service reps, the false tests and the utmost waste of time is just mind boggling.

They cannot possibly continue to offer service contracts when the network cant even handle it!

They should be suspended from taking on new customers until such time as the network issues are resolved satisfactorily!

If you are with them get out... If you are not run...

I'm with 3. Identical issues to everyone else here. For the past three months basically have not had a phone service: 'Network Lost' and 'Cellular data' messages popping up ever 5 seconds, text messages gone AWOL for hours, not able to connect to the Internet at all, and basically gave up even trying to make a call as it would drop out without fail even though I live 5km from the CBD.

Bit the bullet and moved to Telstra yesterday. Feels sooooooo good! I'd forgotten what it's like to actually have a working phone. Not once in all the hours I spent trying to resolve my issue with 3 customer service did anyone admit it might be a network issue. They had me restore my carrier settings, restore the factory settings (I lost all my photos and videos of my 2 month old baby - irreplaceable), new SIM card, had the Apple Store run checks on the phone... They wasted so much of my time (which I very little of with a new baby).

I talked and talked til I was blue in the face, and they finally agreed to let me off my contract on the proviso I return the handset that I've been paying off for 14 months. I'm going to do it just cos I want this over (but there is still a threat of charging me $500+ if the find a fault with the handset! I don't think so, Tim). Anyway...

Class Action, people!!!! Is all I can say.

Have been with VF for over 5 years, never had an issue until the 22nd of November - no reception on the phone, poor when outdoors, none when inside. Spent 4 HOURS on hold and FINALLY got thru, told that the issue was my SIM card. Went to a VF shop and had it changed, made it WORSE. Still having HUGE problems with my phone, to which I've been told it's the handset - how is that possible when I've tried my old handset and that has the same issues? I would LOVE to opt-out of my plan after having so many issues over the last 3 weeks, but I'll be stung with a massive contract pay-out fee :(

I can't conduct business because people can't call me, and when they do calls drop out. Vice versa.

Also; 3G, I can't even say it's working because it just constantly sits at the loading screen. I've had this problem not only in ACT, but NSW and QLD.

As soon as they have performed their 5 day investigation *ugh* I'm switching to Telstra. They may have poor customer service, but at least they have coverage!

middle of Sydney CBD.. no reception. Sydney harbour?? forget it! North Shore? you must be joking! but if I dare to "opt out" of my contract... i get blacklisted. Vodafone should be blacklisted in the same way

have an extremely smart phone on an extremely stupid network.
I was ripped off.. this is plain fraud.

Random reception and lack of 3G. National data racking up because I can't get 3G is the worst