Trying to upgrade to new Vodafone TV and getting nowhere...

Forums › One New Zealand (including Vodafone, WxC, Farmside) › Trying to upgrade to new Vodafone TV and getting nowhere...

BackFootPunch

8 posts

Wannabe Geek

#248711 7-Apr-2019 07:46

Hi all,

Hopefully someone from Vodafone can give me a hand with this.

I've been with Vodafone for 5+ years and have never really had any issues. I managed to move cities and get connected at my new place no worries. I got convinced to upgrade to cable (I'm in Christchurch) and that all went pretty well. I was an early adopter of FibreX and again had no problems.

I've had the black Vodafone TV box (the one that's like a MySky box) for the last few years and it works alright but is a bit slow. After the new Vodafone TV came out (last year?) I thought it might be worth a look but saw some average reviews so decided to wait.

Anyway, I went into my local Vodafone store nearly a month ago and tried to organise upgrading to the new Vodafone TV. It was going to save me a bit of money and get me more channels than I currently have. The person in store was super helpful and I thought things were all sorted. As far as I was concerned, it was a pretty simple thing. I wanted to stay on FibreX and just get the new box for my TV.

Not to be, apparently! The first sign of trouble was when I got a message from Enable about organising a time to get fibre installed. I quickly rang Vodafone and got that cancelled, but was told I would get a call from the original person in-store to sort out the miscommunication. That call never arrived, so I went back in store myself to try and sort it. I got the impression things were a bit complex behind the scenes because I'm on the old account system but left the store thinking things were sorted (again). I've still not heard anything since then, have been back in store a third time to check up on things and really feel no closer to getting this sorted. Last time I was in there I got told they can't really help me at this point, as it was in someone else's hands, which doesn't make a great deal of sense from a customer service perspective.

Is it not just a matter of mailing me the new piece of hardware and getting me to plug it in?

I'm out of contract and had been considering moving to fibre with another provider but decided to stick with Vodafone and FibreX seeing as I hadn't had any real issues previously and couldn't be bothered dealing with the shared driveway dramas around fibre. Now I'm a bit worried that the 12 months I've just signed up for to get this new deal are going to be a disaster.

Any help would be much appreciated!

quickymart

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#2212114 7-Apr-2019 08:16

@JasonParis

phantomdb

583 posts

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#2212126 7-Apr-2019 08:38

as a heads up I'm a 20year customer from back when I could get 128k cable. I have always found vodafone good if you dont have to ring the call center. as a side note when I rung just recently the nice girl butchered Kia ora pretty badly.

last time I resigned for a contract they sent me a "new TV box" but I am on fibre is the difference. the box is small and from what I have gathered mainly okay as a platform. apart from last weeks outage.

all recording is via the cloud not locally from memory (I dont actually record much if at all to really know)

as vodafone market fiberx as a fibre product it sounds real simple to just send the box.

best of luck.

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Goosey

2830 posts

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#2212128 7-Apr-2019 08:51

Just curious why you wouldnt want to get fibre. Fibre X is inferrior to actual fibre.

Enable install fibre for free....

And from what I can see....you wanted VF TV, so that means getting a new plan.

BackFootPunch

8 posts

Wannabe Geek

#2212145 7-Apr-2019 09:31

Goosey:

Just curious why you wouldnt want to get fibre. Fibre X is inferrior to actual fibre.

Enable install fibre for free....

And from what I can see....you wanted VF TV, so that means getting a new plan.

I'm renting and not sure I'll be here much more than the rest of the year, so not overly fussed with having to organise consent etc. I'm not a heavy internet user and FibreX has been genuinely good since I got it a few years back.

Yeah, the new plan is part of the attraction. Currently paying $170+ for internet, old Vodafone TV (with sport but not movies or SOHO) but the new plan will give me what I already have plus movies and SOHO and be $10 cheaper.

antoniosk

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#2212183 7-Apr-2019 11:17

BackFootPunch:

Hi all,

Hopefully someone from Vodafone can give me a hand with this.

I've been with Vodafone for 5+ years and have never really had any issues. I managed to move cities and get connected at my new place no worries. I got convinced to upgrade to cable (I'm in Christchurch) and that all went pretty well. I was an early adopter of FibreX and again had no problems.

I've had the black Vodafone TV box (the one that's like a MySky box) for the last few years and it works alright but is a bit slow. After the new Vodafone TV came out (last year?) I thought it might be worth a look but saw some average reviews so decided to wait.

Anyway, I went into my local Vodafone store nearly a month ago and tried to organise upgrading to the new Vodafone TV. It was going to save me a bit of money and get me more channels than I currently have. The person in store was super helpful and I thought things were all sorted. As far as I was concerned, it was a pretty simple thing. I wanted to stay on FibreX and just get the new box for my TV.

Not to be, apparently! The first sign of trouble was when I got a message from Enable about organising a time to get fibre installed. I quickly rang Vodafone and got that cancelled, but was told I would get a call from the original person in-store to sort out the miscommunication. That call never arrived, so I went back in store myself to try and sort it. I got the impression things were a bit complex behind the scenes because I'm on the old account system but left the store thinking things were sorted (again). I've still not heard anything since then, have been back in store a third time to check up on things and really feel no closer to getting this sorted. Last time I was in there I got told they can't really help me at this point, as it was in someone else's hands, which doesn't make a great deal of sense from a customer service perspective.

Is it not just a matter of mailing me the new piece of hardware and getting me to plug it in?

I'm out of contract and had been considering moving to fibre with another provider but decided to stick with Vodafone and FibreX seeing as I hadn't had any real issues previously and couldn't be bothered dealing with the shared driveway dramas around fibre. Now I'm a bit worried that the 12 months I've just signed up for to get this new deal are going to be a disaster.

Any help would be much appreciated!

Not exactly sure whats happened for you, but I spoke to the TV team on Thursday - 0800 346 751 - and everything I wanted was sorted within 5 minutes. the call was just before lunchtime, answered within 1 minute including the terrible IVR time, and the chap I spoke to was in CHCH sales team. Done DOne and done and the experience was good.

We did go through the new tv box - im concious our boxes are 10 years old, which is pretty good for something with a mechanical hard disk spinning constantly in them - and he outlined that I would have to move to a new bill package (coming off the TelstraClear platform, which I am ambivalent about), but could keep cable installed or get Fibre if I want, could keep one of my two landline numbers and have to move to voip with a new homehub. The only thing unclear is whether I can keep my existing router inline and just use the hub for voice, but that's a convo for another day.

This is always a challenge when the support channels are geographically spread - esp into other countries - and you lose the continuity of initial support. But I would call the number and ask for SALES, then see if you can get it sorted out.

There's a huge amount of voda-hate on gkz now - a lot enabled by Voda themselves and their questionable approach to service management - but the prop is still attractive enough for most folks, so keep going until youre annoyed enough.

The alternative of course is Sky with a Dish (yuk) and several bills all over again :-)

________

Antoniosk

quickymart

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#2212192 7-Apr-2019 11:39

Great you got to speak to someone from the Chch sales team - for now. Wonder what it will be like when they're all gone?

BackFootPunch

8 posts

Wannabe Geek

#2212198 7-Apr-2019 11:51

antoniosk:

Not exactly sure whats happened for you, but I spoke to the TV team on Thursday - 0800 346 751 - and everything I wanted was sorted within 5 minutes. the call was just before lunchtime, answered within 1 minute including the terrible IVR time, and the chap I spoke to was in CHCH sales team. Done DOne and done and the experience was good.

We did go through the new tv box - im concious our boxes are 10 years old, which is pretty good for something with a mechanical hard disk spinning constantly in them - and he outlined that I would have to move to a new bill package (coming off the TelstraClear platform, which I am ambivalent about), but could keep cable installed or get Fibre if I want, could keep one of my two landline numbers and have to move to voip with a new homehub. The only thing unclear is whether I can keep my existing router inline and just use the hub for voice, but that's a convo for another day.

This is always a challenge when the support channels are geographically spread - esp into other countries - and you lose the continuity of initial support. But I would call the number and ask for SALES, then see if you can get it sorted out.

There's a huge amount of voda-hate on gkz now - a lot enabled by Voda themselves and their questionable approach to service management - but the prop is still attractive enough for most folks, so keep going until youre annoyed enough.

The alternative of course is Sky with a Dish (yuk) and several bills all over again :-)

Thanks for that. Might try that number during the week if I have no luck through this avenue.

Have you actually received your new TV box yet? I had a pretty similar experience as you did when I initially tried to set this up in store. The person I talked to was great and we discussed all the details of my new plan. It all sounded positive and simple but the important parts of actually getting the hardware sent to me and moving my account from what I assume is the old TelstraClear platform to the new billing system just haven't occurred and don't seem to be likely to occur at this point.

I'm definitely not a Vodafone hater - just frustrated that a seemingly simple upgrade for a customer is proving so difficult (and that I'm the one having to do all the follow up).

Wise

Send money globally for less with Wise - one free transfer up to NZ$900 (affiliate link).

antoniosk

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#2212302 7-Apr-2019 16:06

@backfootpunch havent actually ordered it yet :-)

________

Antoniosk

BackFootPunch

8 posts

Wannabe Geek

#2217282 15-Apr-2019 11:16

Just following up on this...

Last Tuesday I rang the number I was given above and talked to a guy from the Vodafone TV sales team. He had a look at my account and seemed to sort things out. Clearly there had been some issues with the process to that point, but I got off the call feeling like things were now sorted.

Part of the reason I'd wanted to do this whole upgrade thing was to watch the last season of GoT on SoHo. I started the process more than a month ago so I'd be ready to go for the new season. Anyway, that hasn't happened so I rang back this morning and got SoHo added to my current account (it took all of about 2 minutes).

While I was on the phone I asked for an update on what was happening with my Vodafone TV upgrade and apparently there's still something holding things up. I should have had contact from Downer to organise the installation of my new equipment (hasn't happened). The person I spoke to said she'd put me on hold and investigate, then 50(!) minutes of being on hold later I was back at the start of the queue and talking to some other guy who had no idea who I was. He said he'd transfer me back to the Vodafone TV sales team, then put me on hold again. Then I got the "it'll be 50-60 minutes before your call is answered" message and decided to give up. I feel that it's unlikely I'll get a call back from the person who put me on hold originally and lost me in the system.

This is getting a bit ridiculous. How hard can it be to install a little black box and migrate my account to the newer system?

@JasonParis - I know this isn't your fault but any help here would be appreciated.

ajw

1932 posts

Uber Geek

#2217302 15-Apr-2019 12:28

You are not the only one waiting for vfone upgrades. Three weeks ago I re-signed to a two year contract Upgrade to VOIP for landline, speed upgrade, unlimited national calls and 5x best mates on the Docsis 3.1 cable network. Still waiting and finally gave up on return phone calls and waiting to get through on their helpline. Last Friday I had, had enough and made a complaint

https://www.tdr.org.nz/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwtMvlBRDmARIsAEoQ8zQ4oZQtknzaJwqYbMzRxHp49OvmOI1F2qz9mGl0hy7CisSllAdFNvcaAt2dEALw_wcB

Still no response from Vodafone.

Surely this is in breach of the contract I have with vodafone.

BackFootPunch

8 posts

Wannabe Geek

#2225422 26-Apr-2019 12:09

It's now more than 6 weeks since I first tried to organise this upgrade. I've basically got nowhere.

Apparently it's been with the migration team this whole time and, according to the guy I just spoke to on the phone, I'm not the only one waiting around for my account change to be processed.

Surely it can't be that hard to simply create a new account for me and send me a Vodafone TV box to plug in?

I'm at the point where I'd really rather not commit to a 12 month contract with a company that can't get something this simple sorted. I think I'm probably better off sticking with my old plan (my contract term is finished), even if it does mean paying more than I would with the new contract.

ajw

1932 posts

Uber Geek

#2225423 26-Apr-2019 12:15

It's taken a month to finally getting upgraded on my cable service including getting a voice upgrade to VOIP. And now after trying unsuccessfully for four days to access my vodafone portal to enter best mates numbers have been told there is a fault with the website.

Linux

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#2225425 26-Apr-2019 12:22

So then the staff member should be able to add the Bestmates for you

ajw

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#2225641 26-Apr-2019 15:52

Linux: So then the staff member should be able to add the Bestmates for you

Tried that, staff concerned said they cannot access the portal.