just got a bill for $49 and im on a $49cap, i am so angry at vodafone right now! how could they charge me like that! plus i recieve no calls when my phone is off!!!
i am mad!

just signed up to vodafone! dont care about reception issues just amazed at how good looking the staff there are!

Having seen first hand at the transmission network Vodafone relies on to meet customer exptations, it's no wonder they are having all this trouble. The way the network was designed by Ericsson and having installed the rubbish they gave us...no wonder the network is just not performing....vote with your feet...walk away.

See below, feel free to copy and forward with your story to:-

1. Vodafone
2. TIO

Call received within 1 day of TIO being informed from a decision maker in Australia.

Result:-

1. 2 Months Credit
2. Released from contract.

Good Luck

To whom it may concern,

I am severely disappointed in the level of service (or lack thereof) being provided from your network, and your customer service team. Your lack of network coverage in western Sydney, has been of an unsatisfactory level for the past two months. It has become so bad it has come to me writing this email.

I have spent most of the day attempting to get this issue resolved with your customer service team, however when I contacted your business call centre at 1400 hours on the 20th December 2010, your customer service personnel was unable to assist me due to computer issues. He could not call me back, and insisted I would have to make another call later in the day to sort it out.

I rang again around 1850 hours, and waited on hold for around 80 minutes, until your network lost reception and disconnected me.

I then rang again at 2120 hours and waited on hold for around 60 minutes until the call was answered, the customer service person told me he would put me on hold for 2 minutes and get back to me, another 83 minutes later another customer service person answered the phone, and then it dropped out.

The problems I am experiencing are continual call drop-outs covering most areas between Penrith, Blacktown, Castle Hill and Parramatta (the area my business operates in). On top of this the 3G connection enabling my email and internet access is also slower or non-existant from time to time and lagging of sms messages. These problems have been occurring for around the past 2 months, with no improvements. In attempt to see if the situation gets any better I have tried another sim card (on my account), and a different phone, and I still receive the same problems.

These problems have caused extreme inconvenience and have financially affected my business, through being non-contactable and getting sms messages too late, that a potential customer has sourced another company to conduct the repairs work.

I work in Pyrmont and I regularly get poor signal or no signal at all. Currently there is 1 bar and I have 3G. I often have no 3G or am Roaming. This is not just in the office, but also walking around to get lunch, etc.

I think Nigel Dews should resign. Your sorry is too little to late.
Your pathetic excuse that only a few people are suffering is just that, pathetic.

Enter the (wait for it).......Mumbai "Save Team" - it seems Vodafails "customer orientation" is moving further and further away from..."the customer." Who are they "saving" the customer or themselves?

Thanks Vodafail for sharing the name of your new team - it's made my day!!

I had been trying for over a month and half to switch my work account to a personal account after being made redundant from my job. Every time I contacted the number they gave me they would ask for the employer's PIN number. I told them over and over I didn't work there and then eventually I had to call my old work and ask them to get involved. After numerous emails I was told I was authorised to switch to my own account and I had to call the Direct Deals people. After an hour and a half waiting I was cut off. I called back and waited a further 50 mins only to be told by the indian call centre that I didn't have the right number. I asked him for the correct number and he then proceeded to read back the number I had just called on. In the end he said he couldn't help me and transferred me to another department in Australia where I sat on hold for a further 40 mins. When I finally got through I was then told it wasn't authorised and having gone through the story for the umpteenth time I was told they couldn't do anything without the authorisation.

So, I decided to go into a store and see a real person.....what a waste of time that was. When I got to the store, went through my story, the representative asked me for the PIN NUMBER!!! After saying I didn't have this number he said I would have to contact Direct Deals and that I could use their phone. I sat in their store for 40 mins until I finally cracked. I ask the Gen Y representative if I could see his manager and he flat out refused. He said the manager was too busy. I stormed out of the store absolutely furious.

To cut a long story short, I finally got onto someone and he was quite apologetic. I told him I didn't want to continue with Vodafone and asked what I needed to do to move across to Optus. He pleaded with me to "give Vodafone a second chance" and that he will give me a free month on the infinite plan. I said to him that I was wary signing up to another contract as if I wasn't happy with the service I would want out. He said it was fine and that I would be allowed to leave if I wasn't happy after the first free month.

I've been with them for one week and none of my email or internet is working. I contacted Wilbur and he sent me a (almost) computerised response saying it wasn't his department and that he couldn't help!!!

Just after I emailed him, I was then sent bill for $46.90 which was the period 15th Dec - 16th Dec. ONE DAY! I sent it to Wilbur who has reluctantly credited the account but how or why they did it is beyond me. There was no explanation.

I've got Optus taking over the account now and there will be hell to pay if they tell me I can't cancel or try and charge me a fee. I will be going to the TIO if this happens.

I've wasted so much of my time with Vodafone. It astounds me how one company can be so shit.

Mike here from NSW, I work in the Recruitment business and due to a 3 hour delayed voicemail message I lost a $10,000 deal. Also my clients, family and friends cannot contact me as they lose connection. I cannot make calls as it doesnt connect and I am tired of trying to contact them.

How do you pay a bill with these guys? I've been trying for 2 weeks now to use their phone payment system and the furtherest I've got is to the point of getting a receipt number where it says it fails. Most times that dopey windbag Lara tells me there's a fault only after a protracted time on hold.

Once I got through to a human (granted, one presumably dressed in a clown suit) after waiting on hold while my children grew up only to be thoughtlessly put through to the automated system that then dutifully failed!

Tried to pay them again just now...my daily dose of pain. At least Lara tells me up front they have problems and the whole thing was over (without payment made) in under 5mins.

Seriously. Buy a clue Vodafone.

Northern Beaches- How to get out of your contract.....I just did. I advised them that it was my only phone at home (i.e we do not have a landline) and they ended a newly signed (i.e 3 months ago) 24 month contract WITHOUT QUESTION. All i have to do is return the phone which came with the contract.

Don't let the customer service operator fool you into conducting the "tests" i.e try a new sim, turn phone off and on, telling you that they will call you back later (on your mobile phone) when you are in the place where you have no reception -what is wrong with these people. Aggressilvely DEMAND to speak to the cancellations team oh, did I mention? Expect to be on hold for + 1hr 20mins!!!! GOOD LUCK!

I recently spent over 2.5 hours on hold to them wanting to upgrade my plan to the new Apple iPhone 4, I never got through to them, so I tried again, after 1.5 hours on hold I had to have a bathroom break and couldn't wait any longer. So Im stuck till I get get through to one of the fools at Vodafone. My pain worsens, now as with all the other Vodafone users I am making multiple calls to have one conversation, thanks to their excellent coverage.

I had a 2 year contract with Vodafone which finished up a few months ago. I couldn't get away from them fast enough. For the past 2 years it has taken so long for messages to come through, sometimes not until the next day or not at all, when I know my partner had sent me a message.

Switched back to Telstra, will never go with Vodafail again!!

Calls have been constantly dropping out, internet speeds have been slow and sms/mms have been delayed and some times not received at all!!

Well having to go out in the rain to receive and make work calls is some what disappointing.

Thankfully i have a SIP client on my HTC so i can connect via my Wi-fi but what a joke. Wifes on Optus no issue, Telstra no issue just good old voda.

So I posted yesterday and am so grateful for this site as family and friends are sick of hearing me bitch about my constant vodafone issues over the pst 3 months.
But the latest is I havent actually recieved a bill via email for the last 3 months and I called to tell them this and of course 40 minute wait - but I wa happy to leave my details to call me back.
They call me back and I pressed one to speak with a VF rep and the phone rang for 15minutes - I mean are you serious - 15 minutes. They call me back and then tranfer me and then hello noone's there - Vodafail once again.
I am currently appealing to cancel my contract and I cant wait for that sweet day when I am no longer a VF customer -gbye complete frustration.

Let's see, minimal reception that drops out to nothing whenever it feels like it. Failed text messages, failed mms messages, failed incoming calls, failed out going calls, missing voicemails, web pages don't load, as for calling vodafone, I've logged up about 4 hours and still haven't got this sorted.
I have used 3 different phones, I've changed sim cards, I've got new sim cards. This is not me or my phones, this is Vodafone.
I am happy to go to Telstra and pay more providing I don't encounter all these errors all at once. Considering my family members at home are with Telstra and not one of them has had any of the issues I've had recently.

have bought 2 hand sets both different brands and coverage with vodafone IS TERRIBLE !!! and only live approx 10/12ks from sydney ,(can not make or receive any calls whislt at home ) very painful trying to explain to various people at vodafone that its not a handset fault . they would promise in calling me back when i am at home but unfortunatley still waiting on call .Am sick of calling Lara !!!! please help have only been with voda for 3 mths need to find out how to cancel contract

Can't get decent 3G download speeds in Adelaide CBD!!! I'm on North Terrace and downloading emails getting onto the app store etc are a pain in the but. I mean if I can't get decent coverage in the CBD then where the hell can I get it? Seriously you fail vodafone you fail hard.

Paid for their 3G data on my laptop between 2008 and mid-2010. Hardly ever worked. This was inside Sydney CBD. Moved to Telstra and have never had a problem. The only frustration bigger than their product not working was their customer service. Criminal product failure. Criminal customer service.

21st December Sporadic 3G reception from 14.00 to well after 00.00.Was on hold with Vodafone for appox 1hr.20 min and gave up.Friend rang me on land line to ask why my mobile was off !
Finally contacted them this morning Vodafone is unaware of any problems in the southern area of Sydney yesterday. Once again no compensation or truth about poor service.

In this article http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/furious-vodafone-customers-spark-accc-probe-20101217-190gl.html Vodafone's director of customer service, Cormac Hodgkinson said:

"It's not saying we aren't seeing customers come through with problems but in terms of the specific issues that we knew about that were pretty much across the network, they have now been addressed,"

i rang vodafone technical support today, and they said that there are known issues in manly (nsw) and sydney cbd, so this guy is a liar.

Vodafone 0426 numbers were released but they did not ensure that international texts could be received. I waited and waited for international texts but nothing came through. I contacted Vodafone and spent hours talking to their technical team who blamed the international carriers and said it was not Vodaphone's fault. Then I finally went into a store and one of the managers casually said "Yeah, those 0426 numbers don't work like they should. I don't know why we sell them". I changed the number to another carrier and it works fine! So what is going on at Vodafone???

i have random reception, people do not received my sms's, i cannot connect to the internet

When I joined Vodafone 12 months ago, I explicitly stated that not only do I need reception in my home town (obviously), but I need reception where my parents live in a small town on the other side of the Blue Mountains. Vodafone sold me the plan and the phone (iPhone 3GS) and told me I would have no service problems. The reason I need reception at where my parents live is my mother is sick. Sure enough, I get to my parents town and I have reception for probably 40% of the time. Ringing Vodafone, I was told a "network upgrade is taking place soon". I gave Vodafone the benefit of the doubt and over the next 12 months, my visits to my parents hom town resulted in the same reception problems. I rang Vodafone recently about this and they told me that my phone is incompatible with Vodafones network. When I told them it was the phone they sold me, they told me to "turn 3G off". I told them 3G is always off on my phone because it works slightly better, even for data (go figure!) and then they told me next time I am in the town to call them so they can troubleshoot it. I said to them "so I wait until my phone has reception, call Vodafone, be on hold for over an hour in which time my phone will probably drop out, and then if I get through, I will be told that my phone is working. Or I won't have reception and won't be able to call". They then told me to call from a land line. This is where the saga is currently at. I can't wait to get away from Vodafone... And will NEVER go back! I HATE Telstra/ Bigpond but at least their mobile network and 3G are good!

Heres and idea. Why dont the Vodafone excuitives stop spending money on the current advertizing blitz, direct that money into upgrading to a world class network faster and then invite new customers to be a part of somthing special. I've been under contract 7 months and i'm saving to payout my service already. I previously thought my last telco was bad. I'm ready to beat their door down to take me back.

We are in a very metro area......on the sunny Gold Coast. All of a sudden, we can not get any 3G service. At All!!!! only Edge.......which in 2010 Metro is UNACCEPTABLE considering we are paying for 1.5 GB... 1.5GB of what, Vodacrap??????!!! If I had a legal out? Id be G.O.N.E..... id pay all the extra Telstra want.....
Vodafone???? I think not!! poor poor performance.......... even poorer service...... no offence to our Indian brother's and sister's..... but get a clue..... WE HATE VODAFONE.........

Vofafail this is ridiculous! Its taking me hours to view web pages I would have been able to view within 30 minutes with any other providor! You are wasting hours of my life with your shitty service!!! Its 11:10pm and I still have not finished my research because of you!!! IM OVER IT!!!!

I have lost my will to live dealing with them. May be temporary now I can see how not alone I am.
It would be so good if one or two Vodafoo employees with serious dirt LEAKED it safely.

Purchased a Blackbury Bold, having continual issues with no 3G service, always on EDGE.
Txt & MMS fail, pictures do not arrive at my parners phone, message is there but picture is X in a box. Tech support useless, want to do "master reset" sending "service books" have given up on Lara, useless system.

All the apologies don't help, phone has shut down with "invalid sim" takes hours to speak to someone in a call centre, then poorest line quality cannot understand person. For a Telco, has the lowest quality lines in existance.

Contacted TIO and lodged complaint, waiting for my ten days, cannot eat apology. work for myself and do Airconditioning service, customers cannot reach me.

I've been a customer for a few years, only 12 months ago I took advantage of the internet deal 1/2 price for the first 6 months $20 then $40 for the following 18 months up to 5g of downloads, sounds like a good deal. I'd been paying about $120 a month with Telstra Bigpond for some time (maybe 5 years) and had continual trouble with the home phone not working at the same time as the internet, going back to the dark ages of "dial up" even to the point where the Telstra contractor advised that he couldn't fix it but had the hide to ask me if it was ok if he told Telstra head office it was fixed so he could move onto the next job... ANYWAY it never got fixed, so we changed to Vodafone dongle.

When we signed up, the salesperson in Vodafone shop admitted that there was problems with the connection/reception, but being a mobile phone customer and not having too many problems with the mobile phone I didn't think it would be that bad in our house.

We rarely have connection, we are paying for a service we cannot use, it makes you feel like you are absolutely being completely ripped off! When we do get connection, like right now, it's always a poor signal.

Now we have problems with both mobiles as well, all the same problems as most people on here, late voicemail (if you get it), dropping out all the time and connection problems.

The worst thing is I'll sit on my couch will not be able to connect to the internet because of poor signal but get full internet 3g on my phone next to me??!! What the?

I've read a lot of the complaints here on the site, all I can say is I'm glad I'm not working on the management team of this company! The amount of work that's required to fix this mess is going to be almost impossible and I'll take my hat off to Vodafone if they can fix the problem. Word of mouth is how they got so popular but it could possibly be the end of them.

Delayed voicemail , bad reception in the centre of Brisbane . Slow Internet connection

Here's a plan.
Everyone, visit at least one Vodafone store this week.
Loudly protest your issues and convince at least one new customer not to sign up. Direct them to this website.
I'm not suggesting for a moment that the staff should be the target. But since Vodafone are practicing false and misleading conduct and there is no mass media campaign to alert the public, it is up to us to talk the truth.

DO YOUR BEST TO DISCOURAGE NEW CUSTOMERS FROM JOINING VODAFONE UNTIL THEY CAN REASSURE THE PUBLIC THAT THEY ARE OFFERING A SERVICE THAT THE CUSTOMER WOULD EXPECT.

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

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

Vodafail t shirts? Vodafail fail. Lost all credibility.

Then there's the other issue where you can't check usage on their website, that has been going on for over a year now.

I am glad I filed an incident with the TIO 2 weeks before the supposed network issues were meant to be fixed. Even after 8 years of being a customer they still lie about known issues right up until the point of when I cancelled my contract they still acted as if there were no issues.
There are still people I know that are unaware of these issues until I mention it to them and they realise how long their connection and service has been rubbish.

I have periously posted my issues and have now spent time reading other peoples issues and the responses. For those of you supporting Vodafone and suggesting this is a minor issue, you are forgetting one important point and that is the ACCC is investigating and I believe Optus is taking legal action over another matter. Makes me think this is bigger than you might believe.

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

For so long I had blamed my phones for bad reception, no internet connection, voicemails that disappeared into the infinate nothingness despite friends INSISTING they'd left them... "This damn phone!" I'd yell in frustration! But after three phone changes in the past year - the problem remained.

Vodafone. You sneaky bugger.

Then in the last few weeks the problems became public ... despite the customer service people (bless their hearts) telling me to reset my phone .. we all now know it's the network's problems.

The other week - I had a car accident. Crying on the side of the road - it took numerous tries to call someone to sob on the phone to who could come help me - and it took numerous tries to call work to tell them I couldnt come in (and even when I got through the person on the other end sounded like a robot). Now I'm missing calls from the insurance company, the insurance assessor and the crash repairs. Even when I get through - the call inevitably drops out a couple of times.

Thanks Vodafone. So reliable. To think - the reason I signed with you all those years ago was because Kramer from Seinfeld was doing your ads. (Yes, THAT long ago) Kicking myself on that one.

Pity I didn't find this website before I rang Vodafail at the weekend attempting to buy an iphone. After fighting my way through the system and hanging on for a total of 75 minutes, i managed to tell someone I wanted to buy an iphone4. As I use prepaid I was told I would need to upgrade to a plan before I could order an iphone. I relcutantly agreed to this. I was told to ring back to order the iphone once my new Sim arrived. My new Sim arrived today, guess what, it doesn't work. Tried to ring but Lara has lost the plot and can't finish a sentence. It did eventually go through to somewhere and I get another voice telling me I will have to wait at least 40 mins to speak to someone. There isn't an option on the website for dodgy Sims, I may have to give up work soon as most of my life is taken up hanging on the phone waiting to speak to someone I can't understand from Vodafail. I suspect there is only 1 person working in the call centre as I have spoken to the same person twice!

One of the most confusing things at the moment with Vodafone is what type of 3g phone customers should be using.

Vodafone and Optus appear to have been promoting mobiles that can access the 2100mhz and 900mhz bands which both Voda and Optus use for 3g while Telstra has been naturally promoting mobiles which access 2100mhz and 850mhz, the latter used for their NextG network.

3 mobile seem to have had a bet each way with at first selling 'mega' 3g mobiles which operated on 2100/850mhz because 3 customers can roam onto Telstra NextG in country areas then since amalgamating with Vodafone moving to selling 2100/900mhz 3g mobiles. One assumes the move to 2100/900mhz mobiles was due to all 3 customers eventually moving to Voda.

However, Vodafone have just started their new 850mhz 3g service in capital cities to complimant their existing 2100mhz network, quite a bit of it active in Melbourne. The problem is, as explained above, most dual band Aust 3g phones are either 2100/900 or 2100/850mhz I think the latest iPhone is an exception being 2100/900/850mhz.

So potentially if you have an unlocked mega '3' phone or Telstra 3g phone with a Vodafone sim in it you will obtain a different network result than a standard Voda 3g phone with Voda sim operating on 2100/900mhz. The former being better in the city where Voda have 2100/850mhz the latter better in voda country areas which use 900mhz.

So what Vodafone should come out and say is what type of 3g mobile phone is best if you want to the best access their 3g networks.

Some of the funny reception problems being reported 'may' in part be due to the above particulary where people have switched their Vodafone sim from a 2100/900mhz mobile to a 2100/850 mobile (say a Nokia E63-1 to a Nokia E63-3)and gained different reception.

I have been using Vodafone for 8 years now, never really had an issue with customer service - actually every experience I had was great. Yeah, the reception was not always the best but this didn't affect me too much.
So, I open my most recent bill about 2 weeks ago, only to find it is $299.98?!?!! I am on an unlimited cap of $90, and an internate plan of @29.95 - that I do not use as I receive no reception. Rather than paying it out which I have been told several times is my only opton, just pay that amount everymonth. It's not a huge amount, so I don't really think about it. It also has only 3 months to run. My bill, in the 19 month I have been receiving them has never amounted to more than $90 + @29.95. So, I try to call the customer care. 5 attempts in one day, excessive hold times. finally get through to be told that their 'system is down', by a guy name Rasheed - or something dodgy like that. I can hardly understand the guy. I'm not the happiest of people, and I demand that they call ME back, I refuse to sit on hold at all any longer. He said they will within 4 hours. 10min later I receive a text saying they had triend to call me back, but I had not answered. Balls. My phone was next to me at my computer the whole 10mins.
3 more days of scattered attempts to contact them - but to no avail! even went into a local VODAFAIL store, who could also not explan the charges. Then on the 4th day I get through after a 34min wait. Only to be told I have come through to the wrong department. I get placed on hold for another 10mins. Call answered, to be told their system was 'down' again. That's when carcked and called the TIO, lodging a complaint. I try to call 1555 at 11pm that night thinking surely I will get through. Recording told me a minimim of 40min wait. Jam that up your A$$.
Yesterday, I am successful in getting through after an excessive wait AGAIN! (Apologies to my boss for using up work time.)
Apu (or whatever his name is) can't find the issue with my bill. Says there is a MPP charge on there. So I argue with this douchebag in his broken english, and his raised voice at me until finally he cracks and admits that there has been an error inm the bill. NO SHITE MORON. *** this is the good bit *** I demand some form of compensation for my time and all the troubles I have been having getting through to them. GET THIS - He says as a goodwill gesture, HE WILL CREDIT BACK THE CHARGES TO MY ACCOUNT!!! BUDDY, THAT IS NOT GOODWILL, THEY SHOULD HAVE NOT BVEEN THERE IN THE FIRST PLACE!! So I request to be put through to the complaints department. On hold for 10 more minutes. "Hello, this is another Indian call centre worker - but I am the manager, you can complain to me". After then detailing all the troubled AGAIN, I get nowhere. I also bring up the issue of paying for a service I don't receive with my internet. I ask for compensation for their lack of service and appaling customer service. I get nowhere. I ask to be put through to their complaints department again. This resulted in a heated argument about VODAFINE DOESN'T HAVE A COMPAINTS DEPARTMENT?!?!?! I give up, I advise I have already complained to the TIO. I then have an offer for a $29.95 credit for this months bill only. I ask for my contract to be cancelled of no charge - there are only 3 months left. I get nothing but a mouthful of crap from ths other Apu dude. I hang up.

I have now lodged a second complaint through the TIO.

Let's see what happens...

THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN TIGHT-ASS COMPANIES MOVE THEIR CALL CENTRES OFF SHORE.
SHAME SHAME SHAME.

Why would Vodafone release Infinity plans when they know there is something wrong with their network - they should be sued for negligence!

Every time I travel to Indonesia I call Vodafone to ensure my phone will work and they tell me it will, but every time I arrive the phone won't work. The phone works in Singapore and Thailand but not Indonesia. I tell Vodafone this every time and there solution: "If your phone isn't working, call us and we will try to resolve it." Yes Vodafone, I shall call you on a phone that doesn't work. 5 months of VodaHell to go...

Just getting angrier and angrier at being forced to run around in circles and not get anywhere, except angrier.At least I am collecting evidence for the ACCC and a potential class action.

Well thanks to a written complaint to the TIO, I was contacted by a nice young lady from Vodafone (actually from Australia and not the Indian sub continent) who advised me of my options in relation to the known service issues (but never known to me until I read it in the SMH). So I have been given a six week time frame for the service to be upgraded and given two months free access to the network, and I've also been advised to do a 'SIM Swap' as soon as possible. Well I'll give them the grace of waiting for the six weeks, and if there is no improvement, I'm moving carriers.

After months of bad reception, dropped calls, slow data, delayed SMS & MMS messages I rang Vodafone with one question..."How much to get out of my contract?" After only 10 minutes on hold (I thought that was pretty good), the customer service person who took the call couldn't provide me with an answer (this took another 10 minutes to deduce). She said someone would call me back and quess what...they did! However, this person couldn't answer my question either. They were Tech support. They blamed my phone, my sim, my area (Sydney CBD???) and then said someone would call me back in 72 hours. I insisted that I just wanted to know how much to get out of my contract. Finally they agreed to put me through to someone who might be able to answer my question...another 10 minutes on hold...someone answered...and the call dropped out! This was last Friday and no-one has called me back.
I have been with Vodafone for 10 years and I am sad to be leaving them but enough is enough.

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

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

Call drop outs, 3G data connection pauses for long periods, SMS delays.

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

Tried to send incredibly important SMS's (International). Constant sending failure.
Incredibly important Voicemail messages arriving 5 days late, resulting in losing a job offer!!!
I'm stuck in a contract. The moment it expires I am going to switch to another carrier. Have been with Vodafone for 10 years.

with all due respect to all people out there upset with the vodafone network just remember that when you go to talk to the team in the stores its not ther fault and try use a bit of respect when you communicate with them, i was in a store the other day and ther was a lady blasting the team over the reception issue when CLEARLY its not there fault....technology will never be 100% and in 6months everyone will be singing a different tune about some other band wagon everyone can jump on the have the "Internet stab"...but hey its easier to complain like 3year olds....basic decency ad courtesy will get you much further then blasting employees that are limited in the job....

The other night my Vodafone service stopped working for 15 hours. 15 hours! I couldn't make a call, receive a call, send a text, receive a text, use the internet... I kept thinking, "What if there's some sort of emergency?" This, of course, on top of all the other dropped calls, delayed voicemails, horrible 3G reception which means I can't access the internet. So frustrating and has been going on for weeks with no end in sight.

If you want the best reception in the nation go to telstra but get ready to pay an arse load for it and get the same customer experience as any other telco.

Hi everyone please have a look at our website www.vodafone.com.au . There is an apology from Vodafone with answers to your problems.

Hope this Helps :)

Helensvale Store

All telecom companies have signal problems. This may vary depends on how kind of user you are, waht kind of services you demand, what phone you have, what area you live and so on...

Vodafone has had some issues recently? Yes, they had. But what make a company good is not just when things are going great, but when their customers have problems and how the company deals with it. I can assure you Vodafone is strong enough to turn this page and make everyone happier than ever and YES they are making a lot of effort to deliver a extreme cutting edge new network.

We are just talking about 1% of the total customers. It still means that I am among the rest of 7 millions happy customers and nobody will build a website to talk about how good Vodafone is...

Come on guys, give them a chance! You won't regret to be part of this great company!


Cheers,
A happy customer

Hey Nigel. You obvioously have no idea about your business expect for the income & expenditure, do you??? you stupid obnoxious patronising xyz. Why dont you come around here and we'll call your 1555 together. I have an incident for you below that represents the Vodafone Mission and Culture.

Vodafone used to be the sole carrier in a couple of small countries near Australia until recently. The rates were sky high and customer and network issues ramapant. According to one 'Business', dealing with vodafone was like dealing with a mafia corner loan shark.

Until a new telco enterred the market. Since then, Vodafone has been begging customers to join them by offering them free mobile hand sets and special calls (compared to berating customers and giving no incentives. A business of 150 handsets was told to pay 'premium' price for 148 handsets and you get TWO handsets free, but call rates were going to be higher). It turned out the handsets models being given out are those with known technical issues. Long story short the new telco is still kicking Vodafone's ass like no tomorrow.

You were saying something Nigel??????

I bet most people on here have iphones.....

Worst phone reception on any network!

Get a life people!!!!!!!!!

No reception at work or home and drops out 8 times on bus trip home - yes I counted it on my bill.

They tried to tell me that I now live in a 'low service' area. I haven't moved house for over 3 years. Until 3 months ago I had full reception now I'm lucky if I get one bar of reception.
This now means that at home no one can call me as the call will drop out. Messages are delayed. I have an awesome phone that I barely use.
Also located near to my house is a rather large and newly developed shopping centre which has not 1 BUT 2 Vodafone stores. I get no reception in the shopping centre.
FAIL!

Phone calls aren't getting through even though I have full service. Called my own mobile from a land line and it is going straight to Voice mail. My colleague who also uses Vodafone is also experiencing the same problems!!

this message for you fucken user, why dont u jumb into other tlco and experiencing regarding ur mobile then u understand what telco look like, go to optus/virgin or so called telco all got same things to oparate their companey like this its not fish market. yes service is bad couple of weeks doestnt meen they pack-up there business from australia they trying to resolved issues like others so wait or fuck-off

multiple calls dropping out daily in different locations, divert to voicemail not working.

Paying for a service that is unreliable and i cannot use.

Been with Vodafone since 2006 and all was peachy up 'til 3 months ago.

Now, 3GS internet reception thingo on my iPhone 3GS drops out regularly (3/5 attempts) as I go to browse the web, despite having full reception (for both telephone and internet) seconds before.

Also, it will show I have 3GS but pages will not load or will load at glacial pace. They charge me for this, of course.

I'm trying to get out of my contract with them. I'm paying for a service they're not delivering and whenever I ring their 1300 number I A) have to hold for long (+20min) blocks and then B) get the complete runaround from some nonce who doesn't listen to what I'm telling them, regarding having the 3GS drop out RANDOMLY. Of course it shows up on your phone reception map that there's perfect reception in those areas - it says it on my phone, too right up to the point I go to try and use the Internet!!

This is on top of lately getting SMS messages hours/days late, dropping out of phone reception randomly (needing to be reset - although that could be an iphone fault).

I can't wait to ditch this iphone and this dud of a telco!

Been with Vodafone since 2006 and all was peachy up 'til 3 months ago.

Now, 3GS internet reception thingo on my iPhone 3GS drops out regularly (3/5 attempts) as I go to browse the web, despite having full reception (for both telephone and internet) seconds before.

Also, it will show I have 3GS but pages will not load or will load at glacial pace. They charge me for this, of course.

I'm trying to get out of my contract with them. I'm paying for a service they're not delivering and whenever I ring their 1300 number I A) have to hold for long (+20min) blocks and then B) get the complete runaround from some nonce who doesn't listen to what I'm telling them, regarding having the 3GS drop out RANDOMLY. Of course it shows up on your phone reception map that there's perfect reception in those areas - it says it on my phone, too right up to the point I go to try and use the Internet!!

This is on top of lately getting SMS messages hours/days late, dropping out of phone reception randomly (needing to be reset - although that could be an iphone fault).

I can't wait to ditch this iphone and this dud of a telco!

Been with Vodafone since 2006 and all was peachy up 'til 3 months ago.

Now, 3GS internet reception thingo on my iPhone 3GS drops out regularly (3/5 attempts) as I go to browse the web, despite having full reception (for both telephone and internet) seconds before.

Also, it will show I have 3GS but pages will not load or will load at glacial pace. They charge me for this, of course.

I'm trying to get out of my contract with them. I'm paying for a service they're not delivering and whenever I ring their 1300 number I A) have to hold for long (+20min) blocks and then B) get the complete runaround from some nonce who doesn't listen to what I'm telling them, regarding having the 3GS drop out RANDOMLY. Of course it shows up on your phone reception map that there's perfect reception in those areas - it says it on my phone, too right up to the point I go to try and use the Internet!!

This is on top of lately getting SMS messages hours/days late, dropping out of phone reception randomly (needing to be reset - although that could be an iphone fault).

I can't wait to ditch this iphone and this dud of a telco!

They tried to tell me that I now live in a 'low service' area. I haven't moved house for over 3 years. Until 3 months ago I had full reception now I'm lucky if I get one bar of reception.
This now means that at home no one can call me as the call will drop out. Messages are delayed. I have an awesome phone that I barely use.
Also located near to my house is a rather large and newly developed shopping centre which has not 1 BUT 2 Vodafone stores. I get no reception in the shopping centre.
FAIL!

The only mess is trying to control rage and focus on getting even.

bought a phone that is supposed to browse the web, but i never can as coverage always drops

I'd like to point out that a lot of this dissatisfaction comes as a result of the merger with Hutchison or "3". Vodafone Hutchison Australia does not compare to the global Vodafone brand and is a real disappointment for the owners in the UK. I think they made a mistake in allowing the Hutchison leadership and culture to takeover the new VHA. A lot of good people were pushed aside and now the company is run by cowboys (and cowgirls is suppose). I wouldn't buy a newspaper from them let alone giving them my credit card details, banking details, calling history, and all that going to offshore call centres. We sell ourselves (and our privacy) too cheaply when we fall for the free phone and airtime promises that bring some of us back into VHA.

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

When they initally did a coverage check, they said I had full coverage.

Now most of the time no signal or 1 bar/4, lucky if I had 2 bars. MBB is a hit and miss, mostly miss in my house.

Vodafone has most likely breached their contract to supply the serve and in breach of TPA and FTA. Maybe we should start a class action (I'm s solicitor myself)

I had issues with my phone dropping calls. i went into a Vodafone store and they replaced my sim card... Problem Solved :)

drop calls?
poor reception?
poor battery life?

SOUNDS LIKE U NEED A NEW PHONE

idiots

drop

i work for vodafone and yes they are a terrible company with terrible service. go to telstra please...

i havent had an issue with vodafone. there bills are easy to understand and there aren't any hidden charges. i can understand that there are a few issues but its nothing optus or even telstra for that matter havent experianced at some point. From what Ive been told Vodafone are in the process of doing a multi million $$$ upgrade to their service. I moved from optus to vodafone and couldnt be happier. to those of you that are about to leave good luck finding a company with no issues.

I lose calls from my customers
I lose calls from my family
I lose calls from my colleagues
and that is just the incomming calls
Outgoing calls are at least as bad!
Vodafone '3G' data does not even work and is more like 0G data along Gympie Road, Stafford Road, on the East-West Arterial Rd, Centenary Highway and other major roadways in Brisbane.
Their cells are deaf and far too overcrowded and I find that at least 20 times a day I cannot make an outgoing call!
I hope that Vodafone becomes a ghost town - they deserve it for promising and not delivering, for contracting and not providing, and in my personal opinion and experience, lieing and cheating it's business customers.
Is there a word that is worse than 'FAIL' ?

Vodafone is annoying me from so long not anymore. i took over vodafone looking catchy caps but when i used services i tell you it was horrible for me. their is no point getting big data when u can't use it.luckly that i met people from yeswireless who sorted out all the mess for me. fantastic people and great service. no more vodafone now.

Once upon a time I had 3 workmates who dropped Optus went to Vodafone and got fantastic access speeds. I bought a Vodafone modem and 12 months prepaid plan, and now we all find we get constant dropouts, rarely do we get 3G access any longer, it drops back to slower speed access. On a good day I get 2 bars! often I get only 1 bar.

My phone, my wife's phone, my sons and daughters phones, all with Vodafone - not for long - as soon as I can get time to find another provider anyone - even evil expensive Telstra you won't see me for dust ...BUT ... how unfair to get pooor reception slow Text messages and dropouts on 4 phones (as well my data modem issues) and what recourse do I have with Vodafone??

Couldn't understand why my Mobile Broadband connection was so pathetic when I travelled to Csnberra in Novemeber.

I think I do now.

I rang customer support too - they didn't tell me wny of this!

Thank God I'm not on a contract.

I just recieved a $500 phone bill and I spent most of this month trying to reconnect failed calls or return 4 day old voicemails... Mind you I had cut my usage by half from the previous month and that bill was only $130 (Go figure). Turns out I am being charged 75cents per 30sec phone call... Absolutely disgusting. Vodafail have now got a call back service which means you don't lose your place in the queue, they took 3hrs to call me back. When asked if I could be released from my contract which is due to expire in January, they told me I wasn't due to be released until April (my paper work says January). I also got told I needed to make a formal complaint (which I thought I was) turns out I needed to be transferred to another department which had "more than 40min wait time"!! I demanded that someone call me back as I wasn't going to wait anymore. The lady told me that the complaints department do not do call backs....
I am utterly disgusted that I am currently paying good money to be with such a terrible provider, in any other circumstances we would be allowed to stop using a provider but not with Telecommunication providers!

More about misleading and deceptive advertising and the TIO "acting like their little lapdog". Not about the fine print in a brochure being printed in white on a pale yellow background.

Unable to connect to the server at least once a day. Was unable to do anything involving the internet for six hours last week!

When I signed up a few years ago I was told that VodaFone was expanding its network and that by the end of August they would have coverage as good as Telstra's. Given that I live in the inner burbs and was well within the full coverage area on the map I figured I would get coverage. No such luck.
VodaFone then tried to blame my handset and my house and then me, but eventually admitted that some areas in the coverage area do not have coverage.

Unfortunately, that is not sufficient reason to break a 24 month contract. While we have a contract with VodaFone to keep paying their bills they apparently have no contract with us to provide any kind of service for that money, and if we had read the fine print we should know that.

By going through the TIO I was able to break the contract, but it was a very long and painful process. I don't know if it's true, but someone told me that they get fined every time there is a TIO complaint against them, so I'd recommend that everyone puts in a complaint against them. It's also a golden ticket to speak to the Australian call center, which really helps.

26 minutes to load a web page on my prepaid broadband!!!! Thought I had contracted a virus. Messed for hours calling the call centre talking to idiots in Mumbai. Then dumping cookies,talking to others, getting a computer-docter in even though I have an I-Mac which are supposed to not get virus attacks and sure enough I found this site which proves Vodafail is the bloody reason!!!! Will always now stay with prepaid from herein and move from one Telco to the next. Not one of them deserves any loyalty.

YOU PEOPLE WILL SEE SOONER OR LATER THE GRASS IS ALWAYS GREENER ON THE OTHER SIDE!!!! TELSTRA SUCKS!! OPTUS SUCKS!! 3 SUCKS!! VODAFONE RULES!!

I was gonna order Vodafone on a 12 month plan with HTC Desire HD on their NRMA 3 months free offer. Before that i had Vodafone on month to month plan. I called up their call center(wait of 40 mins so I chose the callback option though the CS didnt sound like doing customer service) told me that the offer is not valid now. I asked them to check their website and they did and came back yeah its valid. Then they said you have to talk to Sales team(I had told them I am a Vodafone customer already) but still they did and I waited for 30 mins and then hung up. After some time I called up again this time I was told this offer is not for 12 months(again I said check the website) they didnt agree(and were rude). I called NRMA and they confirmed that the offer is valid and they connected me directly to a local Vodafone respresentative and he said since I am on Vodafone on a month to month I can get a new contract and move my current number to prepaid and then move back in to the new contract. And yes the NRMA offer was valid for 12 month contracts too. I signed up the contract and got a virgin prepaid and moved my old voda to Virgin and then after a couple of days called Vodafone to move my number(which was on virgin) back to my new contract and I was told Vodafone can only do it at the time of signing up. huh that was enough for me to take. After going all through I was back again explaining the CS at Vodafail of what I was told by one of their friends. And finally they recognized it and said "we will do it as exception" bullshit.

Now the experience of using the new phone. I see the network going off atleast couple of days in a week and in Sydney CBD too. I have never seen the 3G or HSPDA showing on my HTC .. Never!! All this Saturday( afternoon) there was no data network in North Paramatta(I was trying to check Ashes scores). Also under the account I checked out of 2 Gig data a big chunk is GPRS. I hope it doesnt mean that I have to finish that first before I start getting 3G/HSPDA which I never even if I sit 24 hours on my phone and open websites. What a waste of money this contract is I wish I could get out of it.

iPhone users, if your data speed is f#$ked, try disabling 3G:
Settings --> General --> Network --> turn off "Enable 3G"
In theory, it's much slower. In practice, thanks to the Vodafone network, it is often faster and more reliable...

Am sure the same probably applies to many other brands of phone, too...

Vodafone are awesome. i would not change for anyone else. the only thing they did to annoy me was to sponsor a holden.

Is anyone else having reception issues on the Sydney Lower North Shore (Mosman/Cremorne area)? I have had no reception since last night (20 Dec 2010)...

Can we vent our 3 frustration here too? >.<