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
Share Your Pain
| ACT (1140) | Everywhere (19206) | NSW (7557) | NT (170) | QLD (3578) | SA (987) | Somewhere else (224) | TAS (242) | VIC (3573) | WA (1735) |
4719 Someone from TAS thinks vodafone is at 27 Dec 2010 07:00:55 PM
Well, I started the contract with Vodafone when I was still living in Sydney, in January of 2009. I had heard from a family member that the (at that time) new Blackberry Storm phone was the best of the best, so I decided to look into getting one. I went to an outlet at the Bankstown Centro shopping facility, and I got one of the Storm phones, and at the same time opened an account with Vodafone. At the time of my receiving the phone, I asked the individual who was working at the outlet if I would be able to receive signals in all States and Territories of Australia, and he said yes. I asked him if he was positive, and he replied with another enthusiastic "Yes". So, I got the phone, and went on my way. I experienced my first dropped call later that afternoon. One of the main reasons for changing mobile services in the first place was because of dropped calls and low signal reception in various places immediately outside of the Sydney area, from the previous mobile service provider.
I had had the phone for less than one month when I had my first serious problem with it. Because it was under a 30-day replacement warranty, I took it to the outlet where I got it, told the people there that the phone wasn't working, and they told me that they didn't have any more of the particular model in the store at that time. I wasn't in a position to do anything more about it at that time, because I was getting ready to go overseas that next day. I left for my overseas destination the next day, and returned about 30 days later. I immediately returned to the outlet where I had gotten the phone, and was told that they had more of that particular model in the store then, but that the 30-day replacement warranty had expired. So, I asked them what my options were. They said that I could give them the phone, and they would send it out to their repair facility. I did this, and about two weeks later they contacted me and said that the phone was ready to be picked up. I immediately went to the outlet, and they told me that the unit had been replaced with a new one. I had high hopes. Well, this second phone almost immediately dropped calls and had very poor signal reception in numerous parts of the Sydney area, as well as other places in Australia where I took it. Also, it was about three months until this second phone developed a problem that rendered it unusable. I took it to the outlet, where it was the same as before: they said leave it here, we'll send it out, and you should have it back in about two weeks. Well, about three weeks later, I got a phone call from the outlet telling me that the phone was back. Again, I immediately went to the outlet to get the phone. I picked it up, and hadn't even gotten out of the shopping center when the phone dropped its first call. I turned around and walked back to the shop, told them about the problem, and they asked me if the battery was fully charged. I told them it was. They told me that because of the large amount of metal within the shopping center, that the signal strength was usually not very good there, and to take the phone outside the mall and try it again. I did, and the signal strength was better outside the mall. Well, shortly after all this, I moved to Tasmania. I came to Devonport on the Spirit of Tasmania ferry, and as soon as I arrived in Devonport I tried to use the phone, and I discovered almost no signal strength. I drove around Devonport trying to find a location where I had a better signal, but could find none. I then drove to Burnie, again with no better signal strength. I now refer back to the first part of this writing, where I had been told by the people who initially sold me this phone that it would work equally well in ANY State or Territory of Australia. Needless to say, it hardly worked at all in Tasmania. The only exception to this is that it appeared to work OK in Launceston, which is one of the larger towns in Tasmania.
I took the phone to China, Malaysia, and New Zealand with me on business trips, and it did operate satisfactorily in all three of these countries, as long as I was in large cities in those countries. It appeared that in rural areas, there was almost no signal strength, and this appeared to be the case in all three of the countries mentioned above.
The last thing I have to comment on is that every time I have tried to make a credit card payment on the phone account, the credit card is not accepted by the Vodafone credit card payment system.
I am absolutely NOT happy at all with either the service, the equipment, or the customer service from Vodafone. All in all, a very large disappointment.
Mike Kirkley
Wynyard, Tasmania
I had had the phone for less than one month when I had my first serious problem with it. Because it was under a 30-day replacement warranty, I took it to the outlet where I got it, told the people there that the phone wasn't working, and they told me that they didn't have any more of the particular model in the store at that time. I wasn't in a position to do anything more about it at that time, because I was getting ready to go overseas that next day. I left for my overseas destination the next day, and returned about 30 days later. I immediately returned to the outlet where I had gotten the phone, and was told that they had more of that particular model in the store then, but that the 30-day replacement warranty had expired. So, I asked them what my options were. They said that I could give them the phone, and they would send it out to their repair facility. I did this, and about two weeks later they contacted me and said that the phone was ready to be picked up. I immediately went to the outlet, and they told me that the unit had been replaced with a new one. I had high hopes. Well, this second phone almost immediately dropped calls and had very poor signal reception in numerous parts of the Sydney area, as well as other places in Australia where I took it. Also, it was about three months until this second phone developed a problem that rendered it unusable. I took it to the outlet, where it was the same as before: they said leave it here, we'll send it out, and you should have it back in about two weeks. Well, about three weeks later, I got a phone call from the outlet telling me that the phone was back. Again, I immediately went to the outlet to get the phone. I picked it up, and hadn't even gotten out of the shopping center when the phone dropped its first call. I turned around and walked back to the shop, told them about the problem, and they asked me if the battery was fully charged. I told them it was. They told me that because of the large amount of metal within the shopping center, that the signal strength was usually not very good there, and to take the phone outside the mall and try it again. I did, and the signal strength was better outside the mall. Well, shortly after all this, I moved to Tasmania. I came to Devonport on the Spirit of Tasmania ferry, and as soon as I arrived in Devonport I tried to use the phone, and I discovered almost no signal strength. I drove around Devonport trying to find a location where I had a better signal, but could find none. I then drove to Burnie, again with no better signal strength. I now refer back to the first part of this writing, where I had been told by the people who initially sold me this phone that it would work equally well in ANY State or Territory of Australia. Needless to say, it hardly worked at all in Tasmania. The only exception to this is that it appeared to work OK in Launceston, which is one of the larger towns in Tasmania.
I took the phone to China, Malaysia, and New Zealand with me on business trips, and it did operate satisfactorily in all three of these countries, as long as I was in large cities in those countries. It appeared that in rural areas, there was almost no signal strength, and this appeared to be the case in all three of the countries mentioned above.
The last thing I have to comment on is that every time I have tried to make a credit card payment on the phone account, the credit card is not accepted by the Vodafone credit card payment system.
I am absolutely NOT happy at all with either the service, the equipment, or the customer service from Vodafone. All in all, a very large disappointment.
Mike Kirkley
Wynyard, Tasmania