I signed up for a whiz bang offer in 2001. I ended up with a phone that was so big it wouldn't fit in my pocket (motorola a series). The problems began the moment I walked out the door. The battery would last just 4 hours in standby. I'd carry two batteries with me just to last the day. Support said that it was normal! Bullshit!

The network coverage was worse than telstra by a country mile. I couldn't make calls indoors from an office in balwyn, just a few km from the cbd! Hopeless.

The phone from hell would not be repaired. The customer service was non existent. So I stopped paying the bill and whenever they rang me with demands for payment, I told them payment would be made immediately if they give me a replacement handset.

I think you know how this ends. Bill goes to debt collectors. I tell them to suck it. Account holder get nasty annotation in credit file. I complain. They get written off.

Anyway, about a year ago we moved up to the nsw border and my wife was with voda despite my dramas earlier (they never listen). No signal in the town. Not even 2g. Nothing.

So sometimes we'd get one bar from the next town. One fleeting bar of signal. But most of the time the phone just sat searching and chewing through battery.

Needless to say they expected us to pay out the contract. Yeah right. So I threaten to call the tio. Of course we'll let you leave early, they say.

Worst telco in the country. Don't use.