I am an call community nurse and I am heavyly relying on my phone, and it is disappointing that 80% of the time I have no reception or very poor reception. Last few days I have had no reception at all and I can not recieve incoming calls which means I am loosing my income. My workplace is not able to contact me nor am I able to contact them, therefore they replace me by calling other staff. I was involved in a road accident and due to the lack of reception I was unable to make an emergency call. Vodafone failed me and dissapointed me miserably.

The 1555 help line keeps you on hold for hours. If you complain via email you get a standard automated response after a few days saying sorry for the delay and we assume because we have been so long in replying you have fixed the problem another way by now!This has happened to me twice. My Vodafone to Vodafone minutes do not work, the time is taken from my outstanding pre-paid credit.

phone call drop outs constantly!!! And dont get me started on that pathetic LARA if i can find the person that has supplied her voice i will let her know how she has made the world a sadder place.

In late 2008, I had to contact Vodaphone the very next day after taking out a new contract because I had no reception at home. Their own maps showed there should have been reception. Vodaphone took many months before they agreed they would cancel my contract without penalty to me. In the process I had to continue to pay monthly for a phone I could not use. At one stage, when the phone was switched OFF [I was on a plane] it dialled one of its own service numbers hundreds of times and then sent me a bill for hundreds of dollars! There is far more to my story and I cannot bear to re-live it all! I will however, if I can get something for the torture and mental torment Vodaphone and its Reps put me through. I have retained the full file of this stupid saga. By the way, The guy at Crazy Johns also kept hard copies of his attempts to help me- they were not at fault..Vodaphone gave WRONG information about their coverage on their maps and when we verbally checked, they lied. The saga lasted around 9 months before I finally got a Zero account BUT I STILL HAD TO PAY AROUND $50 month for the privilege of not having a phone that worked! They even had the gall to try to charge me $415 "voluntary cancellation fee". That took many phone calls and very angry temper tantrums from me before they stopped the runaround from their staff!
Incompetent idiots and a terrible system. NEVER AGAIN!@#$%^&*()!
They should never have charged me a penny! There was never any offer to reimburse me for the monthly fees I had to pay!!!

Got told that have 3G coverage in area, but 80% of the time, it drops out, cannot go on net, download any apps......PATHETIC. Plus it took Vodafone 3 weeks to send my phone to Apple store for replacement....SLOW and got lied to about its status.....HATE IT

We have been charged many times for text messages which didn't arrive nor did we send any. We know this because we were flying at 36,000feet at the times and over the middle of the ocean and night.

I have a work supplied phone on Vodafone.

The cell coverage in Martins Drive Kuluin QLD is appauling. I know who in my street uses Vodafone ... and I havent even met them ? How do I know who uses Vodafone in my street. Easy ... I just look out the window and see who is in the street trying to use their mobile. Yep .... they are the Vodafone customers.

When I complain to Vodafone that their cell coverage is crap ... I am told that its mine or the phones issue ! The remedy is turn the phone off and then on again. Hahahah. What a joke. Vodafone think they can hoodwink modern and intellegent IT users ... like we are granny's from a previous generation.

Afetr numerous complaints I was told to move away from GSM into 3G. Hahahaha. Again they think that they can hoodwink us with tech talk. 3G is NOT a cell coverage fix ... its a data transfer protocol. So I move to 3G (thanks to my gulible employer who bought the Vodafone story). Any difference in cell coverage ? Nope ... in fact is proberby worse !

Vodafone are note spending enough on infrastructure (ie Towers) and using cheap Mobile Carrier manufactuers equipement.

By the way .... i have a sencond really old mobile phone with Telstra. 5 bars signal ... in any area INSIDE the house ... all the time.

Vodafone should spend less time sponsoring corporate events and spend that money on more towers and better service.

Perhaps a trip to the courts will get their attention ?

I can't get proper reception in my home as well as surrounding 1 KM area. I live in a suburb which is very near to Melbourne CBD and still the coverage is so pathetic. I can still bear with it but the most annoying thing that happened to me last week was that I missed a call for a job interview that I had applied and when I called them back this week they said I am not in the list as they couldn't reach me and confirm my availability with me. Now this was the job I really wanted and due to horrible services by Vodafone I screwed it. Damn, I am really very angry and pissed off and still I can't change my service as I am tied with a contract with them.

Come to think of it, I have downloaded and PAID for apps including Ministry of Sound Radio that were unable to work due to lack of 3g coverage. Vodafone, you are responsible. I was clearly lied to in order to get my business.

This is a true story - BONDI BEACH VODAFONE store sold me my iphone on the premise of 3G coverage. Within four weeks of purchase I was back in the stor, where another assistant told me that Bondi Beach has never had adequate coverage and that it was a known issue. I was advised to turn off 3G and use 2G only. Well, if it was 'known', then why didn't you tell me up-front. Is that clearly not misleading BONDI BEACH VODAFONE store?

That mighht explain why my 3G broadband dongle NEVER worked. By the way, I'll be seeking back my 24 months x $49 Vodafone. You knew it wouldn't work and sold it to me anyway.

Well I was lucky after 2 months of complaints and continue calls most of which had me on hold for an hour or more I was able to terminate my contract 11 months early. No penalty was applied but I am awaiting my final bill to confirm this.
We will wait and see

I have been with vodafone ever since i got my first phone 5 years ago; it was great,now when people call me, it goes straight to message bank even though my phone is on and i have full service; most of the time my messages are delayed and i have friends trying to call me saying why havnt you replied or did you get my message; that is on the off chance that they actually get through to my phone;.. i mean vodafone is the best for all your plans and price costs; its just the network coverage and the delivery of messages as such.

I have a THREE mobile broadband that is City Based. I get no reception even in outlying subs, such as Sunbury, Craigieburn, Melton and Cranbourne. I depend on my wireless BBand for communication, however the 3 netowrk coverage is just plain awful. It gives the option to roam to Telstra 2G (GPRS) in country areas at the rate of around $2 per MB. Given that Vodafone is itegrating the 3 network as its own and eliminating the 3 brand, then Vodafone had better review its 3 network Mobile Broadband with regard to extending coverage, otherwise it might as well shut the thing down

As well as the usual thing of receiving texts 5 hours after they were sent and being the only person to be unable to send/receive calls or messages on NYE because I foolishly stuck with Vodafone while everyone on Telstra, Optus happily texts away, I have another Vodafail. I recently got an iPhone and needed to transfer my sim details to a micro-sim. I called Vodafone who said they would send me the sim then I would 'simply have to call them' to activate it.

I received my sim and dialled the customer care line first thing in the morning (06:00) I heard a message that said they were experiencing higher than normal volumes of calls and it would take more than 30 minutes to answer my call. An hour on hold went by and I'd still not got anywhere, so I drove the 45 minutes to work with my phone on speaker on the passenger seat just to see if they would pick up. No. Not the next hour either, or the one after.

I had my phone on my desk on speaker while I worked and had others call the same number to see if it was just me, but no. At 11:00 the line went dead. I went to a Vodafone store in my lunch break to try and get it sorted, and the sales assistant said he could not help me. He said I have to call customer care. When I replied that I'd been on hold with them for five hours, he claimed I should have had no problem as they'd been calling the same number all day. I said I was not spending more time on the phone and please just sort it out for me here. He replied there was no way he could, so I left, walked 20 metres to the Optus store and I have not had a problem since (they could help me, funnily enough!).

I'd been with Vodafone for over 6 years (appreciated the value for money basically) but I've had enough of their shocking service.

Another issue. I went into the store to get a new phone .. the order went through but the idiot behind the desk forgot to put a number in my order so I was approved for '0' phones. They put through again and was assured it would be an hour or two so stuck around shopping and came back nothing so had to cancel. Came back next week to do it same thing order never came back so cancelled again. Came back NEXT week and I was rejected because of my credit history. Paid $160 to have a look at my credit report only to find only thing on there was vodafone order x 3 rejected which is a lie they were simply cancelled. In other words they made it look like I got disapproved and kept applying thus I am now unable to get a phone on credit thanks to lovely Vodafone.

I was with Vodaphone and like evryone else was annoyed at the poor signal strength and drop puts. I contacted (tried to) service support. Each time was advised that there was a 40 minute wait (regardless of local time)...never 10, 20, 30 etc but always 40. I then did the "call me back thing" and I was called within 15 minutes (so what happened to to 40 minutes....thay had lied). Triedt to log into my account but could not log in. They reset my password, but still could not log in. My final straw was when I visited a Vodaphone store to cancell my account (I was not on contract thankfully) only to be told that I could not do it there atn that I would have to do it either online or over the phone.........what a terrible way to run a business

Im in Cronulla and it takes me 3-4 but (once 9 times) to make calls to anyone, then when I do connect it drops out 2 or 3 times so i have to call again. Trying to access the internet is an absolute joke and very frustrating. I don't know why we should pay for such a crap service. Vodafone are not supplying the quality service they promise their customers. My brother who I live with also has a vodafone wireless dongle which is just as bad and i'm worried he's going to throw his new laptop at the wall out of frustration.

I have two services with this abismal company, one is a wirless broad band, that now has been replaced by another provder as i can only get decent recption on my roof or in wollongong. I also have an iphone with them and again no service at home, with the exception of my roof. Luckily i have a work mobile on telstra. I have spoken to vodafone and they advised that i should realise that the service is subject to avaliability. Which is interesting because i go to tassie reguarly to visit family and asked specifically will i get full coverage. To which they replied yes. this is because we have the dishes to run the same capacity as telstra. WHAT A CROCK, i had to use my work mobile on leave and had to pay for it.

I've been with Vodafail for the last 4 years, and have experienced the same problems as everyone else, most annoying of all has to be the constant call fails, even when my phone shows 2 bars of coverage!!!
Its got so bad, i bought a pre-paid Telstra phone last week, just so i could call friends and family for christmas!!!
As i type, sitting in my own house, within the metro area, i cannot make a call or send a message, oh and look, a voicemail message just popped up!!! From 3 bloody days ago!!!!!!!

Nice work Vodafail, looking forward to ending my contract soon, and telling everyone i know, to never ever use any products or services supplied by your retarded company!!!!

I just signed a contract with vodaphone and i was using optus before but the difference between both are massive.In vodafone as soon as you go little out then CBD area signals gone they ll come and go and data you dont even ask you better take wireless modem with you rather relying on vodafone.I hope they improve their service otherwise i might look for some legal advice to break my contract.

My brother and I cannot get calls or texts while in buildings, yet our phone's reception bars say we have reception. When you try to call us, it tells you that our "vodafone mobile has been switched off." Lies! I do not like Vodafone lying on my behalf.

Was on the highway yesterday and accidentally dialled someone. Using the iPhone, when you get messages you must click to either "view" or "close" the dialog box that pops up before operating anything else on the screen. Well, after making this accidental call and trying to hang up, useless vodafone must have connected and I got a sudden influx of a dozen messages from the past few days I had been inside a building. I couldn't hang up because of the constant dialog boxes popping up. What a joy it is to be with Vodafone.

I don't like how Vodafone is keeping quiet about all these problems. At least offer us free credit or bandwidth or those gifts they used to offer. Useless PR.

I had Vodafone mobile internet for about 9 months and got constantly fed up with how slow the service was. Meanwhile trying to complete online study made it worse. When I sighned up for it the sales person assured me that it was as good as adsl broadband...oh how he lied! I was on a 12 month contract and figured i couldn't get out of it but got so wild that I rung up the call centre, was on hold forever, don't get me started on how rubbish Lara the animated service system is. Finally got to speak to someone in Mumbai India and explain my story to 3 different people.After long discussions I managed to end the contract early but have wasted over $500 in a service that I beerly used.

As bad as Vodafone is, think twice before jumping to Optus where customer service is just a rumour and changes in terms & conditions adfter you've signed the contract are the norm. Suggest the best thing to do is get out of your Vodafone contast ASAP and sign-up to use with Telstra's far superior network. It might cost a bit more, but as in everything you get what you pay for. Like flying Tiger versus Qantas :-)

After complaining to Vodafone about a faulty handset, I received this email from the Vodafone correspondence team. Check out the attitude!

"Hi again xxxxxxx,

If any of the points in our correspondence have not made sense to you, please specify so I can try and paraphrase the common rationale that is being applied.

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Kind regards,

xxxx
Correspondence Team

Vodafone Pty Limited ABN 76 062 954 554
www.vodafone.com.au"

Bought a prepaid wireless internet service from them at Browns Plains Brisbane...signal was worse than dial-up. It took two years and having my name put on the default register, a complaint to the T.I.O. and another complaint to the T.I.O. to hopefully have this company get off my back!! Unbelievably incompetent! The service number supplied was wrong! No one answered the phones and then they sent the collection agency after me! Hard to believe a TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMPANY could be so bad at communicating!!

I lost my mobile BB network in the Byron Bay area this time last year - this was after a software update that took most of the east coast off line for 3 days - but service did not return to my area. Each time I rang it seemed they were using a 'random excuse generator'. After about 4 weeks they told me they would refund my modem and pre-paid spent. But that wasn't the point, it took me 2 weeks of research to determine that VF were the best value for my location. So I contacted the ombudsman. The Ombudsman determined that if they had supplied me with a service for the previous 6 weeks they had no right to now remove the service. Eventually, after 6 weeks my BB was finally returned.

Why do they do these upgrades just before Christmas - surely the busiest time of the year? Why is the call centre no able to directly communicate with the technical teams? If the real problem is overloading at certain times of the year, don't they boost the service during these time?

thumbs up to vodafail for poor reception and dropped calls, no when my girlfriend rings up and likes to babble on i know any minute it will drop out, and now i got a good excuse for not replying to her frequent SMS,,,keep up the good work VODAPEACE.

was with vodafone for 18 months with constant call drop outs, they made me go into store and change sim card 5 times, it didn't change a thing once. Live 10km from CBD and had minimal coverage in our house, contacted vodafone about this they said they couldn't do an investigation on the reception as their service to do so was down... this happened 3 times I then switched to Telstra (which I am extremely happy with to this point, coverage is unbelievable, full reception everywhere, and no messy incorrect bills) then vodafone sent a disconnection fee and said it applied as I never got an investigation done on the reception issues, though their service to do so was down... I have called them for the past 3 months and been told they would call me back within a week, not once have I received a call back, emailed through their website, support said they can not help... but this is my fault?? trying to charge someone a fee because the service you are supplying is faulty does not fly very well..... vodaFAIL indeed

I had a Vodafone Broadband service. For five months or so it as pretty good and I chose to go onto a long term plan. Thats when the problems started - try 27 hours for an i tunes update download or buffering 16 times during a 30second song trial. The cost on my non vodafail mobile to continually call Customer Help was a big cost to me. Each time I woild be told a different reason for the problem. On one occassion they supplied me a new modem which was not compatible with Vista - in 2010 believe it or not. They told me to download a software update, but with no connection I asked how and the moron suggested I go to a public library!!! In the end after months of being told the 'network was being updated' I contacted the TIO, who gave me a number for Vodafail in Australia and a group of people based in Hobart whose only job is to deal with complaints made to the TIO. Very shortly after Vodafail refunded all my money and cancelled my contract. I suggest everyone with a Vodafail problem do the same.

I signed up with Vodafone nearly 2 years ago.... was assured at the time it would give excellent coverage. Not even remotely true. I travel a lot out of Sydney for family and work. My partner's phone (Telstra) has to be relied on. When he's not with me on work trips I have to let people know I'll be 'off the air' for slabs of time because I'm on Vodafone. This is not what I expected, or was told, when I signed up at Vodafone in Neutral Bay. To add insult to injury, the signal in my home (in Balmain) fluctuates widely and it can be hard to get (and keep!) a signal in the house.

Vodafone will not even reply to a hand written letter, delivered by registered post, to their HQ. I have no reception at work, or on the main street of town (which is a city of 100,000). My fiancee's Blackberry died and the mufti at the call centre told her to take it to 7/11 to get repaired! Looks like another TIO complaint coming up. I don't like complaining but if they won't bother replying to ANOTHER hand written letter, then they deserve everything they have coming to them.

Multiple issues.

First of all: I couldn't log in to my account on the internet for > 10 days. I called technical support after waiting for hours on hold. Then after talking to a customer service representative, he said he couldn't help me and to wait for a password to be sent again. Password was sent and still couldn't log in. Had to call again.

Secondly, I had an extreme amount of difficulty just getting another account setup and had to go to the store to get this done.

My voice message abnk notifications aren't going to SMS and I asked this and still have not had a reply.

I applied to get my phone unlocked, have inquired about it and paid and still no response.

I tried to setup another account and the tech support, after 26 hours of discussion with 5 different representatives told me to go to the store to solve the problem. Took the store person an hour to figure out the problem because they could think outside the box unlike the phone technical support staff.

I recently purchased wireless for my data from Vodafone store in North Rocks NSW, however, I am unable to send emails. I called Voda asking why it wasnt working and was told in no uncertain terms that Vodafone are an internet provider, not an email provider and as such did not deem this issue an urgency. He also went on to say that it would be several months for Voda to get around to looking at this problem. Therefore, I have no way of sending/replying to emails.

Vodafone employees, I'd like to hear if you have the same issues that we describe.
I know you've had a gag order imposed. Eastgardens store staff told me so.
Another store manager in the eastern suburbs told me how depressing it is working in the stores at the moment.
But this is an anonymous forum, so don't fear the bullying.

I'd like to hear how you guys address your own account and phone issues. Any advice appreciated!

Perhaps you have the inside scoop on

As an ex employee i have personally seen the way Vodafone cunstomers are treated- the reps ignoring endless calls from the customers they were sooo nice to BEFORE the contract was signed. But once that contract is signed dont expect any assistance!!! And lets not start on the way the employees are treated! Bitchiness, bullying, harrassment and thats just to start. I for one will be changing all my accounts over to another provider because I believe the way Vodafone treat people (customers or employees) is near criminal! I have been a customer of Vodafone for over 10 years and the treatment has just gotten worse the longer I am a customer!

I USED TO WORK FOR VODA SO U MIGHT WANT SOME INSIDE STORIES

HERE IS THE GOSSIP...........
ANY new phone that everyone wants they keep for connecting new customers only. They do not give two hoots about existing customers. There are emails that have circulated saying, "if an existing customer walks in asking about iPhone 4, do not tell them that you have any instock unless they specifically ask for it. The ratio for selling iPhone 4 should be 70% to new customers and 30% to existing customers,' and im pretty sure that when iPhone 4 came out business rules from Apple said that first in best dressed. I wonder if Apple would keep selling iPhone 4 to Vodafone if they knew all the sneaky shit they did to gain new customers.
........ I wish I had copied a bunch of these emails before I left.
its great to get heaps of new customers to the point where you conjest your network (and trust me, it is f*@king conjested, there was meant to be a map coming out before i left about conjested areas so we did not connect people in those areas), have all of your existing customers kick up a stink about not being able to get what they want and pretty much have everyone on the network mad at you because of these issues.
Do you ever wonder why when you go into a store you are told you cant keep your pre-paid number??? it's because it doesnt count towards store bonus. poor s/c does all of that work and it doesnt go towards the store, then territory manager and store manager play hard arse and say, 'why didnt you do enough 'NEW" connections. you could have signed up 20 existing pre-paid customers to contracts which is how vodafone make their money (which they never fail to remind us) and it is not good enough. once my three plans are up with vodafone i will be changing. the amount of victimisation and WORKPLACE bullying that i have seen across so many stores across 2 states is unbelieveable. 3 legacy has taken over and it is disgraceful. once I have enough stories together i will be putting in a complaint to the employment onbudsman and passing on info to TIO because workwise and customer expectation wise it is not good enough

My pain has been going on for 10 months!! and now i have to deal with terrible phone reception. My story starts in Feb this year when i took my phone in which i broke, totally my fault i take responsibility for that i had paid for the extra insurance for 2 yrs and it finally came in handy. Paid the excess got the new phone all good, 2 weeks later new phone doesn't work the 7, 8, 9 button stopped working took it back to the shop that supplied it they put it in under a warranty claim a week later go in, get a new phone in the box ready to go. Less then a week later this phone breaks, it is a nokia 6210 navigator so anyone with similar probs please let me know, anyway i head back in to the store i am told i need to produce the papers i would have received, which i informed them i got nothing the last time i showed them the original papers but it was not for that phone was told to wait and a manager would call me regarding that, waited, waited waited, called up about it went into the shop still nothing they had not found the papers ( my opinion they hadn't even looked, every time i went into the store i had to explain my story over and over again to someone new). By this time it was near the end of may and i had got nowhere all i had was a broken phone and still getting bills for a service they where no longer providing. I was going away for 6 weeks on June 10th. I went back into the original store went through the whole thing again and was promised when i got back they would be able to sort it all out for me. returned to Australia, shop is closed down! All records destroyed, back to square one, down to the other vodaphone store that had never dealt with me, once again i explained the story and off we went on another pointless ride or going nowhere, once again someone was to contact me regarding progress, some kind of internal database search need to be conducted with the serial number so they could identify the phone. The original shop had given me the phone without recording that it was sold or given as a replacement, as far as they knew the phone was still in vodaphone hands. Surprise surprise when i went in a few weeks ago to find out what was happening the staff had no idea what was going on, the person i was dealing wiht had left and from their under the breath remarks i took it that the person who had just left was not a very good employee so jumped on the merry go round and began the story again, this time i got an AMAZING girl, she did a search on the spot, reissued me with a proof of purchase receipt took the phone and sent it in, Finally somethng was happening. Today collect the phone, tech report the battery was flat ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGHGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH did he/she not read the report it would turn on every few times then would not turn back on for months, of course the battery is flat i haven't used it for 10months i go the same crappy broken phone back. The helpful girl felt my pain and gave me a number to call and told me what to say. Right now i am waiting to hear back from some supervisor, who was not very happy to help until the words ombudsmen was mentioned and the amount of trouble vodaphone are in at the moment. I have had it with this company before i went overseas i canceled my plan and went onto pre-pay, the customer service and follow up in store is ATROCIOUS, this company had better do something quick smart if they wish to stay in business, by the look of it my problem is one of 1000's that they have to deal with.

This kinda reminds me of something that happened not too long ago... Some of you might remember a company called 'Toyota.' Now a few months ago, Toyota had a small number of people complain of auto acceleration, and as soon as these few complaints hit the media they multiplied faster than rabbits. Typically they were just Americans looking for a little bit of excitement in their otherwise dull lives, thriving off a need to complain about something. At that time I was amazed at how quickly these Americans jumped on the media spun bandwagon, started by a small number of unfortunate cases, but I was also proud that my fellow Australians did not jump on board with the sensationalism. But now my eyes are open... Shame on all of you.

Also, posted from my Vodafone iPhone with full signal :)

Today my broadband connection is flying along at an average of 23kbps download and an average upload speed of 126bps!!!!!!!!!!!
This despite calls to the support centre and absolute conviction of Rajit that things will improve soon and that I must be a long way from an exchange as I live in "remote Hornsby".
When will the management of Vodafone start to take some of these support calls and hear the pain before we all jump ship.
I want my wirelss broadband dongle fee repaid and consequential damages paid for the impact the calamatous service is having upon my business.

i have had a business account with Nodafone for over 10 years for my plumbing company. We have had network, service, reception, voicemail and data issues for the last few months and they are just getting worse.
We have different handsets, new/old sims so i know that they are not the problem.
I now have other friends and family who are complaining of the same issues so i knew it wasnt just me.
Now i have seen this and know for sure that they are lying to us.
I have phoned them and complained but just get told that they will put a service request in. Yeah Great!!
We need to be compensated by Vodafone. They cannot expect us to pay the same amount for the last few months when they knew of the problem!!!

After more than 4 weeks of being constantly told by clients that I had not replied to their emails I finally checked in with Vodafone (I thought the issue was my Iphone settings or my internet server I use). Finally I worked out it was a Vodafone issue. I have irate clients and furious emails after seeming non replies to customer enquiries. My sent items box on the phone is full of emails that never got delivered, WHY?
I rang Vodafone and they said their SMTP is being rejected by other providers so the servers are dumping my emails. YOU COULD HAVE TOLD ME THAT VODAFONE YOU MORONS!!! I've lost business and customer relationships through this. I could have used my home computer or wireless on my Iphone to avoid this if Vodafone had just simply communicated.............What a debacle, it's cost me several thousand in lost work.

Calls drop out all the time and then i will have no serivce for a couple of days. I cal them and after waiting an hour and a half on the phone the bloke told me to go to a vodafone store and get a blank sim. I told him i dont live near a vodafone store as i am in regional victoria and he told me to go to a store that sells vodafone sims and they will give me a blank sim. I questioned tihs and told him why would they give me a blank sim if they are not a vodafone store and he assured me they would. I went to the store and surprise suprise they told me where to go and did not give me a blank sim. I call back vodafone and waited on hold for 2 hours before i got through and told them they had lied to me and that they were not upholding their end of the contract by providing the service they advertise. They said they would send me another sim but it would take 7 days. I told them that in the past 12 months this has happened twice and i end up waiting 10 days for a replacement sim. They would not even credit me or compensate me for being without the phone for 10 days. I asked them to send me a couple of sims as this will happen again as it seems to happen every quarter where the sims fail, she told me they couldn't and it wasnt until i got really abusive and pissed off that she agreed to send me 2 sims. I had heard there was a problem with the vodafone network and checked their site and there was nothnig posted about any outages and when i questioned her she said there was no problems. I have since found out there were outages and they outright lied. I cant wait until my contract expires and i never have to deal with vodafone again.

How can Vodafone proclaim the problem is fixed and I still constantly get dropped calls in Melbourne CBD? Can't even get through to customer care to complain.

iPhone 3GS - dropped calls, constant "no service" messages when friends with the exact same phone and on non-Telstra providers have full signal, the most useless customer service around (and now outsourced, so even worse), nigh on incomprehensible bills that somehow ALWAYS exceed the monthly amount (I'm on an unlimited plan) and an online "portal" from the 1970's.

I have already applied to Telstra for a Business Unlimited Plan. $150, unlimited. A day after I applied a Telstra rep (from Australia) rang up and walked me through the process, as well as giving me his direct line.

That's called a proper company.

Vodafone, aside from running a dodgy network, has partially or completely REMOVED HUMANS from its interactions with customers and COMPLETELY ABANDONNED ANY PRETENSE TO CUSTOMER SERVICE.

If you call Vodafone:
You will be answered by Lara (a computer program). She may or may not ever connect you to a queue where you can wait for a human. However, she sometimes connects you to another automated service that you don't want which will hang up on you. Frustratingly, when the Vodafone website tells you to call 1300 301 030 number, you get regular Lara, who does not know why you have called and does not help you find out who you should speak to.
LARA DOES NOT WORK and Vodafone KNOWS LARA DOES NOT WORK*, but you have to deal with her anyway.

If you email Vodafone:
To email Vodafone, you must complete a webform. The webform will NOT allow you to send the email until you have browsed FAQs - 3 SEPARATE TIMES.
IF you can send the email, you will probably receive an automated reply. This reply will inform you that, EVEN THOUGH you read the FAQs and did NOT find an answer, the answer to your question is in the FAQs. The email will then INFORM you that your question HAS BEEN answered. No human has looked at your question, and no human ever will.... unless you reply. If you are especially lucky, weeks after you send your email - Vodafone will send you another automated reply informing you that because it has taken so long to respond, you have probably fixed the problem yourself. Vodafone will then INFORM you that it considers the problem RESOLVED. The problem has so far been 'resolved' twice without any human reading your email... unless you reply AGAIN. Then, if you are super lucky, a human will read your email. However, due to all the long trail of correspondence required to get a human to read it, the questions in your original email have 'gone missing'. So, the human will invite you to reply AGAIN AGAIN to clarify what the original problem was. Judging by the length of time I have waited, your reply AGAIN AGAIN will probably go to the end of a very ling queue.**

If you take your complaint to the TIO:
Vodafone will eventually call you back. The human you talk to may well ask you if the previous people you spoke to were "from Australia", suggesting that they think this is important. In my case, I eventually managed to fix my original problem myself - by finally logging into the myVodafone website - HOWEVER I think it is very *likely* that Vodafone lied to me originally about the problem. LYING TO CUSTOMERS IS A PROBLEM. The Vodafone complaints department will NOT investigate that, and will NOT release the recordings of calls without a court order. Vodafone will usually charge $20 for a print out of your 'billing records' and it is not clear what this includes. They will also NOT correspond with you by EMAIL. Even the TIO complaints department will NOT provide any CONVENIENT & VERIFIABLE way to communicate with them.

IN SHORT:
Vodafone do not want to provide a human to deal with you. Ever.
Vodafone will not answer your questions.
Vodafone representatives may well tell complete lies, but it is very difficult to find out.
VODAFONE DEMONSTRATE CONTEMPT FOR YOU IF YOU WISH TO DO BUSINESS WITH THEM.



* A representative from Vodafone complaints department called Phil confirmed that Vodafone is aware that Lara is loathed and Vodafone plan to introduce a parallel system, but not until the end of February.
** I suspect this queue is made even longer by all the times you have to reply if you are really determined to get an answer in writing.

Text messages not sending, or not being received when I send them. Multimedia messages being received by others as blank messages. Very slow data speed, especially in congested areas even though I have full signal strength. I tried calling Vodafone and could not get through. I have lodged a complaint online and got an automated response which closed my case. I replied to that and am yet to receive a response. All in all, it is pointless having an iphone if you can't connect to the net with it. Very annoying as I travel a lot for work and am reliant on my phone to stay in touch with my partner. She got upset with me this week because she thought I was ignoring her but turns out my text messages were not getting through. Was a lot better on 3 and I am not sure now why I changed providers . . .

I just joined the network 4 or 5 weeks ago. My god if only I had known, but no one told me. When I went back in the store to complain about the poor performance (having switched from telstra) they told me that with telstra you pay for the service. So why am i paying $70 a month for with vodafone ?) She changed my sim card, but the problem is still there, i have an appalling reception inside my house, and i live in an inner city suburb near Perth. I seriously regret my decision to sign with vodafone, which was purely based on the fact that i heard that it was a great network and I relied on the coverage map on the website which is an absolute LIE. I wish i could get out of this contract and go back to telstra !

Well, my problem is for both my wife and I. I actually went to Telstra and got a new number as I can't cancel my contract and at least didn't want to pay the remaining 9 months in one lump sum. I got offered 1 month credit.
I travel with my Vodafone iPhone 3GS and Telstra HTC Desire and the difference is unbelievable. I can be on the train trying to read news.com.au and it can take several minutes for vodafone to download but Telstra is very quick. When at home both phones perform well with wifi. I receive voice messages / text messages up to 5 days later. a Few months ago I phoned up and spoke to customer support about technical issues and had the following reply : "It could be due to the time difference between Sydney and Melbourne" I am not lying!!!
Can't wait to cancel all vodafone. NEVER AGAIN will I use them.

I have no reception at home at all it's been totally crap for 2 months I've spent hours on the phone to India who told me if was my FAULT!!!! MY FAULT as I wasn't using my phone correctly they just downright lied lied lied every time I called. It took 6 weeks for them to admit it was because they were merging the 3 network with the Vodafone network. AND today in the SMH they have the nerve to say they have fixed it BULLSHIT my phone still isn't working I AM TOTALLY FED UP!!!!

Been having drop outs, nil reception, late arriving messages, people calling me and asking why my phone is off, when its always on.
I want out!!!!! Complained to India and they said investigation will take 72 hours and I will get a call back. Knew that wouldn't happen, called again andd they said give us another 24 hours. That is before one dickhead lied and said his system was down and another hung up on me. It's with the ombudsman now. I will continue with the ombudsman until vodafail loses more than what my contract is worth

Some of my posts from WP:

Oh look, another bunch of unhappy Vodafone customers who are going to be lied to by Vodafone customer service about there being "no currently reported issues". Please...

After calling Vodafone about numerous call drop-outs, no internet access in 3G/2G and unable to send texts or make phone calls I FINALLY got some sense out of a CSR.

"Sir, I apologise but our network is congested beyond its capabilities at the moment. We are looking to upgrade sites in the future to deal with the sudden growth of customers using our network, but for the time being, there isn't really anything I can do to help you"

The helpful CSR even recommended that I switch to Telstra.

Vodafone are FULLY aware of the congestion issues, but are happily still signing up customers, and lowering their prices to get more and more and more people on board, thus adding to the issue.

RandomJoe writes...
followed pointless instructions about turning off the firewall and non-Microsoft services.

This is what really shits me about Vodafone customer services. They give you the run around and get you to do pointless troubleshooting when they know full well that the network is the problem (most of the time).

I've had Internet issues before with an iPhone 4, called up and was told to reset network settings, reflash phone, upgrade firmware yada yada only to be then told when all that failed that there was an Internet outage.

Been having drop outs, nil reception, late arriving messages, people calling me and asking why my phone is off, when its always on.
I want out!!!!! Complained to India and they said investigation will take 72 hours and I will get a call back. Knew that wouldn't happen, called again andd they said give us another 24 hours. That is before one dickhead lied and said his system was down and another hung up on me. It's with the ombudsman now. I will continue with the ombudsman until vodafail loses more than what my contract is worth

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

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

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

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

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

signed for 2 years contract @$17.10 /mo (19/mo 10%disc), 3 months free.
the bill: $55.40! + no 3 months free applied.
had to wait an hour on the phone to talk to someone at billing to sort it out.

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

Did anyone read their submission to the ACMA's enquiry on customer service ( http://www.acma.gov.au/WEB/STANDARD/pc=PC_312279 )???? Liars.

Dropped calls, messages received hours after they were sent, voice mails appearing without ever having the phone ring, delayed voice mails. No 3G reception in major metropolitan areas such as the Sydney CBD.

The list just goes on and on... I've been relying on Vodafone as a business customer and it's become so ridiculous I've signed up for Telstra to get any decent connection service - yet I still have to pay these Vodafone clowns money for a service that doesn't work!

Catch a tram up Collins Street and watch the signal drop in and drop out constantly. Spent hours one night trying to work out what was happening and thought it was the phone. Vodafone said they did not have any issues, they lied to me. Was supposed to be in an area where they had signal range, nope not working at all even when I moved around the area. Another lie. Was sitting at work today no signal in StKilda Rd.

No 3G reception in George Street Sydney. Calls regularly dropped. Forget using the web as too slow and often no response. Unfrotunately, I am stuck with it as it is a company supplied Blackberry.

I now a telstra personal mobile phone as well in case of emergencies (like a 10 year old needing me)

I got supplied a wireless modem from a Vodafone reseller which had one version of operating software as well as a software disk containing another software version You can imagine the pain when these two software versions starting fighting each other! Vodafone finally came to the party after a year of poor performance and constant emails and phone calls. I got disconnected so many times from the Vodafone call centre accidently off course!

Vodafone lied to me about going on a plan and that would allow me to sms my friend in seoul. So i wnet on one of their thieving plans and I still could not sms my friend in Seoul. Howver, those pieces of trash Vodafone would not return me to my prepaid arrangment and since then have charged me thousands of dollares more. I am keen to join any action against Vodathief - cheers

I signed up to a 24 month contract with Vodafone just 6 weeks ago and before signing I specifically asked if there were any issues with their network and they were very quick to assure me that it was performing brilliantly. LIARS!!! I haven't had more than one bar of reception on my phone yet and calls drop out all the bloody time. Sometimes I can't even make a call. I'm pissed off that my new phone doesn't work properly and I'm even more pissed off that you lied to me. If I ran my company that way I'd be out of business in no time. I have joined the ever growing collective of Vodafone anti-brand ambassadors, telling everyone I know how bad you are. Deceive your customers and pay the price!

I went to the Blue Mountains with my gf after Voda announced their problems have been fixed. Not surprisingly I had trouble calling the guest house manager. I kept calling him but every time would just hear a short beep before the call dropped out (despite having 3/4 signal) without ringing once.

6 months with VF and many delays with messages being relayed sometimes 2 days later or not at all. Poor reception and constant dropouts. Dongle for laptop supplied as part of the deal is useless as can't get any reseption even in Perth metro area. Give me my money back you thieving %$#@*&