I was a Vodafone customer for 4 years, always hated both the customer service and the mobile reception - but stayed with them for the cheap rates Vodafone to Vodafone which all my contacts were with. Had a spare Telstra PrePaid SIM which I used in case of emergencies or when travelling, purely for the Reception. Until I got a promotion within IBM and was raised to being OnCall Support. Literally the day of this promotion, IBM Management advised I needed to change my mobile carrier to Telstra, as IBM knew that any phone on Optus towers, including Vodafone, were hopeless for contact and therefore useless for my new role of OnCall Support. I needed to be available 24/7 via Mobile Call, Paging (SMS) and Email as a last resort. So I changed to 3 Mobile, on Telstra Towers, and was a very happy model customer for 2 years: always upgraded handsets, never late paying $250+ bills a month. In July 2010, my contract was running out - so I signed another 24month contract. Within 3 weeks of signing the 2year contract, I was suddenly without Mobile Reception honestly 95% of the time and NEVER had Mobile Internet. I rang the Customer Service and complained, they swapped out my handset and SIM card. Tested again, within 48 hours was having the same issues. Took the phone & SIM back again, but "left it too late" - the 30-day trial had expired. I was stuck with minimal reception and zero mobile internet, with nothing 3 could do. It was during this period of complaining to my friends and family, who told me the issue was Vodafone - that 3 Mobile had sold themselves over to Vodafone! After hearing this I was furious, as I'd just signed a 24-month contract with 3 and was never advised they were now Vodafone! Furthermore 3 knew I signed with them in the first place to avoid Vodafone, that I was purely with 3 for their Telstra coverage. Enraged, I went into a store and threatened to write a letter to the Communications Ombudsman. It was at this time they were suddenly able to swap my phone for a new upgrade, free of charge. I accepted an iPhone4, only to have identical issues: 2 bars out of 5 for Mobile Reception only when I was in the dead centre of town, no coverage otherwise and ZERO mobile internet access. I'd get Voicemails 5+hours late and SMS between 24 and 36hours late. Never received calls unless I was in town literally standing under a mobile tower. I was ringing endlessly complaining to 3, nobody would listen. Went into the Store, nothing they could do and I had to call Support. Still nobody would listen when I said I've already called Support. Then the inevitable happened: due to my lack of network coverage, both mobile and Internet, I missed an IBM Critical Server Alert (Severity-1) as I was uncontactable - nobody could reach me via phone call, SMS or emails. By the time my phone got reception and every alert came though, it was 6hours late: I'd missed the Service Level Agreement (SLA) and IBM were fined $16,000. Needless to say, Management got involved with 3 and my job was put on the line. After numerous angry emails, letters and phone calls from myself and four Management Leads at IBM, 3 began to listen. They've now allowed me to cancel the 24month contract, free of charge, as long as I send the iPhone4 back. Morale of the story: don't stop fighting and don't stop complaining. Don't quit, don't give up - FORCE them to hear you! Eventually someone will listen and THEY CAN ALWAYS MEET YOUR DEMANDS, they're just more interested in stealing your money (and your job) off you first.