Vodafail.com - Looks like Vodafail to me.

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15053 Someone from ACT thinks vodafone is Mostly Fail at 1 Feb 2011 01:53:20 PM

I just joined vodafone last week, and got my new iphone 4 and vodafone sim in the mail yesterday.. All excited I opened it up. popped the sim in and turned it on to give it a run!
my previous phone was a iphone 3gs with telstra prepaid which has FULL bars and reception at my house on the Gold coast.

Once the phone booted I was shocked to see that I had between 1 bar and no service anywhere in my house!! so i started browsing the web and found out the truth!
I also catch the train to work and cannot use the internet at all while on the train, its just dead with mostly no service. :(

This is not what i signed a 24 month contract for, not at all.
is there a way i can cancel the contract?? like some sort of grace period?

Thanks

Ryan

1 Feb 2011 03:25:30 PM: Ryan, not totally sure if there is a grace period but there are new laws available to protect the consumer since 1st January 2011

Oddly enough I found these new laws on the soon to be number three mobile provider for Australia, Virgin Mobile.

Check them out here especially bullet point 4 about goods being fit for purpose.

http://www.virginmobile.com.au/my-account/customer-updates/?update=22#anc22

Otherwise you may have to start with Vodafone, do it sooner not later!!

There is also the TIO details found at the top of the page on the How To Complain tab, good luck and let us know how you get on!!!

Vodafail.com Moderation Team

2 Feb 2011 10:51:00 AM: Virgin number 3 telco? That's a little bit of an odd thing to claim, for starters they aren't even a full telco, just an Optus reseller effectively. Then there's the "3rd" part, even if VHA lost every one of the Vodafail complaints that would be .3% of the total customer base, not exactly a massive loss.

2 Feb 2011 01:25:43 PM: Mate, what don't you understand about 'soon to be number three mobile provider for Australia'?

I never said they were the number three.

Just out of interest what constitutes a 'massive loss' in your eyes, 3%, 5%, 10%, 30% ?

I would lay odds that the CEO of Vodafone would be well peeved to lose 3% of his customer base.

Vodafail.com Moderation Team

2 Feb 2011 01:59:28 PM: For starters, I was more referring to your comment rather then stating that you said they were number 3, I should have been clearer in that, however the rest of my post still stands, they aren't a full telco, and that it would take a lot more then .3% to shift VHA below Virgin. As for what I would see as a massive loss that's irrelevant, as to what the CEO would feel about losing 3% (not .3%) you would have to ask him, but I would say the loss of the headache this site provides would be substantial.

Think of it this way, if everyone of these customer left (and more) would it outweigh the cost of all the bad PR this minority provides? You asked my opinion and as irrelevant as it is, I'd sacrifice 3% to remove the bad press, you would regain it fairly quickly once they sort their shot out.

Also first response from a moderator that's actually had a bit of bite to it, good to see not every post is a copy paste job.

2 Feb 2011 02:08:15 PM: Just for numbers sake, according to the Wiki's for both companies, VHA has 7 million customers and Virgin has 500,000. So VHA would need to lose 92% of it's customer base for Virgin to overtake.

2 Feb 2011 03:06:32 PM: @ 2 Feb 2011 03:59:28 PM: So help me out here, what does, in your opinion, constitute a full telco?

I agree with your comment about asking the CEO if 0.3% is a massive loss, so really that would be an unknown quantity as neither of us know what the CEO would be thinking, yes?

There have been many surveys performed about poor service experiences in the past and several have always indicated that personal recommendation (or lack of) is a strong motivator for people to decide on a service to choose, I for one have easily talked 9 potential customers out of using Vodafone, if they tell one other person each..........and so on.

Finally to clarify we (mods) are all people who volunteer our time freely on vodafail.com, we all have full time jobs, careers and families.

@ 2 Feb 2011 04:08:15 PM: I wonder what Wiki would read in 2 years time? (personally I have my reservations about Wiki but hey ho).

Vodafail.com Moderation Team

2 Feb 2011 03:21:12 PM: A full telco would be a Telco that actually has it's own infrastructure, and doesn't piggy back/resell off another network. Vodafone was the third Telco to obtain a license from the government, the other 2 being obviously Telstra and Optus.

In terms of telling people not to join a telco that effects growth rates, retention rates would be effected by losing existing customers, so as the numbers say VHA would need to lose 6.5million customers for Virgin in it's current state to overtake.

Personally, I'd avoid Virgin and stick with Telstra, it's a stable network as they invested the money long time ago, judging by that trend, VHA with current plans should catch Telstra's current coverage in a few years time, chances are the 4G network by that stage.

Gotta remember what history shows us, all telcos go through this stage, Telstra did, Optus are just getting out of theirs now, and eventually Vodafone will too.

2 Feb 2011 03:50:24 PM: Is your definition of a full Telco entirely correct? I thought they leased one another's towers and that is common practice, are you also suggesting that Virgin do not have a licence from the Government?

Agree with the growth rates statement, judging by the number of customers on here who have expressed their opinions the retention rates are also subject to loss.

Consider that (customers):

1/ Not every one knows about this site
2/ Not every one has access to the internet
3/ Many people will just sit and watch from the sidelines for the activists to force the changes
4/ Many people will sit on the network fence in the hope that things will improve prior to the end of their contracts
5/ The silent majority are as they suggest.......silent.

Time will tell.

Enjoy the rest of your day!

Vodafail.com Moderation Team

2 Feb 2011 04:40:28 PM: The government licensing is more about the infrastructure/towers etc, all the little resellers are still classed as Telco's, so I don't mean that Virgin are an irregularity nor somehow illegal, more that they don't gave their own towers, only the big 3 have their own towers and if them Vodafone was the last one to get that privilege.

Also I hope I'm not coming across as a Vodafone apologist, it's more I've dealt with a lot o the Telco's and they are all as bad as eachother when it comes to customer service, network wise Telstra is ahead leaps and bounds, Optus still have a ways to go, and that lies the issue with Virgin. Optus have the most resellers using their network so they are also inclined to have congestions issues as well. I think the report made by this site is one of the best presentations of issues, it relays all the facts you've gathered but doesn't take a bad tone to it, if only more posts were like the report.