Called Vodafone a month ago. They formally agreed over the phone to my demand that 2 bills be waived and a 50% discount for 3 months of bills due to all of the issues..........NOW.....got a phone call saying that my account is overdue!

Called Vodafone to find out why, and they seem to have no record of it!!!!

Guess I'm going on hold for another hour.......

I was with Telstra for more than 10 years and during that time did not have to call customer service, not even once. I have been with Vodafone for 5 months and have called their customer service 4 times.

I am in the same boat as alot of people. Calls drop out or go straight to voicemail, text messages delayed or just never received & poor network coverage in general.

The last instance with customer service was that "most likely" have a faulty sim card. So i jumped through their hoop this time and replaced the sim card on the weekend but expect to have the same problems.

I signed up with vodafone because i in England (where i am from) they have a good reputation. The main reason i signed up with them was the free calls to 3 and voda, which was useful because my girlfriend and a few others are with them. 5 months later and many over charged bills, dropped out phonecalls, no or very very slow internet, 25 plus waits in the voda shop, long waits on hold followed by awful customer service and generally a great deal of stress, i have had enough.
There have been no benifits whatsoever to being with vodafone and with my latest bill being double what it should be from going over my cap on its last day by trying to talk to my bank about problem i had with bill payments which were not my fault has given me yet another reason to leave them.
Also charging us to listen to our voicemail because we dont have the signal to answer the original call? Its ridiculous!
I support vodafail 110% of the way.
Aaron

no reception between central & redfern! Emergency calls only!

I have been reading lots about Vodafone's poor coverage and I know that in regional NSW it can be difficult out of town areas. IS VIRGIN and OPTUS any better? I don't want to go near Telstra. I am thinking of changing my service from Vodafone but am concerned that the coverage may not be any better with Virgin. I live just out of Cowra. Does anyone know what the data and call coverage is like?

I can't get reception 99% of the time no matter where i am. Can't send texts or make calls, have to keep trying and most of the time i give up and not bother. My phone calls ALWAYS drop out and wont let me call them back. Have never had such a slow internet connection with any other company, except vodaphone. Biggest mistake i made!

About 6 months ago my phone stopped working at my work address in Narrabeen. Months later, hours of MY TIME spent talking to customer service and technical support people, still no proper information or response. I have been with Vodaphone for about 10 years with no problems at all but am absolutely on teh point of leaving. Thank goodness I didn't respond to the offer for a new phone on a 24 month contract I received a couple of weeks. I am sick of their pleadings for me to "bear with them" or it must be the construction of my office (a timber cottage!) that is the problem. AAAAAAARRRRRGGGHHHH!!!!!

I've moved from Adelaide to Sydney metro. You would think I would have less drop outs in Sydney then in Adelaide. WRONG - I have had more drop outs in metro Sydney then ever before. Vodafone should never have existed, I have wasted so much money being on this contract. I only joined because at the time they had the Blackberry Storm. If only I knew the heart ache it would have caused me, I definatly would not have signed up. This is also my 4th Blackberry in a year. The amount of times I've had application errors, in which I have lost so much important information and times I've had to have my Blackberry repaired. The stores set up arent that customer friendly either. Standing where ever you can see a spot and the amount of times other customers push in. It's ridiculous. I cant wait till my contract is over because BYE BYE and FAREWELL FOREVER VODAFONE. I will constantly not recommend you to everyone I know. Waste of a phone provider / service.

I have come back to Aus to apply for a new UK visa and before leaving, I got my Wonderful wife a BlackBerry, so we could keep in touch without the high text charges. I sorry to see that no one other than Crazy Johns, had a prepaid BB package. SO with my $29 in hand, I bought it and then inserted it into the Phone. I later discovered, that I have edge network from hom (Maroubra) to about Randwick Race Course, and then have to reboot my phone as It crashes when the signal stops. The CBD and North Sydney are useless. No Data Coverage, and now this morning, When I walked out and tell my Wife "Good Night", it failed to send. Maroubra this morning had no data coverage. I now use BB services on my flatmates ADSL modem... Will I ever be able to have normal connection to the BB services on the Vodafone network?

I've been with Vodafone for about 3 months now and its only taken me that long to have had enough of their ridiculous crap they call service.
My phone calls continuously drop out, I've had to call people back about 3 times to actually be able to finish the conversation we were having. Not to mention the thousands of times when it doesn't even ring, and just says 'call failed.' I've had bad reception before, but Vodafone takes the cake by a loooong shot.
The last few days i've had people tell me they've called me multiple times and left messages on my voicemail. I have not received any missed calls and no voicemails. So either, all these people are lying to me, or Vodafone has something to answer to.
This is ridiculous, when we pay for a phone service, we should get a phone service. If I knew this would be a feature of their 'infinite cap' I would never have signed up for it. I'd rather pay for service I actually GET.

So angry!

Not really a mess, I recently moved my service from Three to Vodafone with one month left on my contract with the idea of seeing how service was in my area.

The reason I did this was I moved from Sydney to the Hunter Valley six months ago and could not use data on Three without paying rip-off roaming fees.

My final contract month is up, the service seems OK although calls can be a problem but data is good.

I thought I would upgrade my service with Vodafone and rang "upgrades" for what I thought would be a 20min call. Over 5 hours later still no joy!

After being cut off numerous times and talking to many third world idiots I finally received a call from a supervisor which took 4 hours to arrive and came through on another service number I have with Three because obviously they could not reach me on my Vodafone service number!

During this call I was informed that after transferring from Three to Vodafone you must wait three months to upgrade if you expect a new handset despite the fact that I was specifically told I could upgrade after my final contract month was up.

During the time I have wasted on the phone trying to deal with Vodafone today I have also attempted to contact them on their Twitter & Facebook accounts with no response, probably due to the fact that Australian based customers do not want to deal with Third World Call Centres and are flooding the presumably Australian staffed Facebook and Twitter accounts with their problems.

Vodafone needs to immediately kill off it's overseas call centres and bring them back to Australia if they are serious about keeping their Australian customers.

When I want to talk to Sales or Upgrades I should be able to do so quickly and with competent Australian staff. OK phone companies don't really want to provide support so maybe keeping those call centres overseas is a good way of scaring customers from calling them and of course scaring customers away as soon as they can get out of contract but Sales & Upgrades should always be Australian based.

If I wanted to buy from overseas then I could just order a cheaper better phone online from America or Europe and get a pre-paid SIM.

I will be upgrading my phone in the next few days but probably it will be with Telstra or Virgin now.

Hi,

I used to be on Sim Only Cap but since last October I have not used this servoce. I have many times called and lodged complaints that I am no longer suing this service and need to sign out of the prepaid monthly service. Till today I am gettign the bills. My usage shows $0.00 but still they are sending me the bills.

Moreover, I ordered an iPhone4 in Aug via phone. I tracked backed on few occassions and was told there is no order placed under my name. I got pissed off because it was 2months now. I went ahead and got a new plan on iPhone4. I am getting bloody new bills with a new number since Nov. I have not received the iPhone and never have I ever this sccount.

I went back to Vodafone shops but they send me back to call the customer care. I called and sent emails via VF website but till today I am getting the bills on my email. Its now $550. The bills cleary shows usage is $0.00 but still I am getting bills for something I never received or used.

I am about to complaint to Fair Trading and Consumer Council.

Please advise the best thing to do to get over being harrased by VF.

Cheers,
R

Dropped calls while on the phone to complain about dropped calls!!!!! absolute bullsh*t, however did discount my bill for the next 3 months...
oh and by the way
SLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO(REMOVED SOME OF THE O's)OOW INTERNET!!!!

We have been with Vodafone for over 5 years now. We are in regional NSW and can only get reception in the three rooms in the house. However, friends also have problems with reception with other carriers. We feel that we have had value for money. The free vodafone to vodafone option has been amazing. Such a great way to have long and frequent chats with children. Up until now our mobiles have been our secondary phone service with our landline being our Primary Service. I am now considering using the mobile service as the primary service because we are out and about more. I find myself in a very hard place. Telstra has great reception out here but I signed up for a 24mth contract with them for the home phone 6 months ago and have been gobsmacked at all the hidden cost and the impossible service, they never answer a question or resolve issues - can't wait for the contract to end. I have found Vodafone service and personal excellent and always honest but the reception in regional areas in not the best. They also have amazing plans. I am now having a look at the other contender - Optus/Virgin and their plans are not quite as good andin our area that their reception may only be marginally better.

virtually no phone reception in metro sydney (west). used to have excellent coverage with previous carrier.. now all my calls when at home go to voicemail as ppl are unable to get thru...

I left Vodafone 6 months ago when things got bad. I paid a leaving fee after going to the TIO and settled my account. Today I get a letter telling me my direct debit was cancelled due to a 'system error', and I should re-enable it.

I don't even have an account or an service with them any more. It just goes to show what sort of mess they are in if they cant differentiate current customers from ex-customers.

Sick of not having coverage and bloody calls dropping out! Then to get guarentee from service dep that coverage would be fixed by start of this month, only to find that is not the case!

No reception in Avalon.

With all the talking Vodafone is doing about how they are fixing their network they have forgotten about one group of customers, the rural and country customers. Vodafone says they are either building or upgrading 2500 sites but NOT one of these new sites (as posted on their website) are going in country or rural areas. Everyone of them are for city areas. What makes things worse is when you question Vodafone about this they ask, Which country" are you asking about. Which country, bloody hell Vodafone, AUSTRALIA, that's what country. FFS if this is all you get from them then there is no way they are going to fix and improve their network in the country areas. Vodafone don't give a shit about you if you don't live in the cities. Well I think it's time that customers of Vodafone that live in rural and country areas give Vodafone the flick. When I talk about country areas I'm talking about the main highways contacting Melbourne to Mildura and many more around the country where Vodafone don't seem to care about. I've been with Vodafone since 2003 and this is how they thank you from sticking with them through other network issues over the years.

I have signed up for a $29 cap plan for 24 month. As in the sales agreement I am entitled to $10 credit for the first 12 months. However, from the third months on, there is no $10 credit in my phone bill. I went to Vodafone's store, one of the staff made a long phone call to confirm my plan and promised me in the next 10 months $10 credit will be deducted from my monthly bill. For certain reasons, they could not adjust the amount on the already issued invoice.

I trusted them. I was so disappointed to see the same mistake on this month's phone bill. There is no improvement at all. I have to go back to the store and see what excuse the staff can come up with!

I hate Vodafone! I will definately switch to other network service providers once this miserable 24 month plan is over.

By the way, I am not the only suffering from such poor service. While I was waiting at the store, I saw a couple complaining the ridiculously high phone bill and wanted to cancel the plan with Vodafone. But they were informed that it was impossible as they had signed the CONTRACT!

It has been 6 months since my last post on Vodafail and my service has NOT IMPROVED AT ALL!!!!! I watched a video recently on the vodafone website by the CEO saying how they were fixing the problems with more towers and capacity but I don't think there is anything of substance happening to rectify the SERIOUS NETWORK PROBLEMS!!!! I believe Vodafone is nothing but a Marketing company that is exactly the most it can out of a sub-par network and providing minimal service to customers. The BOTTOM LINE IS: THEY DON'T CARE!!!!!

I have no choice to switch providers. It looks like Telstra Next G is my own option. Competition in this country sux. We are forced to pay higher prices to another thuggish company like telstra (partly govt owned) just because they have a monopoly on network infrastructure. Disgust and appalling situation in a supposedly technologically advanced society!!! Lift your game - all of you!!!

cant send texts, dont recieve texts, dont get calls, no coverage and service drops out. disgusting! and so i joined OPTUS and couldnt be happier with FULL reception, texts that are sent immedietly and i now recieve texts! good by vodasux you lost my business FOR EVER and many people i know are bailing too. thats what happens when you rip off customers.

cannot retrieve voicemail since 1.30pm today - rang vodafail and was advised no customers cal access voicemail and it may be fixed in the next 24 hours!!!!!!!are you kidding

Following a complaint to the TIO, Vodafone end dated my contract 7 months early.
I ported my number to another provider on Saturday which took approximately 3 minutes. A call to Vodafone on Sunday to ensure my service had been cancelled confirmed that the act of porting my number closed my account. This was the quickest phone call I have ever experience with Vodafone and only took a couple of minutes.

Job done!

I feel so sorry for the people I see when I pass Vodafone stores, don't they read the press? They have no idea how much grief they are signing themselves up for.

I had close to $30 balance on my prepaid credit. During next recharge of $30, I changed the plan from talk & text to Simplified plan. When I checked the current balance, it was only $30.00 and my previous balance were wiped out. I was never given any warning at all. Vodafone doesn't care.

I recently renewed my contract with Voda on the express condition that I do not pay extra for the iPhone 4 16GB. I was on a $49 plan and the cost should remain the same. The bill arrived this morning and the deal has NOT been respected: I have been charged for the handset! I tried to ring them only to be cut in the middle of the conversation with the lady in India (based on strong and hard to understand accent). Needless to say that I am angry!

I just remembered that recently I called vodafail customer service and was on hold for 57 minutes. I nearly screamed. I hung up, after losing an hor of my precious life, and called the telecomunications Industry Ombudsman instead. they are currently dealingwith a voda fail caseon my behalf, where i tried ti pay my bill on the phone and the 'person' at the other end couldn't get either of my credit cards to work.

Then when I got my bank statement, they had charged me TWICE for the same amount. 3 months later I am still waiting to be reimbursed for this 'double' charge.

Last week the TIO asked me what resolution would satisfy me with my case and I said I just want my money back. Then I added, "Actually, I also want to be awarded $100 million in punitive damages so that vodafail don't give me such grief ever again." The TIO guy just laughed. But I was serious!!!

I just posted b4 how totally crap vodafail are. I just want to know now if our thousands of complaints are actually going to be submitted to vodafail...?

I sure hope someone with something to lose at vodafail gets to see how appalling we think their company is.They should be ashamed of themselves. if the rest of us provided such horrible service, we'd be out of a job that's for sure. Pride in workmanship seems lost these days.

I have to stand outside and hold my phone in the air for up to 2 minutes to send an sms. At night too, with mosquitoes biting me!!!! As for actual calls, forget it! 5 seconds talking, and the call goes dead.

Friends of mine who are with Telstra have the luxury of sitting inside on the couch and getting 5 full bars of signal; they sms and call whoever they want to. I get 0 bars or 1 bar of signal in the same house, because I'm with vodahell.

My mobile phone is next to useless with vodafail. I hardly ever use it and vodafail's uselessness has actually affected some of my friendships negatively. People sms me, and the msg doesn't even come thru for many hours or days, so my friends think i am rude.

I have called vodafone to complain and they have told me to my 'face' that they truly don't care about their 'country' customers; that their city customers are all that're worth focussing on financially.

Vodafone suck really bad - the worst phone company in Australia

Last last year in 2010 VodaFone my bill displayed an outstanding amount of 600 dollars to which I was very perplexed as I was on a $49 dollar cap for nearly the past two years.

I immediately called up customer servie and after having patiently waiting for 20 mins i got to the accounts department where the international lady very calmly stated that the bill was changed in july 2010 and i was sent a text message of this... I stated that i never recall such a text message and if they wanted to change my cotnract and plan then they could have had the decency to call me. The international lady then replied " we cannot call everyone" and me stated "YES YOU CAN"

i stated i never consented to such a change and would like the bill changed to the orignal amount of no more than $49 a month.

I had to have "the manager" call me back and after looking at the fact that i had been a customer for over ten years that they would change one of the bills!

hence i still owed 300 dollars - which is when i stated that if they did not change both bills then i would go straight to consumer affairs!

I HOPE THEY DO NOT TREAT LITTLE OLD LADIES LIKE THIS!

I use my CJ's phone and internet as after hours system with my photography business to contact / maintain contact and upload images to my server. The telecommunications service in Forster NSW is awful to say the least.I want out after over 2 years with this company the recent lack of decent service and then today to find my 'local' (Port Macquarie) store has closed is the straw that broke this camels back.

Wondering if vodafone is worth staying

Their plans are over the top on the amount they charge. $1.14 for a call that last 1 second and their pre-paid customers get a rate which is 50% less. It's actually good value to use pay phones to make a call. Their MMS system took 2 hours to deliver a message from a family member. Don't worry though, I got charged for receiving it even though I have a data plan. Horrible reception on the trains down from Illawara to Wollongong. Optus at least gets enough reception for a SMS.

I regret signing up to a new Vodafone contract. When this one runs out, I am going back to pre-paid and switching companies to find a better plan. I don't want the phone and a large bill. I want the average phone and cheap call rates.

my internet on my phone will just not work. it use to work a week ago, although it was still extremely slow. but if i waited long enough the pages would load. now, they dont even load. i will wait for a long time before an error message about the server pops up. not only that, none of the data related applications will load. weather takes a good 5 minutes or so. facebook? forget about it! when i try to call my mother and father, i have to call and hang up 2-3 times before we can get a conversation going. IT IS TIME TO MOVE TO TELSTRA! I never thought id have to say that. ive been a vodafone customer for 8 years. thats right EIGHT YEARS!

Dropped Calls, Delays on MMS and SMS, Slow Internet

I live about 3km from the CBD in Waterloo, Sydney - we have a mobile broadband 3g plan and both our iphones on Vodafone. As for using the phones to make calls - not too bad - although we don't make many calls. Other than that the 3g network internet coverage is unreliable and slow, and the mobile broadband is too frustrating to use. Terrible speeds, constant dropouts - I have just tried twice to download the newest iphone software and the connection dropped out twice halfway through, using up lots of data allowance with nothing to show for it. I thought that being in the middle of a major city the speeds and coverage should be fairly reliable here if nowhere else - unfortunately they are crap!

Switching to a new service provider as soon as the contracts have expired - until vodafone fixes it's coverage and network speeds I'm not wasting my money on them again.

I use vodafone wireless internet.on over 24 hours alway no single.just show searching for network......
Vodafone is real rubbish.

want to know why everything is so hard with vodafone?
You have said that I'am able to unlock my handset in order to be with another service provider because you have openly admitted your service "is lacking." You have also mentioned that you have had a large number of people with this same issue, the issues include:
-The phone not connecting to the network to use internet or even to call.
-Taking 3 or 4 times to actually get through to a number, at the best of times
-Missing texts and calls nearly 80% of the time.
These misadventures eventuate with the extremely painful experience of missing calls from work, The fact that i'm risking my job for this incompetent, company who continues to advertise it's great packages and deals, what you should be doing is hiding in shame that you have ripped off your customers who have been loyal to you since they first owned a phone, and chose you as their service provider.
The best you can suggest is unlocking the handset and letting your customers use another service provider that could potentially take that customer away from you, I don't even think YOU understand the amount of 'multicultural' spoken languages in your call centres so how the hell are we supposed to? The inconvenience of having to swap company's when you have only been with vodafone your whole life:
-Not having the same number
-Spending more money on sim
-Spending more money on expensive call and -messaging rates on a prepaid service.
-The inconvenience of having to constantly top up with credit, due to these expensive call and messaging rates.
Just to name a few.
Just letting you know I have never complained about anything before in my life, and am usually quite patient with people, but the fact that now the discussions between my friends and I isn't about boys and partying rather we chat about how we couldn't party or talk to boys because vodafone screwed us over. I find this sad. Don't you think.
Take a bow VODAFONE, Well done!
You can count on me for expressing my love for you, to ALL my friends!
Thanks again for all your hard work. NOT.
P.s You can trust that i will be posting this on Facebook!
xx

I have a Vodafone contract and a phone that is sim-locked to Vodafone. On the 20th of March 2011, Telstra was able to put a block on my phone saying that it was reported stolen by one of their customers.
Vodafone would not help me with this issue, and insisted that I contact Telstra to get it unlocked.
On thet 21th of March 2011 after hours of talking to customer support representatives, I was able to convince Telstra to lift the block/stolen status.
However despite this, my phone still remains blocked on the Vodafone network. I have called Vodafone customer support numerous times, and they keep saying that the issue should resolve itself within 24-60 hours, and keep asking me to restart, reset or restore my phone to default settings.
It has been two and a half weeks and my phone is still blocked on their network and they will not allow me to escalate the complaint to management.
I am extremely frustrated with their lack of customer support and the fact that I cannot use my service despite paying them 80 dollars a month.

Using Vodafail .3G Mobile Slowband from Sydney CBD

Been using for a couple of days on a business trip thinking that Vodafail Slowband would be better than the rip off hotel rates - big mistake.

Packet loss rate of about 35% continually causing web sites and company VPN to lockup.

Service latency is double that of satellite services (which you expect to be sluggish).

The packet loss rate clearly indicates oversubscribed service (too many people using too little network resources).

Graph of trace to City of Syndey Web Site shows a decrease in latency after the packets leave the Vodafail equipment and move to Optus. Weird usually latency increases.

There is absolutely no way I can use the pre-paid volume I purchased and infact I am being ripped off as it looks like 35% of the data I send is lost by Vodafail.

Thanks for the Web Site and accepting my rant - evidence follows:

Stats for 100 pings at 15 sec interval...
Target Name: www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au
IP: 203.147.135.212
Date/Time: 7/04/2011 7:19:25 PM to 7/04/2011 7:44:10 PM

Hop Sent Err PL% Min Max Avg Host Name / [IP]
1 100 6 6.0 68 2643 1160 [10.103.49.71]
2 100 100 100.0 0 0 0 [-]
3 100 100 100.0 0 0 0 [-]
4 99 32 32.3 75 2558 1361 [202.81.69.131] Vodafail
5 99 37 37.4 74 2536 1336 [119.225.37.5] Optus
6 100 100 100.0 0 0 0 [-]
7 99 36 36.4 81 2474 1288 verizon.sd42.optus.net.au [202.139.39.250]
8 99 36 36.4 81 2443 1261 0.ge-6-2-0.XT4.SYD2.Alter.Net [210.80.34.53]
9 100 32 32.0 89 2442 1253 0.so-2-0-0.XL4.BNE1.Alter.Net [210.80.33.74]
10 100 32 32.0 96 2411 1233 so-6-0-0.GW4.BNE1.ALTER.NET [210.80.33.138]
11 100 30 30.0 86 2359 1183 webcentral1-bne-gw.customer.alter.net [203.166.92.74]
12 100 33 33.0 95 2470 1172 gi2-48.core2.bne3.server-noc.com [203.147.255.217]
13 100 34 34.0 113 2307 1120 te1-4.core2.wic.server-noc.com [203.147.255.25]
14 100 34 34.0 92 2285 1097 po94.mls1.wic.server-noc.com [210.247.140.74]
15 100 29 29.0 81 2234 1057 svc005.wic141d.server-web.com [203.147.135.212]

I have zero reception in my area, and am locked into a contract i can not get out of. calls are constantly dropping out, which is very unproffessional when speaking to clients. I have a landline (and another bill!) purely because i can not use my phone to call anyone.

I was going to change to Vodaphone when my wifes and my current contracts ended in a few months. Thanks to this site I'll be staying well away. Sorry to here what you have all gone through. Thankyou Vodafail you have saved me and my wife from becoming the next potential victims of such poor and dodgy service. Vodaphone you have just missed out on 2 new contracts, I wonder how many others have walked away. Sounds like a perfect example of a company driving itself to failure. Maybe it's time to pick up your game.

Not receiving sms messages. NO signal alot of the time. I was supposed to meet someone for an important meeting but due to Voda FAIL, I was not able to receive any txt meaasges from that person.
Vodafone u r the the worst company in Australia. I regret signing a new contract ith you. You're f****d!!!!

I have sat back patiently for 5 months waiting for Vodafone to fix their service, as a loyal customer. This week I gave birth, and thanks to Vodafail, at least 50% of my MMS of my new baby have failed. Most of my "I've had a new baby" calls have dropped out. I finally cracked it and called Vodafone, who, after a 20+ minute wait, suggested I call back to speak to their technical department tomorrow, and that they would offer $20 compensation for my trouble. Nice to know, after so many years as a loyal customer, and completely failing me at an important life event, that I"M WORTH $20!!!!!! Thanks to the extremely compassionate Soraih who I spoke to, for your help. Couldn't feel less important. WTF Vodafone?????????

I almost have a 100 percent drop out rate. and I will now be looking for another phone company.......

Finally I received my letter from Vodafail, not accepting responsibility but allowing me to port out of my contract. Not as easy as that though!! To unlock my handset from them they gave me a link that doesn't work..fail again. So I have to register on the Vodaphone website to be unlocked, meanwhile I have no service at all on on my mobile. As of a month ago, in partnership, I own a telco and I don't have a mobile service. I will advise anyone with this company to abort through the TIO and find somebody decent but make sure you have your phone unlocked first.

I called Vodafone to get my Message Mate Pack cancelled. The message I got when I called was that Vodafone was experiencing system issues (as usual) and may not be able to assist me. When someone finally took my call, the Vodafone receiption was so bad (as usual), that I couldn't hear anything after the initial few words spoken and then the call dropped (as usual). I called again the next day as got the message that Vodafone was experiencing system issues and then it automatically ended my call. Twice. Because I tried calling back. Again. I then got pretty fed up and sent them an e-mail instead requesting that my Message Mate Pack be cancelled. I advised them of all the difficulties I had been facing trying to reach customer service and also the fact that I am using their mobile broadband which also drops out every few minutes. I have to repeatedly refresh pages, disconnect, reconnect, just to get a connection that works for a few minutes/seconds. Although, it is stated that Vodafone will respond to my e-mail within 2 business days, they responded nowhere near within 2 business days. I actually sent a follow up e-mail asking if anybody was even going to respond. To which I got an abrupt and highly dissatisfying "Your Message Mate Pack has been cancelled". And that was it! Is that all Vodafone has to offer? Failed network reception, failed mobile broadband connectivity, failed customer service, failed systems, EVERYTHING FAILS! I would like nothing more than to have my contract cancelled so that I can switch to a network provider who actually provides me with something! I spent the whole of last Sunday on the phone firstly being transferred from department to department trying to get the right person to attend to my mobile broadband issues.. and even when they finally got me to the right department.. it didn't help because Vodafone's network is so bad that my call to customer service kept dropping out! What is the point when I can't even hold a call with customer service long enough to get help!? That is.. when they even bother to respond to my requests for help! I have sent a further 2 e-mails and heard absolutely nothing back from bloody Vodafone.

Today is the last straw, my wife had to end up going to a nearby McDonalds for free wi-fi to be able to research for her Uni assigment.

3G is really bad here in Homebush West, constantly cuts out, slows down and recently practically unusable. Have called Vodafail and they promised a call back by the technical team within 3-5 days, well this is the fifth day, they most probably cannot/won't get in touch with me because mobile connection has been extremely bad today too.

Seriously thinking about cancelling my Postpaid contract. Accounts have stuffed me around with credits too. Have to constantly call them to get credits I'm entitled to, unfortunately a lot of customer service don't know of promotions unless it is written on my account, so if for some reason it isn't, I have to teach Vodafail about Vodafail promotions.

Today is the last straw, my wife had to end up going to a nearby McDonalds for free wi-fi to be able to research for her Uni assigment.

3G is really bad here in Homebush West, constantly cuts out, slows down and recently practically unusable. Have called Vodafail and they promised a call back by the technical team within 3-5 days, well this is the fifth day, they most probably cannot/won't get in touch with me because mobile connection has been extremely bad today too.

Seriously thinking about cancelling my Postpaid contract. Accounts have stuffed me around with credits too. Have to constantly call them to get credits I'm entitled to, unfortunately a lot of customer service don't know of promotions unless it is written on my account, so if for some reason it isn't, I have to teach Vodafail about Vodafail promotions.

Since signing up for a 24 month contract with Vodafone I have received a poor level of service. In particular, I have experienced poor reception and slow internet. If I had known this is the quality of service I would receive from Vodafone I would have joined a different network.

It's a pain trying to get through to Vodafone. They kept me on hold for over an hour and all I wanted was to speak to someone regarding my bills and setup direct debit. I have tried serveral times to set it up myself in my Vodafone log in, but everytime is the same result: "Sorry an error has occurred, please call Vodafone on....."
Grr...

Dear Vodaphone, Even my micorwave can recognize a time change, but you seem incapable handling it. Let me help you. Spring forward-fall back! Should I manually put in the time on my phone, or just wait for the spring Equinox when it will fix it self. I have done the highly technical, turn it off and on again, a couple of time in the feable hope that it could sort it self out. Yours truly, about an hour ahead..

5-April-2011: The local 3G tower in the NSW Central Coast (Lisarow, Ourimbah, Niagra Park Area) the tower is currently down since 6am this morning on and here is the response I received from Vodafone:



Question: Vodafone coverage within Australia

Answer:

Australia:



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



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



Overseas:



When you’re overseas, you can get online access using our GPRS network in over 60 countries, with a growing number of 3G and 3G broadband networks throughout the Asia Pacific and Europe. So next time you go overseas, pack your laptop and device and stay on top of your workload.



Please Note: For the latest coverage information in Australia or overseas, visit: www.vodafone.com.au/coverage.





Discussion Thread

Customer 05/04/2011 07:20 AM

Is the tower down in this area? I have no coverage this morning....





Question Reference #110405-000040

Product Level 1: 3G

Date Created: 05/04/2011 07:20 AM

Last Updated: 05/04/2011 07:20 AM

Status: Solved

First Name:

Surname: <<SURNAME REMOVED>>

Enquiry PIN:

Mobile Number:



Email Address

sick of the constant bad recepton/calls dropping

The internet takes at least 1 minute to open a page and sometimes never opens at all. Calls drop out and the service provided is just appalling.

I have spoken to 2 x different people and have now been on hold been on hold for 20 minutes plus.

Can't unlock my own phone from the network since I did report it stolen 2yrs ago but found the phone again in the house.
Customer service keeps telling me to goto
https://unlock.vodafone.com.au/voila/handsetunlock/self-service.html
then asks me for a phone number that I haven't used for 2yrs and also cannot find my name on the system.

Therefore I have no choice but to throw the phone in the bin

Worst reception.
Waiting on important phone calls. Reception bars are full, but callers can't get through.
Even vodafail tried calling me to sell me on more products, but ended up sending a text saying they couldn't get through.
Impossible trying to get service as well.

I JUST SIGNED ON FOR 24 MONTHS, THE LADY GUARANTEED ME IT WAS STRONG RECEPTION IN MY AREA - CAN'T EVEN SPEAK TO MY LOVED ONES TO SAY GOODNIGHT.

THANKS VODAFONE...

I am only 4 kms out of the Sydney city center in Waterloo in an apartment on the 5th floor and my mobile continually drops out as of 28.03.2011, I am sick to death of this issue, the year is 2011 not 1980 and the service from Vodafone should be of a much greater level.Im the one paying for the reconnection when I have to ring the person back that I was talking to.

Really annoyed Vodafone.

We have a wireless network thingy ( i dont know what its called )
and it take half an hour to get onto my home page and then it says no network! so i end up waiting for hours for my internet to load and actually work!!!

No 3G connection for last 2 days at work - North Shore and at home - Northern Beaches.

Tried two Telstra sims in my phone, 3G worked with both sims.
Tried a Virgin sim in my phone, it works.
Tried bit of cardboard cutout in my phone, it works.
Tried my Vodafucked sim in other phones, no 3G...

My vodafail phone seems to be perhaps the worlds most expensive paperweight

I live in the Southern Highlands and in most arears there is no service. I also travel to Goulborn and again no service. My phone has become an expensive clock and nothing more.

No reception at home (Manly) No reception at work (Walsh bay) as good as useless

I have never dealt with more incompetent, unhelpful, intellectually challenged people in my life!
My partner and i signed up for the exactly the same plan, with the exactly the same phone, we also both pay insurance. After comparing bills each month mine was at least $15 higher than hers. At first i just thought that i had been going over my cap, using the internet too much maybe, so i let it slide. But in the end i found out that Vodafone have been billing me incorrectly for several months now!!!!! This issue was extremely hard for me to dicover because when i go to actually view my bill online, it says that it is a 'broken link'!!!!
After several time wasting calls to the customer service call centre, and speaking to several people from a number of different countries (each with unclear and crackling phone connections) i finally spoke to someone who who appeared to have been able to figure out that i was being charged for 2 insurances and not 1 !!!! She was actually quite helpful and assured me that the problem had been rectified and that their would be an investigation into the problem and they would contact me in a week or so to follow up. They didnt! Surprise surprise! I made several more attempts to contact them again but due to 40min+ delays i had to choice but to give up!
Today i went into a vodafone shop (thinking that face-to-face contact might actually not only improve the customer service but also the waiting times....) It was there i found out that i had also been charged for another phone number that was somehow connected to my account! The girl then told me that she couldnt fix it for me i had to ring the customer service number AGAIN! Once my contract is up (which i cant wait for!) IM DONE WITH THEM!

they sent my bill out recently and it was $300 and i rang asking how, as the plans on my bill are a $45 infinite and a $69 with $10 a month extra for insurance, and because we dont call 13 numbers and i had only used $100 of my cap credit that it wasnt possible for my bill to be that high. At first she said well you must have made the 13 calls and i said NO i dont think so now look i have a level 2 complaint with the TIO against you and i want answers as to how my bill was so high, next thing i know she put me on hold comes back and says oh sorry there have been some wrong to charges on your account. Makes me think how many "wrong charges" have been on my account of the years and how much money ive potentially lost to their dodgy billing system.

I know they will ripp me off on price but i think its time to be on the Telstra network !!!

There is no 3g network coverage around parts of Ryde/Epping in sydney. Calls allways take about 5 go's to connect keep getting network error message aaarrrrrhhhhhhh !!!! Oh and when there is 3g network coverage the internet speed is like dial up !!!!

So who do ya'll recommend outside Vodafone?

Had a direct debit order , due to Vodafones technical errors orders didn't go through and I ended up in arrears, called vodoafone and they needed the full amount the same month, shame on you Vodafone.

Hi guys,
more than a year ago I had the displeasure of attempting to 'deal' with a company called 'Vodafone'. I t was truely a negative experience. I was
fifty years old at the time & my basic understanding of Law meant that no written contract = you're stuffed( not a leg to stand on),., & therefore 'sort
of ' gave up ( which is exactly what they want). Regards, Michael.

not really in a mess, just taking my business elsewhere

I have to count myself lucky here are Vodafone agreed to release myself and my partner from our contracts with no penalty and it only took me a month of calling them! Argh... We had to move back to Telstra and pay extra to get new phones but at least we now have excellent coverage, 3G and our txts don't go missing.
Three months into our brand new iPhone contracts (about October last year) we suddenly dropped from adequate to almost non existent. It took 3 weeks of calling them every couple of days and spending ridiculous amounts of time on hold and being transferred all over the place. They finally conceded that they were at fault. The reason I was given was that they were upgrading their services and that meant some low priority areas lost some signal!!!
I wont ever use Vodafone again.

text message sent to the wrong random person instead of intended reciepient. you cant be serious

Just absolutely sick and tired of constantly having connectivity issues around lower north shore with vodafone. Using 3G for iphone. Iphone constantly just chugs away waiting for network on email and apps etc despite showing full bars. Calls often fail (say 1 out of 5 at the moment) I have been patiently just putting up with this (perhaps the silent minority these days). When you pay over $180 a month for 2 phone accounts such a basic failure to deliver just basic connectivity has driven me to the point where I think I will just sign up with telstra (who I never thought I would use for mobile given there expense).

Internet connection to my BlackBerry is so slow, I estimate that the attempt to connect times out 25% of the time.

I have poor and sometime non existant reception at home and in the office, which is located in the Sydney CBD.

When seeking telephone support (1555) it is necessary to enter the mobile phone, account password and security information (DoB, address etc). Then, when you are transferred to another Vodafone person, you have to reenter all that information. Which is a pest when you're getting the run-around and end up talking to 3 or 4 different people.

I wanted to unsubscribe to Compass (paid GPS service) and was unable to, despite spending 2 1/2 hours in a Vodafone retailers store with them trying to help. Even 3 support technicians (via 1555 service) were unable to unsubscribe my from Compass.

When I call 1555 and try to explain an issue (technical or administrative) the Vodafone voice recognition often fails so that I have to stay on the call for sometimes minutes before I can speak to someone. And then they have to redirect me to the appropriate service department, which results in further waiting.

I have just got an i phone 4, and even though i am in areas of full 3g coverage, i get constant, calls failed, and broadband, speeds, that are so slow that Safari, times out.

If i knew this was going this bad, i would never of signed up.

Loyal customer for 15 years,in the past 6 months Ive had numerous calls drop out, Ive had problems trying to call people in Summer Hill and Parramatta and on the train line in between and I put in a claim for insurance on a defective phone last October that has still not been resolved even after the insurance company said they would send a new phone. Between October last year and 2 days ago Ive spent an eternity on hold having made about 20 -30 calls many many store visits (Vodafone employees are the dumbest on this planet) , mainly spoken to Lara who I want to throw off a cliff! trying to get through to Marsh insurance and get claim approved is still going on 6 months after it began- Spend maybe 6 hours on hold or trying to get through too Marsh Insurance and then being sent from piller to post between Eygpt, South Africa and India trying to explain for the hundreth time my issues only to be told we are sorry but we dont know what is your problem and well get somebody to call you back. I can write a book on the problems or nightmares i have had in the past year or so with faulty smart phones, very very very poor customer service and trying to get my many issues resolved. As soon as my contract expires - Vodafone and Marsh will be losing a very valuable customer and Im going to make sure a lot of my customers know about it when I leave and warn them to steer clear of vodafone!!!!!!!! Congratulations on getting the choice award well done Vodafail. Lets put this company under and all leave!!!

Logged into their website to check my billing and guess what -
"We are unable to retrieve your plan details at this time.
Please try again in a little while "

Was like this last night and up till this morning, anyone else getting this.

Often got simcard registration failed, my phone is on 24hrs normally, and have been a VF client for at least three years on the same number. Lousy 3G performance and calls made but other party on end of line (also VF) fail to receive or even get the call or even a VM or missed call notification.


Now a happy Amaysim customer

NSW Eastern Suburbs, North Sydney, 3G experience is modern day torture.

I have been using Vodafone for 5 months now, and I can say there has not been A SINGLE DAY where I have got adequate 3G Data service. I live in Waverley 2024, work in North Ryde 2113 and both locations are densely populated, suburban or business AND both locations are in open hilltop areas.

Luckily I'm not in contract and switched to TPG Mobile 1 day before they were announced in Choice Awards. Given they use the Optus Network, I have no doubt I will have a lot less frustrating times.

Vodafone overcharge, overadvertise and underdeliver and they only reason I've posted this comment is in the hope that it deters just one person from making the mistake of using this 'worse than third world' service, and assists in provoking Vodafone to give a damn and do something real.

Get real... leave Vodafake.


Ian.


Phone: iPhone 3GS
Vodafone Plan: Flexicap user ($49/month ave.)
Usage: Some calls and texts (works good), Mostly 3G data for low kb activity, such as email and facebook updates, news, etc (works like a porcupine in a nudist colony)

I use my phone every day, all day for my job as a sales rep. I spend most of the day on the road between client meetings. Without fail, my service drops out at least 5 or 6 times a day whilst I am on the phone. The major Irony is, that when ever I drive past the former Vodafone head office in Chatswood (the big blue building with the Vodafone sign on top) it will drop out every single time.
I have been offered a phone upgrade to sign back on for another 2 years....ummmm No thanks. I will be seeing out my contact and moving straight to Telstra... only 3 weeks to go!!!!

I was offered an upgrade to an iphone4 - and I rang vodafone - and I was told to use the coupon/brochure I was mailed out online to upgrade to the iphone 4. I explained I wanted to keep my number - and I was assured that it would be fine.

I soon found that instead of being upgraded - I was assigned a new account - a new number - and was being charged for 2 accounts and two phones! I rang customer service who said that this was my fault... and that nothing could be done to rectify the situation. I asked if I could cancel my original account - transfer my old phone number to my new account - and was told that was not possible - but that I could keep both accounts or give my original account to a friend!!

In the end I finally got them to cancel the original account - but I was still liable for 2 months of bills - and I had to change my phone number.

Instead of my Vodafone phone ringing with a call, it was sent straight to message bank. I lost a day's work ($300 pay) and the only solution the people at Vodafone had was to give my sim card a 'gentle clean'. What a load of bull.

This company is RUBBISH!

In parramatta CBD where you would think it would be fine cannot make or recieve calls NOT GOOD.

I am stuck in a contract and have found that vodafone coverage is nothing like what I was told it would be. My 3g reception has been pathetic almost the entire time I've had my iphone and as soon as I leave sydney 3g capabilities are useless.
This I found especially annoying - their coverage maps are a complete lie.
Most infuriating of all? There is no obvious avenue for voicing my lack of satisfaction and my anger at their uselessness.

im sick of talking to INDIANS the swear black and blue that the reason my fone drops out all the time is thru the fault of the fone....yes my brand new Nokia N8 is at fault...just as was my apple iPhone my nokia E61 and any other fone ive had...ever thought that ohhh i dunno vodafone...THAT ITS YOU!!!!

in 09 i joined vodafone mobile internet, which suited my needs. the first few months were fine with reception and reliability not being an issue. but then in late 09 reception was at its worst. i waited minutes for pages to load, half the time it wouldnt connect. i tried cancelling the plan but they wouldnt let me unless i pay it off, so now the plan finishes next month and im refusing to pay for the past six months of so called use. and that bitch lara is the most annoying thing ever made.
vodascum!

After around two years with Vodafone, they've started charging me call time for all of my internet access. Over a period of a month, anytime I am not connected to wi-fi, they are charging me a phone call. On average, it's two six hour phone calls every day for a month. I haven't changed my phone, my plan, my usage, anything. After an hour long phone call, I was told that the large bill was due to increased internet usage. Then the second time I called, after prooving the total in my usage was acceptable with my plan, I had now made too many phone calls, and texts. I've used half an hour of phone calls in a month on a $49 cap and they're saying that's over the limit? I don't think so. I've sent multiple emails through their web form. The first two with no response, the third with a copy paste job about how Vodafone does not make mistakes.

Vodafone, I am now happily with Telstra. No dropped calls, no late voicemail, no slow internet, no douche bag on the phone with no idea about what's going on.

I've wasted hours trying to fix this and Vodafone won't even look at the bill. They just tell me they're not wrong. Awesome attitude, from the top, all the way down.

To everyone.

I worked for this company pre and post Hutch merger. I can tell you that both internally and externally things have gone down hill fast. Dews and his team have completely ruined the internal culture of Vodafone and all they seem to care about is making a profit at the expense of their staff and customers.

I can tell you right now that the network upgrade is happening but at a snail's pace. It will be at least 18 months before things are even close to being stabilised and even then the speed of the network will pale in comparison to the other networks.

Yes I am a disgruntled ex-employee, I am devastated at seeing a company I loved and worked hard for (10 years) be ruined all because the (ex-3/hutch) senior exec team are no longer focused on the customer or it's people.

To all reading this, things will not get better for a long time, get out now and please don't take any excuses from the off shore call centre, go to the TIO.

Terrible reception regardless of where I am, with or without interference. The internet keeps dropping off too that often it won't sync my eemail until I get home where I have wifi. I'm basically paying a monthly bill for nothing.

Dear Nigel,

I hope you don't mind me calling you Nigel, but seeing as you addressed me by my Christian name, I thought I'd pay you the same discourtesy. I'm sure we have never met personally. But then, Vodafone has always had a somewhat cavalier attitude to customer service, and not only in my experience. The letter of apology (3/3/2011) you sent to me and thousands of other customers was a kind of hilarious insult, and I think even the type of people that subscribe to bestiality websites collectively scoffed at your vapid excuses. I'd have thought it was a risky career move to apologise to your customers in the Telco business, seeing as it's an admission of guilt, which for my money makes you liable to compensate people for legitimate grievances-but that's an unpleasant topic to bring up at this fledgling stage, so we'll come back to that, but for now, I'll say this: apologies don't put dollars back in our pockets, Nigel. If you really wanted to apologise by 'snail-mail,' (which is apparently faster than your connection to 3G) you would have to bulldoze about 500 000 hectares of Tasmanian old growth if you wanted to be comprehensive about it. You say, in the second paragraph of the introduction, that you 'aim to provide our customers with an excellent customer experience and the best possible value, but recently our network and customer service performance, particularly in December and January, fell well below the standards we set for ourselves.' Fuck me, Nigel. That statement alone starts my mind spinning like a one-armed bandit. There's so many goddamn dirty questions (or confirmations of my suspicions) that you've thrown up for all to see that I don't know where to begin. I'll get to most of them in due course though. Pour yourself a Scotch.

Firstly, if the network coverage and customer service had only fallen below par in the months you mentioned, I might not be writing this note, but the fact is the service - both network and customer - has always been an abomination in the face of value for money and basic, honest, human decency and conduct. Secondly, I was amazed to discover that you have standards that you set for yourselves. What, pray tell, might these 'standards' be? It strikes me as standard practise in the Telco industry to yank customers around by their contracts like a choke chain without ever revealing what kind of obligations the service provider has to them, the paying customers. Let me stress that: PAYING CUSTOMER. That's right, old son, you work for me, for all intents and purposes or at least, that's what you should be doing. But all you do is take my money while alleging that you are providing me with something in return. In shabby reality, you're not. I am routinely overcharged for a service that I cannot even use in my own home or suburb. And it's patchy at best throughout the region. You might think we're a bunch of parochial morons out here in the sticks, but cellular technology has been available to us for at least ten years, believe it or not. Word is we'll even be getting the internet soon. Does Vodafone offer internet connections? I'm thinking of getting 56K dial-up. I don't have a landline yet, but I'll get one, because I'll be damned if I'm going to put up with your bullshit any longer.

Yes, a landline. I guess that way if I have to call the police or any other kind of emergency service, the phone connection is less likely to DROP OUT like it does when I use my mobile phone to call them I hate to have to sue you over some grievous, long term injury that I could sustain on my property. Did I mention that I'm a young woman living alone in a relatively isolated area? Yeah, that's right, I live a whole twenty minutes north of the largest regional centre in the Illawarra, and about twenty minutes south of a phone tower at Maddens Plains. In fact, I believe there is a phone tower in Thirroul, which is five minutes away from me. It's built between an Anglican church and a primary school, though the primary school is for Catholics so, I wonder why I can't call a friend on a lonely night, let alone the police or an ambulance? To the best of my knowledge, emergency services are not equipped to receive Morse code, or read smoke signals, which is about all I have at my disposal if something terrible happened. That was the first lie one of your sales reps told me - that Vodafone has 98% network coverage in Australia. Evidently, while the girl in the shop looked me in my good eye and said that, she neglected to mention that the 2% not covered includes a good deal of the Illawarra. Seeing as this was happening at a store in Wollongong, I don't see any excuse for it whatsoever, though I understand that honesty is not the best policy when you're in the snake-oil business. This brings me to a proposition - no - directive that I have for you:

Seeing as you were foolish enough to admit what a monumental balls-up your engineer gimps and sullen service reps made of December and January, I think it's only fair to expect some kind of compensation. I wonder if you would feel the same? It strikes me that you probably didn't become a CEO by lying down like a smack-whore on the nod and getting fucked by every ruthless exploiter that stepped over your body. Well, I don't intend to let that happen to me, so if you've got a problem with this strong suggestion, try and put yourself in my shoes. I bet you can. You don't get to be the boss just because you've got a smooth complexion or do you? Anyway, how's this? You pay me back the two bills I paid during December and January. By the way, nice timing on your Egyptian-style destruction of the communications system, dude. Right smack bang on the summer holidays. So - the bills amount to $84.89 (Dec) and $81.00 (Jan). If I hadn't somehow mysteriously exceeded my cap ($79), which always seems to happen, the sum total would be $158 for the pair, but seeing as your corrupt and/or terminally stupid Nazi debt-collector types like to overcharge me, it amounts to $165.89. There was no way for me to investigate this apparent skimming, because I have a couple of things going on in my life. Like commuting, working and sleeping. Having been on the phone to Vodafone for eight hours (total) one day, I don't feel particularly inspired to deal with your maniacal rhetoric on a monthly basis over a couple of dollars. But goddamn it, you know you take your cut well as I do, and I think that's a lousy way to make money. It's for bums. You grift people who give you their bank details like idiot tourists buying imitation Rolexes in third world countries. You're nothing but a bunch of hawkers, con-men and scabs. Your marketing department is run by pimps. The whole operation appears to be based - almost completely - on deceit and subterfuge. It's as if your organisation is run by an army of street thugs, and the call-centre workers are on the front line but I'm not saying the others are any better. I don't want you to feel singled out here, Nigel, but as the CEO, I would imagine you should be held responsible for the conduct of a major corporate entity whose moral compass has apparently been hurled into a snowdrift in the Arctic Circle.

Anyway, a few more stipulations regarding the money I am invoicing you for. I would, obviously, like to be released from this 'contract' I'm allegedly bound to. Seeing as you don't appear to take the contract seriously, I don't see why I should. When you show me your policies, codes of conduct etc, (which I was told were internal documents' when I asked to see them) I might entertain the idea that this contract' is in any way legally binding. You want to hope it is, because it's sure as hell not based on good will, is it? Telcos in this country have been getting away with treating people like shit and charging them for it for years. That is not going to happen to me anymore. So, I'll take the $165.89 - every cent, thanks - and be released from the contract without severance fees or string attachments of any kind. That deal goes a damnsight further than fair, Nigel, and you know it. We're talking about real money here, not that Monopoly-fantasy-call credit horseshit you use to dupe the rubes out of their shiny pennies. And I know that $165.89 ain't much to either of us, really, but I'm asking for it because it's money you admitted you don't deserve. Billing cycle begins on the first of the month. Failure to pay within the first 12 days of the new month will result in a $25 penalty fee!. If you are indeed 'working as hard and fast as [you] can to show [the customer] the changes and improvements [Vodafone is] making,' I want to see the evidence. In the form of cash, old mate. Money talks a hell of a lot louder than second-rate apologies beefed-up with pointless technical details. I hope I'm not being presumptuous, but I'm sure you are aware of this.

Explanations don't come easy in your business, do they? It was easier to get an apology out of you than it is to contend with the unmitigated stream of bullshit that I get from both automatons and humans that man your call-centres, which I imagine resemble some kind of third world sweatshop. Believe it or not, I am a professional - a civil servant, no less - and that is how I am able to pay these inexplicably inflated bills you keep hitting me with. Unfortunately, it also means that after a day of dealing with the disabled that I do not have the patience or inclination to deal with your half-bright service reps when I get home. Not that I can call you from my home, because, as I may have mentioned earlier MY PHONE DOES NOT HAVE SUFFICIENT NETWORK COVERAGE. I hope I'm being plain enough for you to follow me here, Nigel- in fact, it's quite pleasant writing to you, because I haven't been transferred to five different trainee phone monkeys who are pretending that the manager is out to lunch. I suppose you have a harem of PAs to screen your mail, but I pray to the heathen gods one of them hates you enough to pass this letter on to you.

Yours Sincerely,

Ms (SURNAME REMOVED)

just like everyone else I have poor reception especially when I am trying to use the web. What's the point of getting 500MB data every mth when I cant even use it? The issue has been ongoing for over 6 mths now and no fix seems to be in place. The only reason why I am still with Voda is because I have been with you for almost 7 years and had no problem it until this issue came up. I hope this feedback will be taken on board

I have had extremely poor 3G broadband service in the last 2-3 weeks. When is this issue going to be fixed permanently? What's the point of increasing the quota when the service is unusable?