After 6 months of persisting with a third-world phone service with vodafone (calls going straight to voicemail even with full reception, constant dropouts especially that little bastard of a black spot in the eastern distributor in Sydney, non-existent or primitive internet speeds on 3G, text and picture messages arriving days late, almost constant "call failed" messages) and complaining about it with them and having nothing done, today after 6 hours of perseverence and threats of legal action, I finally had my contract cancelled and moved across to optus. this is after I lodged a complaint with the TIO.

My first attempt to cancel the contract at 9.30am this morning ended in an hour wait, and after finally getting through to someone and them transferring me to the disconnections department, the call dropping out. I then got a text message saying "we have tried calling you but cannot get through" which was the pinnacle of irony right there. My second attempt was a call that ended with "we are experiencing technical issues, try again later" and the call being disconnected. Called straight back, and left my number for a callback "within 30 mins". That callback happened several hours later.

When I finally did get put through to disconnections, originally I was told "we need to investigate the fault and you need to provide 3 examples of proof where these errors have happened, and this will take 7 days". when i turned around and threatened legal action on the basis that I run a restaurant business off my phone and every customer who attempts to book a table with me and cant will be documented and I would sue for loss of income, the rep yielded and said he would cancel my contract, however I would need to return my phone for them to cancel the contract! my plan had 6 months left, I replied by saying I would do no such thing and that given all the issues I had been having, the least vodafone could do was cut me loose and let me keep the phone for my troubles. After more insistence, he turned around and said "we will cancel your contract and you can keep the phone, however you will not be able to port your number across" which completely smacked of slash and burn. Again I told him he will do no such thing as my number was the business number that I use. Finally he said "ok, contract is cancelled, port across and when you get your final bill we will waive all charges once you call me and talk to me."

I was absolutely disgusted with their entire level of conduct over the whole thing. Never was an apology forthcoming, never would he listen to me unless I threatened legal action on Vodafone. I dont see a rosy future for Vodafone, they are as bad as 3 were when I wanted to cancel my service with them years ago when I was out of contract (the guy at 3 tried every trick to keep me on board even telling me that blackberry phones were "crap" to get me to use the motorola equivalent and stay with 3).

Never again will I use Vodafone, and I suggest to people having issues to lodge a complaint with the TIO and FIGHT HARD for having your contract cancelled. Dont take no for an answer, the people in cancellations have the authority to cancel contracts on the spot, DONT be abusive but DO threaten legal action and recovery of all costs and monies lost due to their failed excuse for a telecommunications service, and again DONT TAKE NO FOR AN ANSWER!.

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.

I live in a suburb where a Vodafone sales person assured me also that I would receive coverage with no issues. Once I got home I had no bars. I went back in and they told me that it was because the iPhones didn't receive signals as good as other phones. I didn't immediately rule this possibility out, although I was skeptical, so I tried a different handset that they advised me was far better. I got home and still no bars. I swapped back to the iPhone because it was my initial preference and the different handset made no difference. I discovered that if I stood at the end of my driveway I could achieve the success of receiving 1 bar worth of signal, but only for short periods.

I tried desperately soon after the purchase of the contract to get Vodafone to see that the product I was sold did not meet the specifications it claimed and that THEIR end of the contract had not been fulfilled yet I was still paying for a product I could not use to to my being mislead to generate a sale.

Several months ago my 16 month old daughter had an anaphalactic reaction to something in some food and I was home alone with her. I tried the driveway and got 000 but the call dropped out. I ran to my neighbor to use their phone who, thank god was home sick from work. An ambulance arrived in time and everything turned out ok.

Whether it was the sales person or if it was wrong information provided to them by Vodafone, I was lied to. I have since been told by THE SAME sales person that there was a "mistake made" regarding the availability of service in my area, however, the coverage map that is shown on the website and in the brochures found in store still regard my area as a high reception area 7 months on from the 000 incident. I, and EVERY other person that comes to my area who use the Vodafone network still have either no reception, or such little reception that a sustained phone call is impossible.

In Aug 2009 when Vodafone switched over to 3G network, I was working in the NSW Snowy Mountains region. From Cooma through to Jindabyne, there was no Vodafone coverage at all.

I rang Vodafone, got through to their local Indian customer service centre, and was told that they had no issues reported in that area.

I then rang the local radio station, and there was widespread outage and complaints coming into the radio station about the coverage.

When I rang Vodafone back and advised that there was a local issue, again got told that the they had no reported outage.

As I was running a business which relied on my Vodafone phone, I was forced to get a pre-paid phone with another company.

Coverage in this area having just visited the area Jan 2011, is still limited from Cooma through to Jindabyne. Several call drop outs and no coverage experienced.

I am 18 months into my 24 month contract, and it has been problems from day one.

I was supplied with a phone that had already been used - there were text messages saved onto the phone and the phone did not work properly, it was clearly a demo phone. After days of speaking to vodafone, and getting nowhere I went to the TIO. Only then did my issues become important enough to be resolved and my phone replace.

I have had terrible signal since the begining, my phone drops out calls constantly, I cannot connect to the internet, I have people telling me they call me but my phone does not work - This happened as recently as christmas 2010! I also have mobile broadband with vodafone - waste of time all it does is drop out constantly!
your right..vodafone is a massive fail. Impossible to get out of their contracts - as soon as mine is up I am connecting to another provider.

Firstly let me say I have in the past been a supporter of Vodafone but of late, the last 12 months, I am sick of the amount of calls that drop out for seemingly no reason and also those that drop out when receptin is lost. I travel regularly and am constantly frustrated at the amount of calls that drop out when i am discussing business. If you travel anywhere outside of the major cities you don't have much hope of keeping coverage, and even within the cities it is less than satisfactory.
Additionally, I have very limited coverage inside my house, and yes in a capital city. When I answer a call inside, the calls more often than not, drop out.
Quite often SMS don't come through until I make a call and I get a couple at once.
I recently queried why my account did not show that I had paid my last bill. I was on the phone for 22 minutes before I was forced to hang up. I then thought I would query via the customer support email system. I received an automated response that did not help. I then replied to that email through the manner written in the automated response to which I got another automated response. I still have not received any service from the customer support area.
Overall I am getting more and more unhappy with the service that Vodafone provide.

I have been with Vodafone for a year now. When I first got my iPhone with them in January last year it had screen issues, so I took it back to them and they sent it away telling me it will take 6-8 wks, and they had no replacement phones so I borrowed a friends and almost 6 wks later after I had contacted them to see what was going on, they informed me that the phone was at the shop waiting (thanks for letting me know). Oh and the upside I go in and pick up the 'new' phone only to realise they have given me back my old one which is still not working. So I took it back and they said they would send it back and I would get the new one this time, however this was all too hard as the shop assistant said it would take two wks and I went back exactly two wks later to see if my phone had arrived to be told by another assistant that the phone had never been sent off and the paperwork not processed, so I had to do it all again. Finally 10 days later I receive the new phone. Coverage is always pretty poor with vodafone.. but the phone is not the only problem.. I also unfortunately purchased broadband with vodafone, and WOW is what I have to say, as I was a F/T student an F/T worker for all of last year, so I needed the internet (considering my Grad Dip was soley ONLINE) mainly from 5-10pm at night and on weekends, however I either never had any service or if I did it would take approx 20min to download one page if not longer. I just didnt have the time to waste, so I relied heavily on using the internet at work and also a friend's, as I complained to vodafone numerous times to both the customer service centre and instore and they said they could do nothing, yay for me huh!!! Also my complaints were about the USB which would not register quite frequently, so that coupled with the fact that I for the most part could never access the internet, and never at the times I needed to (so PEAK times) meant that I was and still am paying for a service to which I do not receive. The last time I complained to the customer service was in November as I had taken the day off from work to study and of course my internet wouldnt even work during so called non-peak time, and the operator said that his supervisor had authorised for me to receive free of charge a wireless modem to assist internet activity, he told me I would receive it in 10 business days, funny that I needed it that day and the fact that my studies ended on Nov 12 so yeah kind of a bit too late, but I accepted it anyway..and I am still waiting for it. Oh and I just got internet back on my laptop, as when it would say no device I would uninstall and reinstall the program and it would work typically so I could access the internet on an infitiseminal scale every so often, but the last time I did it which was early Nov whilst on the phone to the vodafone operator, it would not register the device at all..and the guy said it is a problem with my laptop, well I disagree as the usb and internet very rarely work, so I consider that a problem with the service and usb itself. I finally got the device to register on Jan 2 this year so that was 2mths of paying for a service I did not receive and myself having to actually fix the problem caused by their device. Great Customer Satisfaction vodafone does not have, nor are they concerned with satisfying customers sufficiently, and we are not all naive to think that other TELCOs do not have problems, because we all know they do, however I have not encountered one until vodafone that had no regard whatsover for trying to provide a service adequately at minimum to its customers. Vodafone needs a more customer focussed approach wherein customer satsifaction is a priority!!

I have a business in the middle of south yarra! One of Melbournes most populated suburbs.... guess what, 1-2bars (only if I turn my 3g off). With 3g no service. I live in Toorak, another innercity suburb. In my lounge.. no service, in my office... no service! I recently went on holidays in Gold Coast (Surfers Paradise!) again very central location.... no service, no data! I have lost over a doz important business calls/new clients over the past 2 weeks due to this useless company! How can I get out of my contract? I have 6 months to go and I will be moving to Telstra even if it costs me an extra couple of dollars a month (it beats losing tens of thousands in business loss over the past 2 weeks). Will vodafone reimburse the potential loss of busines I have realised over the past 2 weeks? I doubt it.. they cant even get their network to function... I am so angry with Vodafail... We are living in a world where you dont even think to check your service bar when travelling in metro areas. Mobile phones are now relied upon for personal and business use ( the same way a wrist watch became reliable 100s of years ago.. what would you think if your wrist watch would stop working every day and you would be late for important meetings? You would stop to rely on it!) This should not be happening to the mobile phone industry and its vodafone alone that is failing the entire industry!

Vodafone is a global telco with all the resources in the world to properly supply a well working service. And to be honest for the last 3-4 months it has been nothing but complete utter failure. If I was sitting on the board of that company i would be ashamed with the poor product they supplying to its customers. I mean how the difficult can it be??? Just because of the fact that they acquired Three (which is also a fucking lame excuse of a network) they now running both 3 and Vodafone customers on the same network which obviously doesn't work to the sheer volume of traffic. It's not rocket science... If you are public transport company and decide to buy another rail network you don't simply bloody don't abandon the old one and have all passengers using only one system. Of course there will be congestions, failures and shiploads unhappy commuters. My grandma would have done a better job.
Seriously I hope there will be a massive class action on this stuff up and a public debate on how a Telco conduct their poor business decisions. Go fuck yourself vodfail.

I had from the get go poor or no service & being a security guard I relied on a phone for emergencies. My employer would constantly say my phone was switched off, I NEVER switch my phone of. simply NO SERVICE,. It constantly drops out or I have to try & connect again because of an echo on the line. I gave up & took out a new plan with optus & I will be taking vadaphone to court to get the contract torn up.

I signed up to a mobile broadband plan, was told that my address could recieve 3g. Got my USB 1 week later, no reception at all. Made over 30 calls to vodafone, got hung up on many times was never rude to them they just didn't want to deal with my problem. Spent over 6 hours on hold, was promised calls back by supervisor never happened. Tryed for over a month to cancel my broadband plan, was promised 6 months free broadband, $20 credit for my troubles and told were upgrading service give them 48hrs. Still not fixed. Promised free modem within 5 days, two weeks later still waiting. Phoned again to see what the problem is and was told was nothing on the system about a modem being sent out. Was lied to again. Today I phoned to cancel and was told give us three months as we are fixing the network, I told them no way it's been over a month of being stuffed around. Was told if I didn't transfer to another persons name that I would have a disconection fee as I signed the contract only a month ago. So anoyed right now. After driving 900ks to nsw from vic I finaly got reception in dubbo.

Am I the only one with this issue??????????
I send emails via my iphone using vodafone (not wireless). The sent items folder acknowledges emails are sent. I get irate or frustrated emails from customers demanding a reply to their emails but ive already replied!!!!!!!!!!! I ring vodafone and they say, "oh sorry sir, there is an issue with emails generated from vodafone server being rejected by other servers". Why didnt I get notified about this?? Why do they let me send 4 weeks worth of emails before I find out none of them got through.
Has anyone else experienced this?
BTW, in Avalon Sydney yesterday, my reception went from "searching" to full bars on a cycle for 1 hour. No 3G either. It was a joke, I was sitting in 1 place but could not make calls or check internet/emails.

I called cx care to get more data on my cap plan. The guy on the other end had to confirm my details 3 times (wont go into what race or what dialect he was speaking in). I asked for an extra gig of data on my number. He happily agreed and said "all done". I asked him how much does it cost me a month? He pauses "Give me 2mins and puts me on hold." After 10mins the line got hang up... I called back 30mins later. Another guy asked me for my details, i provided it again. He says its incorrect, I repeat it, then he says "okay its right now". (this made me nervous... I asked for a confirmation of what i just said to him, he repeats the same details only expect now the address is completely wrong and im now sumone from a different state!???? I told him thats not right, (he gets angry), asks me "Are you a authorised person on the account?" I replied with my details again! "Thats fine you data pack has been added" I asked him to change my address back to the correct details and he obliges.

Following month I get sent my bill with my number on it but in someone elses name. I was charged for a brand new phone which i do no have on a new plan that had resulted in a cancelllation fee of my old contract.
I call them again...
"Can i get your name please?" I answer with my details again. "Thats incorrect" He hangs up! I call back this time a girl answered i repeated the same process and finally tried to explain my situation. She says i had made the changes on the account but i asked her about the incorrect billing name, she didnt have an answer, I told her i dont have a new phone she transfers me to the manager. I repeat story, he laughs... I asked him whats soo funny? He says nothin and told me i will be credited for the mistake on my next bill.
3rd month, I didnt get credited...

ALL I WANTED WAS 1GIG OF DATA ON MY PLAN!!!

Dunno if i should cry or call them up and let them laugh at me. Maybe i'l laugh with them this time.

Called customer support on a phone they have in stock (when I ordered online and still on the website as in stock). Was on two calls with them, one at 1h 50m and the other over two hours. During the second call, the support person lied to me multiple times saying it's on it's way. Would not however provide a delivering tracking number, their name or any details. Finally told me it's out of stock.
I've received the phone two months later, and only because I formally complained. Now I wished I seen this site and just declined the delivery; and switch provider.

So we signed up in Sept 2009 with new handsets for 2 years. now, 17 months later both our handsets are unusable. We have not damaged them or misused them. One, a Sony Ericson, will not charge and will not read the Sim 95% of the time or you could be in the middle of a call and it would cut you off with a sim read error. (tried new charger, new battery and new sim, vodafone sent it to be repaired and it came back stating there was no fault to repair)The second handset is an iPhone 3GS 32GB which has also had a new sim in a half hearted attempt to correct a connection issue. Incoming calls are usually fine but with over half of all outgoing calls my call "fails" mid conversation, sometimes i find myself calling people back 4 times just to finish my business with them. Vodafone claimed no fault in this connection issue and issued me a new sim. the phone was fine for about 3 days and then it started again. upon taking it back i was advised that i was out of my 12 month warranty.
I have yet to find a single Vodafone employee who is even vaguely familiar with the Trade Practices Act 1974 (to be renamed tomorrow as the Competition and Consumer Act 2010) and they are all baffled when i try to explain their liability for the faulty goods they have supplied me.
After refusal to repair my goods (we now refer to them as bads instead of goods) i called their retentions team to discuss my alternatives which i thought to be reasonable.

1. waive my cancellation fees and re contract both my plans with new handsets
-or-
2. Repair my phones.

Unfortunately the call centre staff who are clearly not in Australia have no concept of consumer law so they will not even discuss the repair option. They have offered a discount on my cancellation fees which is just not acceptable. I barely see why i should be forking out a few hundred dollars to fix their problem.
So today i call them back with my TIO reference number, (i requested a call back that was meant to be between 16 and 25 minutes wait, turned out to be 90 mins) they took my number, looked at my file and said i was lucky to have been offered a discount as I'm not entitled to one and there is nothing more they will do.

As this is an unresolved complaint with the TIO i will wait till the 29th of Jan and see if any more comes of it, as it has to be resolved by this time. If not we will be leaving vodafone in September when our contracts end. Taking with us collectively 8 parents, 4 grand parents, 7 brothers and sisters, 15 nieces and nephews, 2 children and as many friends as we can. Our family are all on vodafone because we are so when we move away they will all follow.

I barely think my request is unreasonable considering they are in breach of the Trade Practices Act. My husband and I are not in a position to just pop out and buy new phones but we shouldn't have to. This is one company that has really fallen over itself in recent times (pretty much since it conglomerated with 3 mobile)

With any luck someone from vodafone will see this and realise how petty this is on their part, without your customers you are nothing and if we have to leave vodafone we will be taking at least 36 other customers away.

I live 10kms from the centre of Sydney and typically only have 1 bar or no reception at all when at home - unless I stand on the top balcony and wave the phone about! I am sick of being lied to about this being temporary - it's been 2 years!!!

what a joke
about 3 months into our 2 year contract
cant use the phone half the time and if you can it drops out absolutely useless in a emergency we need a phone that we can use not some worthless paper weight on a contract ! have been with vodafail for 10 years and was more than happy until the last 12 months !! only to be led to believe it our old phones being the problem and talked into getting new ones because there's nothing wrong with vodafone !! yeah right ! still get told the same crap if we ring to sort it out with vodafone ! you are breaking the contract by not supplying a even half arsed excuse for a phone company anymore !! you should let everyone out of there contracts for free !! some people need there phone for more than just talking ! when someone dies because they cant make a call for help because your network has turned to crap what then !!!!!!!!

SMS' appeared to go but were never received, calls dropped out, callers reported that my phone was out of range (i was at their front door and my phone is never turned off), customer support rarely answered and when they did they never assisted.

Bought new phone (N8) to see if that helped...it didn't. Shop staff are ignorant of the problem and are unable to get any feedback from their own support group (i called continually for over three days). Sent email listing problems and received automated replies stating they hadn't heard from me so everything must be ok. I replied only to receive another automated reply so i replied to the replies etc.

Also cancelled modem due to lack of service coverage and recently changed phone service to Optus.

Once they have refunded my fees they can close up so no-one else gets burnt.,

I've been a loyal Vodafone customer since OneTel went bust and haven't been elsewhere since. I have 2 mobiles and 3G mobile internet with Vodafone. I've been pretty happy in the past but these last 3 months have been bad for 3G in Turramurra and in the last 3 weeks the 3G network has been so bad that all I have is GPRS at the speed of the late 90's on copper phone lines and 486 computers! Contracts are 2 way and not one way. I agreed to pay for a service and not be cheated and lied to only to give away my dollars without anything in return. So contracts can be broken if either party stops delivering their end of the bargain. Basic contract law!!!So Vodafone had better deliver some compensation to their customers until it's fixed or refund or else it looks like another OneTel to me!

the network is already bad enough. and the customer service on the phones are not either because they do not even have any records of what deal we signed up for. even the the staff members are not fully corporated with our complaint as they do not believe what we are saying is right. therefore they are not doing anything abut it. 15 people in my friend circle signed up for a deal and none of them are satisfied as the customer service people lied to us or did not put the deal they provided in the system. their goes our big bucks and goes our respect and loyalty to vodafone. our connection was disconnected because they were on a fault. NEVER AGAIN.

Im not receiving messages and as a result, my 3yr relastionship ended as my then bf thought i was up to no good and thought i was lying about the messages.I have the C7 and only had it about 1month and already regretting it as my contract is for 2yrs..Id be better off with PAYG

I'm still on hold. Taking a screen shot every 30 odd minutes just to prove it. At just on 2 hours, it went from being on hold music to the phone ringing. Just waiting to be cut off any minute now >:( - I'm ringing to complain about the usual: poor or NO service in metro areas (Canberra and Sydney), poor data service and calls dropping out or not even being received at all. I applied for a job last week and am waiting on the call. May or may not have happened, I don't know. As I have naked DSL, I don't have a home phone for them to call me, so my mobile is my only means of communication. My plan expires in June 2011, but thats not soon enough. My new bill is due, but I wont be paying it. As far as I'm concerned, I'm not getting the service I am paying for, so why should I pay?
2 hours 11 minutes now...

Vodafone coverage on my trip to Echuca in August was far less than Vodafone's coverage maps would indicate. I posted the details below to an internet newsgroup, and one month later, whether a coincidence or otherwise, Vodafone's coverage maps were updated and now they give even less information about the coverage available in a particular area.

In August, I went from Melbourne to Echuca over a weekend. According to Vodafone's coverage maps at the time, there was 2G coverage in Rochester and the Echuca/Moama area, and a mixture of 2G and national roaming coverage in Heathcote. However, I experienced no coverage at all from just after Forbes (outskirts of Melbourne) until arriving in Echuca, and I mean IN Echuca as in the town centre itself.

Furthermore, in Moama, just over the border, coverage was patchy in many places and non existent in others like the Rich River Golf Club (at ground level) and the bridge across the Murray. As I left Echuca to head back to Melbourne, my coverage ran out before the houses did.

Yet according to the coverage check feature on the Vodafone website, there was a big ring of coverage enveloping Echuca and Moama and the surrounding area.

I have a 3G handheld phone but it does not have 900Mhz 3G coverage, so I
was relying on 2G coverage outside of Melbourne. I have international
roaming activated, so according to the Vodafone website, I should have
national roaming too, yet I didn't experience any national roaming coverage. In most places my phone was located in a vehicle when I reported no coverage, but in Heathcote, central Echuca and the Rich River Golf Club, I used it outdoors and outside the vehicle as well.

In the areas where I couldn't get any Vodafone coverage, I found that Telstra (2G&3G) and Optus (2G only) were available in most places. There were some places where only Telstra was available, and other places where only Optus was available.

Five years ago I went from Melbourne to Echuca and had pretty good coverage with Telstra, and that was with a 2G only phone.

Within a month of posting the above on an internet newsgroup, Vodafone updated their coverage maps. Previously they said whether 2G, 2100Mhz 3G or 900Mhz 3G was available in a particular area. Now it just says standard coverage. So now you have even less of an idea of what you'll get in a particular area and with your particular phone. Was this a coincidence? Who knows.

Been with Voda for years now. Ever since the full integration with 3 I have had issues. Just got off a corporate plan onto an Infinite plan. Got lied to by the 3/Voda rep about tethering charges. Customer service chumps don't know anything that isn't written in front of them. Reception barely maintains 3G and drops out a lot. I used to be on 3 years ago and left them to go to Vodafone. Now I'm back to the same issues I was with when I was with 3.

Mobile Broadband, was unable to connect, massively frustrating dropouts and client problems on Windows 7 (client issues were much less problematic on Windows XP) No problems with sending me bills right on the dot though.

I Worked out a solution that gets you very quick satisfaction from their Indian support team though:

After about 1.5 hours of calling and going through menus, I finally got onto the customer service guy when they rang me back. Told me their systems were down so couldn't cancel my account. I told him he was lying to me as there was no automated message when I first rang as has been previously when there was problems. I said I wanted to speak to his supervisor. He told me the supervisor is so busy and will be half an hour and still unable to help me as the system is down. I was told to call back in 4 hours over and over. I demanded to speak to the supervisor and said repetevely (your LYING to me, the system is not down*), and was promptly told I wasn't being lied to and after a couple of times saying this, was directly put onto a supervisor.

The supervisor told me the exact same thing (call back in 4 hours, nothing they can do). I said again and again, 'your LYING to me, there was no recording when i rang, your lying, I want to cancel my mobile broadband'. He said, hang on one momemnt. Put me through to cancellations where the lady discconected my service quickly and polietly within 3 minutes.

* Looks like they are attempting to stall people from disconnecting by saying a whole range of things (stalling you). I reccomend saying 'Your Lying to me' 'and Record my call' over and over during the call and they will respond very quickly and you will get what you want done. Don't say these things in a abusive way, just in an asertive way.

At the end of the day, they WERE lying to me!

This time last year bought a lovely new blackberry on plan. I asked several times about actual coverage as I knew I would be traveling in country areas of Victoria. no problems they said. they lied. no coverage not even at my house.. On the outskirsts of a major provincial city! then the fun began, no service means no way to contact by phone talk about classic cacth22 and when the shop was open I was in the country with no service! It took agesl to sort out and I had to send the blackberry back. Yes , I was happy to pay for it and buy it outright, but was NOT allowed! Never mind all that hassle I then hade to go to to buy another new phone and change carriers!
definitely would never recommend vodafone to anyone. stroppy nana.

I had Voda phone in Merredin WA for a few years I could very rarely get service in our house & at times had to drive to a couple of spots in town where service was good to use the phone.

I complained a few times & was told it was due to work being done on their equipment, I have ditched them now & gone with Telstra.

They also managed to wrongly put a mark on my credit file with Veda, took me days to sort that out, which cost me in phone calls,time & grief as we were applying for finance.

No apogees & no compensation I will never again have anything to do with VodaPhone.

After being with Optus for 8 years without one problem - I stupidly switched to Vodafone as they were the only provider to carry a new model of phone I was interested in.

I made the switch and have had nothing but problems since.

Living in the inner west in Sydney I constantly get no signal and calls dropping out. It would sometimes take hours to receive an SMS. I had previously never had any problems with Optus at the same address.

I cant explain how frustrating it is when you really need to contact someone and you have no network coverage. You go through the process of switching the handset off and on. Turning 3G off and on. I have come very close to smashing the phone on the ground.

I could understand some people having network issues in regional areas - however i live in the inner west - 10 mins to the centre of the CBD!!!

I had enough so I thought I would call Vodafone and find out what the go is. First time I called in the morning at about 10am - the wait time was 35 mins. I tried again at 1pm - the wait time was 48 mins. Do they have 6 people working for the whole company???

I lodged a complaint via email and explained my frustration - two weeks later I back an email with a blanket list of things to try. I replied answering the questions - I have now waited a further two weeks with no response.

Why do we keep paying for a service that does not function?

Bought a New Xperia x10 mini pro.
Calls dropped out like crazy, and mms failed to function. Phone update to remedy some problems was not available from the carrier. Dropped in to store to see if it was the phone. Was told we have to call the help number. Spent an hour on hold to be told that at minimum the phone needs to be returned once for service.
2 weeks later, phone is returned, in the same condition, DESPITE an OS update being then available. Finally updated the phone's OS on our own, without help from Vodaphone.
MMS still doesn't work properly, and calls still drop out. Reception is abysmal, and we are about 2kms from the CBD. Walking from one room to another in the house cuts the signal. Messages routinely fail to appear until 6-12hrs late, by which time they are out of context.
A month's worth of credit was applied to the account, but piling MORE free rubbish on top of rubbish is hardly compensation.

In other hilarity, using voip on my ipod with microphone works better, and the in-app messaging from words-with-friends is more reliable and timely. Sure I can only use it from places with free wifi or wifi I have a key for, but it's more reliable than Vodafail.

Straight through to the voicemail when connected via 3G. Now I only use 2G. Slow SMS, voicemail notification. Often hours later and sometimes days. Extremely slow data at the best of time. Often it will NOT work with full reception.
Emailed Vodafone support. Replied back in over 1 week to say if you are still having problems, let us know. Just a robot respond. They don't even read my email. DISGRACEFUL!!!!

I use the $29 or $49 maxi cap. I live in poet code 4223 Currumbin QLD. and most of my call are are dropped so I have wasted most of my money. Here is what they said about it. NO refund no nothing!!!!

Response

Question: Vodafone coverage within Australia
Answer:
Australia:

Vodafone's GSM (2G) network covers up to 94.52%* of the Australian population. Our GPRS (2.5G) network covers 92% of the places you live and work in Australia. 3G available to 94% of the Australian population. Capital cities and larger regional centres operate on UMTS 2100MHz and smaller regional centres on UMTS 900MHz. 3G services are available in Vodafone's 3G areas - compatible device required. In metropolitan and some regional areas, Vodafone's 3G network operates on UMTS 2100Mhz. In smaller regional areas with Vodafone coverage, Vodafone's 3G network operates on UMTS 900Mhz. All 3G 900Mhz devices available from Vodafone are 2100Mhz compatible. However, not all 2100Mhz devices are 900Mhz compatible. Customers with 2100Mhz devices that are not 900Mhz compatible will experience GPRS (or Edge, where available) coverage in 3G 900Mhz areas. Slower speeds can be expected outside Vodafone's Mobile Broadband areas. Individual customer experience may vary - many factors affect access, capacity and speed. See www.vodafone.com.au/coverage for more details.

Important: While the highest standards are applied in preparing coverage maps, 100% mapping accuracy cannot be guaranteed.




Customer 13/08/2010 03:07 PM
There are a number of residences on the Gold Coast at Currumbin Beach 4223. That cannot get a strong enough signal to use mobile phones. The Houses and flats around no. 600 to 840 Pacific Parade Currumbin Beach experience mostly dropped out calls. Is there any kind off repeater that can be installed at a residence that boost the signal here in Australia? When I was living in Dubai they installed a cell phone booster in every apartment in our building.

What can be done please.


Question Reference #100813-000372

I have had a lot of issues with Vodafone, first of which when I ordered 2 USB Internet devices and was sent 1, but billed 4 times. After hours of hold, calling them back, and being promised twice to be called back (but was not), that was my first issue.

Second, I have just moved to Caroline springs and have noticed little to no coverage where I live (a metro area)... I have also been locked out of my account, even when it asked for my drivers license, I still have nothing. Then I get a $110 phone bill because I couldn't keep track of my usage. I tried to call and got a 'we are very busy call back later' message and nobody has replied to my 3 emails, first of which was sent in November.

I am asking them to be released from my contract so that I can go elsewhere. Not good enough

as a customer with v phone i have now changed providers,due to the lack of and no coverage where i live they lied to me,i have tried everything including emails,very long phone waiting periods and very bad data coverage,but the funny think is that under the v phone coverage site my house was fine,but when i approched v phone they then told me a different story saying i was in a BLACK SPOT ZONE?? NOW..YOU DONT FALSE DATA COVERAGE OR DO YOU TO GET A SALE..the problem now is that i still have a fixed contact with them until march 2011,but with no coverage as i live in a black spot zone..fair go v.phone
WHAT CAN I DO NOW..MONEY FOR NOTHING AND PHONE FOR FEE...

For 2 months now my bills have been totally wrong. I have been over charged, when being on a cap plan..I was on a $29 cap for over 2 and a half yrs and never had a problem, but these past 2 months I have been over charged once for over usage of data (which was painfully proven to be there fault ) and the second month over charged when I was on a cap of $49.00 and was given an extra 500 free mins and megs for the mistake from previous bill IF I AGREED TO CHANGED TO A $49 CAP. I told them I felt like I was being bullied into this, but agreed as they were reimbursing me.. Now I was watching my usage like a hawk but apparently I still went over my usage?? come on? I call them up on the phone, sat there waiting and waiting as Lara is always flat out and low and behold I get cut off soon as an operator picks up?? I since have chatted to someone on vodafone help via twitter, my bills have been sorted out. ..for now...Im dreading the next bill, oh yeah and they still send me paper bills when I have given my email address and its been verified...I am so over it...I am scared of using my phone...Vodafone used to be good, but lately their performance has dramatically gone poor...

When is someone going to setup a Telstrafail or Optus fail website? The amount of complaints would far outdo Vodafone. Optus billing problems, Telstra reception problems, you are all nuts, everywhere I go with my vodafone I have service where Telstra and Optus don't. At home, I put the Telstra sim into my vodafone mobile and get no reception at all, in the telstra phone I get 1 bar, sometimes 2 if I go out front. All 3 companies show Broadford as having full coverage, but only Vodafone comes through with flying colors for me, well done Vodafone! Thank you.

I have 2 phones - one work supplied and one personal with Vodaphone for when I don't want to be disturbed from work (as when I am on holidays). The reception on the Optus (work) phone is consistently good and the Vodaphone is consistently either bad or no signal. I am pretty well reduced to using Navionics only on the Vodaphone unit as it is otherwise unreliable.

I had my phone stolen 3 WEEKS AGO!! i called them within half an hr of getting home, and 5 more times over the last 3 weeks after that.
Everytime i have called i ahve waited and waited for minimum 30 minutes on hold. No one is helpful and they have LIED to me twice about blocking my PHONE. everytime i have checked on AMTA about the status of my phone it always says it "is currently unblocked" - im waiting once again for them to answer my calls...25 minutes later. ughh. poor reception, poor customer service.

I bought the Samung Jet via Vodafone store. The service at store level was great. However when i started to try to connect with Live, Compass and just the internet via the "Smart" phone i was told by Vodafone they do not support this model for these services. Even though it was heavily advertised for months. They directed me to Samsung who said they do not support the Jet for software issues contact the service provider.. Around i go for 9 weeks. Finally was given a $250 credit to my account for poor customer satisfaction. But i still have the phone and still having the problems. I was told.. not my a vodafone rep but of the record by Samsung, to take the phone back multiple occasions and for identical service issues and Vodafone will assist in exchange to a similar or better model and you pay the gap if its a better model. So im taking it back now for the second service for the same complaints that cant be fixed because the manufacturer and vodafone dont support this phone! As far as the credit goes i have to call every month and tell the whole story again to make sure the credit is applied every month. continued poor customer service. Samsung said they never advertised that they will support the model phone. So its my fault for buying it without making sure its going to be supported? a Smart phone not supported ?? i just dont understand. Good luck fellow Vodafail customers hope you complain and complian until you get the resolution your looking for. Dont forget the other avenues of complaint. Enough ppl complaining eventually we will win.. When has a customer ever had to fight for service?

A. I live on the Gold Coast for the last month I can not make a call from my house as i have no reception, I work in Brisbane & if i am driving along the M1 my calls drop out at least twice on the trip this is every time I am driving to & from work .
B. the worst one was when i was on Hamilton Island & I was flying back to Brisbane my partner left me a voice message on the 4/12/2010 at 9.41 am to tell me he couldn't pick me up from the airport i received this message at 4.15 pm 4 hours after I arrived back in Brisbane as he was not there it caused me a lot of stress as I was worried about him & I had no way of getting back to the Gold Coast, this nearly broke a 17 year relationship .
Over the 14mths of this contract I have been overcharged numerous time my complaints have always fallen on deaf ears , my cap was far to high & not a good deal finally after more complaints vodafone they gave me a better deal.
I am locked into a contract & this is my second time with them it is getting worse I will be thinking very seriously before I lock in again.

On the 17th of December I purchased a mobile broadband modem and sim card service after being told that there was Vodaphone service where I was to spend Christmas so that I could Skype my daughter in the USA. Only to find out that I had to drive another 25 to 30 km to Mount Barker WA to get a weak signal and that kept breaking down. Today,29th of Dec I went to the place that I purchaesed it only to be told that to cancel the service I would have to ring 1300 650 410. I have now been on hold being told to hang in there all afternoon , for about 4 1/2 hours. So not only was I lied to I have been treated with utter contempt. It is ok to sign up and purchase from shopping centre outlets but not to close or cancel a service. I hope that nobody has been trying to contact me on my land line this afternoon

Well, first off, I bought an app from the Vodafone website and they charged me $7 extra. Because of this, I needed to recharge.... so I recharged $20 and it worked. I left my phone for a few hours BUT when I came back, I had no credit left. WTH!! If someone from Vodafone is reading this can you please help me... I have sent email after email and you still haven't replied yet.

I have been trying to unlock my phone for one month now. The website to unlock the phone is failing. I have rung 1555 only to have vodafone confirm the site is not working and to try again in a couple of days. Mmmm well its been over a week since that call and still the same. I even visited a vodafone store in person to get the problem resolved. They just kept saying do it online, and I kept replying I've done that and one month later still not working. Then they said ring the 1555 number. I also said I've been there and done that too. They gave me another customer care number 1300650410 and I was on hold there for ages (as usual). This process on this number was just the same as 1555. After waiting 50 mins I had to hang up as I had to go out. Disgusting service.

I entered into a 24 month iPhone contract with Vodafone, 15 months ago. In that time, I have had 2 iPhones and an HTC Legend, all of which have failed me. I phoned Vodafone to tell them that my signal was cutting out completely every 60 seconds and I was losing phone calls, messages and emails. I was told by their customer support to troubleshoot my phone in all the areas I was receiving signal trouble to see if I was in a low signal area. I explained to them that I travel all over NSW and ACT and I am not willing to do that. Vodafone technical support (obviously based in a non-english speaking country) told me that unless I was willing to do this, they would not help me. I was understandably furious, as I relied quite heavily on my phone for business purposes. AFter 2 weeks, Vodafone technical support hanging up on me 3 times and getting nowhere, I finally resorted to legal action. It is quite funny how quickly they are willing to help you when you inform them that you have written to the Telecommunications Ombudsman and your lawyer explaining exactly what has happened, with transcripts of all my conversations with Vodafone. I was quite quickly contacted by an Australian Vodafone person, who sent me the HTC legend, hoping this would fix the issues. Unfortunately, this did nothing and I continue to have the same issues. I have since done a SIM replacement, with no prevail. I am back at square one, with poor quality signal/reception, no way to contact helpful support and a Vodafone Call centre who is not willing to help me even though I ahve been a loyal customer of theirs. I even asked to end the contract, telling them that I would not pay out the rest of the contract as I had been severely inconvenienced and was told that I could not do that and if I was to attempt it, it would take weeks to gain approval from their management team. ONTOP OF THIS, YOU CANT EVEN PAY YOUR DAMN PHONE BILL AT A VODAFONE STORE!!! I am more than happy to take this further legally, and its very obvious that other customers have been screwed over too. Poor form!

This is a comment on pressure to be applied.

I was in Casuarina square today, watching a stream of sheep wandering
into the Vodaphone store with the extra large photos of Ricky
Ponting and Michael Clark on the wall.

One action to take might be to contract media outlets advertising
vodaphone and suggest that their reputation may be tarnished if
they keep advertising this company. The Herald-Sun has vodaphone
ads on its home page. I just wrote to them, politely, and suggested
that might wish to reconsider whether they should continue to
advertise this company.

I just travelled to Brisbane for Christmas and i hardly had 3G coverage, In Sydney i have good signal, my messages were delivered late and - i was in Brisbane City, it was crap, had to turn my phone off and on to get one bar of signal, since Voda has merged with 3 they appear to be flying off the radar with the service they provide and the customer service when you are transferred to India - i was on hold for 1 hour and 50 minutes to speak to a Voda rep. That is Poor.

Called the customer assistance line to be placed on hold for 30mins, my call got answered and asked "what type of phone did i have", "i replied Nokia". To which he replied "i have to transfer your call, please hold!". 40 mins later another person answered got my details and said "Can i put you on hold while i bring up your details?" "Why not, i've already been waiting an 1hr and 10mins!!!"
What a joke!!! Your customer assistance is crap and the time that it takes to answer the calls is ridicoulis...
Thank god, my contract is up in 2 months cause im not coming back.. After more than 10years with you, this has been nothing but a joke...

I have two phones connected to my account. One I use and the other my 15yrs old daughter uses. She continually complains to me about her network coverage. She travels to and from school on a chartered bus service to her school. The phone is for her safety and security to contact either of her parents or other person in the event she misses the bus or is involved in after school activities where she can contact someone to pick her up. The original handset which was part of the contract practically disintegrated after 9 months and when I asked at the shop front where the contract was signed the same shop assistant pointed me in the direction of the manufacturers repair centre taking no responsibility for the poorly performing handset which they provided.
I have since purchased a new handset to replace the not paper weight provided initially.
Additionally even with the new handset when my daughter is at home the service coverage is not very strong.
I infrequently travel for business purposes and the personal and the supplied business phones are both vodafail and the coordination to meet clients has cost me time and frustration with clients.
On a separate issue I rang the call centre to access My Vodafone, as every time I have tried to log in to sort out my own problems I get incorrect user name or password. I rang to reset my password update my account balance, left a message for them to call back they said 23min. 28min later i called again and left another message for them to call me with a 45min wait time.
My second logged call was returned first after over an hour. The password was reset, asked about my balance they assured me the information had been updated. I logged in to see that the details had not been updated and that my request had been ignored. While logged in a received the first return call now over 1.5hrs after the due 23min not quiet 2hrs later. The call centre person was rude and dismissed me when i explained the situation that this return call is over 1.5hrs later than the information provided.
I sent an email to complain and was provided with a very automated please contact the manufacturer of the handset, if the handset is part of the contract then the responsibility under the contract as its their contract part of their responsibility to provide service to that contract.
They wanted to know the name and store location as a way of satisfying my compliant on their poor service performance both at the call centre and at the shop fronts, the coverage, contract serviceability and dispute resolution.

I live in Greenvale victoria. If my phone is in my pocket i never have reception and calls go strait to message bank and if i am lucky enough to be on a call most of the time it will drop out anyway. If IM trying to make a call often it will give me a connection error.Having been with telstra, optus and 3 over the years i have no doubt that Vodaphone is by far the worst and wish i could get out of my 2 year contract :( It makes running a business hard and communicating with loved ones a hassle. With all the technology we have these days why is it so hard to simply make a phone call? I had heard rumers that vodaphones reception wasnt the best, so during the purchase of my handset i asked the staff about coverage and reception in my area which he showed me was fine and that it will get even better once they merge with 3. I feel like i have been lied to and missled. If i had know how bad it was i never would have entered this contract.

I have two phones on the vodafone network for the past 8 weeks. During this time I have had next to no internet access in Belconnen, Civic and Kambah. Phone calls drop out all the time. Delayed SMS. In addition to that the credits that should have been applied to both accounts ($100 on one and 1 month free plus $50 on the other) have not been honored despite 4 phone calls to customer service.

I am now trying very hard to exit these contracts. Worst phone experience ever.

Yesterday I went into a Vodafone store to look at getting a new phone on a 24 month contract (plenty of people were in the Optus store that day, and no-one in the Vodafone store, I wondered why...).

I asked the shop assistant "Can I please have a look at the contract for this phone plan?"
"Uh... what do you mean by 'contract'?", the shop assistant replied.
"I assume to get this phone on the 24 month contract, I have to sign a contract. Can you please give me a hard copy to have a read over?"
"Oh we usually just fill in your details on the computer. Oh and the system is down at the moment."

I am SO grateful the system was down and I had the chance to come across this website!!!!

I am 20 months in to a 2 year contract and for the last 3-4 months I have basically been carrying around a iphone paper weight. Text messages take hours to arrive, voicemail kicks in before the phone rings on about 70% of calls and those calls I do try and take drop out within the first 30 seconds.
i chose voda originally as it had a pretty good signal in Glebe when I decided to invest in an iphone, I did all that I could to make the right choice (or so I thought) got pre pay sim cards for all the carriers and Voda seemed to be the one to go with for signal.

Cannot wait for the contract to end so I can move to another carrier, unless the can sort there s**t out before then. looks like Telstra is the go, more $$ but at lest they are being spent on actually having a service rather then money down the drain at the moment.

Thankfully I have a Telstra work phone supplied to me so I am able to use that in the interim.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I have been with vodafail since the analogue days 17 years, way back then 'vodafail' always blamed the 'phone' that was the problem. Now we have the digital era, they still say it's the type of phone. Except this time i got the top of the range phone guaranteed not to drop out. What a crock of poo.All they ALL are a money making company that doesn't give a flying f*"@ about it's customers. Why stay with them you ask...sometimes it's better the devil you know.The others are just as bad, like 'mysoul'.

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

I received an MMS message from my step-son this morning and replied to it via SMS. The MMS he sent....... Was sent last Friday. 5 days!!!!! That is an EPIC FAIL in my books.
Vodafone=Shit

I have 3 services with Vodafail. All 3 suffer delayed retrieval of sms, patchy reception depending where you are travelling and un-reliable internet/data access.
I also had to chase Vodafone to actually obtain my cap bonuses that should have been applied upon the activation of te account. I am still chasing my bonus credit from the purchase of an eligible Android phone that should have been given to me on my 3rd bill. I am now approaching my 5th bill with no credit bonus.
Being placed on hold for up to 50 minutes at a time to talk to a service consultant and then to be passed on from one department to another.
Not good enough.

every time i use phone if i move slightly call drops out; the most i can talk for at a time is 2 minutes then i have to call person back - reception is poor; line cut out is continuous - i complained to a vodaphone customer representative at my local shop whom asked what area am i in? i replied "what has that got to do with it, fortunately i have a life and i don't just stay in the one area" he then advised maybe it is my sim card and did give me a new one - mind you i only had the phone for 2 weeks at this stage - anyway new sim card makes no difference at all - the only consulation that i give myself is that i have signed up to their infinite plan (unlimited calls) thank god, otherwise i would be in a real mess having to ring people back up to five times at least just to make a quick 5 minute call - prior to signing up with vodafone (carrier which i have never been with before) i was with optus - regret deeply signing over now - i should have waited a couple of weeks because optus have same deal with same phone that i purchased) but now i am locked into a 2 year contract - it is getting to the stage that my friends and family groan when i ring them as they know i will have to keep calling back constantly just to talk

Signed up in APR 2009 because i was shown a map that demonstrates coverage whilst I am at work. Was told if I didn't get coverage to ring Vodafone and they will cancel contract. A week later I was on the phone to customer service. I was transferred between 5 different people all of which had English as their second language. The first lady said, I have coverage as the map says so. I said I was calling on a landline as right now my mobile has no service. To which I was told that is impossible. I got put onto the next lady who said service would improve. To which I replied I was told if it doesn't work now, I can cancel and get a refund. I got sent to another lady who was supposed to do the refund who told me the map shows coverage so "no refund" when I complained that I had already been through this with another support person she then forwarded me finally to someone who would cancel my contract but she didn't know how to, so I was put through to someone finally who did know only to be told their computer system was down and to ring back later. I said when will it be up, she said to ring in a few days time. 2.5 hours of my life wasted. Suffice to say I didn't want to go through the pain of ringing customer service again so I stayed on the contract. Dropouts, delayed texts, no coverage, people trying to ring me and unable to get through.Voicemail fail, 3G internet is useless, so much for Google Maps.. the otherday I had to goto a place i have never been in ipswich and the vodafone dropped out on google maps and I was lost for 40 minutes, Ive had it all and enough.. I should of stayed with telstra and will be going back as soon as i can

No reception in my house, every time we need to make a call, we end up at the balcony in front of the house..... its hard at time because it will be either raining or we freeze to death lol, and we always try to explain it to Vodafone, they will check network coverage and always say its fine in your area (Fairfield East NSW), yeah right, your not the one who is going out the front on rainy days and freezing... i also had a little head ace a few weeks ago, Vodafone called me and said that i owed them $224.00, i replied saying i have every invoice and receipt, they kept bothering me for most of the day saying i had to pay this amount or my account will be barred, i got so frustrated and told them off for not checking there systems glitches before consulting the customer, they ended up waving this amount of the account, what was in the first place none of my concern........

This article from the UK shows how seriously Vodafone treats unauthorised social networking posts. Unauthorised posts from employees are apparently a "serious breach" and will result in "suspension of employees". Check out the following abstract and weblink;

Vodafone was forced to release a stream of apologies, replying to each user individually to say "we weren't hacked. A severe breach of rules by staff in our building, dealing with that internally. We're very sorry". By the evening the company had been forced to release that message to hundreds of individual followers.
"An individual posted an obscene remark on the Vodafone UK Twitter account," said a spokesman for the company. "The individual has been suspended pending further notice."
The "tweet" is understood to have emanated from Vodafone's customer service centre in Stoke, where its web team uses social networking sites such as Twitter to keep in contact with users.

http://m.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/feb/05/vodafone-twitter-obscene-tweet?cat=technology&type=article

Thank goodness for this website.

How else would thousands of frustrated customer be able to vent.

Vodafail, you have helped get media coverage for serious issues of lying and underservicing.

Keep up the great work!

NOT ONLY DO I NOT GET SIGNAL IN MY HOME, MY CALLS DROP OUT, I HAVE PROBLEMS SENDING SMS AND MMS AND THEN TO TOP IT ALL OFF, AFTER I RING UP AND HAVE TO SIT AND WAIT FOR OVER 3 AND A HALF HOURS TO SPEAK TO SOMEONE ( IN INDIA????!!) IM TOLD THAT THE LINE IS CLOSED AND TO CALL BACK, THEN I RING THE NEXT DAY AND FINALLY GET TO SPEAK TO SOMEONE WHO TELLS ME ADJUST SOME SETTINGS AND WILL RING ME BACK TO SEE IF THAT HELPS.... BUT THEN I GET WOKEN UP AT 6AM BY VODAFONE CALLING ME BACK... AND AFTER TELLING THE LADY ON THE PHONE THE TIME SHE SAYS SHE WILL CALL BACK, AFTER MISSING HER CALLS TWICE I THEN RECIEVE A CALL BACK THIS MORNING AT 5 AM!!!!!!!!!!! WAKING MYSELF AND MY NEWBORN AND MY HUSBAND UP!!! NEEDLESS TO SAY NOT ONLY WAS I NOT IMPRESSED- I WAS IRATE!! ESPECIALLY SINCE CALLING UP VODAFONE AGAIN TO ASK ABOUT MY COVERAGE ISSUES AND BEING ACCUSED OF LYING AS APPARENTLY THE CALL CENTRES DO NOT OPEN THAT EARLY THE MAN ON THE PHONE RUDELY TELLS ME!!!

Got my plan nearly two years ago...was promised coverage out of the cities as I was moving to Broome so this was vital to me before signing. Upon leaving the store i had issues from day one with service and was told I needed to switch from 3G to 2G in some areas...I agreed to the plan as it was supposed to be 3G....the problems continued to such an extent I made them create a file and list all my calls for the next few months. I tried to get out of the plan but was by now remote and had no phone for over a week...with a charge to me to call them back everytime from a landline. Countless calls to customer care to no avail but by now out of the cooling off period and was locked in..very long history of complaining. Moved overseas but still had to honour plan, and have prepaid...which I had to do with Vodaphone as I still had my Vodaphone 'Storm' Blackberry which I have also had nothing but issues with...HAVE TRIED TO CALL ALL DAY TO DUMP THEM ONCE AGAIN BUT AFTER WAITING OVER HALF AN HOUR TWICE AND TOLD I HAD COME THROUGH TO A WRONG DEPARTMENT THEN SENT SOMEWHERE ELSE AND HAVING THE PHONE DROP OUT AGAIN!...I THEN WENT INTO THE STORE...ONLY TO BE TOLD THEIR SYSTEMS WERE DOWN AND THEY COULD NOT HELP ME OR TRY TO CALL FOR ME. Here is the great part....I purchased $20 phone credit which seemed to go through but tonight when I once again tried to use the phone to again try to cancel my existing plan which I am still being overcharged for when I don't use it...MY CREDIT HAD NOT BEEN APPLIED!!!!! ...SO NOW I HAVE TWO VODAPHONE NUMBERS...ONE I CAN'T GET THROUGH TO CANCEL EVER AND ON A PREPAID THAT I CANNOT USE TO TRY TO END THIS NIGHTMARE.

I had been a Vodafone pre-paid customer up until 4 months ago, when I decided to go on a contract with them for the new iPhone.
Up until recently, I always valued Vodafone as my provider. However in the process of changing over to contract I was confronted with the worst customer service I have ever recieved from any place I have ever been. I was promised delivery in 2 weeks, and after 4 weeks it still hadnt arrived. Each time I called (after 1 hour in a queue) I got the response that 'I would recieve mine in the next batch that was to come in stock.. I ended up asking to speak to a manger which in turn got my phone delievered within 2 days and also had a credit applied to my account for the delay.
Since being on contract, I have had poor reception in places where I used to have full reception, my voicemail messages are always delayed, and the internet connection is extremely slow.

Vodafone have excellent deals and all my friends and family are with them, so we take advantage of the free Vodafone to Vodafone talk. however if it was not for that, I would definitely have changed providers.

I expect to recieve what I pay for!

Not only do we have to put up with the poor messaging and phone dropping out all the time but they have also lost the phone we put in with them to be repaired. We gave it to them in feb/march of this year and now they can't tell us where it is! We have made several phone calls to the store and several visits too only to be fobbed off by the unhelpful staff. We have payed off this phone through our contract but they don't seem to care that they have lost our property and still expect us to pay for the handset and calls under our contract. Where's our phone?????!!!!

1. Poor to no reception in many places, including my home (I live 15mins from the Perth CBD).
2. Calls go straight to voicemail without even ringing. Have had many occasions where family and friends have attempted to call me with my phone fully charged, yet I get no ringing, instead a msg saying I have a voicemail. If people do not leave a message, I do not receive any notification of them having called me.
3. Calls dropping out halfway through conversation
4. Had listed my mobile on my resume when I applied for several jobs. In the couple months, I never heard back from any, even to say I hadn't got the job. Decided I would use my dad's mobile who is with Telstra, got a call back from the first job and resume I sent out. I realize this may be purely coincidental but also could be related to vodafone as I have no way of finding out missed calls unless a voicemail is left.

I have been with vodafone for many years, and have had intermittent problems in NDW and now in Qld.
I received a Blackberry Storm last year through Vodafone - no signal in my house, out the front or in my street and very limited elsewhere. Change to Nokia E71, slightly better. Complained to Vodafone YET AGAIN, and was supplied with an iPhone. I don't get reception in my house. To call or send a message I have to go outside a d try for a signal. Many many drop outs. Receipt of text messages and phone messages days later. Too bad if there was an emergency! I have been to many different Vodafone stores with complaint and still nothing. I have a new iphone4 , but no reception, and no 3G

No coverage, calls dropping out, text messages arriving 50 times in a row or taking 12+ hours. Customer service does not exist, phone to call centre who are more interested in selling me an upgraded plan, then say, after 25 mins hold and 5 mins talking that they will put me through to someone who can help, after which the phone hangs up. Try online help, they WILL NOT answer, they keep sending authorisation checks which are completed but not understood or read, after several emails I get one back that says it has been 120 hours since they asked me to provide information which was supplied in each email I sent. I have left Vodafone for good and gone to Exetel. Good luck if you are with them, I hope you can get out of your contract.

I purrchased a Pocket WiFi prepaid pack on the 24th of November, what a mistake...

It all started when I received a post paid pack the next day, they stole my $99 immediately, I called and they couldnt help, they said I was sent the wrong pack, and after atleast 10 x 1 Hour phone calls, I was told there was nothing that could be done becuase I was sent the wrong pack and wasnt supplied a phone number, so therefore wasnt eligible for a refund, I have called atleast anothe 10 times since, each call taking between 1 and 1.5 hours, I am sure they have some kind of mechanism that only puts you on que after an hour, same old story, having to explain my situation each time because there are no notes on the system, then I am told to send an email I do, then get one back, I have sent 8 since, telling me the only department that can help is customer servie by phone, then I call and they tell me there are no notes and why am I so upset if I havent called before and they need a chance to sort it out, yeh, 25 phone calls, over an hour each and 8 emails, why didnt I do something about it...
basically, I have paid $99 for a modem I cannot use and am not entitled to a refund, because Vodafone didnt send me a number to register, their fault, yet I must suffer...

I also am experiencing the phone drop outs. Normally its about 1 minute in. I also go to call people and it doesn't connect. I also fail to receive messages on time. After calling vodafone and waiting on hold for half an hour the lady eventually said that i have call barrings activated (yes, I personally chose to block messages to my phone). For everyone out there who are having this problem dial #330*0000# and then it will say call barrings canceled.

I also had a problem paying my bill online, i called customer service and eventually managed to contact a vodafone phone answerer. I say it like this because I couldn't understand a word she was saying and visa versa. She told me that I could pay my bill over the phone but she couldn't guarantee that it would register as paid. She gave me a three day extension. I then since managed to pay it but three weeks on it still hasn't registered that ive payed even though its been taken out of my account. I went into the vodafone shop and told them about it and they said there was nothing they could do and I would have to contact customer care. What is the point of having a shop if you cant get help from them? Just there to make sales and faulty promises.

Also, my bill this month has miraculously gained a couple of dollars. From them sending me your bill is now due message, it now says after texting 1512 that its extra few dollars. Of course i cant get through to customer "care". Although I did email them. However i received an automated response listing nothing more then what was available on the internet. It then changed the status of my communication to "Solved" which meant no further action would be taken. I then replied to that response and got another email saying that it would be up to a couple of months due to "holiday" period before I would get a response.

I also fail to get reception for most of the day at work. I work in a well populated metropolitan area and still have no reception. Its pathetic.

My boyfriend took his phone into the store to get fixed, after telling him that it would be fixed withing 2 weeks and no phone replacement phone could be offered he contacted them 3 months later to find out what was going on. They said they had been trying to contact him. He found out they were ringing his mobile number (after he had requested they ring his work phone). How helpful. Little did they know he had borrowed an old phone from a friend and had no miss calls over the period of that 3 months.

Lara, the automated phone answering service is pathetic. Its ridiculous and it takes over 5 minutes to get transferred to a help department who then put you on hold.

Their bill checking service also conveniently is unavailable towards the end of the billing period so you can not check your balance and adjust usage accordingly .One day, you've got $100 left, the next day your minus $20 when only 10 messages were sent.

In summary, I'm am so unsatisfied with the service Vodafone provide and cannot wait to get out of my contract! Kudos for bringing this lack of service to the public's attention and getting the majority to unite to force Vodafone to act.

I purrchased a Pocket WiFi prepaid pack on the 24th of November, what a mistake...

It all started when I received a post paid pack the next day, they stole my $99 immediately, I called and they couldnt help, they said I was sent the wrong pack, and after atleast 10 x 1 Hour phone calls, I was told there was nothing that could be done becuase I was sent the wrong pack and wasnt supplied a phone number, so therefore wasnt eligible for a refund, I have called atleast anothe 10 times since, each call taking between 1 and 1.5 hours, I am sure they have some kind of mechanism that only puts you on que after an hour, same old story, having to explain my situation each time because there are no notes on the system, then I am told to send an email I do, then get one back, I have sent 8 since, telling me the only department that can help is customer servie by phone, then I call and they tell me there are no notes and why am I so upset if I havent called before and they need a chance to sort it out, yeh, 25 phone calls, over an hour each and 8 emails, why didnt I do something about it...
basically, I have paid $99 for a modem I cannot use and am not entitled to a refund, because Vodafone didnt send me a number to register, their fault, yet I must suffer...

I was promised that Vodafone would have better coverage and have coverage where i live. in fact they guaranteed it. yet not only do they have limited coverage at my home residence but they also failed to have coverage at my work, in my town, its just bloody shocking. and im sick of hearing them tell me that according to their coverage investigation, i do have coverage in my area. BULL SH!T!!! you cheating, lying #$!@ #&#!%&

This is a copy of a recent complaint sent to Vodafone: This is not so much a question as a complaint, however seeing as the on-hold time on Vodafone for my husband last time we called was 1 hour I have opted not to call. By the way, if I hear that Vodafone apologise for the wait and will be with me 'really soon' (stop lying to me 'Lara') I will literally throw my phone across the road (that's right, we have to walk up the road to make a phonecall, even though we live in Eastwood; the middle of Sydney!).
Basically I am completely sick & tired of the fact that I simply cannot make a phonecall from my mobile while at home, nor can I use my Vodafone internet. This means that I cannot call anyone, cannot contact my husband or my mother or numerous friends who are also on Vodafone (and also SICK to death of the bad network coverage in Sydney CBD). To compound the problem, whenever I try to call vodafone to complain, (which is rare, as I rarely have enough coverage to do so) I am put on hold for an immeasurable ammount of time.
Thankyou Vodafone for living up to your new nick-name of VodaFAIL & completely failing me & my friends & family.

I tried to cancell my contract , I was told multiple times that I had been canceled by vodafone, but THEN I kept getting post saying it was being processed. Every time I got one of those letters I rang customer service and was lied to. I was hung up on multiple times, usually while in the middle of a sentence. I was promised half a dozen call backs and never got any. I was repeatedly told no supervisors were available to escalate my call, when I could clearly hear people giving the person I was speaking to instructions in the backgroud

AT the end i bought myself out of my mobile contract with them by sending them back a 6 month old HTC desire.

The one call I got from them was the day after I spent money to get the fuck out of my mobile contract so that I would never have to deal with the useless pricks again. The guy who rang was also the only person who seemed even remotely competent.

Vodafone can go fuck themselves.

Here is an email I sent to Vodafone only a few minutes ago after being on hold for over 35mins.

Hi,

I've been a Vodafone user for over 15 years and have not have many problems until the past few months. The problems I'm experiencing is as follows:

Dropped calls
SMS takes 24 hours or more to send and receive
MMS messages not receive to I send them to
Mobile internet very slow and drops out
Visual Voice-mail on my iPhone 4, receives messages hours and sometimes days after the message has been left


All these above problems happen when I have what appears to be full signal strength.

I am paying for a service I believe that Vodafone is not supplying.
Also it is very difficult to get through to any customer service staff.
Does Vodafone think that its customers have hours to sit and wait on hold?

I will be reconsidering my service with Vodafone over the next few months and I may recommend to my Family, Friends and Work mates to avoid Vodafone if the want to receive a quality service.

Vodafone should stop sponsoring the Cricket and invest money in its network

I hope to get a reply from this email. But as with the mobile service I doubt it.

Thanks

I randomly lost credit and was charged to send FREE texts. I was also told I had free Facebook and Twitter on my phone, yet I was charged when I went on Facebook and Twitter. I tried to take matters into my own hands and call 1555 to speak to an operator, I was on hold for an hour and a half the first time and fours hours the next time that I tried on a different day. I sent them a complaint email, and to their credit, they replied in 2 days but it still does not erase the fact that they put me on hold for six and half hours total. IN the email reply they stated, "Vodafone regrets any inconvenience you have experienced due to the delays you have encountered. Vodafone are attempting to address the longer queues by investigating our current rosters, we are also currently training new staff that shall be available to take calls in the near future." Please train people faster and so they actually know what they are doing.
When I tried calling previously to ask a question about my faulty phone, I was put on hold for a lengthy amount of time and was then forwarded somewhere that was of no help.
I also had no coverage for half of Christmas day.
I am sick of talking to 'Lara' and I want REAL customer service, or I'm moving companies. Sorry Vodafone, I've been with you for at least 5 years and now you've completely lost the plot. Hmm.. What company should I choose? Optus? Telstra??

I got a contract for 5 years with vodafone and they promised perfect service and great reception they lied fuck them!!!!!!!!!! i have been waiting for 5 months for them to cancel my contract they have had lots of arguments with them they said they will sue me because i am annoying fuck them!!
im going to be with telstra like the rest of my family
FUK YOU ASSHOLES AT VODAFONE CRAP SERVICE

I live in Drouin and am with Crazy Johns (Vodafone). What is the point of having a phone if you can't use or receive calls at home? (My Telstra supplied work phone works great at home). The coverage is crap, calls dropping out all the time, no internet connection. Not happy Jan. Crazy John's and Vodashit can stick it where the sun don't shine.

I have no reception in my house, when I go to the local shopping centre I can't make or receive calls yet my friends can ( they are with other carriers). I voicemail and txts hours later. This doesn't help when you have children relying on you. Vodafone sux

I run my business from home but can't make OR receive calls, I have to drive a few blocks away (& I live in Randwick). It has full reception (all the bars) but as soon as I make the call it goes to one bar, then drops out. I sent texts to my kids to pick them up from school but gave up after the first couple of times as they get them hours later...dangerous!
I was told it would work at the country town I'm originally from that I visit regulary, but it doesn't at all. I was also told I could go to a lower plan (as my ex husband got me the phone at a high plan price promising to pay for it, but refused after he'd signed me up) but then told later I couldn't.
I can't get onto the "my vodaphone" site, can't upload apps, & am sick of being told to take the sim card out whenever it tells me "no connection" or "not allowed"! I as lied to....I want ALL my money back as I have lost so much money retrieving messages & re-making lost calls.
In short, I've been in tears a few times when trying to make urgent calls...but never can when they are important!

Very bad reception... Always dropping in and out... I usually always have full reception at my home but recently, some days it will be no reception... One minute there is full reception and the next there was none... And messages would arrive two hours late.. Messages wouldn't send... I have lost business due to this service...And to top it all off I have an iPhone 4 which was recommended as the top of the range business phone and sent from customer care as i had trouble with my previous phone.... So not only did they give me bad advice but the service is very disappointing...

We bought a Vodaphone mobile while overseas. We SPECIFICALLY asked the staffer and her manager, in 2 languages, to sell us a phone that could be used across Europe AND to call Australia. We were lied to and repeated email complaints to Vodaphone get us absolutely no where!

Prior to purchasing a vodaphone wireless internet account, they asked for my postcode which I gave them and said that my coverage is very very good.
However when I connect to vodaphones network, I get ONE bar of reception and the download speed is appalling!!

Trying to contact vodaphone helpdesk support is a waste of time. I bought $100 which is 6GB and in one week my access had expired and I finally got a hold
of them on the phone and I sought an explanation as to why my 6GB was gone in
one week - and Vodaphone said to me in a Indian accent 'it must of been something running in the background'..to which I replied 'like What?'.

Realising now that Vodaphone deliberately misrepresented themselves to me upon a quick sale of their product, I am going back to Telstra, at least there connectivity is stable and I get FOUR bars of reception.

I want my money back Vodaphone!

I have been complaining for 3 months, only to be told it's my handset, reset the settings, do this do that. They do not even acknowledge there is an issue with the network. I have complained to the TIO and even now they say they are invetigating the problem and will let me know what the outcome is. If only they watched the bloody news then they would know what the problem is. STOP fobbing us off Vodafone and stop lying to your customers, accept you have a major problem, refund every person their rental costs for the last 3 months, and the next 3 as this is not going to get fixed over night and accept responsibility.

Vodafone told me there coverage would be out here on the Bellarine but at my house in Clifton Springs i can't use my phone unless i am right out the front and even then it cuts in and out .. Also They talked me into a blackberry storm and since i have had it i have not been able to get many apps or games for it unlike what the girl who sold it to me said !! it keeps saying not a valid service or cant be used on this handset when in fact it's for blackberry storm so i am seriously annoyed That They Lied to me In every way !!

I'm in bondi, after trying to get a call out a week ago with a connection fail message, I had to borrow a friends telstra phone. through all of this my reception and 3G showed service. On borrowing my friends phone, the girl sitting behind us had heard our discussion and said 'are u with vodaphone' I replied 'yes' and she advised her service was also not working, and had been on and off for weeks. I had been having people complain that my phone was always turned off and they were always talking to my voicemail, and also thinking these comments were strange as my phone was always 'on', but it all started to make sense when I would all of a sudden have 8 voicemail messages in my inbox in one hit, from throughout that day. My phone was reading I had service, when in fact I had no service and calls were going directly into voicemail. So moral of the story is that the vodaphone service in bondi is unreliable, even when your phone reads 'service' you may just not had service at all, so check your voicemail regularly (when u have service to actually call into it!)

I'm a full time worker, I don't even have time to scratch myself let alone making 2697 phone calls in one month! My phone bill came home to be $1270 because vodafone said that I had exceeded my plan. I had complained and they said they'd do something about it, they said they'd take 50% off of my bill, but that for some reason came down to $890! I called to complain again and they said the only thing I could do now is to upgrade my plan and they'd take another 50% off. Alright, I dis that but I wasn't a happy customer. Then after a while of thinking I decided not to use my phone at all.. The next month my bill came to $3000+! Wth?! I didn't even use my phone! That was it, I didn't use the phone, I called up to complain so many times and every tune I called I had to repeat my story over and over again. I got so sick of them I just dropped it, never called them again and I wasn't going to pay for something that I didn't use! They took me to debt collectors and I still didn't pay, they put me down on the black books and now I have bad crept for FIVE years for a ridiculous, lying, decieving and manipulative company that cares for nothing mbut money!

Vodafone charges more money per txt than any other phone company. At 33cents a txt (for pre-paid at least) he goes through $20 within days. This is just unacceptable. Also, coverage constantly drops out and yet I still get charged for these calls. I was once on hold to Vodafone for over 20 mins when the phone line just dropped. Speaking of being on hold, their customer service is disgusting. Recently my phone (supplied by Vodafone) died. I went to a vodafone store to get this matter resolved and was told that it wasnt their fault and there was nothing they could do about it. It's enough to make me want to switch companies as soon as my contract expires...

About 16 months ago I made the biggest mistake of my life. I was no longer happy with my phone provider so decided to look into who was able to give me good service at an affordable price.
I decided to go with Vodafone Online, I'd spent about 2 weeks researching it all and the deal they had seemed the best. The sales team where fantastic at selling me a package including a phone and contract for 12 months.
I received my phone 2 days later and upon inspecting it realized there where 3 things missing from the phone - a micro SD card, the stylus and case. (The Micro SD card was vital for the phone operation).
I immediately rang Vodafone who gave me Nokia's number saying I would have to follow up the problem myself. I did so the long of the short of it is, after 3 MONTHS of going back and forth between Nokia and Vodafone I was told many different things - Both informed me that a new phone was on the way about 5 times and would arrive the next day, Both informed me that there was no issue raised about 3 times and despite having a list of call logs of who i'd spoken to and reference numbers for the complaints would have to start again, Nokia informed me twice that the issue was to be dealt with by Vodafone and not me, Vodafone themselves rang Nokia after I ended up INSISTING on them doing so and the Vodafone customer service agent was shocked at the treatment he himself received from Nokia.
I received bills for them and thankfully I hadn't actually actioned the phone yet and I had free 3 months on the contract (which by the end of the 3 months due to the fact I still had not got anywhere with getting a complete phone was upped to 6 months free usage)
I spoke to managers at Vodafone who laughed in my face and when I informed them I was going to take it to the ACCC told me I would have to get a complaint form from them which would cost me $20 and in her own words 'Good Luck, No one cares what you have to complain about cos at the end of the day you are just one person and you can do nothing'.
I contacted the ACCC who informed me to communicate via email to them so I would have written records. Guess what, they NEVER replied via email to me.... actually they never replied at all.
This whole time I had no phone at all, I was working nearly everyday and relied on a phone yet because I am also a single parent and on a government pension for it the rules are that you can only have 1 phone contract in your name and I didn't have the funds to pay for a pre-paid mobile... I was trapped.
Finally after 3 months of being lied to, passed around and not listened to, laughed at openly by the staff and managers and getting no where, I ended up snapping.
(Because I had bought it from the online store, I was not able to go into a store and have a human help me - trust me I tried numerously - all I could do was call their inhuman customer support numbers)
So I snapped and FINALLY after 3 months they sent me an envelope to send the phone back with and was told once they received the phone back and it was checked over by the 'tech team' I MAY have the chance to exit my contact.
So I received the envelope 3 days later, posted it within 5 minutes of getting it (I paid express post to send it) - 2 weeks later I rang, and it still wasn't processed, I rang everyday for another week and finally was told that, yes the phone had in fact arrived 2 weeks earlier and was processed and was now in the hands of the manager that had told me I was just one person and she didn't care about my complaint and the manager had in fact gone on holidays for 2 weeks and nothing could be done until she returned.
So I asked to be put through to another person who I had been dealing with and 2 days later I removed from the contract... So I thought.
I went down to my local shopping center to take on a new contract with a different provider and was not allowed to take it out as they had that I had unpaid bills with Vodafone and a current contract.
After 3 days of calls I finally received an email stating I was no longer a Vodafone customer and was able to present it to the new provider as proof.
I continued to receive bills for another 2 months (all 0 balance) and each time I contacted them and each time was told more crap.
Finally about 6 months after it all started, I was clear...
I will NEVER EVER touch Vodafone or Nokia again... the one piece of justice for me... I informed everyone I came in contact with over the 6 months who complained about me not having a mobile or being able to contact me sufficiently about Vodafone and what was occurring at the time, and I smile when I know because of my turmoil at least 300 people will now not touch them either!

I am constantly getting people saying that they can't get through to me, that they get messages that my phone is unavailable, no voicemail can be left, no sms gets through. I am constantly missing very important calls. Being a musician and relying on this crap service I find that I am missing jobs all over the place.

My VF supplied Iphone broke down one day so I returned it to the store for warranty repair. After 8 weeks of returning the store every tuesday to get the same rubbish about waiting for parts my phone finaly comes back. The store operators told me that VF would not repair because there was water in the unit. I was a little confused at this because the phone does not go anywhere near water. I asked them if there was anywhere in town that would fix the phone for me and the guy gave me the name of a local dealer. This new guy fixed the phone for $130 and then told me that there was no water in the screen at all and VF should have fixed it for me in the first place. I went back to the VF store to complain and ask for a refund of my $130. Apparantly the dealer who I had been sent to was not on the official list of people who VF deal with so now the warranty is void! While all this was going on, I had not received any communication from VF themselves (i.e. Bills/letters in paper or electronically). I tried to ring them but got seriously bored after an hour on hold. When I finaly got my phone back and tried to use it there was call barring on the unit. After waiting out the hold and talking to Lara for several hours I finally got through to some one who explained to me in broken english that there was an upaid bill of $549 on my account. Even though I explained everything that had happened I still had to pay the bill and I am still suffering call drop outs, bad signal and so on

Bought a pre-paid broadband dongle.. It's worked twice. The Indian on the phone had no idea. They called me back 2 weeks later, I told them don't worry about it cos you obviously have no idea, to which he replied "I can close your job request then?" I go sure, the issue isn't fixed and you haven't done your job, so why not, close it. And I hung up. Grrrr!

Signed up for a new blackberry, told was get to get three (3) months free and also told would cancel data package.
Did not happen. Spent 1.5 hours in store and told was now fixed. Wrong. Rang help line 1.0 hour on phone told to go back to store where phone bought. Wanted me to supply copy of contract, they did not seem to able to provide. I considerd this a bit odd. Rang another number this time (billing) Dept) inplied would make formal complaint. Matter now seems resolved. Heaps of promises, no feedback. I will be chnaging provider at end of this contract.