26 Mar 2012 - Update Highest Rated Pain Stories Highest Rated Gain Stories Vodafail Local Facebook Page
Dear visitor,

Since its inception Vodafail.com has made a significant contribution towards raising awareness of the problems and issues faced by Vodafone customers.

Vodafone Australia customers have had the opportunity to voice their concerns, their fears and their troubles from every corner of Australia and beyond our borders. You have gathered the courage to stand up for your rights as consumers and to make your voice heard.

Each and every person who shared their story should have a sense of pride in this achievement and the changes that have occurred since the start of Vodafail.com.

More recently, traffic to Vodafail.com has declined significantly. Having achieved the goal of raising awareness and promoting concrete action in early 2011, we have now reached the point of closing Vodafail to new complaints. The site will remain online for as long as possible as a reminder and an example of what is possible when we share our experiences.

It has been a privilege to run this initiative and I'm am forever grateful for the help and support I've received. In particular I would like to thank Melissa, David and Travis for their continued efforts over the past 15 months. I'm also thankful and humbled by the support of ACCAN, Choice magazine and a wide range of media outlets, blogs and websites.

You can still browse existing stories and find out how to file a complaint if you are experiencing problems.

Until next time,

Adam Brimo

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20592 Someone from SA thinks vodafone is Rude & extremely fail at 13 Jan 2012 10:32:19 AM
This is an issue to do with 3 Care but arn't they all the same people now?
To summarise my over 12 month ongoing issue:

I had to give my iPhone up for repair due to technical issues numerous times in a row as they kepy telling me the issue was fixed but I would get the phone back with the same problems.They gave me an ancient replacement phone during all the time I was without my phone which was broken anyway and couldn't receive some calls all the meanwhile I was still paying for my unused iPhone.

The last time I came to pick up my iPhone from repair they told me the issue cldnt be fixed and gave me a new phone and told me they updated my plan to the new $49 Unlimited plan so I would get unlimited calls to all 3 & vodafone users

2months later my plan hadnt changed so I went back to the store the woman told me 3 care made a mistake and didnt put me on it and that it would get done right away.

next month received a big bill due to still being on the wrong plan went into the store and they told me there was no notes of anyone having offered me the new plan.

Called 3 care after long arguements and getting put on hold to speak to supervisors they credited me back the money over my $49 cap and told me I would be transferred to the new plan for the next month.

A few months later I was still not getting unlimited calls to vodafone and 3 and came into stores and rang them more times than I can count. Every time took ages to explain my issue and most of the time despite my insisting to write notes about each phone call the new guy would tell me there is no record of me having being offered the update or having called the previous million times.

Finally after numerous expensive bills for a service I wasn't receiving in October 2011 I was told that the unlimited plan does not exist on 3 and can only be accessed on Vodafone so the guy at the Vodafone (used to be 3) store told me he would transfer me to 3 so that I could be on the unlimited plan in the next month and that he would call me back within 48hours to let me know if they can credit me back any of the bills.

I received no contact from Vodafone and on the 24th Dec received a $394.60 bill from 3 (I thought I had been transferred to Vodafone). I rung them immediately and spoke for hours to 3 Care employee then supervisor then manager who finally told me that he would credit me back $344.60 for te Nov-Dec bill and he will call me back the next week when the Dec-Jan bill comes through so he can calculate the amount to return to me for that bill. He also said he would send me out a new iphone with a $59 Vodafone contract for which I would only be paying $49 and will have the unlimited calls.

Did not receive any calls so on the 12th Jan called them back, first spoke to a boy who said there was no record of anyone telling me they will return the money, after arguing for 20mins he got the manager I spoke to last time to call me back. The manager made up excuses for not having called me back and as to why I haven't received the money and offered to pay back half of both bills instead of the full amount he quoted me last time. I refused and reminded him what he told me in the last phone call so he put me on hold came back and said due to me having to chase them up for it he will credit me the amount which he already offered me last time we spoke! He became annoyed with my dissatisfaction, telling me this is my fault and finally said "look we'll credit u the $394.60 plus half of the second bill in the next 24hours! Bye!" and hung up on me.

Today I just got the new iPhone in the mail but I'm not sure what to do as I am very hesitant about starting another contract with them! I have received extremely poor customer service, pretty much have been accused of lying everytime I spoke to a new person on the issue and spent hours and hours chasing up vodafone people to come through.
26 Jan 2012 09:55:42 AM: It looks like you have kept details of dates and conversations - this is really important and I advise anyone, no matter how trivial your first complaint is to detail date, time, name of person, details of conversation and the companies reference number. If you don't need it later, bonus! If you do you'll look much more reliable in the eyes of the Telecomunications Ombudsman, should you need to go down that path. I know how frustrating your situation can be (I had something similar with Telstra). My advice would be that if they don't credit what you've agreed to, don't contact Vodafone/Three again - go straight to the TIO (website). There you can detail your problem and if they think you have a case they'll pursue it for you (In your case I think you're fine - I should think they would). In my discussions with various Telstra Customer Service people a few of the friendly ones said that if they get rude customers (no matter how justified) they don't enter the details of the conversations. The turnover in these places is so high that it really doesn't matter to them. If you pursue the TIO intervention expect 3-4 months for it to be finally resolved. I think that if you pursue with the TIO, you generally don't have to pay the amount you're disputing, just what you feel you agreed to, so if you should've been on a $49 cap but the bill is $335, pay the $49. But only do this after you have a case with the TIO and make sure you check your rights and obligations before you withold any money. The TIO is very helpful. Final advice: stay calm, it will work out.