1
cancelled service still being billed complete with threatening letters despite 3x40min waiting time and then 40 min conversation with a person with a fairly good grasp of English but insufficient for the problem
2
sms arriving 6 hours late
3
despite assurances to the contrary my phone keeps dropping out (with four bars signal strength) in Richmond such that it is common to redial three times during a conversation with a customer
4
Lara is no help and seems to only transfer me to a human when I shout obscenities at her
5
often when i follow the help menu i finish up in a dead end where i have to hang up and start again
6
have been with Voda for ten years. Initially the customer service was so good that I didnt mind the coverage but i did not expect both would ge worse

I live in Kangaroo Point on the river, a stones throw from the CBD and am constantly out of service. I live on the top story of our unit complex and have calls dropping out mid conversation. The internet on my iPhone is constantly dropping out and I am often unable to send text messages. The service sits on one bar even in the CBD and whenever I go into a vodafone store they tell me that there is nothing they can do and I should call the 1555 number which I am on hold on for hours. I was also using a USB Internet stick which never worked. When I complained about this, the vodafone store gave me another stick which didnt work either. I am sick of this poor reception and consistently poor service in store. I don't like dealing with people over the phone. Whenever I have a question about my contract or account I am also referred to the service number. Also make sure you are all checking your bills thoroughly as I have been charged for sending texts to the same number that I was having a phone call with at the exact same time. My room mate is also with vodafone and has the exact same issues.

I have called and complained so many times - went back to where I originally purchased my vodaphone only to be given a new SIM card and told if it continues I would have to come back and get more SIM cards etc. or call and complain to the Vodaphone Hotline - which I have done sooooo many times and after being on hold for more than 1hr one time when I called the phone dropped out!! I told the "sales" person and they just said "it happens" and to keep trying to phone them as the staff member I was talking to couldn't help me!!
Long live customer service ha!!!!!
As a consequence I have missed heaps of important calls and I recieve text messages that were sent to me 2 months previously!
I don't have a home phone or internet so this is my only means of communication as I pointed out to the customer complaints line when I FINALLY got through and received a very lackluster reply!

Had to make multiple call backs to clients this morning because of poor signal at Cumberland Park 8 km from CBD. Have dialled 1555 and gone through the process 2 times but dropped out both times while on hold.
I will try the other national number. I just want a payout figure so I can get out of my contract. If Vodafone had even one gram of customer service nouse they would let us know what the fcuk is going on !!!

I live on the mid north coast NSW. I can make outgoing calls on average once every five times. Constantly getting a 3 tone beep and handset says network disconnected. SO FAIL. Its a pain in the rectum. TO add to the pain you have to call a Mumbai call centre and sit on hold for an hour to get some mumbling idiot that can't do a damn thing for you. So then ya go the Vodafail shop where you bought the phone and they do not want to know you and refer you to call customer service (mumbai mumblers).
Two thumbs down vodafone.

Have been trying for 2 days to talk to customer service....poor connectivity, always busy holding for an hour....when I did get through..forwarded to people that cannot help me all I need is a replacement phone as mine got wet and died, using the wifes to try and get hold of someone...been to shop in hervey bay, they are not interested just keep telling me to ring 1555 customer care...as soon as my contract ends vodafone can shove it where the sun dont shine
Irate customer...Qld

We have complatined to Vodfone so many times via the local store and also via phone (except the phone kept dropping out) and then consistantly dropping out, then we went to the store and complained to them, the lady at the Vodafone store was wonderful and exceeded her customer service duties (3 consultant) explaining to us that she is sick to death of what the staff were also being put through from Vodafone. We purchaced Vodafone Broadband and internet for the coverage and great deal we got with them as my Husband is at Uni, we have drop out in the middle of his uni assignment thankfuly none have been late because of this, he is unable to use the internet for study also due to the one bar of coverage. I am also trying to run a party plan business from the internet and it keeps dropping out. We were in the Good Zone when we purchaced this internet and Mobile phone Plans! I could Keep going on alllll day with the issues we have had!

I was in for 24months contract where I can not use the worth of my money, poor reception, consistent call drop out and everytime you call the customer service, you have to wait a long time. I signed in last August 2010, not knowing the crap out of vodafone. On my first 4 bills, I was also charge $10 over each bill of the agreed contract. I just want to return the phone and go to the other network, Vodafone is so crappy.

I signed a contract with Vodafone on 5th December 2010, with the new Nokia N8.Before signing I asked the girl who served me if I could get coverage in my area. She showed me a map that said my area had good coverage so I went ahead and signed. Within hours of having my phone I realised that the coveage wasn't that good inside my house, but was reasonable outside. So, I didn't complain. Until, the Nokia started turning itself off and was getting harder and harder to turn back on...On the 22nd day after I had the phone I could not turn it on at all. I went to my local Vodafone shop and was told the only option I had was to send my phone away for repair or if unable to repair it would be replaced... This process could take up to 6 weeks.... I offered a "loan phone" while my phone was away. I asked if I would still have access to my social networks on the "loan phone" and was told, they only lent out simple phones,so probably not. Even though my contract included free access to social... The girl then proceeded to get out a Blackberry Storm... Hmmmm, real simple phone hey?? My next questions were obviously too difficult for her to answer so I ended up talking to the "manager".. He seemed more interested in the computer in front of him than answering my questions. I took the Blackberry home feeling really annoyed that the staff we totally not interested in my problems. So, I called and made a complaint against the store manager and one of the staff for their lack of knowledge and nil car factor for my problem.. The Blackberry wouldn't turn on till the next morning after a full nights charge. When it did turn on I was unable to make or receive calls on it as it would cut out and disconnect every single time. It was in SOS mode most of the time.... Not only this, but the Blackberry was full of all the previous persons emails, contacts, sms's, & photos. Disgusting!! After 2 days of his phone I tried calling customer care, was kept on hold for 22 minutes, then the phone disconnected. GREAT!! Tried calling every store in my region but not one answered their phone.. Decided I have to sort this out, so got the kids in the car and headed to my nearest store. Fantastic, the same manager and staff were working and they remembered me...I'm sue of it. I tell them, this phone is useless to me. "Do you want a different one?" the manager asks. "No, I want to cancel my contract, I was told I can do so if I don't get coverage as I can't be charged for a service I'm not receiving"... "We can't cancel in store, you'll have to call customer service." says the manager.. " I would call customer service, but it keeps disconnecting, can you call them from your in store phone for me?" I say. " NO, our phones are down today, you can use a pay phone"........ARE YOU JOKING, A 1300 NUMBER FROM A PAYPHONE, YEAH RIGHT!!!! I'd had enough. I needed a reliable phone. So, I went straight to Optus and signed a new contract, ported my number over and received FANTASTIC service and couldn't be happier with the coverage. I was also informed there that Nokia have a 30 day replacement guarantee on all their phones if they have a manufacturers fault.....VODAFONE DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT THAT OBVIOUSLY! Not that you would expect them to, they don't seem to know much at all!! Now, I hve called customer Care from my new phone that doesn't cut out. After 17 minutes on hold I spoke to a women who I could barely understand her english. She wanted to put me through to tecnical assistance or something. I told her it was too late, I had already ported my number, now I wanted her to cancel my contract. She had to speak to her supervisor who was on another call at that moment. How convenient. I was told I would get a call back within 2 hours. That was 24 hours ago!!!!!! Sorry for the long spiel, but i'm so annoyed. Will keep updating on my progress.

Vodafone is still trying to hide all their problems, they cannot keep up with the increasing demand. their networks and customer service networks are not suitable for such high demands. if they cannot provide a fair service, why are they being allowed to continue to fraud their customers?

After a year of drop outs, poor reception, useless data coverage I finally changed my telco.

Happy to pay the exit fee and final bill - IMPOSSIBLE!!!
The store can't cancel the contract - you have to call customer service.
45 minute wait on hold - I get told the contract was already canceled when my number was ported (apparently the store did not have this information), told to just wait for the bill.

Receive notice of bill in email, click on link to pay bill and I have to enter in the amount to pay - I have no idea, and I have been blocked from entering the myvodafone website now because I am with another carrier.

Call to find out how much to pay, wait for 10min on hold then use call back option (will be 30-40 min) - 2 days later no callback

I call again, this time 40min on hold - your bill is $89.83 I am told, now you can pay it.

WRONG

I try to pay online and get a message telling me the information is wrong, you have to call 1555 - (now clearly this number is not the right one for me now) - another 40 min on a $1 a minute 1300 number coming up, awesome!!!

ALL I WANT TO DO IS GIVE THEM MONEY SO I NEVER HAVE TO EVER THINK ABOUT VODAFONE AGAIN!!

Can not wait to get a reminder notice and probably a late payment fee.

I live in Melton, i have reception in 3 areas in my house if I step either side of these areas the phone drops out. I have trouble sending sms everywhere. Picture messages always fail to download. The only place i have decent reception is at work which is Yarraville. The reception is crap all over Melton yet I was with vodafone 3 years ago and the reception was great. I moved to Optus which was horrible with over charged bills and forever increasing costs. Hence why I moved back to vodafone. I probz should have gone to Telstra.

Seems there is big problems in Australia with all forms of comunications and there service/customer service. The really needs to be some sort of ass kicking.

long gone is customer service.
30 min wait whilst listening to untuned radio to speak to a person in indian call centre who then explained to me they were extremely busy due to the merger of 3 customers... what crap. then i was told she would put through to another line so i could activvate my new sim. Aftter my transfer went through finally, the message said it was outside of business hours please call back and it hung up on me!
I have ignored the 30 or so dropped calls a day, thinking that was the price i had to pay for an "unlimited" service.. it never works. now i have iphone4 and cant get it working. silly me for resigning with what used to be a great company. now they are greedy.

Always not connectable, cannot dial out even in the City area. Although with full bar of services, people can't contact me or I cannot dial out. Therefore I have loss alot of business due to Voda fail. Tried to ring vodafone customer service for setting up global roaming, but waited for an hour the line disconnected itself, I tried 3 times but still without any responds. Going overseas tomorrow but still cannot get in contact with Vodafone to set up my global roaming, don't know what I should do.

Drops outs. Poor reception everywhere. Crappy customer service. And stupid "free" messages sent to me at 1 in the morning!

Have tried to get in contact with customer service 3 times now and there is only so long you can wait on a phone. Today i spent four and a half hours on hold. First call i was on hold for 2 hours and had to hang up as i had to pick my wife up from work, then the second call was 2 hours and 52 minutes and that was as long as i could wait. All 3 calls i didn't even get to speak to an operator. I have all this on video and have had enough!!!

Well last night lying in bed had 2 bars of reception next thing I didn't move BANG no reception, I did not even move. about time Voda manned up and took responsibility for their poor service.

(PERSONAL DETAILS REMOVED) , this guy is the "customer Service Director of Voda Phone - what a monster customer relationship stuff up he is at the end of on this unmittigated mess , where do you go from here - "British Leyland" , "Fawlty Towers" , not even thy could attract the 9000 people who look to sign up a class action against Vodaphone.
Your front line staff look "battle worn" and this sits squarely in your lap - Do you have any thing positive to offer

I'm out of the mess but vocative was the first contract phone I got which was the 3G iPhone launch, I was 20 mins from Brisbane cbd and was lucky to get 3G, I also got wireless broadband with them too, after a few months I was fed up with the poor service and took me 2 months to have my contracts released, I've been with Optus since and on new unlimited iPhone 4 plan, never had better service with any other provider. Vodafail!

Very dissapointed with regional coverage in nsw and qld ecen major towns on the pacific hwy. Paltry coverage in and around coffs harbour ( barely one bar of coverage in main centre of town) been a loyal customer for 12 years but i have sick of the poor service

unexplained charges.. phone dropping out.. customer service of no help and no idea what they are talking about! never called back when they said they would! would be good if i got my invoice on time and not one month after i had asked for it!

Bad enough waiting on hold when calling the customer service number, but then to get an engaged signal without any information or message, and then to have the line drop out is totally inconsiderate.

Getting in contract with vodafone was the biggest downfall i have ever had. Service is disgusting and charges cannot be explained.Call dropping, never get reception in my house even though I live on the third floor. Not to mention the customer service where you get no help at all.Would not recommend to anyone.

Has anyone tried to get off contract even at expiry. I wen to the shop where I bough the ph, sorry we can't cancel was the answer, you must call Voda directly. called them at night on the 24/7 helpline. After 45 mins, sorry no cant do, you must call between 8 and 8 for that. they promised to call me, guess what no call. I tried again at 7.40 PM. Got through soon after 8, you've guessed it, no can do, must be between 8 and 8. called today from work, after 15 mins, had go back to work. sent three emails, gues what no response.

It gets worse. I have not used Voda for some 12 months due to very poor service, I signed elsewhere. So I'm stuck on a contract that I can't use.

Does anyone know of a company that will do anything to stop you from contacting them? How can a shop sell you a contract but that shop wont allow you to cancel the contract. What a miserable joke

Internet drops out 9 out of 10 times. Today I spoke to customer service and they told me network is fine..... I blame management at Vodafone Australia for not passing on the right information to customer service team at India. Vodafone's CEO and management are just LAZY. Atleast they could have forecasted this issue and implemented a back up. They should have known. Outages for 1 or 2 day is acceptable but Vodafone gave us an outrage for 1 month and still no fix. It's too late now coz Vodafone is in bad books now. Vodafone Hutchison Australia management is HOPELESS and should be ashamed.

I cant believe myself & our business has been with Vodafone for the last 10 years with no problems, would have recommended them to all, then the last year its getting rediculous! I moved to Orange in the country had great service, no dramas, even got wireless broadband, great no probs!!! i moved back to Sydney early October omg, no service, cant get internet coverage, messages come up to 5 days late if at all, droped calls - i had to call my sons doctor in orange to get a referal changed for a allergy specialist in sydney very urgent his mouth swelled to a point of nearly closing his air way! it took me 30mins, at least 15 calls, even tryed my daughter phone, but that just as bad, shes with vodafone as well! What concerned me was what happens if he has a reaction that bad again an the phones dont work, he could very well die!!! No service!!! whats with that, many long waits to customer service, they actaully had me convinced that it was a fault with my phone!! No No No! Our business has suffered customers dont want to deal with a tradie they cant get hold of!!! Please they just need to fix the problems up!!! My daughters brand new phone 2 weeks old, same dramas you cant tell me that all 4 phones in our family are faulty with the same problems!!!

I'm in a mess as the RESULT of Vodafone's incapability to provide service. I am a 3 customer and an ex-3 employee (of 18 months).

When we started selling Vodafone in our 3 stores, we were told to push the Vodafone brand as much as possible. All of the 3 customer service staff have moved to the Vodafone call centers to cope with the increased call volume. Now any time one calls 3, you will find yourself on hold for 30 minutes minimum - regardless of the time of day (it used to be better to call in the morning).

ON TOP of this, I recently hollidayed south of Perth over the Christmas period where I used to receive reasonable coverage. Now however, as 3 are gradually switching off obsolete towers, I receive NO coverage.

I know how bad it is, and I know that it's going to get worse. Especially for 3 customers.

It's pretty shitty to be 3

Well Vodafone tried to contact me on the phone that doesn't work idiots but finally rang me on home phone we have signed up 3 new contracts not knowing of the problems with the network approx 6 weeks ago we can never get on internet calls continually drop out can't get range at home just a disgrace then i emailed them they have emailed back they won't let us out of contracts because all they have to be sure of is that it works at our home address so subject is resolved hello it doesn't work that's why i say to contact on HOUSE Phone because mobile doesn't work at home they are idiots and we are so angry we work on the Sydney Railway and i am very uncomfortable not having a phone that i can ring for help on if needed god help Vodafone if someone gets hurt and can't ring for help because of their network don't sign poor new customers up without telling them we have been sucked it and now we are treated terrible by the customer service people and the shop the phones were bought from SHAME on you Vodafone also i am making sure i tell everyone i can about not signing up with Vodafone and so is my son and Husband and the rail Network is a place to tell alot of people they don't want to do the right thing and let us out so what else to do but stop as many people as possible signing up with them and save them the anguish

So after weeeks and WEEKS of dramas with Vodafone to get insurance, a new phone and some kinda contact from them, i finally get an answer last week that i will be getting a new iphone 4. I was told they would call me to confirm delivery date. So today i get a call from vodafone. A prerecorded call saying, that next Thursday will be the delivery date of my new phone. If this was not suitable to press 2 and wait for a customer service person to change it. As i have no idea whether them delviering it means i have to be home or not, i press 2 to speak to someone. I am on line for around a minute. At this time, there is a message saying, 'sorry we cant answer you, call 1800... to talk to us'. Now im sitting calling the 1800 number that they said for around 10 minutes. YOU FAIL VODAFONE. Again this is more a waist of my day. Just deliver the phone!!!!!!!

Bought ph and plan online/Sales Sept.Ph never worked. I spent 2 months and approx 35 hrs on hold/talking to 17 different Cust service reps and spending 3 days home waiting for return calls that NEVER CAME.. I finally got exchange ph.
Voda website has been hopeless, and I'm still awaiting rebates promised in initial deal.Coverage is useless apart from main shopping centres.
If TIO will give OK I want out NOW!!

I am using a vodafone usb stick for internet access and to send txts and have had no end of trouble with coverage,after being advised that I could not get a usb stick that could be connected to an aeriel for better coverage(and offering to pay for it myself) , I discovered thru a friend that this was possible and have since purchased one- the coverage is not much better though!!! Also after getting bloody Lara on the fone every time I called no matter what the time ,I finally got onto a customer service person , to find out why I could not get reception in Townsville-North Queensland,which is the 2nd largest city in Queensland, they advised me to go to a different suburb , as the one I was in wasn't covered by their network, which I duly did and surprise , surprise - still no coverage,I have since bought a usb stick with an aerial connection and aerial and have tried nearly every suburb in Townsville and got no coverage at all !!! I am very disappointed in their coverage , as this was not mentioned to me when I purchased the plan , and what is even more frustrating is that it is nearly impossible to get thru to Vodafone to speak to a person, without getting stuck with bloody Lara for at least 1/2 an hour.

I have three, a cap plan for my phone, a talk and text for the wife, and a plug in dongle thingy for when away with the laptop. Coverage is fair, or a bit better than fair really, though crap in the house as we live near the sea. The 3G coverage is sproradic outside of Sydney where I don't live. The promise that would be very fabulous in 3-6 months 4 years ago has proved hollow.

I just got three messages for my Birthday, a few hours after they were sent.

To get what I have from "T" a company who keeps telling me their coverage is almost perfect I would need to shell out and extra 250-400 a month - that is more than double my spend with "V".

On balance I am fairly OK on Vodafone. Not perfect, but generally OK. Certainly value for money, and a company I enjoy dealing with. Most of the staff I have dealt with in the retail outlet in Charlestown would get bonus points from me for excellence in customer service. It is probably value and customer service that has kept me happy. I do have a level of stickability, but with technology developing, I would like to see Vodafone follow the old Ansett motto of "we try harder".

I don't want my phone to take photos, play music, guide me, be my GPS, be my note-taker, web-browser, calculator or cad drawing package. I want my phone to connect reliably, and deliver messages on time. These are the two areas where I believe Vodafone have the most room for improvement.

I switched from Vodafone prepaid to 24-month contract. I still had $20 on my prepaid sim card but when I asked Vodafone if that money can be credited to my account, they replied that I need to contact the store (who promised me the refund). The store, of course insisted I need to call the main Vofdafone line and after being on hold 3 or 4 times for 30 min + each time, I decided to give up.

Bad coverage, drop outs, unable to use the internet to check anything, the customer service used to get street directions (when unable to access google maps due to connection issues) costs an absolute fortune and even then the directions, are at best, completely unable to be deciphered. Angry customer here, what a waste of money!!!!!!!! The only reason i'm still with them is because I am on a contract. The worst bit is that my handset sucks....i called to buy an iphone and got COMPLETELY talked out of it and into a Samsung Jet because iphones were out of stock. The sales guy totally sucked me in. UNHAPPY!!!

I shot a video about Vodafone's performance is an average situation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FY2Hf44LOoc

My story: I signed up for Vodafone about 18 months ago because my girlfriend was a big fan and we both got the $69 iPhone 3g plan when it became available.
We lived in Randwick (6km from the CDB) but we had problems with the coverage straight from the beginning. Basically I couldn't make a call inside my apartment without a dropped calls. As for using the internet it was constantly changing from 3 bars through GPRS (2.5G) to No service and back.
Back than I was a student and I didn't use the phone too much at home so it was fine, however I noticed it was gradually becoming less reliable and slower and slower to a point when when the internet totally become unusable at peak times.
My girlfriend decided to quit her contract she contacted Vodafone 4-5 times waiting someone from customer service to answer the phone for hours. At the end Vodafone let her go so now she is with Telstra. You cannot compare the the quality of the two services. No drop calls, customer service in 3 minutes, internet is about 10x faster download and 30x faster upload speeds.
I often have to use her phone to look things up and make calls.

Disclaimer: I used to be a Vodafone employee in Europe working for the network support team. While I was there Vodafone did exactly the same, it offered unlimited GPRS internet for cheap. Within 2 months the data service was unusable. The funny thing is most of us didn't have phones with GPRS, so we couldn't test it on the field.
I guess it is the same here. I suppose most Vodafone employees have blackberries. They are also located in Chatswood where I guess coverage and the 3G performance is great.

Ive woken up today to call barring on my phone. 2 weeks ago i recieved a reminder text from Vodafail advising that my bill was over due and paid the full amount requested. After 6 attempts with 'Lara' to contact a person ( no matter what option I chose after saying call barring I was referred to making a payment ) I spoke with another inept Indian who informed me that the payment had been recieved but that the amount that vodafone originally requested was incorrect and that their is currently $118.64 overdue. This number sounded familiar so while on the line I checked my current bill - $118.64 and due in 5 DAYS! When I tried to explain to this to the call centre operator he just could not grasp the concept. When I asked him to explain why, when he can confirm that the amount that was overdue he agrees has been paid, my phone still has barring activated the only response i can get out of him was that ' the 118.64 must be paid in full before the barring can be lifted.' When I asked to speak to a supevisor he informed me that there was no need as he was equipped to handle my query. When I explained to him that he wasnt he told me that I could either pay the bill or call back and speak to customer service - and wait in line again. I will not be paying this bill and I will certainly be trying to recoup some of the money I have paid over the last month for access to a network that barely has coverage and even then rarely makes it through a call. Screww you Vodafone, I really hope someone blows you up!

Worst internet broadband wireless coverage area 3752 and most of the time NO INTERNET ACCESS, crappy customer service....etc etc.
This is absolute rubbish....Encourage people should leave to send vodaphone a clear message.

I keep getting "No Service" on my Iphone and my Data on the phone is ridiculous, I also get dropouts on calls and whenever I call Customer Service I am always on hold for more than half an hour

Vodafone's customer service computer: "Lara".

IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO GET THROUGH TO A REAL PERSON, BLOODY LARA WON'T SHUT UP

After have very intermittent reception for two days now, and constant poor reception for 3 weeks I decided to cancel my contract early and move to a provider willing to provide. I was just on hold for an hour and 58 minutes and was told that my case was unique and that vodafone had no record of poor service or service outages in my area. I pray the TIO can help.

Hello, Firstly thank you for starting this website. Its a sad fact that Vodafone (and some other companies operating in Australia) are so out of touch with their customers and arrogant, that a national campaign has to be started in order for proper customer service to be delivered.
My complaints....
1. Unbelievably Bad Reception: I live in Clayton Victoria and suburb of Melbourne, also by the by where Telstra and others telecom companies have their national telecommunication control centers. We're not talking about rural Australia here, and yet I consistently can't get reception in my living room or walking down the main street. Seriously, not being able to get reception in Clayton is like not being able to get Sushi in Tokyo ..... during a sushi festival.
2. Long Loooong time left on hold: I had to sort out a billing problem ($3500 dollar bill for overseas roaming, thanks very much) and with time on hold, bounced between this department and that, it took over 2.5 HOURS!
Hopefully this information helps in improving the situation
Regards
Damien Lacey

I don't have call drop-out problems, but do have some late delivery text messages. My complaint is almost every time I try to pay my bill online, there is a website 'problem' that results in a frustrating call to the insufferable Robot Lara and a long wait on hold. Eventually I get excuses about the website being down/upgrading/temporarily unavailable etc etc. If I want a paper bill instead, that will cost me extra, but every month when I try to pay online I need to set aside about half an hour, just to give this stupid, useless and uncaring company money it doesn't deserve. The customer service is non-existent and the excuses pathetic. It is impossible to complain effectively. Every time I have a problem paying online because of their crap website, I ask for it to be reported but nothing ever changes. They promise anything to get you off the phone. I stay with this appalling company because I'm on a discontinued "no plan" service that costs them more money than it costs me. That's the only comfort I have in using Vodafone - actually "using" them. I recommend everyone I can against this company and tell Vodafone so when I complain, which is frequent. They don't care. But Optus for my home phone and internet is no better, so why bother going to the effort of switching suppliers? I bet they treat their staff like dirt, which is why they have these problems in the first place: no one who works there cares about the customer.

P.S. The bogus pro-Vodafone online comments on SMH story are surely embarrassing?! Try harder, Vodafone.

I stupidly joined vodafone because my girlfriend was with them and I was enticed by the free calls. now having ended that relationship i am stuck with a contract (9months old) that delivers poorer than poor service. almost everyday my calls drop out, even when i have full 3G reception it will very rarely open my web pages or update facebook, even when i turn it off and on or swap with airoplane mode. my longest wait for a voicemail was 2 days.....

in short, dont join vodafone.. EPIC FAIL

After have very intermittent reception for two days now, and constant poor reception for 3 weeks I decided to cancel my contract early and move to a provider willing to provide. I was just on hold for an hour and 58 minutes and was told that my case was unique and that vodafone had no record of poor service or service outages in my area. I pray the TIO can help.

Waiting 6 hours for a text message is ridiculous. If I have a friend on a different network standing right next to me with full coverage try to call me and not get through, something's not right. I was talking to a customer service representative who suggested that perhaps I should turn my phone onto the vodafone 2G network. I then advised the lady on the phone that I am not paying for a 2G network I am paying for a 3G network. The only solution to this problem, according to the customer service representative, is paying the same amount for a network of lesser value.

Worst customer service I have ever experienced.

Hi Everybody,
my Name is Luca Facibeni I am a Sydney resident and I have been experiencing prolems with my iPhone (one) which is using the Vodafone network since last August 2010. Since then the situation has been steadly deteriorating and now problems are so severe that I can hardly receive any call at all.
I own and run a small gardening business and because of the nature of this job I am basically every day out and about all day long. For this reason I do have only mobile wireless internet and mobile phone as customer service tools.
Many of my clients started complaining that they cannot contact me anymore and has become critical.
I want to voice my great dissatisfaction with Vodafone in these recent months and the frustration I experience due to the fact that also the Vodafone customer service number "1555" is actually not available.
Have cunsumers any kind of rights or just the duty to pay?
Does the Australian authority on telecomunications impose any criteria about how contracts between network providers and customers/users must be and also does it supervise the extend of discrepancies between service agreed and paid for and actual service provided. In today's society, just because of the way it works and functions, I do count on the fact to be in constant contact with others by telematic means. This is the reason why I pay for it.
If I need a banana in my life, I go to the grocery shop and I'll buy it. If the shop where I go doesn't have a banana to sell, I am free to go to another shop looking for the banana I need and I can do so without giving any money to the first shop I went to and which could not supply my with a banana because it did not have any banana.
Now, I have been buying my bananas from Vodafone for many months so I am keen to keep buying my bananas from Vodafone. The problem is that in the last six months Vodafone did not give me the bananas I asked for and Vodafone agreed to give me. I have paid for bananas and I have received apricots instead.
Apricots are not what I need. I am not happy with what Vodafone is giving me instead of the bananas I need and we agreed for in the deal we made.
It is clear that Vodafone has run out of bananas.
It is not unusual for a "supplier" to run out of stock.
Now I think the authorities who are running the country should step in firmly and ask Vodafone a simple question: "Are you Vodafone in the position to supply right now the banana you promised to the people who need the banana right now in this very moment? Yes?!! Okay very good. No??!! well in this unfortunate case, please stop immediately requiring money for what you cannot sell anymore and set your former customer, with its previously allocated phone number, free to go and buy the banana it need from another shop.
Does this make sense or not?

I have no reception at all with Vodafone in my area, they originally locked me in to a 2 year contract which I did agree too how ever the phone they gave me was faulty and I spoke with the customer service line and was told 'what do you want us to do about it'(they were rude and unhelpful) it took over 4 months for Vodafone to respond to my complaint, they did offer me 6 months of half cost bills however one of my bills was one hundred dollars more than it should have been on my cap (which I NEVER go over) and when i called to investigate i was offered no assistance and simply told to pay - not only that how can i use it when my calls constantly drop out, texts dont go through and I never get more than one to two bars of reception and Vodafone wont let me cancel my plan without paying it out - I have been with them for 6-7 years and this is the worst it has ever been and as a supposed valued customer they have not offered me any sort of compensation. As soon as my contract ends i will be finding another provider who values there customers and supplies an excellent product.

I called vodafone several times about my poor service I would have full bars of reception but it would drop out, calls would fail, text would not send and people could not get through to me. I spoke to three different people after being on hold for over 40 mins each time. My uncle was dying at the time and I explained I needed a reliable phone they didn't care they said they would hold a 3 day investigation and call me back! I had to
call them and still nothing. They sent me a sim
card and said try this but I was left on
hold for over an hour the day I called to
activate the new sim so I gave up. I called yesterday to upgrade my phone which they offered me again on hold forever and a memo to all stores said for htc or iPhones we need to call and order. After my long wait they told me to call back on
the 6th at which point they would take my order for the htc!! I am refusing to pay my bill as I can not use the service properly! I just want out of my contract which only has 3 months left and I will never ever go near them again! Poor quality products, rude non social phone staff not even in the same country and crap coverage! They use to be great but some one has stuffed up big time and I know hundreds of people who have left them and for good reason! I will not be renewing my contract!

Trying to get some basic information about plans.
Rang the infamous Lara - Voice command system. All I want to do is speak to a person and I'm still on hold after 45 minutes, after hearing Lara tell me how close I am to having my call taken, and the next minute how flat out they are and they will be with me shortly!
About to give up, and about to move my plans to Optus! Well done Vodafone, another customer who you have pissed off with your pathetic customer service, pathetic automated systems that simply don't work, and pathetic phone network.

I have been with vodafone for about 10 years. In the early day was not mnay probs but in the last couple of years i have has problems with calls not connectng even wehn I have ful service and sometime for no reason when on a call it was get diconnected.

As my plan was up and I wanted a new plan with and i-phone I resigned for a 24 month 49 cap contract.I was happy with the service I rec'd form the customer service agent but the wait time was ridiculous and having to use the "LARA" voice menuin annoying!.

Im am happy with the iphone but not the coverage, continious call drops out and snail pace when using internet !!

After consistently receiving the message "SIM card registration failed" one day, I tried calling the customer service line of VF 3 times - first time I got through and I said it was a problem with a Nokia handset (just guessing, I'm no tech person), which then transferred me to a number which was not connected. I then called back and this time I said it was a problem with the SIM card, and got a message telling me there was a technical problem and I needed to hang up and call back. The third time I chose that it was a problem with coverage and the same thing happened.

I then emailed, got an automated message about covering 94.52% of the Australian population, which I replied to saying I was sitting in the middle of Sydney. I didn't receive a response for a while (I think just over a week), then eventually received the following:


Thank you for your patience.

Please note that this is an automated reply and is being sent due to unexpected and extended delays.

We apologise for the delay in responding to your enquiry within our normal time frames, and regret any inconvenience this has caused. We understand that due to this delay, you may have utilised other avenues to resolve your query.

If this has not been the case, please let us know by replying to this email (between the lines indicated) so we can assist you further.

Please be assured if you still need a response we will reply as soon as possible.

Kind regards,

Vodafone Correspondence Team


They were right - I did utilise other avenues - I switched to Telstra.

I use my phone for business, as vodafone is the carrier of 'choice' at my employer. I am constantly apologising to customers for them not being able to reach me. I have even had a customer tell me there was something wrong with my mobile and it had apparently been disconnected. He sounded like I hadn't paid my bill or something and it was pretty embarrassing even though I assured him it should be working and that vodafone just have a very poor service.

Dropped calls, failed calls, receiving texts hours after they were sent. 3G failing for no reason. It's a joke.

I've been with Vodafone since 1998...

My iPhone reception is pretty crap... I have to wait around 30sec for it to actually start calling the number... And normaly I have to restart to just get a signal.

But the worst customer service was when my mobile broadband account was up for renewal. The 'customer service' (used lightly) person upgraded me to a better mobile broadband deal if I signed an extension to my contract. I did, and found the next month I received two bills for two separate mobile broadband plans... When I rang to question this, they asked for which account was I wanting to discuss... to my knowledge I had only ever had the one.

They never cancelled the old account.

When I had to explain what had happened (as they had no record)... They then told me I would incur a disconnection fee for the old account.

After I threatened to leave Vodafone for my internet and terrible mobile phone account they decided it best to wave the fee...

how nice of them.

I just spend 2.5 hours on the phone with customer service to complain about my lack of coverage. I get no coverage at work, none at home and none in various other places I frequent. My calls drop out or fail etc.
It would seem they are going to conduct quite a thorough investigation... perhaps I will have a gain... but i won't hold my breath!

I live in inner west Sydney and have USB broadband on 24 month contract. After the Internet dropped out completely on several occasions after 8pm I tried to call the customer service line going through all the menus only to find out the Internet customer service centre closes at 8pm. On a subsequent call during business hours to the call centre I asked about what I can do if the Internet connection fails after business hours. The response from the operator was 'there is nothing you can do but wait until the next day'. Now the connection fails at least once a week for at least an hour at a time. Not very impressed!

I live in Erina NSW, right near Erina Fair and the reception is very poor. I constantly have drop outs, txts that don't send and customer service that just doesn't listen. I am at the point where I am going to have to switch to optus or iinet. Hopefully long suffering customers can finally get some compensation for the poor service they have been receiving. Thanks

I recently purchased the HTC Desire HD, and it was recommended that I port my number over to Vodafone from 3 because according to the customer service representative, 3 is being phased out. I thought fine, same company right? But now I feel nothing but regret. I have NO reception at my desk at work (where my phone is my everything), sometimes get texts weeks after they've been sent and I'm constantly struggling to find any 3G service in Sydney. When you've got a phone with the capabilities that mine has, it causes huge frustration. As well as this, I struggle to get any help via customer service if I have a problem (this is after being on hold for 45 minutes of course) - currently, I paid my first bill 3 weeks ago but am still receiving notifications that I owe Vodafone money. I'm only two months into my contract but am seriously considering paying it out and switching companies.

I have a USB internet plan with Vodafone. When I first got it, the speed was amazing - faster than some of my friends using ADSL2+ broadband. About 2 months ago the internet would drop out at 8pm on the dot every day for a week and no matter what I did I couldn't get it back. Then for a week or so I couldn't connect at all. I tried to call Vodafone customer service and got circled around with everyone telling me I had come through to the wrong section (because apparently post paid mobile broadband doesn't even have a section) so I eventually hung up to try again and 'Lara' glitched up and I couldn't get through at all. I eventually gave up and just tethered the internet from my iPhone. THEN about a month ago my connection speed dropped to less than dial up - especially if I was using something like SKYPE that doesn't use much bandwith at all. I would have full reception in that little satilite tracker but it appeared as if I had no connection at all some of the time. I didn't want to have to deal with the customer service people again so I went into the store to ask about it. The kind lady appologised for the service as she'd obviously had quite a few people coming in and complaining. She explained to be that if I call up customer service then they can guide me through some steps to change a few settings on my computer and if that doesn't work they will cancel my plan with no financial penalty. I think I am going to take my laptop into the Vodafone store and they can pay for the phone call, however long it may be, to a 1300 number because luckily for me, my phone is not with Vodafone.

According to the salesman that sold me my phone vodafone operates off telstra towers! If this is so why can I have a telstra phone with full bars sitting beside my vodafone mobile with no bars?? There are only 3 spots in my house where I can make calls. My job requires me to be oncall and I cannot rely on my vodfone to have reception therefore carry 2 phones wth me, my vodafone mobile and a telstra mobile( what a pain). Don't get my wrong I would never go with telstra due to there pathetic customer service and expensive rates but vodafone charge you for service that is not available for the majority of the time.Come on vodafone pull your socks up and stop charging us for no reception!!!

I understand why some companies think outsourcing their call centres to far off places might be a good financial move in the short term, but Vodafone and 3 have surely got to be losing customers due to their awful customer service centre.
I try to get a simple message through and they can't do anything about it because they can't understand your complaint without their scripts. So damn frustrating.
Offshoring is fine but offshore to people with some damn common sense and English ability!

the data cap on prepaid broadband is so terrible, during evenings say after 7pm, its shockingly slow.at times during the night, the connection keeps ticking off the data bytes but you cannot connect to anything. When you pick up the fone to ring customer services to complain-an automated response greets you "service hours are between 8am to 8pm..." really a joke when a). Vodafone cannot provide a service which is stable through the day and night, b). Vodafone cannot have a 24/7 service support team contactable via fone in this day and age. After paying for the starter pack costing me nearly $100, I feel stuck with them as I'd have to spend just as much to cross borders and join another telco.Voda failed me too.

Vodafone sets up taskforce to fix network issues as 9000 express interest in class action
Ben Grubb
January 5, 2011 - 12:05PM
Vodafone has set up "a number of taskforce teams" to try to fix network problems following a class action legal threat in which about 9000 customers have expressed an interest in joining.
Sydney law firm PiperAlderman last month sought disgruntled Vodafone customers to press a class action over dropped calls, bad reception and poor data performance.
Today it posted an update on its site saying that approximately 9000 Vodafone customers had registered their interest.
Advertisement: Story continues below
"In the next five to ten business days, we will be sending group members a request for further information relating to their specific circumstances," it said. "Upon receipt of this information, we will process it and take the matter forward."
Vodafone has faced customer backlash over thousands experiencing poor service over the past few months.
The company initially blamed software bugs and argued that there were no serious problems with its network. However, just before Christmas, its CEO, Nigel Dews, issued an apology.
In it, Dews reminded customers of plans to "significantly" upgrade the Vodafone network.
In a blog post yesterday, the company's director of customer service and experience, Cormac Hodgkinson, said Vodafone had set up "a number of taskforce teams" that were "working to continue to resolve the current network issues which have been affecting some customers".
Hodgkinson also said Vodafone was "monitoring and testing the network across the country to evaluate its performance".
"While signs are encouraging, there are some customers who may not be experiencing these benefits as yet, and we will continue our program of work to ensure that customers see improvements over time."
Between January and March, Hodgkinson said, the company would be upgrading approximately 141 sites which transmit signals to mobile devices.
"These improvements focus on areas where there is either high traffic where capacity is a priority (which will help with data performance) or in areas where coverage is a priority (which will help with general coverage)," Hodgkinson said.
- With Asher Moses

Ive been (Just recently changed telco's) a Vodafone customer for around 7-8 years.

The last 12 months or so have been incredibly frustrating with them- numerous handset fails, poor service, replacement handsets that were reconditioned ones instead of new ones, customer care staff with exceptionally poor english skills, excessive amounts of time on hold (one call had me on hold for almost two hours before I gave up and hung up), and unwanted handest upgrade that was damn near impossible to return.

In the end I had a gutful and went to pay out my contract and cancel my service, it took TIO involvement to get it happening as every time I tried to do it myself, their system was down, or I was transferred back and forth between departments all telling me I had come through to the wrong place, or the person I spoke to me couldnt understand english properly or spoke so fast it was like a foreign language and got angry at me when I asked them to slow down.

That was two months ago. My contract has since been cancelled and I'm a very happy customer of another telco. BUT... they wont take my final payment! they said the final amount would direct debit as per usual on the usual due date - it didnt. There was plenty of money in my account to cover it, yet it didnt come out. The following month I get a bill with the amount now listed as overdue and that I need to call collections to explain why I hadnt paid. So after another epic lifetime on hold and Lara getting sarcastic with me, they assured me I wouldnt be charged any late fees and it will automatically come out on the next payment cycle. Well, the next payment cycle passed a week ago and surprise surprise, no payment came out.

If they default my credit history Im gonna be very unimpressed. But if they dont want their money either, then im cool with that...

Vodafone sets up taskforce to fix network issues as 9000 express interest in class action
Ben Grubb
January 5, 2011 - 12:05PM
Vodafone has set up "a number of taskforce teams" to try to fix network problems following a class action legal threat in which about 9000 customers have expressed an interest in joining.
Sydney law firm PiperAlderman last month sought disgruntled Vodafone customers to press a class action over dropped calls, bad reception and poor data performance.
Today it posted an update on its site saying that approximately 9000 Vodafone customers had registered their interest.
Advertisement: Story continues below
"In the next five to ten business days, we will be sending group members a request for further information relating to their specific circumstances," it said. "Upon receipt of this information, we will process it and take the matter forward."
Vodafone has faced customer backlash over thousands experiencing poor service over the past few months.
The company initially blamed software bugs and argued that there were no serious problems with its network. However, just before Christmas, its CEO, Nigel Dews, issued an apology.
In it, Dews reminded customers of plans to "significantly" upgrade the Vodafone network.
In a blog post yesterday, the company's director of customer service and experience, Cormac Hodgkinson, said Vodafone had set up "a number of taskforce teams" that were "working to continue to resolve the current network issues which have been affecting some customers".
Hodgkinson also said Vodafone was "monitoring and testing the network across the country to evaluate its performance".
"While signs are encouraging, there are some customers who may not be experiencing these benefits as yet, and we will continue our program of work to ensure that customers see improvements over time."
Between January and March, Hodgkinson said, the company would be upgrading approximately 141 sites which transmit signals to mobile devices.
"These improvements focus on areas where there is either high traffic where capacity is a priority (which will help with data performance) or in areas where coverage is a priority (which will help with general coverage)," Hodgkinson said.
- With Asher Moses

Have been trying to contact Vodafone for network issues and call drop for last 2 months. Never been able to rach the right team. Been on hold for hours and hours untill now. They play passing the buck, one team transfers to another to another saying its not the right area/team. Am sure i chose the closest/right options and selections given by vodafone.
Have sent emails but no response yet.
Been to few stores, was told they dont take complaints.
Can someone suggest how to reach these worst customer service on earth. Will anyone have email address of Customer Service Head and CEO.

mobile calls drop out after a few minutes. Texts received hours after they were sent.
I have a mobile broadband card that goes for weeks without getting a signal and customer service says there is no problem in the area yet local Vodafone shop is collecting a list of names of people with problems.Customer service have suggested moving compuer outdoors to local park where there coverage map says there is a pocket of reception - when I asked where should i plug in desktop compuer when I got to park - cutomer service agent became confused.

I have had a mobile broadband USB device for over a year now and have experienced nothing but trouble since day dot. I have complained numerous times. Some days I cannot connect to the internet at all and other days if I get a connection, it will drop out constantly. When I first signed up with Vodafone I was assured a number of times that I was in a very good coverage area. I was extremly cautious before I signed up with the 24 month plan. I am so disapointed with the service that I have received from Vodafone. The hold times are crazy and when I actually get to speak to someone I am told they will call me back. Well guess what - I'm still waiting. All I ever wanted was to receive the service that I pay for yet Vodafone continue to direct debit from my account every month. My husband & I have both mobile phones with Vodafone and have been with them for years. As soon as my contract ends I will be changing suppliers. If I can get out of my contract for the broadband I will. I am sick of not receiving customer service that I am entitles to as a consumer. I have even failed a uni online test as my connection dropped out so many times, my test time ran out!!! Vodafone - let me go so I can get another internet connection that works - my future relies on this!!!

I will be joining the class action law suit against Vodafone.
They are the worst company iv ever had dealings with. Lara is the most ludicris ploy for customer service i have ever encountered. I have no reception through out Melbourne and Sydney when i travel for business.
Vodafone should sack its board for dereliction of duty. How many months has this been going on for. Surely a good CEO would have gotten this under control as a serious priority as opposed to taking everyone's money and delivering this useless service. Where is the accountability ?

I have been a longterm customer of Vodafone - by longterm I mean 10yrs + .... and in that 10 plus years where do I begin?!
I cannot describe the frustration - the difficulties in communicating with a communications company!
I have had lost calls, dropped calls, sms messages that time out and don't go through ... or finally come through at 3.11 am (for some weird reason)... I've had no, limited or non-existent data or broadband - 3G is dodgy at the best of times, incorrect billing ... and the icing on the cake was when they refused to sell me a new fone (for my partner when he changed jobs) because I've paid my bills late (occassionally ... as a protest) because I was a "risky" customer ... they are fortunate enough to still have me as a customer only through my pig-headedness!
When you try to speak to a person ... you get the infuriating Lara .. (I hate Lara) ... and the cycle of "we're really busy at the moment ..."
It is not unusual to have wait times to customer service in excess of 45 minutes ... whereupon you get a call centre who has no idea of the problems, denies there is a problem, blames the customer/client, insists that you go through a stupid procedure to re-set your phone, and still have dropped calls, bad reception and overcharges on your bills at the end of it.
Trying to contact them with a complaint is a nightmare - trying to email them is even worse - I have a list of replies stating that my complaint has been dealt with ... it never was, and probably never will be!
Contrast this with a well known car insurance company that I had to deal with on New Years' Day .... less than 3 minutes ... TALKING TO A REAL PERSON ... had my claim sorted.
Vodafone is just good enough and apart from the class action - I think they should be investigated under the Trade Practices Act for false and misleading conduct ... and maybe we should get the ACCC involved too...
Constant misleading rubbish is all we get fed from Vodafone.

I am so sick and tired of missed calls appearing when my iphone is switched on and right beside me! People are constantly texting me and I don't recived them and forget Voice Mail if it arrives its days late. I rarely attempt data usage out of the home on the 3G network as it simply drops out or says cannot contact server - at home I have Wi-fi (not vodafone). Sometimes my ipone simply goes blank when I'm talking or freezes requiring a re-boot (a couple of time per day)I've been with Vodafone since 2006 but have started researcing other carriers. I have attempted contact with Vodafone but in my experioece the customer service officers have not been interested in addressing the issues.

ok so ive only been with Vodafail since the 22nd of November 2010... first they tried to put me on the 35 dollar cap of unlimited sms calls etc... and failed to tell me i had to pay 150 bux upfront... so i said no thank ill just go on the 49 dollar cap... everything was sweet... told me to wait 24 hours for them to activate my si...m... this was on a thursday night.. friday came along... still wasnt activated... tried to call was on hold for an hour got pissed off and hung up... waited until monday... still wasnt connected... rang them up was on hold for 40 mins... they told me "your account number doesnt match with 3's you have to ring 3 and get it" and i was like why the hell hasnt anybody rang me about this!!!!!!!!!!!!! GRRR so angry.... so i rang 3 got the right number called Vodafail back... was on hold for ANOTHER 40 minutes... was really pissed off at this stage... gave them the number everything was sweet they activated my number... THEN i find out i can recieve picture messages... so i ring up again on hold again for 40 minutes or more... they activate that... everythings good.. then this whole no coverage bullshit starts!!! anyway my phone decides last night that it... wasnt going to turn on and wont charge... take it into the shop today told me "looks like its been dropped cant claim it on warranty" GRRR told them ive had nothing but problems with them and walked out... went to another store they put it in for repairs straight away... couldnt give me a replacement phone... so im using one i had... but still no reception and im so over it... after they repair my phone im gonna tell em to shove there contract up their arse and im going with Optus i think... and ill be claiming off them to seen as ive missed all phone calls i have recieved about job interviews... AND the first bill i get is 93 dollars instead of 49 and i wasnt informed that they charge double on the first bill... their customer service sux arse!!! and coz its christmas and all im broke and cant afford to pay them there 93 dollars

l have 5 phones with vodaphone and they all fail when we call each other and we cannot connect to each other l sit on the landline to talk to customer service but l am on the line for 2hrs and l still do not get service l would like to go in the law suit as well because they say l cannot get out of my contacts with them because l still have 12 months to go but they will not help me

I have recently moved to Tweed Heads and I have never had such a drama with vodafone. I am on a contractand it seems at 6pm everynight I lose all reception for about 3 hours I cant get any calls and then the next day at about 9am I receive voicemail messages form the night before. I tried to call customer service using the 1511 number and it wont connect. So I have to call the 1300 number and they said there is no service in my area to call the 1511 number. But when I tried calling from a pre paid number it works fine. Then when I get my bill at the end of the month there is a $20 call on it to them because I was on hold for 20 minutes at a time. I have been with vodafone for 10 years and it seems they only want to reward new customers and give nothing to customers that have been loyal to them.

Also they have stopped taking the money out by direct debit without my knowledge and sending me reminder bills in the mail demanding I pay the bill.

They really need to sort themselves out

Ive been with vodafone for just over 4 years, and was happy with there service until about 4 months ago! now my phone will lose signal and to get it back i have to turn my phone off and on , even then i may have to repeat this to get signal back. I have plenty of friends that say they dont get my messages or they will be delayed for hours. I will have atleast a couple of calls a day that will drop out, then means i have to make another phone call! Trying to check my Facebook on my IPhone is near on impossible at the best of times. also the couple of calls i have made to there customer lines over the past 12 months, i have had very rude customer service staff that are not very willing to help with anything! Vodafone you have failed us all!

We have been with vodafone for 16months now, and i have had nothing but problems from day one. Problems from vodafone billing us incorrectly, charging us for calls which are part of our cap, right up to the last 3-4 months of rediculous service.
Vodafone have said to adjust a couple of phone settings to try to help the service, Yeah right.... still in same situation. we even went as far as getting our new phone serviced to make sure i even resorted back to using my older phones to see which one makes a difference. nothing....

we operate our business from a home office, and i cannot believe the amount of times my phone will search for a network, or i can be working away and not realising that i have had not reception for half the day, until a call will come through and say where have you been?

we were promised a good deal without affecting our service. i am so over Vodafone and their rubbish promises. they can shove it where it fits.
if you can't deliver what you promise, an international company like vodafone, then you should release your customers, not suck anyone else into your pathetic company and shut your doors!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Last month, for the first time, I was charged excess usage on my phone, even though I have $750 worth of call and text to use. I checked my Vodafone usage yesterday January 3rd to see how I was going since it reset on January 1st. Strangely, Vodafone maintains that I have used $140 worth of calls and texts (possible) but also maintains that I only have 993MB of Data left out of 2Gigs...strange indeed as I have not used any data at all since January 1st. So be careful regarding your bills. I have also been receiving txt bills for someone elses account, despite having made Vodafone aware of this in early December.
I have just phoned Vf Customer Service only to be told that their computers are down so they can't check anything for me for at least another 4 hours.

Hey Vodafone,

You know the amount of advertising your pumping into the cricket? Well bugger that and use that money to fix your f@!#%$ network!

Want Poor Service? Want Bad Mobile Broadband? Want Horrible Customer Support? Want a Terrible Experience over-all?

Switch to Vodafone!

You got it! (Insert that music from the advertisement)

my calls keep dropping out too, at times my sms's dont get sent, when i ring customer service and i start telling them abt my problem they hang up on me or dont return my calls as they say they will. my cap plan is missing sum credits which i havent used, i dont receive my bill via email, or got a copy sent out. I cant seem to find some one from a vodafone store to help me out with my enquiries and im losing patience. Also i bought a new phone and within 2 months had to go in service. Not good enuff.

i have recently been run a muck my vodafone mobile broadband. for starters the connection fails to register sometimes, and once it does i have noticed slow to choppy connection speeds. i have talk to the customer service area obviously being sent overseas. the rep recommended i switch my devices to GPRS which is dial up slow. i live in St Kilda not exactly country Victoria. what the hell!!

I have signed up for a 24 month plan for iphone. The calls drop out every now and then. I can't use internet on my phone in my own room as it takes over 3 min to load google.

I asked if I can get out of the contract and they said I gotta pay the rest of the amount upfront.

Customer service sucks big time, the call centre is offshore and you are just another caller. I ad to wait well over 30 minutes each time I called. The website is absolute crap, has doesn't recognise my mobile number and has suspended my account three times.

What am I supposed to do now?

I've come to the conclusion they dont give a damn! Been using Vodafone for over 2 years and it has been consistently crap. Their ideal modus operandi is to churn out their $2 sim cards and phone credits while leaving a couple of answering machines as their only form of customer service. Burn in hell Vodafone!!

They have suddenly decided that I haven't paid my bill from September 2010, when my bank account clearly disagrees! I can never get through to customer service and when I do I get different answers from different people, none of who can explain to me what is going on or how to fix it.

Also recently changed the account name - it was the most complicated, drawn out and ridiculously frustrating process I have been through.

Vodafone Customer Service. No call backs, too busy to talk even after you have been holding on for 40 minutes, line quality very scratchy, no 3G and today 4th Jan 2011, no Customer Service at all!!! "We have a problem, sorry" then line disconnects. Tried 4 times with same answer. Only 6 months to go till my contract ends, I can't wait. Bought a Telstra prepaid to use at work and home because Vodafone has no signal!!!!!!!!
Just crap service from one of the biggest telcos in the world! Is this what they think of us Aussies!

Severe lack of network coverage in Brighton Vic, Newcastle NSW, Regents Park QLD and Albany creek QLD.... what am i paying for??? Have spent 3 weeks and a total of 7 hours trying to get through to customer service on 1555 and 1300 650 410 only to be stuck on hold for over an hour then cut off before my call is answered or constant recorded announcements advising "We seem to have experienced a technical difficulty and you will have to call back"..... HAVE HAD ENOUGH!!!!!!! I will be released from my contract if they dont want be sued black and blue!!!!!!!!!!

PLEASE SEE BELOW MY RECENT E-MAIL TO VODAFONE:

I have already made calls regarding the extremely bad network coverage I am experiencing from Vodafone! Some of the problems include constant call drop outs, Messages taking 5+ days to be received if the come through at all ( this includes Voicemail, Text and MMS), Poor Customer Service etc.

I am loosing thousands of dollars in Business due to clients not being able to contact me, or if they leave a message I am not receiving it on time. I have been into the Vodafone stores and no one can help. I had previously tried contacting technical support but do not have the time to be sitting on the phone for hours, until Friday the 31st of December 2010. On this date I first tried calling 1555, from my mobile after waiting on the phone 15mins the call dropped out I tried a further 10 times, only to face the same issue! I then used a landline and selected the callback option, the woman that eventually called me back asked for my reason for calling and I explained the situation, she was going to transfer me through to Technical Support, but she too had Technical difficulties and offered to call me back, I am still awaiting the Call!!!

I then rang and waited on the phone to be put through and finally got through to technical support after over an hour and a half on the phone, to be asked to switch my phone on and off, place the sim in another unlocked handset, which still had the same results poor service only 1-2 bars as measured by the handsets but call failures if calls are attempted!

I then rang again this morning and spoke to an arrogant gentleman, who when I explained that I now wish to terminate the Vodafone contract because of the poor customer service and Poor Network Coverage etc etc etc, he decided that rather than talking to me and trying to resolve the problem he would terminate the call.

I rang back again and after 25mins on hold spoke to another gentleman, he said he could see that I had called on Friday etc I explained I need something done about it sooner rather than later as I return to work tomorrow and need a phone! He said he would try chasing it up and call back within half an hour I am still waiting on the edge of my seat for this call as well!

I have kept my side of the contract agreement, as I have every month paid the $100-$150. As I am not able to use the phone due to extremely bad network coverage I will be terminating my contract and I will NOT be paying any further monies, as I am not getting what I paid for now! I have tried going through the right channels i.e. Technical support, however after talking to some of the belligerent, arrogant staff that you call service technicians, not to mention the unhelpful staff in the Vodafone stores, I wish to terminate the contract! Due to the poor dealing of this situation by Vodafone I have contacted the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman, and will be contacting the ACCC.

If someone would like to contact me regarding the Issues I have outlined, please feel free.

very poor customer service , but most off all the worst network coverage i have ever had to deal with, places like my office desk are now drop out zones ,its like going back it time, way back !

customer service waiting 66mins no answer.3 have transferred me over to vodafail as there reception was terrible now i have none at all as both opertations and technicians have no idea,i call on all to cancel there direct debit cards and payments to them and let them fight for there money which surely they should be intitled to none.call the ombusdman.4 days on phone and driving in circles and nothing resoloved

Changed from 3 to Vodafone a month ago so as to get an iphone 4 and have had absolutely no problems at all it has been fantastic. No dropped calls, no missed txt msgs, excellent reception and download speeds, immediate reply from txts sent locally and to family in Europe and the UAE. Spoke to the customer service section once as the guy at the store entered my email address incorrectly in my account details and they were friendly, helpful and efficient. Seems very strange after reading all the problems others seem to be having. Feeling quite put out that my experience has been excellent!

1. Sign up to new contract with handset. Customer Service (CS) offers an additional $8 per month off handset repayments which doesn't show up in each bill. Spend every month calling CS to explain. They say they will fix it, but next month comes around without discount.

2. Pay mine, and my wife's, account every month over Internt using the online account provided by vodafone. 6 weeks ago (end Nov 2010), both login's fail. Call up CS and get an excuse that online account is temporarly down and should be fixed that evening. Now six weeks later and still unable to access online account and have not been provided with an excuse, nor a timetable. I'm a good customer, pay my bills on time, no problem. Why do I deserve such a service?

I belive its not neccessarly overseas call centre problem. Moreover poor decision making from Vodafone hierarchy? Typically really, when an organisation gets too big.

I'll definitely pay more for better service, just got to wait until it's a bit cheaper to break contract and churn.

Customer service and service coverage is a disgrace. I urge customer not to pay their bills till they have brought service up to the standard they say they deliver.

Our small business was told by the Vodafone sales guy that their coverage was 98% of the country's population and Telstra's was 99%. We went with Vodafone because they were cheaper. We soon found out that they were literally cheaper. In the last 12 months or so the dropouts and poor service has been a complete and utter nightmare and it is even worse for our Victorian manager. Dropouts in inner suburban areas is just not on. We have complained several times but like everybody else you just get nowhere. Now we find ourselves stuck in a contract with them for another 12 months and another 12 months of sheer frustration. Any suggestions for a solution to our predicament would be greatly appreciated.
PW. Gold Coast

I phoned today to recieve some help in regards to International SMS. I am unable to send or recieve International SMS from my BB. I rang at 10:00am to wait for 1hr and be diverted to 3 different departments. When i FINALLY got to the last one - it cut out. Now i intially thought this was my fault. So i phone back and was made to wait 2hrs and be diverted to 3 departments again to be HUNG UP on a 2nd time. What is this pathetic level of customer service? I'd like to not only speak to someone from Australia, but i'd like them to actually HELP!! And to add to this, i sent a message to my brother yesterday and he did not recieve it until 2hrs later!! This is clearly not acceptable and is making me HIGHLY consider changing networks!!

Regular drop outs - unfair roaming charges, terrible customer service, atleast half an hour wait to get connected, and service staff cant speak english well.
I could go on and on and on... I am utterly dissapointed with Vodaphone!

I work for a retailer and am expected to be able to sell Vodafone along with other networks and have been having all sorts of bizarre issues like calling to activate a sim card and even after 3 days it not being activated.
I find it hard to even get decent service myself I have been with Vodafone and about 3 years ago switched to Virgin and their service is almost as bad, random outages, customer service treating me like the issues are my fault, not being able to send or receive SMS.

I see this happening with every one of the networks.
What the hell is going on with the Telco's in Australia I pay my bill every month how hard is it to provide me the service to send messages and to be able to make calls.