Vodafone Customer Service, bloody useless!

[delinquentwoody]

Last week i sent Voda CS a simple email question, asking if they knew when 3G coverage will become available in Hull.

The conversation went like this.

Me

Im wanting to get a 3G phone
however Ive noticed that there is
no 3G coverage in any of Hull
yet. I was wondering is coverage
planned and if so when?

Cheers


Their speedy response, the next day, was:


Thank you for your mail dated 02nd March 2005 regarding the coverage of your
3G handset.
Please can you provide your mobile number / your account number so we can
access your details as the number you have provided is coming up as an
invalid Vodafone number on our systems.
We will then be able to respond to your email query.
If there is anything else we can help you with, please do not hesitate to
contact us.
Please contact us by dialling 191 from your Vodafone handset or 08700 700
191 from any UK landline.

Kind Regards,
Vikki Rensburg
Customer Operations


Now Im not a vodafone customer, i sent them the email from the form on the shop on their website (ie. for PROSPECTIVE customers!). So i sent this reply.



Hi there,

I do not currently have a Vodafone handset, I'm actually thinking of getting
one.
But when I look at the coverage map for Hull there is no 3G coverage (it's a
3G handset im wanting).
My question is, is Hull going to get 3G coverage, and if so, when?

Thanks,


They then took 4 days to respond to this question, with this:


Thank you for your mail regarding our direct sales line.
If you would like to open a new pay monthly contract with Vodafone by phone, or
if you already have such a contract and would like to add an extra line, then
please call Vodafone Direct Sales on 0800 015 8079.

Kind Regards,
Steven Kumar
Vodafone Customer Services



Bloody useless!! So I've now replied to this email, and asked them the (very simple) question for the third time! I'd already rung the above number up to ask the question, and they told me to email them, so basically im being passed around from pillar to post to find an answer to a very simple question. I'm not even a customer of vodafone, so i really dread to think how they must treat their customers!

[Killahurts]

By the time you get your answer you might actually have coverage up there ha

[Adam]

Vodafone customer care has been brilliant for me. Called up to activate video calling. The guy on the phone forgot to say it takes up to 48 hours, so called me back later to apologise!

[a835guru]

Oh dear! lol it sounds like ur question was answered by some computer generated response by Voda. That or they have hired some bad staff :p

[mpower]

Oh dear! lol it sounds like ur question was answered by some computer generated response by Voda. That or they have hired some bad staff :p

yes thats what i think too answers generated by a computer

[The_Fellowship]

Maybe you should reply back in a computer-generated way..so their computer understands what you're actually asking! lol

[cuttyian]

i have requested my pac code to take my number with me now that my contract with vodafone has finished, it finished on the 13th may and thats when i requested my pac code and was told it would be avaialable in 48 hours.Rang back in 48 hours and guess what still not avaiable, so rang again this morning and had to request it again! All is forgiven orange for taking so long to release the 6680, because if this is the way vodafone treat customers who have been with them for 10 years then i cant wait to join orange and have some decent customer service!!!

[edd green]

they are all the same
no one will listen they have got that big with to much profits
one voice on the phone they dont want to know

[weeman247]

Hey guys thought I would come on here to sort some things out. I AM MYSELF A VODAFONE SERVICE ADVISOR. I must first say that not all advisors are as bad as people say, I dont work directly for voda, I work for an out-sourcer. The company I work for has very highly trained staff ( NOT LIKE VODA OWN ) we are that good that we have just received a massive contract from vodafone. I must first apologise as a customer advisor for bad service that some people may have received, but must further add. WHEN YOU CALL BACK TO COMPLAIN, PLEASE PLEASE DO NOT TAKE YOUR ANGER OUT ON THE ADVISOR YOU SPEAK TO. WE ARE ONLY HUMAN, AND I DONT KNOW WHY SOME PEOPLE THINK THYE HAVE THE RIGHT TO VERBALLY ABUSE US. I WOULD NOT CALL UP ANY COMPANY AND SPEAK TO PERSON THE WAY I HAVE BEEN SPOKEN TO IN THE PAST. BEFORE YOU CALL TO ABUSE US, THINK " WOULD I WANT TO BE SPOKEN TO, IN THE WAY I AM ABOUT TO SPEAK TO A COMPLETE STRANGER?" I BET THE ANSWER WOULD BE NO.
WE WORK FOR A COMPANY, A VERY BIG COMPANY AND DUE TO BEING SO BIG COMPANY WITH SO MANY CUSTOMERS THINGS CAN GO WRONG, HOWEVER WE DO OUR BEST TO PUT IT RIGHT. SOME TIMES PEOPLE ASK US THINGS THAT OUT OF OUR CONTROL, LIKE ANY COMPANY EMPLOYEE WE HAVE RULES ETC TO FOLLOW, BUT SOME CUSTOMERS WHAT US TO BEND THOSE RULES. WHEN THE ANSWER THEY ARE LOOKING FOR IS CLEARLY STATED IN THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THE AGREEMENT THEY SIGNED FOR ( WHICH I KNOW A LOT OF YOU DONT READ )

SO I ASK THE NEXT TIME YOU CALL UP, PLEASE PLEASE BE GENTLE WITH US, SCREAMING AND SHOUTING DOES NOT HELP PROBLEMS, WHEN PEOPLE ARE CALM THEY WORK BETTER, BUT WHEN YOU STRESS SOMEONE OUT, THEY TEND TO MISS THINGS OUT, SO THE NICER YOU ARE THE BETTER SERVICE YOU ARE GOING TO GET.
YES WE ARE JUST A VOICE ON THE END OF THE PHONE, BUT WE ARE HUMANS WITH FEELINGS. WE DO LISTEN BUT IT CAN BE HARD WHEN THE PERSON DOES NOT SPEAK BUT SHOUTS AND DOES NOT LET YOU ANSWER THERE QUESTIONS. :D :laugh:

[ian.mcd]

weeman i too work for same out sourcer and can tell you that typing in the forum in caps is the same as our customers coming on the phone and shouting

[dejongj]

Now first of all I have no complaints about Vodafone customer service. Yes they send me the wrong SIM for my phone, belonging to someone else, and attempts to correct it in software didn't work, but the problem got rectified, the people were courteous and well spoken...

But...I must admit that I am glad I didn't get passed on to you weeman247. Shouting back is definitely a sign of a lost battle and lost customer, don't ever step down to that level...

As ian.mcd stated before, when you write in capitals people switch off. Propably the same when people shout at you. Hence there will be a communications breakdown. Unfortunately you have chosen to take that job, so it is your job to calm someone down, rectify the situation and establish communication on an equal level. The moral using an euphemism; "If someone hits you, don't hit back, simply offer the other cheek".

[vodauser]

anyway to answer your question there are 3g vodafone cellsites in hull, what is your postcode and i'll check the area you live for you!

- yes i work their too :p

best regards

John.

[jamesbond2005]

they treat me well.i asked them to unlock a nokia 6630.they said they will sms me if they get the unlock code and it will cost £20.they sms me and i top up £20.but this time they said that they will unlock it for free.within 48 hours they sent me the code and didnot take any money.how generous!

[hockeyshooter]

I have found the email support slow and often just plain wrong, but by contrast the phone support is very good.

I live just south of MK and going by Vodafone's map we should get 3G here - but I don't. On the other hand, GPRS appears to be very fast here anyway.

Chris.

[PeteMc]

I have found the email support slow and often just plain wrong, but by contrast the phone support is very good.

I live just south of MK and going by Vodafone's map we should get 3G here - but I don't. On the other hand, GPRS appears to be very fast here anyway.

Chris.

Yeah vodafone's coverage map greatly exaggerates the area of their 3G coverage.

[impy78]

Unfortunately you have chosen to take that job, so it is your job to calm someone down, rectify the situation and establish communication on an equal level. The moral using an euphemism; "If someone hits you, don't hit back, simply offer the other cheek".
Whilst I agree with this to a certain extent, it is impossible to calm a certain type of person - usually those whose problem isn't that bad in the grand scheme of things. I pity those people, as such rudeness usually indicates a very low intellect.

To those people I offer two options:

1) Stop shouting and being silly and I will move mountains to help you, or;

2) Keep shouting and I will hang up on you.

Only one person has chosen option 2 in the three years I have been working in cs.
And the rest have usually ended up thanking me.

[M2KB]

I pity those people, as such rudeness usually indicates a very low intellect.

To those people I offer two options:

1) Stop shouting and being silly and I will move mountains to help you, or;

2) Keep shouting and I will hang up on you.

Only one person has chosen option 2 in the three years I have been working in cs.
And the rest have usually ended up thanking me.

*grin* ... exactly the same method we employ when forced to answer 999 calls!
Except considerably more go for option 2 with me for some reason. Conflict of personality perhaps...

[slatts]

dont go with vodafone,i am and i have to phone customer services atleast 3 times a month just to get my itemised bill and for them to take off the extra money they keep charging me.nobody has a clue how to help me and the managers promise the mistake wont happen again,its happened for 6 months in a row now and he promised after the 2nd month,useless

[swottyanh]

Here's my sorry story, detailed in an email I sent to Vodafone and will be sending by post today:


Dear Sir/Madam,


I am writing to complain about the shocking service I have experienced from Vodafone.

On Sunday evening, 8th January 2006, I ordered a Motorola V3 Razr from www.vodafone.co.uk, and the phone was delivered to me on Friday 13th January 2006. However, the phone I received was clearly second-hand, with no seals on the box, no plastic coverings on the phone screens, and the seal was broken on the CD that came with it.

Friday 13th January:
So, I phoned your sales team on 08700 770020 who gave me the number of the returns department 08701 261 090 to call to arrange for the correct phone to be delivered to me.

I called the Returns department number at 4pm. I was on hold for 40 minutes and when my call was finally answered at 4.40pm, I was speaking to you for 20 minutes on a premium rate number. You refused to offer me a refund of the Special Delivery charges that I would have to fork out for returning the phone due to YOUR mistakes. The first concession you made was to collect the second-hand phone on delivery of the new phone – except you would not deliver to my new address at university, even though you would have a phone to collect from here and not the address I initially gave you for delivery (as that was my boyfriend’s work address that he was leaving the day the phone arrived). So finally, I had to settle for my original delivery charge being refunded to ‘go some way towards the delivery charge’, to quote the woman I spoke to, who also said this was ‘a gesture on our behalf.’ Some gesture, making me pay even more for a phone it seems will never actually arrive.

So, I waited for the emailed returns notice that I would have to use to send the package back. I had to phone up for the email to be sent to me on Monday after the email was not sent to me immediately over the weekend as the woman had said. More phone costs of calling a premium rate number from my mobile. Finally, after getting the returns note on Monday 16th January, I walked 25 minutes to the nearest post office to send the parcel off by Special Delivery, costing me £5.35 – and the phone arrived at your company on the 17th January. I had been told that as soon as the phone was received by you, the new one would be sent out to me.

Monday 16th January:
After emailing customer services twice, Sue Cartlidge called me back to tell me that I would be refunded the total Special Delivery costs after all, but that actually, the phone that I had ordered was OUT OF STOCK, and that stocks would not be replenished until Friday 20th January, after which ‘your phone will be sent out asap.’
Tuesday 17th January: The phone I sent back arrives at your company.

Friday 20th January:
You apparently get your order of Motorola Razr V3 back in stock.

Monday 23rd January:
I am still waiting for phone. I email customer services asking for an ETA of my phone.

Tuesday 24th January:
I am still waiting.

Wednesday 25th January:
I receive a reply from customer services saying:

I can confirm that your order has gone through the credit checking process, and
has been dispatched.

The order will be delivered by Royal Mail; please allow 3-4 working days for
delivery. If there is no-one at home when Royal Mail attempt delivery, they will
leave a calling card; phone the number on the card to arrange re-delivery at a
more convenient time, or to arrange collection from the sorting office or your
nearest post office.

If you have any further queries regarding delivery of your order please call
0870 126 10 90.

Kind Regards

Sharon Chambers

Thursday 26th January:
I am still waiting.

Friday 27th January:
I am still waiting. I phone up customer services and speak to a woman (Judith) who not only tells me that the phone I ordered is discontinued but does not know how to track and find my order and apparently leaves a note on the computer of someone who does, who is supposed to get back to me. This person does not.

Monday 30th January:
I phone up and speak to a woman who tracks my phone and tells me that I can expect delivery of the phone on Wednesday.

Wednesday 1st January:
I check my post and the phone has not arrived. So I call up customer services. The first man I speak to says that the phone will arrive with Parcel Line and therefore may not be with the original post delivery. He puts me through to someone else who tells me the phone is delivered by Royal Mail Special Delivery and therefore goes to track the delivery. I am then told that the phone’s status is: ‘Still in the warehouse’.

I was shocked. I am still shocked at the horrendous service you have provided me. Not only was I told in an email and on the phone that my order had been despatched and that I could expect to receive the phone soon, but then I am told by a third person that the phone HASN’T EVEN LEFT YOUR PREMISES. I have now been told that it MIGHT be despatched this evening, in which case it MIGHT arrive tomorrow, or the day after. I am not holding my breath. I do not trust what you people tell me one bit.

All this while, I have had three calls from your people checking to see if I am happy with my phone. When I tell them I am not happy because I have not yet received it, instead of addressing the fact that I am not happy, they say – ‘Oh ok, we’ll call you back next week when you will have your phone.’ Talk about rubbing salt into an already very sore wound.

I have been waiting for this phone for 22 days and counting. Fortunately, I have been able to use my contract SIM card in another phone, but if this were not the case, I could have been stuck without a mobile phone for 22 days. You should be sued for making false claims of a providing a good service to your customers. Of course, you’re quite willing to charge me for the use of this contract and I am also paying insurance for a phone that I don’t have.

It should be easy to see how your appalling service has caused me to waste a lot of time and money calling, emailing and posting to you, and how much stress you have put me under with your appallingly inconsiderate, ironically titled, ‘Customer Care’. What I have experienced is blatantly not ‘care’ and you are clearly not adopting your company’s strategy to ‘delight your customer’ with any success at all.

I hope you will consider my situation very carefully and that as a gesture on your behalf you will compensate me appropriately. And if you could finally send me my phone, that would be nice too.

[Reefer]

This makes for an interesting read.

I have to agree that Vodafone customer service is some of the poorest I have received from a mobile provider.

I am going through a complaint with Voda at the moment so cannot post my letter of complaint or any other connected details but I will offer you one piece of advice - obtain a copy of your call-log record from them, I have.

You are entitled to this under the data protection act and I have to say that what is on my record is an eye opener.

Good luck with your complaint.

[swottyanh]

I now have an upgraded phone (to the V3i) which I received last Friday, but not before the following happened.

So we left off at the moment where the phone was going to be despatched in the evening and arrive Thursday morning. Thursday morning - phone is not there. So I phone up, and argue with one guy who says it will be delivered by Parcel Line and therefore can arrive at any time during the day, but I tell him that I had been told Royal Mail.

He goes to check, I'm put on hold...then cut off.

I call right back and speak to a girl who goes to find out what's happened to my parcel. Apparently it's 'on delivery' but she is not capable of finding out the special delivery tracking number.

I write another angry email to add to the previous one.

Finally, I get a person with a surname who calls me and tells me that the phone was despatched on Thursday (not the previous evening as I had been told) and would therefore arrive on Friday morning. I finally got an 0800 number to contact her directly on, AND a special delivery tracking number.

So there, I hope, ends my saga. Though I am now waiting for the free bluetooth headset that was out of stock...

[hockeyshooter]

Having received no reply to an earlier email, I called Vodafone four times yesterday to ask about tarrifs and contract renewal on a business account (a SIM in a satellite phone). Each time I'm told I've dialled the wrong number (on the last occasion I ask "what number should I have rung" and the answer was the number I had rang) and they forward me to business accounts. I enter my mobile number yet again (this is from a land line) and I get disconnected.

So I take back my previous comment "the phone support is very good" and instead am of the opinion that its complete pants. Instead of having a contract renewed, they've lost my custom to Thuraya.

Chris.

[OUTSOURCED]

basically the staff who answer your emails have to do so many an hour they use copy and paste to advise you what to do and mostly they just fob you off by asking you to call customer care .
tey are not trained in tech calls and do not want to spend more than a few minutes dealing with you email,hence fobbing you off.
They have sent the EGAIN to STOKE ON TRENT after making trained staff redundant hence the poor customer service you receive

[septdouleurs]

I am going through a similar nightmare with Vodafone (whose customer service I had always found very good before) since switching phones and getting a new number. All was well whilst the last month of my 18 month original contract was going, with the old phone switched to the lowest price plan and the new phone being used, and both numbers appearing on my online account views. Then suddenly I couldn't access any info for the new phone, and the old one's online billing info disappeared as well. This despite the usual 'your bill is available online' emails from Voda. I have been playing customer service email tag for something like a month and a half now, and I always attach the previous correspondence so they can see what has gone on beforehand. I don't think a single one of them has taken the time to check what I've already done before sending off a request for my password or telling me to register my new number or all the other useless advice they've given me.

This all started when I emailed them asking them to deactivate my mobile TV subscription before the end of the trial period, as I'd been trying to do it myself but could not access the relevant parts of their website or do it through my phone (has anyone else noticed that there is an almost perennial inability by the website to give you access to your information or perform the task you want to do? Don't see the point of the existence of 'My Vodafone' when it just sits there giving you error messages and telling you to try again later...). They took so long to reply that I sent another email to follow it up. That one elicited the reply that told me I couldn't be helped until I'd sent them a load of information (which I'd never been asked for before) verifying that I was myself (even though I'd used the webform while signed into my Vodafone account). Two hours after this, a reply arrived from the first query saying that they'd done as I asked and I hadn't been charged for the subscription (somehow they were able to do this without all the verifying info that the second people were asking me for).

My explanation? Vodafone is trying to save on its training budget by giving each online service rep an abridged manual, and each manual has been abridged differently, so no two reps will ever have the same policy or the same knowledge of what is happening. I'm about ready to take my complaint a step higher, but we'll see what the response is to my latest, very annoyed and very precise email.