The reception at Oakdowns TAS has only marginally improved lately (3 bars rather than 2, might be from better modem placement) but have been getting really good download speeds, just got 2.5meg then 1.92meg) has been quite bad for a long time. Dont know if Vodafone have done something or the tower is less congested but it is performing WAY better that my Telstra NextG modem which I have given up on lately, 40kb/s just not good enough... Went to a Telstra store and they wernt interested, guess they did not want to help as there was no sale their for them... Good on ya Vodafone, hope it keeps up!

this is the worst network ive ever seen in my life ever they should all go broke and go to hell

They offered to cancel the remainder of my 21 month contract and will be sending satchel for me to return my damaged phone. No more to pay phew! I am now free to shop around for better deal and one that hopefully works.

After my HTC desire he would only have 3 hour battery life sent it away the fixed it allegedly!! I then received it 3 weeks later with a purple dull like pattern to the screen colour so i rang up got cut off used another fone got through they did help me move to the front of the line easly canceled my contract free of charge and Im now with Telstra and very happy

Reception issues and privacy breach concerns submitted to the TIO. Just got a text from Vodafone saying I was now able to cancel my contract and port my number at no cost at all. I called them to confirm and found I didn't need to send back or pay for the iphone 4 I still owed $600 on either. Preeeetttttttyyyyy happpppppy !

I thought I was alone, perhaps just in a black spot, but how could that be I was in Willougby in Sydney, I can see the towers at Artarmon, at Gore Hill, and I can see the Vodafone building in chatswood. So many dropped calls, so many apologies to my customers. I called customer service so many times, after 'resetting my phone' and removing the SIM and other rubbish, I eventually said "I want out.... please just let me out"... Finally I was put through to a "customer care" person. I said... whatever all the questions are on your list, go to the bottom and do whatever it says next to "customer still wants out". They told me I would be in breach of my contract.. I said "I dare you to charge me anything, as you are in breach of yours".. They eventually told me they would need to do a 'technical investigation" that would take 7-10 days. I reluctantly agreed, after spending all day getting to this point, I was not happy at having to hang up. But as promised "Imran" from the call centre called back. Asking if I was getting any better reception. During our call it dropped out!! He called back again, told me I would recive two express post bags in the mail (for me and my wifes phone). I was to pack it up and send it in. No charge ! I AM FREE !!!!

From Vodafone to Telstra
From the shithouse to the penthouse

Poor coverage in my area, so rang them up explained, they got back to me and said i was in a poor coverage area and offered me:
Vodafone will pay my $69 cap for the next 6 months, and after this if i am still not happy i can walk away from my contract with no charge. Sounded like a win/win, so i took the offer.
I think the key is to be polite to the people on the phone, but to still get your point across to them.

I had moved to a new house in Forest Lake, Qld and had practically no service at home, although phone worked perfected everywhere else. Reported the problem to Vodafone who did some investigating. I was informed along the way and then informed that I was in a low service area. I rang Vodafone explaining the process I had followed and asked to be released from my contract. I was released there and then, no questions asked. Got to keep my phone, they unlocked it for free and got to keep my number. Goes to show, being polite can get you somewhere!

Called vodafone to complain. Registered my complaint after more attempts to get their their pathetic IVR than I care to remember. I finally established dialogue and advised I wished to be released from my contract, that vodafone had caused me significant lost business and personal pain. I was told they had to do some technical checks to confirm I am having issues and that this would take no longer than 72 hours upon which I'd be contacted again and if all was well, or rather not well, they'd release me from my contract. Well 1 week later not a word from vodafone, contacted the TIO, started the ball rolling and they said vodafone had 10 business days to resolve my issue. 13 days later I get a Paul from vodafone try to call me on my home phone each day while I'm at work, 3 days later he reaches me in the morning and I'm released from my contract. Finally, the ordeal is over. I was paying $119 or something for my vodafone unlimited plan, which i clearly didn't get any value from, so now i'm going with telstra as I just want service now and I'm willing to deal with the likes of telstra to get it even if I have to pay a premium.

TIO TIO TIO, thats all you can do, and basically went to telstra where i have no more coverage issues dropp outs, i couldnt even sms people to croatia/bosnia as vodafone a global company didnt have an agreement to those countries , what a joke

I lodged a complaint with the Ombudsman regarding my poor reception. Within a few days, Vodafone made a call to me and very politely and respectfully allowed me to leave my contract free of charge. In fact, my account has now been credited a mystery $20...!

I ported to Optus expecting slightly better coverage, and can now safely say I long for the days Vodafone were simply disconnecting my calls. With Optus I cannot even make a call, let alone download apps or send pxts. Optus have since confirmed for me that I live in an "Optus dead spot" and that I should just turn my 3G off.

Sorry Vodafone. I miss you. You are apparently the better of two evils. Forgive me?

I called Vodafail, and told them my reception was poor. After speaking to three different people including a manager, I was told i would be credited for four bills (so would my wife) and that an investigation into the problem would be launched. If it came back as expected, then I would be let out of my contract with no charge. I also contacted the TIO while waiting for this to happen. Within two working days I was let out of my contract, so was my wife, and we are now both with virgin with brand new iPhones...great result.

TIO who worked with a Vodafail rep named 'Rebecca' to have payments I made credited to my web payments page and be let out of the contract. At the time I was doing this, the news broke about their security measures regarding customer accounts. They also deliberately mislead me by taking 2G out of usage figures on the day before the cutoff date, then putting it back the next day, so I went over limit and didn't know why. It was only when I visited a store to enquire about this that I inadvertently found out what they had done. I mentioned this also in further correspondence with the TIO. Vodafail is a nightmare of an organisaton to deal with. Just give the TIO details and facts and get a resolution. They HAVE to resolve the problem.

I took my new Voda smartphone overseas in September, and made sure I read all the instructions and fine details to make sure it was switched on to Vodafone Traveller so my phone would work overseas. I even called Voda before I left & made sure I'd done it right, & they said I had. My travel partner had done the exact same thing with his Voda iPhone. Sure enough, I get to San Francisco & my phone's can't connect to any network there - its access is dead as a dodo. His worked, mine didn't, nomatter what we did (and we're no luddites). Eventually, with no other options, I hunted down an internet cafe - because you had to email them if it was a tech difficulty! My 4am query marked "Urgent - no access" was eventually responded to by a person 9 days later, who then 'activated' my account for overseas use (i.e. what we'd done back home weeks before). All up, I had a completely unusable phone for over 11 days - including through a family health crisis when I couldn't even call home. Today I asked them for an apology and a credit for the 11 days. I didn't get the apology (of course! but worth asking), but they did give me a $20 credit on the account. That's pretty close to my pro-rata monthly fee, so I figured that'd have to be good enough. It's not a massively inspiring story, but hey, it's something. Solidarity fellow Voda sufferers!! Ciao.

I had a Vodafone wireless broadband contract (12 months) which expired on Jan 15th. My issues were purely technical since Dec 8th 2010 (post WA network outage, unable to connect, poor performance etc) but was unable to speak to anyone in Vodafone until I contacted the TIO. Vodafone contacted me, admitted that my issues realistically would not be resolved quickly. They arranged to close my account and credit me for the final bill. I was very impressed with the conduct of one particular lady who was extremely helpful, explained the reason why some of my issues were occurring and was generally very understanding. Based on this experience I would definately use Vodafone again once they get the network fixed.

I actually had a GOOD experience with Vodafone, so thought I should post it here (having posted a very bad experience last week!).
I noticed a call on my bill to Vodafone (1300 number) which I thought was wrong - so I called Vodafone, and my call was answered in under a minute. And then a very friendly lady explained that 1300 calls aren't covered under my (so-called) "infinite" cap. But because I made a mistake she struck it off my bill (!!!) and just made sure I understand my "infinite" cap for next time.
A small win.

After numerous dealings with vodafone call center staff in india and the multi-hour waiting times achieveiong nothing, lodged a 2 min aplication on the TIO website saying service is poor etc. 2 days later got a SMS from vodafone saying they have agreed to waive my commitment and that i can port out immediately, with a letter with full details to follow (had over 12 months remaining on 2 year contract). If they make any mention of me having to pay for my handset, the comments below make it quite clear that its not going to happen.

I called vodafone again today, talked to the excellent customer service rep, i believe its from cancellations department. The best service rep i have ever talked to from vodafone. He did try to persuade me to not cancel contract by waiving the month bill but in the end, he said, we know that our reception are having problems and it is true there are problems with the network, however i believe that once vodafone improves, customers will come back. He let me off the contract for both 2 phones on $29 cap, which was my first month xD
Yay for me

Had complained about service in three addresses. Lodged an online complaint and was offered 2 months credit. Said I wanted out and they wanted to investigate for three weeks. I then lodged a TIO complaint; they had until 24.01 to rectify the situation - heck even call me. That didn't happen, so I called the TIO again.

Have not received a call but got an SMS today from VF saying they will agree to my TIO request and I can wriggle out of my contract today. Will call India one last time to action my erm... SMS notification.

I made numerous complaints finally was let out of my contract after filing complaint to TIO with option to purchase the phone for discounted $200.00 however my daughter got out as well but the person she spoke to said she could keep her handset with no charge. Made another email to Vodafone asking what criteria was and why I had to pay for hand set and she did not as she did exactly the same as me and we had the same problems for same time and had the same iphone.Received another email from vodafone saying I also could keep handset at no cost. So everyne who is being charged for their handsets just ask why if others are being allowed to keep theirs.Am now with Optus and am very happy with their customer service and deals will never use vodafone again and will warn people not too. The indian call centre are painful to use and Lara is just the pits.
However I will say the Tamra from Vodafone has been extremely helpful. She is located in Tasmania.

Got sick of Vodaphone about 6 months ago, quit and got a new telco,but they kept sending email bills, and phone text reminders, for $-10.73, as in MINUS $10.73. After countless attempts to contact them about it by email (others will know what this involves), it turned out that THEY owed ME $10.73. A staff member explained it to me. So finally they sent me a cheque for that amount. And now? They sent me yet another bill, and email notification, for - wait for it - $00.00. Should I pay it?

After 4 failed attempts using my home phone line to contact Vodafone (Technical Errors or something), I got thought on my mobile strangely enough, spoke with one of those Indian call centre guys once more but this time He put me thought to a lovely lady from Vodafone Australia which took about 30 mins to connect from India to Australia. I explained my situation to her and told her that I was not going to go thought the hassle of their technical errors department thing because I already had with my Fiance's iPad Pre-Paid sim and we where still waiting over a month later for a result to come back on that. She spoke with her manager and allowed me to terminate my contract without any fees except for owing amount for my phone $75. I have now signed with Telstra and so far I am pleased with their customer service both in store and on the phone, should get good reception as well with them and a decent cap plan.

Rang TIO, explained that I do not get suitable coverage at the suburbs I visit the most, that I use the phone for work, and that I purchased a smart phone so I can use the net on the run, which i can't due to reception problems. Vodafone customer service was fine, but they had trouble finding addresses where I did not get reception, even when aided by Google Maps.I asked to log a network issue ticket the first time I rang, but when i rang back the second time I found out it was never lodged. The TIO were delightful to deal with and now I have been let out of my contract. I never had to raise my voice or get angry at Vodafone, but I did express my extreme dissatisfaction with the Company after being a customer for over 3 years. Thank you TIO. I would highly recommend that any users experiencing issues to first contact Vodafone, but to follow through with the TIO if you are finding that you are not receiving the service required, especially if you are on a contract.

I have only been with vodafone for a couple of weeks (new iphone, 24 month plan) and yet get no service at work at all. I called numerous times within the fist couple of days of my contract and was told a variety of things (you need to wait 2 months, wait 5 days, swap your SIM, we will offer you free stuff etc etc). In the end I was so angry that I submitted a complaint online with the TIO.

Today I just got a text from Vodafone saying:

"Hi Vodafone has agreed to your request re TIO complaint to waive your Voice commitment due to coverage issues. Letter to follow with full details however you may port out/ cancel as of today. Kind Regards Vodafone Resolutions"

YIPPIE!!!! I am freeeee!

I would STRONGLY recommend to anyone, even if you have only just signed up, to try and solve your issue through Vodafone first (document everything they say to try and resolve your issue) and then if you get the same stories I did then go straight to the TIO. The process was so quick and the resolution exactly what I wanted.

Thanks to this web site for putting me onto the TIO, I wouldn't have known to do that otherwise :)

Extemely liberating to call up and cancel 2 mobiles and a broadband package..

Simply told them that i've spent god knows how much time on the phone with them..that they are in breach of contract... that i will not pay any outstanding or future bills and i would fight them tooth and nail via the DFT and TIO and then just for fun...

Walked into telstra and vodafone...
Said i wanted 2 iphones and a landline with broadband... all unlimited...

Basically optus said $99 pm for each one with unlimited calls(few exceptions) and decent broadband allowance...

Telstra wanted $148 for the landline and their definition of unlimited was telstra lines only... everything else is extra at a pretty penny too... They would give me 10 GB opposed to optus's 500gb...

So i said why the fuck would i sign up with that? Oh i don't know the sales rep said...

So far so good with optus but i won't hold my breath.

Like everyone else I had a nightmare of a time even contacting vodafone. For weeks my partner and I tried to phone them only to be transferred from department to department endlessly (an overseas call centre no less) by people who could only tell me "I don't know anything about that" before calls got cut off by vodafone. So I sent a series of angry emails. Multiple times I got either no response or "we're closing down the communication" or something like that.

At my wits end I contacted the TIO - telecommunications industry ombudsman. A week later I got a phone call from an Australian who was bending over backwards with his apologies and let me out of my contract with absolutely no exit fees whatsoever. All got sorted out in the space of that one five minute phone call.

Anyone else still having trouble I urge you not to bother with trying to contact vodafone and just go straight over their heads to the ombudsman. I couldn't be happier with the response I got after I did that. No more vodaphone to bother me! Yay!

I originally complained to TIO on the 24/12/2010, I heard nothing from Vodafone, I contacted TIO again on the 17/1/2011, I was contacted by Vodafone this morning and they have cancelled my 24 month contract that is only 13 months old. I guess I can say thanks Vodafone for coming to the party.

Contacted the TIO after dealing with run around Vodafone support. Re-signed a 24 month contract four months ago. I'm now out, owe nothing & keep the iPhone 4. I'd call that a win.

After trying numerous times to get in contact with Vodafone, I decided to lodge a complaint with the TIO. Within a few days my request has been met. I AM FREE! Vodafone are going to terminate my contract and all fees and existing bills. THANK YOU TIO!!!!!!!! Now I can finally sign up with a phone company that provides the service Vodafone failed to do.

I have been complaining to Vodafone about the lack of reception on both mobile phones and our Internet for about 5 months. The said they would do a some time of investigation and get back to us.

They never did so I rang the Telecommunication Ombudsman to complain. It took 20 minutes to lodge the complaint and Vodafone had 10 working days to get back to me or the complaint would be taken further and it would start costing Vodafone. Well 9 days later I recieved 2 text messages saying we could opt out of our contract. No phone call or anything. Couldn't have asked for a better result.

DON'T PUT UP WITH CRAPPY SERVICE. SPEND THE 20 MINUTES AND CALL THE OBUDSMAN!

I feel that all mobile phone companies need to lift up their game, not just Vodafone, but also Telstra and Optus as well.

Where I live Telstra I am lucky to get 2 bars, and it drops out, sane with OPTUS, until the new towers in the area are switched on. My vodafone sim card on the other hand is usually on full signal.

I do mystery shopping and can say many call centres need to lift their gain, once a business wants to move their call centre off shore, then they are going to run into issues. Telstra had call centre staff ill trained, I was transferred to a business consulant over seas, who could not even tell me the business plans. The next day I called the customer service team and all I heard was people talking in the back ground, with me saying hello, hello anyone taking my call this happened a few times and I told Telstra complaints if I ran a business like this I would be broke.

Back in the days, when Vodafone had their main Australian call centre in Hobart, they had superior customer service, and should think of moving it back, and treating staff with dignity, not like what I had seen in a few posts.

I have conducted many visits on many places that sold mobile phone, have only ever came across one rude and arogant sales agent, and none of them were vodafone staff. All the Vodafone staff I had came in contact with were so professional, warm and friendly.

4 services with vodafone loyal customer for 7 years. Half way through contract.Service simply disappeared on two phones 16 dec 2010. One month of Calling everyday, on hold for hours, going into store 7 times, lodging a complaint with TIO. So much lost business. emailed ceo of vodafone....call 2 hours later. contract cancelled. fee waived when i send handsets back. So much stress. Now with telstra. so happy.

Changed mobile companies

asked to talk to higher up CSR got but through explained my problems they completely backed down and released me from contract

I have 5 plans With Hutchison(Three) & one with Vodafone (mostly for overseas - as it has best international coverage). As a loyal customer (since 2003) I always get twice better deals than Telstra (or iPhone) customers for minor difference in service. Due to most competitive pricing/overcongestion in the last half year internet was slower but improving lately.
Main locations: Brighton Le Sands &City.
I'm IT analyst &use Android/Google to constantly sync over the air, so far overall good and expecting much better after the merger with Vodafone + new fast towers.
I have done the maths & found that the people that constantly change the queue are always in the wrong one.

after many weeks of to and froing with vodaphone, and the tio, the contract was finaly canceled, and phone sent back, with no more bills for me. so all in all, im out of vodafone, which is a good result for me.

I am with 3. They offer great coverage, never have drop outs where I live in the hills. Plans are excellent too. Always had great assistance in there stores and over the phone. Have seen no change since they have teamed up with Vodafone, not sure why you would not recommend 3 on the alternatives page?? Actually got my son off of Vodafone prepaid coz the coverage was crap and moved him to 3 too.

After many months and countless hours on the phone to Vodafone I contacted the TIO. Within 2 weeks I had a phone call from Vodafone saying that I do not have to pay the outstanding amount on my bill (that I hadn't used for 6 months anyway) and that they would cancel my contract without any cost to me.

2months worth of complaining etc until i threatened to go to the TIO, then funny enough Vodafone called me back! Yes, you read that correct, they called ME back and said what could they do to improve it. I told them i've been fighting this for 2months so your 1month and 29days late sorry. I still had 12months to go and $760 to pay out. I told them i will not be paying a cent since they broke the agreement. Problem to start with was coverage, internet on smart phone and dropped calls. They agreed and cancelled all of it without a cent. I did some research (from this site as well) and it pays to complain but remember to still be nice!

Generally have no problems. Dropped calls sometimes but
not enough to worry about.
Great service from Vodafone business rep.
Have had Vodafone for over 5 yrs

After signing up with Vodafone contract, I received 2 massive bills as I had blown my cap. I called them about it and they said I should go in a slightly higher cap which I agreed was a good idea. They also gave me an $800 "credit" for doing so which wiped all the owing bills I had... When my sister got into a similar mess I told her to ring them and they did the same for her. BUT that's 1 good thing in all my time with vodafail and a LONG list of fails...

After being a Vodafone pre-paid customer for years I bought a new phone on a plan. I phoned customer service to port my old phone number and activate the new SIM. Wasn't on hold for long, the CSR said they were busy and it might take some time for my new SIM to be activated, which turned out to be about 30 seconds! This was about 4 months ago, there have been some problems since but that's another story. Reception has been OK.

I contacted the TIO after contacting VF every day for 3 months about having no signal unless I stood on my letterbox on a perfectly clear day and waving my phone in the air. I phoned, emailed and was misdirected by Lara (who doesn't understand English) and utterly utterly failed by the Indian call centre robots. (Seriously, after the 4th SIM swap it's obviously NOT the problem, so don't transfer me to the automatic SIM replacement menu!). 5 days after emailing the TIO with evidence of calls and emails as long as I am tall, I was let off my 7 month old contract without penalty. I paid $150 for my newish iPhone and was credited a whopping $7.80 from my bill! I went to Telstra and am happy as Larry with the most awesome service that never fails me. However, VF still keep emailing me and SMSing me bills for $0.00. I've tried emailing them to get them to stop with my phone number and account details but they just don't seem to be able to understand what the problem is because I am not "a current customer". They even told me to log into their website. (I'm not a customer, so I can't!) So I won quite well, but I'm still suffering.......

I had 6 months till my contract expired, i live in the hills area of sydney and had no reception at all. After a month of complaining i was released from my contract today at no charge and given my last bill for free.
Just joined telstra and all is good finally have reception and 3G

I complained to the TIO last Wednesday 12 Jan about the poor quality of the service for the $128 a month i was paying and by Wednesday 19th I had an SMS from Vodafail Resolutions stating that I was not obliged to honour my contract and was free to port my number to another carrier with immediate effect. Woo-hoo!

Without further ado I marched to my local Telstra store and signed up for $79 cap/ 24 months with iPhone 4. 5 bars everywhere, quick internet. Thank you very much.

Still waiting for my Blackberry to be repaired and returned; but after days of complaints, endless holds, going to a Vodafone store about my defective smartphone, loss of service, not receiving messages and calls, etc I was given 3 months credit plus another $50.00 credit for my having to purchase a new Blackberry battery on a phone that was only 6 months old.

Also be warned, if you send your smartphone in for repair you DO NOT receive a similar phone to use in the interim (which can be up to 3-4 wks). I was offered an old Nokia to replace my Blackberry!

I WAS IN NO MESS AND WAKE YOU PEOPLE VODAFONES PROBLEMS ARE NOT THEIRS ALONE AS ALL THIS CRAPPED ONLY STARTED AFTER THEY MERGED WITH THE # NETWORK THAT NETWORK COMPANY IS TO BLAME AS WELL SO WAKE UP AND GO AFTER THEM AND THANK GOODNESS I AM ONE OF THE FEW CUSTOMERS WHO HAVE HAD NO TROUBLE WITH VODAFONE EVER

I've never had a problem with Vodafone (reception never fails, 3g works well).

I don't know why other people have so many problems...

For the past year and a half I have had network coverage problems ie: calls dropping out; no reception (generally in the heart of the Sydney cbd and at Sydney airport; message and voicemail delays or not receiving messages at all; long waits for up to and over 1hr to customer support only to be hung up on and then have to call again and wait yet another hour; no 3g signal; takes up to 10 minutes+ to log onto any website including Vodafail and these are just some of the issues I have faced.

When I first received the phone I took it back to nokia on 4 different occasions because I thought it was the phone, however I continued to have these problems and now for the past 6 months I have tried periodically to contact Vodafail regarding my ongoing problems.

Recently I had, had enough and went in to 4 different Vodafail stores to get some help as I was getting nowhere trying to call. On all occasions I was told by Vodafail staff... "we can't help you, call customer support" and despite my protests about the poor service and not being able to get through to Vodafail, the Vodafail in store staff would walk off and talk to others; talk between themselves whilst I tried to voice my concerns; or completely ignore me and walk out into the store room.

When I realised I was not going to get any sort of response from the useless in store staff I resorted back to calling the Vodafail customer support line. On Tuesday 11th Jan 2011 I had to make 3 calls to Vodafail all for and waited approx 45-1hr each as each time before I had my call answered and each time I got in contact with a Vodafail rep the line would mysteriously drop out. When I finally got through I spoke with a so called "customer service rep" who was more like a rude cleaner who stated "I can't help you and won't help you because that is not part of my job, call us back tomorrow for the right department". I then demanded to be put through to the Manager.

The manager of customer support in India who I could barely understand with the accent and also because of the bad reception had to call me back twice because the call dropped out whilst I was making my complaint. When I finally got to speak with her she informed me that the Vodafail Cancellation team will be calling me back the next day and will be releasing me from my contract immediately due to all the problems I am facing and the poor service I have received.

I received a call 3 days later from a technical support person at 7pm. The technical support person then stated they would not help me and would not put me through to cancellations and stated I would have to do their investigations before Vodafail will let me talk to the cancellations dept. I did their investigations whilst also contacting the TIO for support. I was informed by the tech support team that I would receive a result by the 18th Jan. I did not hear back from them until the 20th of Jan 2011 informing me that their investigation had revealed I had poor signal coverage.

Finally I got to speak with the cancellations department and after having to call back twice due to bad reception and call drop out and yet and hour wait each time this is what finally happened.

The cancellations department then tried to sell me everything under the sun and give me offers to keep me as a customer... I informed that staff member that I do not want any of the offers and all I wanted was for Vodafail to released me from my contract as promised and also as Vodafail have been in breach of the contract for the past year and a half in the way of poor service as well as the above mentioned problems.

I was then informed that I would need to pay my next bill and a cancellation fee and send my phone back to Vodafail before I can be released from my contract. I then informed Vodafail that this is unacceptable and I would be taking Vodafail to the ACCC and TIO and I would not be paying any bills or cancellation fees. After trying to negotiate with yet another useless Vodafail staff member who I could barely understand and was continuously making mistakes and putting me on hold I asked to be put through to a manager.

I then negotiated with the cancellations manager and had my previous bill waived and my next bill waived. I then was then also told I had to send the phone back so they could waive the cancellation fee. I decided I would send the phone back, because it wasn't worth the pain of trying to keep it. No to mention it is the worse phone I have ever had.. (also suggested by useless Vodafail staff)

I am now currently waiting for this package so I can send my phone back and was assured as soon as they receive the phone I will be out of my contract and will receive a confirmation letter of this with nothing further to pay.

As a Vodafail customer of 12 years I feel very ripped off and completely unappreciated.
1. because there is no loyalty and during this whole process I was being fobbed off and passed around to different Vodafail staff to try and get me to just go away.
2. because I am loosing out.. I have not been compensated in any way for this time wasted out of my life and money wasted. Not to mention even though I have been paying for the phone for a year and a half I still need to send it back which leaves me with nothing but a big whole in my pocket and an empty wallet with nothing to show for it.

I know I'm not the only one having these problems.... and so to anyone else out there reading my story... the best advice I can give you is don't let them push you around and push them to do something about the problems your facing... don't stop until they release you from your contract. If after contacting Vodafail a few times you get nowhere contact the TIO and the ACCC immediately!!!

Good luck!!!

Over a period of time i had collected details of several places in my area where calls dropped and i could not get a signal. Requested immediately (after 45 min hold) to speak to a supervisor. Explained that that based on their coverage maps and the issues i had faced, Vodafone was breaching it's contract with me and i would accept nothing less than a release from my contract (18 months left) with no termination fees. Told them i was going to TIO immediately if they declined, and after another hold of about 2 minutes they agreed to release my two contracts with all fees waived.
Have now been with Telstra for a week and get great phone service, no call drops and my call has been answered immediately when ringing their customer care.

wanted to upgrade from blackberry to iphone 4 but still had contract time. voda wanted $400 + to pay out contract but instead agreed to wave this after i told them my blackberry has been in for service 3 time since getting it and it still does not work properly i also said i would take other family members on voda and go to optus if this was not sorted. after being put on hold for what seemed like ever a supervisor came to the phone and agreed to wave the money but had to sign to new contract. bring it on i said its saved me $400 good on you voda for having such incompetant staff that realy havent got a grip on the language.

I had to wait 3 months till the end of my contract before I spoke to some incompetents in a call centre who had to investigate my coverage, after waiting 6 months to investigate my alleged "service coverage GAP" I went online myself and referred the call centre officer to the map and it was eventaually agreed by the call centre officer in INDIA to terminate my account. They wanted more then 6 months to investigate why my service kept failing with the usual advice to reboot, get a new sim card, forced reboot of the iphone. It remains that there is alot of area's where VODAFONE does not cover 3G and only does 2G and you still dont get adequate service. I spents hours and hours on hold to Vodafone, only to be passed from one incompetent to another due to one operator not working in the correct dept. It appears when things became to difficult they send you to other depts. Im sure they must sit in a call centre and just swap colleagues and laugh at a customer getting frustrated. A continual advisement of the TIO onbudsman appeared to be the only way of getting out of the contract and alot of sucking up and grovelling to the operators.

The more complaints you log with them, the better deal you will get. I had only logged one call due to the lengthy waits when ringing and useless response.
Had no signal at all for two full days, waste of time talking to the customer service people in Mumbai. Didn't bother complaining about the bad service again. Applied to TIO. When Vodafone rang, they made their introduction sound like they were actually from the TIO, and had negotiated a solution with 2 options. Eventually revealed they were employed by VF when directly asked. Contract terminated, & send back the phones (2 plans), or pay them $150 per phone (3GS iphones, 16gb & 32gb, only a few months left on contract. Would only go down to $100 per month per phone. Didn't accept, will prob send back the phones though.

after complaining to vodafone, then making a complaint with the TIO I was released from my contract 12 months early. I was told that I could keep my handset.
I thought this was great until I discovered that the handset is still locked!

Hopefully I can get this unlocked otherwise it is useless to me (i would never sell a handset locked to voda after my issues with them).

By making complaint to Vodafone and TIO Bargain!!!!!!Very happy am now with another carrier and have new phone Samsung and no problems at all.

TIO complaint after 13 phone calls, 2 emails, 1 store visit, multiple tweets and numerous facebook post. I tried it all.

Complained 12/1 to TIO, got a call today from David who was heaps nice. Only had to pay $200 for my handset.
Had 11 months remaining on my contract.

WIN.

David is the man you want!

Call from the response team. Offered credits against all my acocunts until march. If they still have problems after this date they will organise releasing me from Conract.

Gotta agree with the comments below , Dont abuse the people on the phone , Its not thier fault this is happening.

Called Voda to get out of my TWO contracts, after waiting on hold for a hour and a half the call dropped out on answer. Called again and was offered the next three months bills for free to stay, this was declined. Offered half price on contract payout, also declined.
Loged a complaint via TIO and got a response from voda in 5 days offering no fees on exit.

I love Vodafone, ive been with them since 2006 and NEVER had a problem. NEVER EVER had a problem. Not calling, texting, searching the web. NOT ONE PROBLEM! Everyone that is complaining is obviously not taking the right approach to their difficulties as they are all idiots for posting on such a stupid website. Grow up and change phone companies. IDIOTS!

Just short of 2 months into a 24 month contract.....complaints and hanging on line to vodafail re: no service & drop outs....with no result....put in complaint to TIO 6th Jan & received a call from Vodafail rep on sunday 16th Jan....lovely young man...spoke Australian....admitted I was in a bad service area and I was let out of my contract....giving me my Account number so I can port my number to another carrier....just have to return my hanset...so great out come...!!

My son has a vodafone prepaid....doesnt use it that much....so paid the $25 to unlock his phone....needed to call vofafail to get his details and account number so I could port his number to another carrier & surprise spent over 1 hour waiting for vodafail to answer....gave up....tried again today & just 20 mins....rang AMAYSIM....answered and spoke to an lovely Australian lady within 1 minute....she was great and within 1.5 hours they had ported my sons number....now thats what I call customer service.....!!

I had on previous occassions tried to get my issues resolved through Vodafone directly and not got anything from them, so I went to the TIO and made a complaint. I finally heard back from Vodafone today stating that they will me (and partner as well) and I have to pay for my iPhone (about $300) but very happy. The Girl I talked to was very professional and very sympathetic. She did state that the upgrades where due to be completed by the end of March this year, but its too late for me!!

ok so i work for vodafone and my mobile is with vodafone so i feel your frustration, but i just want to put out the point that IT IS NOT STAFF'S FAULT, this is our job my store prides on customer service and thats why our customer enjoy coming back to us, but we are getting customer personal abusing us calling us very horrible names. so please just remember we are human. we are facing the same issue you are with our phone, so be poliet its not hard

By spreading the word that Vodafone is having real network problems, we are actually helping the company fix their problem: their network cannot support the vast merged amount of clients from both 3 and themselves. Thus, when many of us leave Vodafone, it will give them an easier time to upgrade the towers between Jan - March 2011. Then once their network is up to scratch, they wont have high excess of clients bogging the VHA network. That would be an excellent start. It will be then, they can regain new potential customers and great reputation. My Vodafone mobile broadband 3G service was down for 7 business days. Right now, it's back online with full 5 bar signal and full speeds. This is only my case and the tower in my area. It will take time for them to resolve the national network issues for everyone.

Emailed the CEO, Nigel Dews, at 11:23 am. Got a call from a Voda TIO staff member (David)at 12:45pm. He admitted issues with Vodafone's network and agreed to let me and my partner out of our respective contracts waiving all handset costs. I am 6 months into my 24 month contract for an iphone 4 and my partner has about 6 months left in his. Able to port out of Voda's network this arvo upon paying our last bill.

All I stated in my email was the disappointment I had in low network coverage, dropped calls, etc, etc. Asked that this be resolved before I take it to TIO.

Surprised at how easy it was. David was polite, sympathetic and all round awesome.

With 5 months to go on my contract, today I rang up, was on the phone for just over an hour, and came out with:

- free upgrade to a new handset. (My iPhone 4 is getting delivered in 5-7 working days, and I get to keep the old one, which works fine - hellooo ebay!)
- waived the fee for breaking my contract
- the first 3 months of the new contract completely free
- $10 discount on the $69 plan, each month for the full duration of the new contract

I'm pretty happy with the result, especially as I was lucky enough not to have had the same level of problems that many of the people here have experienced.

I actually believe them when they say they will upgrade the network, because so many regulatory eyes are on the company now, there is no way wthey will get away with sub-standard service going forward.

Fun fact: While I was on the call to Vodafone(from a land line) it dropped out twice, and the same call centre consultant called me back within minutes. That's decent service.

Had my number ported across to Telstra on Saturday. I had to ring them today. My call was answered in 1 minute 30 Seconds. Stunned after the over 1 hour on hold calls to vodafone!

Posts No.12838 & 12837,
You both are geniuses, talk to the CEO, Vodaphone have 1000 CEO's so it wouldn't be difficult to have problems resolved. If they want to make that 1001 I'll be happy to offer my services.

After just under two weeks of persistent calling - many hours on the phone (re: no coverage at all) Vodafone released me out a contract - 2 months in to a 24 month plan. I have been able to change carriers and now have a mobile phone that I can use!!!! Yay

Released from my contract, 7 months in to a 24 month plan, get to keep the iphone 3GS for $100, free unlock of the handset. Excellent result, I am very very happy. I sent them many emails detailing my problems, read their replies and offers, went to the TIO, felt like I was getting the run around from the vodafone people handling that, sent an email to the CEO, got a phone call an hour later with the resolution I was after.

Firstly Vodafone dosent decide to provide good customer service until you either contact the TIO or email the CEO with a complaint. Dont keep wasting your time with the customer care number or emailing technical.

I emailed the CEO today at 1:30pm, i recieved call back by a top bloke from the vodafone customer resolution team at 3:27pm. The guys was apologetic, nice and listened to all i had to say and wasn't at all defensive regarding the service.

Since i was on last years $69 cap he offered to bump be down to the current $45 infinate cap plan which is similar but with infinate calls,text,data and be also offered to wave my current bill and credit my first bill on the new plan. The icing on the cake is that if within the remaming 7 months of my contract i am still not happy with the service i can cancel my contract with no penalty fees!

I think thats fair, and i will see how things go for now and assess if i will stay for the rest of the 7 months. Worst comes to worse ill leave and go to telstra.

If only Vodafone had people like i spoke to today working in customer care and not jugdesh prekesh in some offshore contracted business.

I complained to the TIO as was suggested by this website.
Then within a few days Vodafone's resolutions team called me and said they'd release me from my contract without penalty and that I could keep the broken handset they'd given me (gee great...) and they'd waive the $150 excess that they were going to charge me for my phone.
This is the only thing they've ever done right!
Although the lady was so nice and it was so easy I'm sure it's too good to be true - maybe I'll get given a massive bill?

Vodafone acknowledged that I have been incorrectly billed for many months and are crediting the account, putting me on a minimal plan as I have no cell phone reception at my home office. Wont hold my breath but said the area will have improved cell phone reception due to organised work by the end of March 2011.

I Rang Vodafone and wanted to complain that I had been getting bad "reception" using my Wireless Broadband Modem. I had been only getting the Edge Network for a few days. Previously, I have been a customer only a couple of months and I had always been getting the 3g / hsupa signal, which as you all know is much faster than edge.
I got through to a consultant that I could partly understand and was told that the Tower at Dudley had been undergoing maintenance???.
I said I was not happy as I had only just recharged my account with $150 for the next 12 months, and I would want a refund if the service didnt improve.
Since that call my service has been as it was before, I get the hsupa signal.
Maybe thats because all you others out there have picked up your bundle and done the old POQ.
So all you people deserting the sinking ship, its not sunk yet.
Maybe the service will improve and be the Vodafone of old, or even better.
I'll stay for a while yet to see what develops.
Also when I recharged ($99 Deal at Woolies, I didnt even want the modem) I lost half a gig of data as the max limit is 15 gig, I had more than 3 gig to roll over. No problem the consultant added a gig to my account to make it 16 gig. I was happy about that!
All you people out there - keep winging!

How can I contact Nigel Dews? Email address would be great to know.

Contacted TIO, released from contract.

Gain = now with Telstra and I can make calls and access data.

Mobile broadband service, they just rang me and straight away offered to release me from the contract, win win win. 1 down, now waiting for them to call me about the mobile phone complaint.

I have previously given feedback on the response time of my mobile broadband, but having used my mobile broadband service to get information to escape from the Floods on our boat, I say well done to all the vocative staff for keeping the network up and running in the Brisbane CBD during our hour of need....thanks

After emails, hours on hold and "we'll get back to you" I also emailed CEO Nigel Dews at lunch time and had a phone call back at 3pm from the TIO resolutions team. The Guy I spoke did not try to talk me out of it, was from Australia and was very helpful. Both my husband and my contracts have been terminated. Both had another 11 months on them. We can keep the handsets. And we also do not have to pay December's bills on both accounts! Telstra here we come...And make sure you ask for them to email the outcome so you have proof of what they said!

After months of constant phone calls, emails,hours on hold etc. I contacted the TIO, yesterday I saw someone had their contracts cancelled by emailing Nigel Dews, Voda's ceo so thought might as well give that a go. Emailed him yesterday afternoon, just had a phone call from a lovely guy called Edward at the resolutions team and I am now voda free!!

He didnt offer me credits or try convince me to stay, he just said he was happy to cancel my contract(with 20 months to go), he also told me vodafone owe me $400 since I was overcharged every month cos of an error on their end. Since I have the iPhone4 I was asked to return it but I offered to buy it off them, so they are not going to refund the $400 and I have to pay and extra $100 and its mine!! I was pretty happy with that considering they sell for $700 on ebay.

He has given me his direct line in case there are any problems but now I am free to go to another company so off to Optus I go!!

Last week Vodafail released me from my contract (after 18 months) and said I could keep the phone. I asked if I could put another SIM in it and use another network - they said yes.

Well when I put the new Optus SIM in guess what - it was locked!

I rang up vodafail (via 30 minute wait for an Indain call center) - who wanted to charge me $75 to unlock - I said that if they did not I would get onto the TIO again.

Suddenly they made "an excpetion" for me and unlocked it.

I am so angry with Vodafail I will never use them again - in this life or the next one!

http://www.piperalderman.com.au/vf/

There is a class action suit against vodafone for breach of contracts - ie not delivering what they promised in their contracts - black spots, drop outs etc.

Ok, so after hearing about the privacy leak, and the network dramas I've been having for the past for 4 months... I called Vodafone, to discuss the fact that I wanted to break my contract.

Over the course of 5 days, being transfered multiple times to different departments, people, management, and to add to the frustration, regular drop outs while on hold, I finally got onto an agent who advised me that after following all their troubleshooting steps that I was able to break the contract, waiving my $540 termination fee, and all I'd have to do is either return my iPhone or pay it out ($130).. during this discussion, the line dropped out.

Few minutes later I had received a SMS saying that they acknowledged the line disconnected, and that I would get a call back. Didn't receive it. So i called again.

Finally after waiting ages go through, the new agent advised that there were no notes/record of my previous discussion. Wasn't good enough.

I spent 1.30 mins arguing with him, telling him that I wanted to cancel my contract like the previous agent had promised. After putting me on hold, and speaking to his manager back and forth, they decided that they were happy to terminate my contract, waiving my termination fee, but I had to pay $200 for my handset. I refused, and finally convinced him that I was only willing to pay $130 as promised by the previous agent.

They agreed.

Now in all this, ultimately a termination of contract was ideal for me, but at the moment I don't have time to shop around for another carrier, and port over my number, so I explained to the agent that after being a customer of vodafone for 12 years, that after all this, they were willing to let me go? I said to him that I am willing to continue on being a customer for a few more months in hope that their network issues will resolve, and the $540 termination fee that they were willing to waive, is to be applied to my bill over the next 6 months... IT WORKED.

My plan of action is... after 6 months (when my contract ends) I will thank them very much... and sign up a new contact with a different carrier (and hope to get my hot hands on the new iPhone 5 when it's released) ha!

I have been offered two months free access by Vodafone by complaining via email following missed calls, failure to make calls, inability to get through to customer service, and delays in sending and receiving SMS.

However, this is accompanied by vague words about ongoing upgrades, and I really need a reliable mobile phone service as my wife is expecting a child soon.

Was on the phone for 1.30Hrs (1555) and Amradhah answered my call at 8PM today (13th). And ask me to set the Operator selection to Manual (which I have done already after reading some post on the internet) with no gain. And asked me 3 calls which I've made (number, date and time) and dropped. Then said one of their technician gonna contact me in 5 business days to investigate and after another 2 business days another call to inform me the result. If they find no signal then I can exit the contract, she said. I refused to pay the bill till this resolved and she credited the account for this month.

Well seems like some gain. But I want to leave Vodafone.

At 5:35pm today I was called by someone responding to my email to the CEO from lunchtime - offering to end my contract, but paying out the phone, some $300. I wasn't too upset with that deal and hung up. 1 minute later, the TIO Complaints area called me to release me from my contract with no charges, and I keep the phone... I'm thrilled. Hello Telstra.

For 2 days my vodafone mobile broadband has actually allowed me to watch youtube at full speed.. Does that count as a gain? Also all my smses arrived on time.. Possibly they have done something, or everyone is so jack of it that I dont have to share the network with them :D

What number do you call to get out of your voda contract?

Have not yet got out of my mess but........I was in Coles a couple of days ago, they (Coles) have a shelf with several modems on display, one was at half price (Vodafail).

Some fellow was eyeing it up and I could see he was going to purchase it............I mentioned to him about the crap Vodafail coverage and near non-existent customer service and he put it down and purchased a Telstra.

Ahhhhhhh...........I am a man fulfilled, one less sucker for Vodafail and one hell of a lot less $$ for this disgraceful company.

Because i never had decent reception to even ring Vodafone to complain i lodged a complaint through the TIO and explained my situation. Got a call back from Vodafone today. The lady i spoke to was terrific. Contract is now cancelled, no exit fee and do not have to pay the last 3 months of bills that id not paid. She apologised for any problems i have suffered and when i asked about returning the phone she said "What phone" and left it at that. Very very happy with the outcome after all my frustration. Friends will be happy now that they can call me now that i have changed to Telstra and all thanks to this site.

I had problems getting hold of Vodafone support via the phone (either phone cut off or never received calls back) and emails always came back with generic answers. I lodged a complaint with the TIO and about a week later got a call from the resolution team.

The guy from the resolutions team was very helpful and understanding but hid did advise that he could not tell me when the network issues I had been experiencing would be resolved. They offered to release me from my contract, 8 months early. As my handset is a cheap Nokia I don't have to return it or pay for it.

I left Vodafone before it all went really tits up. Best move ever.

Phoned vodafail last Thursday and got the 'put your phone onto 2G network' story. Emailed vodafail on their complaints page yesterday. Called them today and spoke to a customer service person and then got put through (after 1/2 hour on hold) to network. Told me I was in a low reception area and could terminate my contract. Asked to be put through to accounts. SPoke to another person in accounts and I have terminated my contract 10 months early without payment. The kicker is I get charged the exit fee ($500) which they tell me will be refunded when I return the phone in the satchel they post out. I asked to keep my handset and negotiate a price but was told the only price was the exit fee. Not negotiable. Suits me as my iphone has a chip off the glass where I dropped it so I can get a new one. Off to Telstra now for a prepaid phone.

I, like most of the irrate customers felt very let down by Vodafone.
I called countless times to 1555, spent HOURS on hold and spoke to many a non-English speaking customer rep who time after time put me on hold and wouldn't help me.
I read these gains/pains and took action into my own hands. I took the advice of a lovely person who told me to email the CEO (PERSONAL DETAILS REMOVED) and what do you know, recieved a phone call the very next day from a awesome Aussie rep who told me that I was able to be released from my contract (with 6 months left) free of charge and able to keep my handset.

If Vodafone had reps like these working for them, they wouldn't be in the mess they are currently in. Not only was he helpful, but he listened to my frustration of the current offshore call centre staff and asked how I'd be affected in the QLD flood crisis. Fantastic customer service from him.

So, I encourage everyone if you have a problem contact the CEO. You'll get called and hopefully get out of my contract like I am.

Have now contacted Optus and am on my way to becoming an ex-Vodafone customer.

Thank you to this forum for helping me.

Long story short. Mum and I upgraded our contracts on the same day under her name as we felt it was easier to keel both accounts under her name (I was a minor when we got my first contract). Went into a vodafone store to ask when the contract ended. To my surprise they told me my mums contract ended this month but mine had been extended by 3 months. Asked them why and she said it's probably coz we stopped paying our bill. I thought this sounded way too fishy so I called the TIO and complained. Received a call tonight, only 4 business days after making the complaint. The lady I spoke to was absolutely lovely (and an Aussie!). She told me she wasn't sure why the extra three months had been added on and reassured me that they should have not been. She basically said the excuse the staff member gave me was crap and and corrected the end date of my contract and wrote off my overdue $213 bill. We even had a bit of a laugh about it.

She was an absolute pleasure to deal with and demonstrated the kind of customer service you would expect to receive from a major telco. As she was so nice and helpful I actually didn't have the heart to tell her I was leaving after the contract ended. This is actually a big thing for me to say as well because I am a regular poster on this site and I despise vodafone.

If vodafone provided this type of customer service to all their customers they wouldn't be in this mess today, but hey that's their problem.

After countless hour on hold while trying to work out if Vodafone was actually "investigating the problem" we finally went to the ombudsman. And after one email to them, vodafone rang me (on my landline) to tell me that I would be getting out of my contract FREE OF CHARGE and all out standing bills were waived.
A week later the CEO of vodafone called to apologise and try and get me to stay.

After countless hour on hold while trying to work out if Vodafone was actually "investigating the problem" we finally went to the ombudsman. And after one email to them, vodafone rang me (on my landline) to tell me that I would be getting out of my contract FREE OF CHARGE and all out standing bills were waived.
A week later the CEO of vodafone called to apologise and try and get me to stay. I went to Telstra

I recently made a complaint with Vodafone because I was unable to send emails. They gave me the excuse that they are currently upgrading and the issue should be fixed shortly but would not commit to a date.
After talking with 3 different people, they credited my account $99.00, but problem still exists.

Called up vodafone last week on Wednesday, to complain, they gave me three months for free and told me that an investigation would take place, and they would call me within 72 hours, nobody called me so i called them back to complain again and they allowed me to cancel my contract.

Great result for me, now i can go with Telstra or Optus, Not sure yet. :D