I opted out when my phone wouldn't receive calls either at home or at work. Both places are in suburban Melbourne. Whenever I went into a Vodafone office to complain the phone would ring to tell me of missed calls, so they would refuse to talk to me: "Your phone IS working" would be their comment.

I have joined another telco, and get better reception from them.

Multiple dropped calls, bad reception, calls dropping out even before answering. Went from a hopeless 3, to Vodaphone. Even worse, in spite of the promises. Can take six or seven calls to comllete a short convesation. I now ask people to ring the landline. Sometimes, this takes 3 or 4 calls just to pass on the landline number ! ! ! ! !

Reception has gone downhill the last 24 months. I had a lot of drop outs which i blamed my smart phone for but after trying out 3 other phones, i had the same problem.
Switched providers and have never looked back!!!!!!!!

3G....what 3G!!! It's funny how Vodafone recently changed it's plans to include more calls and more data downloads. Very generous given they can't provide the service/coverage to support these. My husband and I are having endless issues with Vodafone and their answer is to offer more of the same features you can't use. Doesn't that Nigel Dews sounds like a sycophant! Sign us up for the class action!!

No reception almost anywhere I go

This is about '3' but Vodaphone have sent me notification they are all the same now! Great. Fantastic.

Called customer care (are they joking with that name!).

India of course.

Waited to friggin ages. Why if they are using cheap third world labour are we constantly put on hold for hours at a time.

Finally I get through. Speak to someone I can hardly understand. Sorry our computer system is down. You will have to call back.

Said not good enough. I insisted they would have to call me back.

Told they can't do that. Told they can't make out going calls. Seriously. One of the biggest telephone companies in the world won't let their employees phone their customers back.

Went around and around for ages. Eventually got a promise I would be called back.

Of course - that never happened. Even after complaining to a manager the next week.

Has anyone else had this problem? You call us back. We can't phone you.

Really poor network coverage. My mobile phone calls are just dropped unexpectedly 50% of the times at best. International phone calls made from my mobile have unreliable voice quality. We were sucked into the seemingly great value cap plan but did not expect such poor connection.

Hi
I have been a vodafone customer for 5-6 weeks now.
I have been overcharged right at the second bill.
Simply because I was led to believe there is still a $100 credit remaining on my plan and I went ahead and used it but in reality,there was no credit left,Vodafone does not update your 'spend and entitlements' on its myvodafone.com.au website nor does its sms/vodafone a/c balance service give you any real time updates on what $ amount is left of your monthly allowed credit.
If you billing period ends on ,say the 25th of a month, from the 22nd itself, there seems to be no update on the balance amount.
Agreed,that every provider takes 24/48 hrs to update this amount on their balance check services ,but I was led to believe for 3-4 days that I still have $100 credit remaining and went ahead and used it.
Such a rip off and extremely frustrating.
Be careful when you are checking your a/c balance because it's never the right amount in reality.
Plus ,insurance amount was included by default in the first bill (2 months) without even asking me.
The complaints don't end....

For a little while I just thought that all of my friend were texting me at the exact same time and trying to call....unexplained voicemails when there has been no missed calls, a number of texts obviously had been floating in the ether when vodafail had finally managed to send them to my handset at the exact same time.....just wanna get out of my contract so I can go back to Optus!!

I'm self-employed & do a lot of travelling. In North Melbourne, the signal strength is so bad I can't even make calls from inside my office. My business partner & I speak several times a day (he *was* with Vodafone) & it's always my phone which drops out at least twice, even depending on where I am facing. At home (E Melb) there are some rooms I don't make calls in, even though there are windows & clear space outside. I often travel to the eastern suburbs (Nunawading, Box Hill) & it's just one entire black hole with minimal reception or drop-outs for the entire area & don't get me started about outside Melb-metro areas, even along the Hume Hwy of all places! Grrrr. Out of contract now & going to go Telstra & new iPhone 4, but 3 wks ago Vodafone sales called asking if I'd renew & would I like a new phone. When I said their coverage was rubbish & I couldn't continue with them, the salesman was very apologetic & agreed, saying that was one area he knew they couldn't compete - coverage & reliability of service in that regard - he didn't persist! ...& don't get me started about when I'm in the car moving & talking on the plumbed-in Parrot hands-free system-fades, drop-outs, disconnects (often). As for the painful speed or lack of 3G & net features, I shudder if I ever have to attempt using. Emails are bad enough, but info from the Net? Forget it. /end rant. AML

I got sucked into Vodaphone, they PROMISED me coverage at my property. I was with 3/Telstra and the reception would drop out 30 metres from house. Well now I am lucky if I can get reception when I am in our local town 8 kms away. And the continual dropping out going down a major highway AND through the Domain & Burnley tunnels is really annoying.
Not what I signed up for

vodafone automatically turned my voicemail off when i went overseas and turned off international roaming, then turned it on again.
upon return, my voicemail was inactivated.
i spent 1 hour on three separate occasions on hold to vodafone, eventually getting through to a call centre in india who were of no help.
they advised to call another number, which i was on hold for another hour. they were unable to help me and suggested i email customer service.
instead of 5 business days as stated on the website, it took 11 business days for vodafone to turn on my voicemail.
i am extremely disappointed and can't wait to get out of my contract.

I live in an area of Frankston where network coverage is notoriously bad. However while I was with Vodafone there were ocassions where I could never get any coverage. I was also convinced to to take out Wi-fi broadband coverage with them. The same issues again; I would would be using the internet and it would cut out frequently. Fortunately I also have a pay as you go service with Telstra and I now use them as my only internet provider.

I have now also switched to Telstra for my mobile; the mobile coverage has improved slightly (Bring on the NBN!). However Vodafone convinced me to open up a 24 month plan for the internet. I have not used their service in months yet I am still forced to pay $40 a month for a reduntant service. I feel cheated, powerless and angry that I am being ripped off. However as a result of what I have seen on this website I will contact them with a view to getting out of the contract.

What a fantastic website, keep up the good work!

Every time I go to Shepparton from Melbourne there is about nearly 6-10km of highway (Goulburn Valley Highway) where there is no bloody signal at all from Vodafone. So if you were in an emergency situazion you would be totally at a loss.

Was trying to call my sister on Christmas Day but even though her phone was on, fully charged, not being used and had coverage, it went straight to VM?? But she was getting my text messages straight away (WTF). Lucky she's the only one In my family that has a Vodafail phone.

I signed up on a 2 year contract with Vodaphone about a month ago. I was originally concerned that there was something wrong with my phone when I was continually getting 'No Service' or barely any reception all over Melbourne, including in the CBD, as well as the countless dropped calls. Rarely can my phone hold onto a 3G connection, and the times that I can actually use apps on my phone that require a decent connection are few and far between. Now i'm on holiday on the Gold Coast and it's no different. It's reassuring to know there are thousands more out there in the same boat, but I am also bitterly disappointed about this. Hoping Vodaphone gets its act together very soon!

some idiot at Vodafone setup 2 accounts to the one number, which resulted with when i was paying the bill I was crediting one account while another account was going into debit. Vodafone suspended my service, so between that and the constant drop outs I complained to the TIO and broke my contract after 6 months. I was also able to buy my Iphone from them for $200. Highly recommend complaining to TIO, braking the contract then buy the phone for next to nothing.

Constant and i mean constant call dropouts and very patchy internet coverage.
I have a prepaid with telstra snd dont have any of these problems.

Im not getting what i paid for - why should i pay ??

Admittedly I'm only on prepaid - but I'm leaving, as I live in the city and my reception regularly drops out, phone calls seem to disconnect themselves and my messages often get sent twice, three times, four times to the same person (and I'm charged for it). Alternatively, sometimes only half my message is delivered to the receiver. Trying to recharge is a nightmare - the recharge website often doesn't work and you can only do it by phone in certain hours during the day. customer care - what customer care. As a prepaid customer I'm at the bottom of the rung with any phone company, but especially so with vodafone.

On several occasions, spent more than 5 hrs on hold to customer service (I was trying to change plan) I should have realised such a thing was beyond the degenerates they employ. Most of them had trouble understanding my extremely complex request, and the one that did screwed up all of my account information. Rather than simply changing my plan on my current sim they sent me a new one with a different number. I almost cried. So I rang them to activate the new sim card, they said it would take 24 hrs tops. 25 hrs later neither sim card was working, I cried some more. I then decided to ring the tolled line, and surprise surprise no 5 hr wait, I almost got straight through. But they still couldn't help me because they had lost all of my billing information, and at present I am still waiting for my new plan to activate (they turned the old one off so I have nothing at all currently)

Their network performance is terrible, also. The internet on my phone seldom works, and yet they still charge me for every failed attempt to get to a website. Bastards.

Regular call drop outs, no service (I'm 7kms from CBD), delayed voicemail message alerts. I can no longer receive/send emails on my iphone (since October). Vodafone 'are investigating it'. My last call to them advised that they were still investigating it but couldn't give me an estimated time this problem would be fixed. I've still got 10 months on contract - grrrr!!!!

Can't operate my business which is heavily phone based. Every bloody call drops in and out and then disconnects!

I've posted a couple of times but still so annoyed that vodafone cant get it's act together. On Christmas eve in Ballarat I had no service whatsoever for around 4hrs. No reception for phone calls or internet - boy I cant wait until May and I will go with a real provider. I'm looking forward to going with telstra to get proper coverage, rather than paying vodafone $70 per month for mobile and then more for the mobile broadband without getting any service at all. I wish I had have known about the issues before signing any contract.

bad customer service
bad reception
bad 3g coverage

No coverage in many areas. Unreliable standard mobile, just drops out whenever, no reason. Management not interested or even responsive. Been with them for years but enough is enough.

My reception keeps dropping out each and every time I am home. Living on the Mornington Peninsula, it does not matter where I am I keep dropping out. Basically anywhere further south than Frankston, forget about having a conversation!

big problem for online share trading

I recently went on Holidays in Bright and Orbost and even there (before christmas so it very quiet) the data connections would just drop out with no warning ! Very unreliable.
I have to say I have been a Vodafone customer for years - and although they lacked coverage - they were economical - even when travelling in Europe for work - but for some time now -(at least a year - its been almost impossible to get a data connection in the city of sydney in the middle of the day. In the last few months I have also had SMS's never turn up !
Complaints insisted it was my equipments fault. I now feel vindicated !!

Litany of problems: (i) calls keep dropping out (I work on Collins St); (ii) battery life is terrible as phone stays on 'full power' mode; (iii) it 'falls off the network' at Melbourne airport (i.e. needs to be rebooted); (iv) has very slow data speeds (maybe 60% of time).

Just not good enough -- I've moved to Telstra for work since I can't afford to be out of reach.

Max 1 bar and dropped calls

The new Michael Jackson album is incredible. My favourite track is "I Cant Make It (Another Day)". How about you guys?

Internet drops out non stop even when close to city. What a joke!!

Haha, check this post on another forum by Vodafone employee:


Vodafone Employee
Fri 24/12/2010 - 14:03
As an employee I can confirm that the issue is an excellent example of senior managers worrying about shareholders' profit and keeping their head in the sand for as long as possible when it came to addressing the concerns of customers. We could see issues beginning in Sydney from as early as August and September - but Sydney reps were not told to stop signing new customers - signing new customers and getting their cash is all Nigel Dews and Cormac Hodgkinson care about.

Drops calls in the city flat out. Not good when you're running a business.
Telstra here I come!!

It's Xmas day and trying to call family from Yarraville in Victoria which is 7kms from the Melbourne CBD on my Iphone 3GS with only 1 or 2 bars of coverage - I can't be understood on other end of the conversation as I keep breaking up. I take the Vline train to Geelong every day and the coverage drops out continuously but not with colleagues on Telstra.

I've been with Vodafone for 9 years and I'm getting really sick of the poor coverage. Will definitely go to Telsta when my contract expires.

You know we are paying for service and not getting anywhere near what we should and being brushed off. How would vodafone management feel if their electricty service had the same level of reliability as their mobile 'service'. Imagine them sitting watching tv at night... suddenly darkness for an hour... lights flixer for a few minutes... go out again for another half an hour... lights come back on for 10 mins... out again.... Not just a night but for several months.... and all they get told is its some 'technical issue' THAT is the sort of BS vodafone 'service' that we have to put up with....

I actually have some good news that may be of some assistance to people who visit this site. On the corner of Howitt and Doveton Streets in Ballarat Victoria - you can actually manage to get a Vodafone signal... Altho I only experienced this today (Friday the 24th of Dec) aty 5:55 pm - so there's no guarrantee that outside these times a signal is possible.... :(

Tried connecting to internet on mobile in 3030, at least 5 times over last 20 minutes. Would only download 1-12MB b4 connection dropped. 3G signal ranges from full to nil, and yo-yos like the ASX. Even with full 3G signal, data dropped.
I am using Telstra to send this message.

Im tired of crappy reception especially with mobile internet and broadband - most times I can even get the updates uploaded on facebook. This isnt what I have signed up for - Ive been with the network 5 years and the last three months has been dismal!

I can tell you, its not just smart phone bandwidth hungry phones that are effected, for those who think its just iphone/HTC or whatever.

I have a plain Jane 3G phone, and mainly just use it for voice calls, the most basic of service, that requires the smallest amount of digital stream 9.6Kb or one voice channel to be exact, and I cannot even get that! garbled voice reception, dropped calls, No reception, always roaming, No timely SMS. When is the frustration going to stop!

I can tell you, its not just smart phone bandwidth hungry phones that are effected, for those who think its just iphone/HTC or whatever.

I have a plain Jane 3G phone, and mainly just use it for voice calls, the most basic of service, that requires the smallest amount of digital stream 9.6Kb or one voice channel to be exact, and I cannot even get that! garbled voice reception, dropped calls, No reception, always roaming, No timely SMS. When is the frustration going to stop!

After countless calls and emails to and from vodafone, I contacted TIO and informed vodafone the same day about my complaint, next day got a call off vodafone told them I want out of my contract ( been with them since sept this year) and they said ok, they didn't even try to keep my business no exit fees. Only have to return the phones. Don't put up with any of their lies in regards to fixing their network as high priority. If you ever get through to anyone tell them you want out of your contract and your not going to pay any exit fees. if they say yes you will pay exit fees hang up and contact TIO, they are well aware of vodafones issues.

To everyone on this site complaining... blame yourselves and fkn smart phones. The only reason the network is so sh!t is due to the fact that you are all having a whinge about the lack of data provided, so when Voda increases it, you complain because it crashes the network? Brilliant.

Also if you own an iPhone... please stop talking. You knew what you were getting into and you knew the reception was terrible to begin with. Sure I understand its happening to other phones also, but half of you dickweeds still complain about the normal iPhone reception issues.

coverage is a disgrace!! The calls might be cheaper than other carriers but when you add up all the flagfall after each drop out you are better off going with Telstra in the beginning.

Despite what they say coverage is a long way off getting fixed. About 3years.

Knew about the stores not letting existing Vodafone customers to upgrade iPhone 4s, so I went into the store and said I'm with Optus, and then they told me they had stock, brought the phone out. When I told them my number THEN I revealed I was existing Vodafone customer and forgot I changed my SIM only plan just lately, they then brought the phone back inside and said can't sell it to me. Good way to keep your customers?

have been on hold for 40 minutes now.. internet on my iphone not working, I got cut off in all phone calls I made this week. I paid my bill 2 weeks ago and still overdue in my Vodafone.

really really crap.

ACCC has to interfere!!

guess what everyone who is waiting for their iPHONES for Xmas! I know for a fact they wont be getting there for xmas.

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

constant dns fails in melbourne....either that or my Trophy is shit

Melbourne reception is non existent.
Add to that the fact that im making interstate calls to sydney where reception is equally bad and im left with a brick,

My company has contracted Vodafone...man they must have done this remotely to not see the rubbish coverage Vodafone have. I live outside of Melbourne and require both voice and data access ... what a joke, did Vodafone have a 3 year old colour a melways map and then pass this off as their coverage area?
Apart from the service being extrremely poor and unreliable in Melbourne during business hours, it gets worse as soon as you arrive at Southern Cross station ... drop out and stay out until Ballarat area, and then this is poor and unreliable.
At least with Telstra I had the coverage they claimed and a decent support call centre approach!
Think it would be easier to buys a flock of pidgeons and use them to send and receive messages, more chance of success anyway.

The one thing about Vodafone i cant f*@cking stand is that when we have to call our sale support they play Rob Thomas and John Mayer. What kind of company thinks they can get away with that?

How much worse might this get now that they've introduced Unlimited Caps?

well the obvious, it is constantly losing reception (no service in bourke st? really?) which is compounded by the fact my phone now continuously beeps "no package data" all day.

lets add on that they are charging me for 2 data packages and i cant seem to get that fix...

oh and my total fav... waited on the phone for 40 mins to find out number for the bourke st store as it only had the 1300 number listed on the website, person on the line sent me a text with the number, refused to transfer me through. when i called it, it was 7eleven that answered.

i would love for someone in the company to actually offer to help me as when i try i get nowhere.

Rite, so newayz i baught this sim only plan, no contract no worrys rite? Rong! First bill woz lyk twice the prise it was ment to be. Shonkstas mate

ordered a phone, got promised 1-2 day delivery, rang up to cancel when it still wasn't there a month later, got told it was cancelled, then started receiving bills for it. tried to call their customer 'service' line but kept getting number disconnected messages. guys i think they decided running a call centre cost too much money.

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.

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!!

Vodafail t shirts? Vodafail fail. Lost all credibility.

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.

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...

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.

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

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.

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)

drop calls?
poor reception?
poor battery life?

SOUNDS LIKE U NEED A NEW PHONE

idiots

drop

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.

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.

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.

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...

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

I used to have vodafone mobile broadband. The coverage was shit so I cancelled my contract and sent back the USB modem. This was 3 or more months ago. I noticed in my emails that they are still billing me.. So I called them. After being on hold for AGES they transferred me to a different department, then told me I had been transferred to the wrong department. I gave up trying and just hung up. I called back the next day and again, they transferred me to several wrong departments. To this day they continue to bill me. I'm not even going to bother trying again. Their customer service is just bullshit. If they can't tell that me not using any data mean I DO NOT HAVE THE INTERNET ANYMORE then they are morons.

Was with 3 for a number of years and happily recommended them to my friends. Had no issues untill they 'teamed up' with Vodafone. Since then I have struggled to get reception in Ferntree Gully, Caulfield, and King Street Melbourne. I have now apologised to my friends who signed on. Avoid at all costs.

No-one mentions the link with Mobile 3 (my 'official' telco). I couldn't make any calls from the Women's Hospital/Melbourne University area in Carlton on a Sunday morning (19 December). In this area Sunday morning is quiet (no students and after the exams) so phoning should not be a problem. At the same time my brother was getting good wireless reception through another carrier (I called using his wireless and Skype) An hour later and two kilometres away I could finally make calls. 3 users have been suggesting service quality would go down with the merger with Vodafone. Well, they are right!

i got vodaphone nearly a year been have problem every day sine. been change the phone headsets 3 time and service is very bad,can't use my phone when i need even i am working i the cbd area. my phone keep drop out can't send any msg. each time i try to call them and get help got nothing come out of it they always come up some excuese,can't get out of contact. pay alot of money each month to use they service all i can say it they suck!!

Mobile internet is appalling! Web pages require several reloads to finish loading properly; they take 30 seconds to load a medium-sized web page.

Calls drop out every 2-5 minutes, despite perfect reception, and both parties not moving during the call.

SMSes sometimes do not get sent, despite near-full bars of reception.

Hi I using vodafone and i really dont know what you are all on about i have not had any call drop outs or loss in signal only when i go to rural areas (i really dont care im not a fucking bogan i love in the metro areas. people please get a life and stop being idiots!

Your mums FAT!

I think this site should be published in all main stream newspapers so we can gauge how utterly pissed off the population is. I for one hate vodafone.

Does not work in the middle of St Kilda, both phone and mobile USB. have to walk down the street to make a phone call. Can't use internet unless at 4am.

no reception what so ever in Victoria. I must make 5 calls to one person in a 5 min period

I recently moved house to an area I was a assured had perfect coverage, only to find out after i moved that the coverage was nearly non existent! Our mobiles phones are all we have, as we have no landline, and we can't use them. Vodafone have refused to compensate us.

Just ditched my vodafone iPad plan for telstra sure it's heaps more expensive..
but it kind of works.

goodbye Vodafone

Was in a Contract as VODAFAIL own 3 Networks , got out of it crap service

No Service I am based in Kew East Melbourne and have no reception it continually drops in and out on calls and ATM it is 1:16PM and is saying no service..... this is costing me my business as I am a consultant and majority of my work is conducted over the phone.....PLEASE HELP and FIX!!!!!!

Poor service, forever dropping out, changing over to the Edge network constantly, data speeds are pathetic!

On the brink of seeing if their lack of service allows me to break my contract with them after a number of years being a loyal customer

Work from home in Richmone - 3121. Just got a new HTC Legend under the $45 infinite plan which is great. But phone and data flaky 15th to 19th Dec. Missed calls from office etc. Vodafone claimed an upgraded to the network was being done, and would be completed by 19th. It is better today, (20th) but cant believe how they would bring down the service and not tell me in advance or offer some sort of compensation. Amateur hour. Spend less money advertising on the Cricket and keep the existing customers with better service! BTW, still dont understand the usage and billing data on Myvodafone.

At 10pm roughly, in Melbourne CBD, 3G did not work, could not VPN into work from smart-phone, needed to work out if I had a work meeting.. simple request, failing result.

The calls drop out, the wait for cuntstomer service is 40 minutes, the twitter support people are almost useless and they are still asking me to pay.
I want out of this BS and i'm switching over to a network that works. dropped calls, no online connection. i've been a customer for years, i'm going elsewhere

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

Guys we need to touch base. Power to you!!

I used to work for Hutchison, for Vodafone hutchison Australia ( VHA) and I can tell you that the fairy's that work there are all totally incompetant. They are complete liars about your quality of service, and coverage. Basically after the merger last year, they have been trying to merge everyone on to the voda network from 3 without spending a cracker on upgrading the network as they hav'nt got cash or not willing to spend it. this means a doubling of subscribers overnight and with all the data services available, the old Hutch 3G can't cope either. cast your mind back about 12mths for those suckers that had 3 USB data sticks, remember how you couldn't get connection from 6pm-12am, due to congestion? Well guess what, now you got another 3million voda customers on the 3G network, hence why its so bad. The fact that its taken over 12months just to get a new services contract in place with the base station vendor NSN, tells you that they are behind the 8 ball with network upgrades. I could go on for another hr but wont. Basically Voda they will come good in about 15mths, just about the time that your due for a 24 mth contract upgrade that they just locked you in to. unfortunately people have short memories.

I used to work for Hutchison, for Vodafone hutchison Australia ( VHA) and I can tell you that the fairy's that work there are all totally incompetant. They are complete liars about your quality of service, and coverage. Basically after the merger last year, they have been trying to merge everyone on to the voda network from 3 without spending a cracker on upgrading the network as they hav'nt got cash or not willing to spend it. this means a doubling of subscribers overnight and with all the data services available, the old Hutch 3G can't cope either. cast your mind back about 12mths for those suckers that had 3 USB data sticks, remember how you couldn't get connection from 6pm-12am, due to congestion? Well guess what, now you got another 3million voda customers on the 3G network, hence why its so bad. The fact that its taken over 12months just to get a new services contract in place with the base station vendor NSN, tells you that they are behind the 8 ball with network upgrades. I could go on for another hr but wont. Basically Voda they will come good in about 15mths, just about the time that your due for a 24 mth contract upgrade that they just locked you in to. unfortunately people have short memories.

I was previously contracted to 3. The contract was ready for renewal after the 24mnths. They told me they owned Vodafone and there was no difference in contract. BUT SHEESH, there is. i.e. 1300 numbers are not included in yur cap. We specifically asked this to the salesperson and they said they were included in our Cap. Not sure if anyone else had experienced this issue... I HATE VODAFONE... DO NOT SWITCH FROM 3

Call Failures every day (including one this morning) and I'm located within a 15 minute drive of Melbourne's CBD.

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

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

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

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

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



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

They waste your time by advising things like: do you live near a park? did you switch your phone off? or blame it on the SIM card, or you. This week has been the first time a person in a store has admitted that they have problems. in my experience this has been on going. As number portability is available I will now seek a way out to another service provider The plan to offer DROPPED CALLS is not a good deal by any means

RE:Someone from ACT thinks vodafone is Good at 20 Dec 2010 07:42:31 AM
A bit of the pot calling the kettle black here, maybe Vodafone would like to "lose" their customers, maybe check your own post before commenting harshly on those who have genuine issues...
Constant "no cellular data" issues, phone calls dropping out....I only switched to Vodafone earlier this year and have regretted every minute of it, the next 12 months can't come quick enough when I can get out of this plan.