Genuine issues with Vodafone New Zealand: vent here

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freitasm

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Topic # 10120 6-Nov-2006 08:47

Yes, that's right. This is the thread some of you have been waiting for: I Have an Issue With Vodafone New Zealand (for a similar Telecom New Zealand thread click here, for a similar TelstraClear thread click here).

Post here if you you have a genuine complaint or disappointing experience about Vodafone New Zealand because:

- They provided a bad customer service experience;
- There was an unresolved overcharge in your account;
- Youhave a written promise of a service that the company failed to deliver.

Don't post here or anywhere in the forums if you don't like Vodafone New Zealand because:

- it's a large company;
- it makes a profit;
- they don't have the service you want;
- the HSDPA/UMTS/GPRS service is not giving you 3.6/.384/.042 Mbps (you know the distance from the cell site, device type, and even weather interfere with this, right?)

Off-topic posts will be deleted. One post per user only please.

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sbiddle

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Reply # 51170 6-Nov-2006 09:05

Have they done something to annoy you?

My latest experience was last week with an 029 SIM PrePay SIM that I use for my SMS gateway plugged into a GSM modem on my server. Last Monday I thought I would change this to the $10 TXT promo so rang 777 to get an account balance to get a message saying "You are not a valid prepay customer". I could still ring the phone and send TXT's, just not get a balance or make a call.

Suspecting the SIM had expired (I knew it hadn't been topped up since well before Xmas last year) I rang Vodafone to ask. After much indecision they told me the SIM was valid but couldn't really help me. I then contacted TelstraClear who were of the belief that since only a handful of customers ever had 029 PrePays that some sort of problem had occured in the migration to the new billing platform but they couldn't help since it was a Vodafone problem. I convinced Vodafone to log a job on Friday afternoon to investigate it with a promised resolution of 48 hours and that I would be contacted. I never heard anything to ring on Sunday afternoon to be told the job had been closed and that there was nothing Vodafone could do since it was an 029 SIM. To add to this the SIM then stopped sending SMS's.

I then rang TCL again who obviously finally spoke to the correct support person at Vodafone who came up with a quick simple answer - the SIM had infact expired. They couldn't explain why nobody else wasn't aware of this or hadn't contacted me.

I know it's unfair to blame Vodafone for the entire problem but I've always had issues trying to get any form of official customer support from Vodafone without having to use backdoors.

freitasm

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Reply # 51171 6-Nov-2006 09:12

No, nothing to annoy me. Trolls annoy me, so this thread is simply for people to vent about actual problems.

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richms

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Reply # 51193 6-Nov-2006 12:31

The only one thing that really does bother me with vodafone is their IVR when you call 777. Every time I call, I have to sit there for a good 20-30 seconds listening to that loud over enthusiastic guy telling about their latest specials before I can even press the options, which are read in the slowest most annoying manner possible.

Well, that and the texts to 777 to get the balance being down more often then up nessecitating me making the call to 777 in the first place.

Richard rich.ms

Kezzainc

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Reply # 51370 6-Nov-2006 22:50

GPRS Data plans should be cheaper because they are alot slower. Just like most ISP's do.

I do see the logic with 3g connections dropping back to GPRS and making plans simple.

I know this is a hard thing to ask but paying so much $ for one of the worse connection speeds is also very hard. Or not an option at all.

Why not offer a slow speed GPRS only plan? ...Get in on all that Addon action!!

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Reply # 51583 8-Nov-2006 10:52

Global Roaming Data Charges!
Come on Vodafone, surly you can do a better deal on this and make it worthwhile taking your data card overseas. How about 100Mb for $10? That would be much more realistic.

Chorus has spent $1.4 billion on making their xDSL broadband network faster. If your still stuck on ADSL or VDSL, why not spend from $150 on a master filter install to make sure you are getting the most out of your connection?
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Reply # 51604 8-Nov-2006 13:00

Kezzainc: GPRS Data plans should be cheaper because they are alot slower. Just like most ISP's do.

I do see the logic with 3g connections dropping back to GPRS and making plans simple.

I know this is a hard thing to ask but paying so much $ for one of the worse connection speeds is also very hard. Or not an option at all.

Why not offer a slow speed GPRS only plan? ...Get in on all that Addon action!!

I agree. If T-Mobile (UK) can manage flat-rate data for £7.50 a month I'm sure Voda could do it here....

________

Kezzainc

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Reply # 51609 8-Nov-2006 13:40

And from my understanding it has been flatrate for quite a longtime.

Sometimes huge data rates are not needed on your mobile... Eg, Email, updating rss feeds.

Just like a home connection.... Some people will never use the high speed so they get the choice for a slower plan. Pay less get less... Not much fun knowing some people are getting mb/s speeds but paying the same.

I think Vodafone will know this.... It seems it is more to do with the billing side of things and keeping everything simple.

They could still work with "Upto" XXX Speed. And charge to that. Then have 64k Max plan as another addon.

Im sure others are with me on the fact not everyone wants super fast speeds on there mobile. Unlimited i feel would work really well for GPRS. Not everyone would use much data but just enjoy having a more even bill no matter how many emails they received in one month.

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Reply # 51614 8-Nov-2006 14:27

First of all, last month Vodafone started charging me for text messages even though i still had text messages remaining on my account. I called up a CSR, she looked into at and was just as confused as I was, she then passed the matter onto their faults team and said she would get back to me within 48 hours and to just use my mobile as usual. Well 48 hours came and went, so I called up Vodafone again to ask what was going on with the mix up, the new CSR I spoke to had said there was no file open, so I went through the whole matter again with this new CSR and they sent away a new report to faults and said they would get back to me within 48 hours. I still didn't hear back from anyone at Vodafone, so I called back for a third time and the person I spoke to said there was an open faults request but it hadn't been looked into yet, they then got the CSR who delt with me to call me back a few hours later, he told me he'd get back to me within 24 hours with a result. I didn't hear from him so I called back up Vodafone AGAIN and just requested them to credit my account with the wrongly charged text messages, the CSR did so but said I'd have to pay my account in full now because the credits wont show up until my next bill. The problem resolved itself after my billing cycle ended, but I never did get to find out why I was being charged for text messages when I still had text messages remaining in my text 600 bundle.

I have had other issues/mistakes in the past where Vodafone have charged me too much for a service, if I didn't go through my bill each month, I woudln't have known on all occasions and would have paid too much.

cokemaster

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Reply # 51619 8-Nov-2006 15:15

My latest problem: lack of consistancy in disconnection fees. Disconnection fees quoted from phone support differ from documentation that I recieved at the time or from the Vodafone website.

Not sure if they are going to try charging the higher amount or not...

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cokemaster

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Reply # 52604 16-Nov-2006 11:06

Due to some situations (namely a job), I've had to look at a different mobile provider.

My problems:

As I posted before - I am on a Choose 60 12 month term. The disconnection fee for a Choose 60 12 month term is $65 max (Their website ) . However after calling Vodafone customer services I was quoted $125. They were supposed to email with documentation on how that was the case. I've rang them up and they've said that Choose addons have disconnection fess but they weren't sure?!? They never got back to me on that figure.

They talked me into keeping the connection by downgrading to a Choose 20 plan (early November). I requested December the 15th as that when I'm switching over. They actioned it for November the 15th. After calling them I got them to change it. However that was not the case. The expiry dates for the addons was still the 15th November.

Come 15th of November, all my addons that I had requested for the 15th of DECEMBER get removed and replaced with the ones that I requested to replace them.

The 1GB PROMOTION GPRS data plan got removed too.

After calling Vodafone customer services and being put on hold, I get a CSR that hangs up on me. Then when I call, I can't get the same data plan back as the promotion expires, I can't get the 200 SMS addon back because another one has been put in - they did offer to put it in on the NEXT billing cycle which is a bit useless as my partner doesn't exactly text that much.

Furthermore because of this unauthorised data removal, my data sessions that I made in the early hours of the morning will most likely be charged at the casual GPRS rate of $10 per MB!

End result: we sorted out a deal with the SMS however I'm still paying more for the 1GB mobile broadban plan because I can't get my old plan put back on ($10 difference). Plus I have to call them later this month to request a disconnection of the data plan and the addons.

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sat

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Reply # 52640 16-Nov-2006 13:25

I had No coverage yesterday while in Marton, luckily i hade my Telecom phone as well which delivered full coverage

rpvr

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Reply # 53643 25-Nov-2006 20:53

In early November I became a Vodafone customer for a very brief period. I bought a second-hand handset for a work phone, and went to a Vodafone retailer to sign up to a plan. Also decided to put on a credit limit. It was not explained to me about when the billing cycle ended, and that the part charge for six days until the end of the cycle, plus the full charrge for the next month, would immediately put me over the limit I had selected. So six days later I found my outward calls blocked at a very inconvenient time.

Now, anyone can make a mistake, and if I had been able to get through on 777 and get a clear explanation of the problem and a resolution, things would have been fine. Two periods of 45 minutes waiting for customer service and still not having achieved contact with a live human being, smoke was coming from my ears.

But worse was to come. I finally achieved contact on day two, only to be told I had to go back to the shop to sort it out. At that point I decided I had had enough, and requested the account be closed. No can do, I was told, as the plan has only been in existence for 6 days, I had to go bsck to the shop. This I duly did, to be told they couldn't close it, I had to call 777 for that

I flatly refused and eventually they said it would be done , the current charges would be reversed and this would show on the website within 48 hours. 3 days went by and the website still showed my account as active. Back to the shop and they said they would try again, this time giving me a copy of the CAF (Correction Advice Form), and once again telling me it would be attended to within 48 hours.

Surely, I thought, it will be attended to this time, so didn't bother checking the website until a week later. And guess what? Still nothing had changed - and then the account arrived in the mail! Back to the shop again, to find that the matter had been referred back to the staff member who complted the paper work for the plan in the first place, but of course it just happened to be her day off when I called. I was promised that the matter would be investigated and I would be phoned back this afternoon - but it is now nearly 9pm, and surprise, surprise....no phone call!

This company's idea of customer service is beyong belief. I'm considering going to the head office when I'm in the city next week, and demanding to see the CEO. What other course have they left me?

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Reply # 53647 25-Nov-2006 22:52

Went to a Vodafone shop and signed up for an extra phone number for my partner, on my account. Managed to get a good phone number so was happy. Got home popped the sim into her phone. Comes up “inactive SIM”. Rang customer service took 3 hour’s to get it to work. It took another week of calls and hassle’s to get MMS to work. Took the shine off, should have been easy.

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Reply # 53877 27-Nov-2006 20:26

HOW SIMPLE DOES IT GET!!

This is one of just many calls to 777, MOST of the agents (7 out of ten calls) are either just extremely rude and arrogant like they don't need customers, the other 2 out of ten try to help but are just plain poorly trained (or temps) and do things like barring accounts and deleting email (vodafone mail) accounts in their ill fated fumble with the system due to obvious lack of training.

Then you do get the 1 gem agent whom just manages to keep my business and fixes all problems in one 3 minute call. If this is not fixed very rapidly, they are going to start losing a huge number of customers.

Simple request tonight, Remove OCCF and keep the actual Voicemail intact.

I phone 777 tonight and ask the agent (who answered with ten names!, I always try and write the name down) if he can remove OCCF but leave the voicemail intact please as I wish to create my own diverts.
He asks me why I want to do this and I explain I wish to set the forwarding manually due to roaming etc.
I get this big speil "I don't quite get why you are wanting this removed?"
I explain it's been done numerous times before and sometimes it just ghosts back on during upgrades.
Thought.....No worries, He'll just remove the feature now........
Put on hold, he looks through my notes for some unknown reason..........
Come back, Still get asked, I don't see why you want this removed, I will do it buut that will also remove voicemail too.
I explain, i have never had any problems getting this actioned before...

Please just remove OCCF feature and leave VMS active or get your manager to action this if you are unsure.

Told, "Sorry this cannot be done", I can't help you followed by a "click"

I phone the mobile data helpdesk as they have usually been excellent.
The guy (Bronson?) removed the OCCF call feature in less than 10 seconds..... simple, Cheers man!