Vodafone - Extremely Poor Service

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kelp

4 posts

Wannabe Geek

#191638 11-Feb-2016 12:12

I am experiencing incredibly poor service from Vodafone and I am seriously thinking about switch providers, enough is enough. I guess it is a false sense of loyalty that I am still persisting with them.

Anyway, the issue/s were or are as follows. We shifted house in late December / early January and simply wanted a similar service at the new address. Our old addresses services included cable tv, unlimited cable internet (fixed IP) and a landline. The new addresses services are VDSL unlimited (fixed IP, not yet) and landline. Now you would think this would be a simple process, well think again. I took several weeks to connect the internet (something about port availability) and even longer to port the existing land line number to the new address. Ok I realise this was over the Christmas period, but this is Christchurch and it is the 21st Century surely this should only take a week at the most. While this work was occurring and after I had moved up to the new address Vodafone continued to charge internet, cable tv and phone services at the old address, despite written communications requesting to disconnect. I have now contacted Vodafone 9 X and spent at least 4+ hours waiting on hold and talking to customer service agents promising that my account will be corrected. They even offered to wave the first month’s fees at the new address. This has now been promised 4 X, but nothing has happened. For the last 3 conversations I requested an email to confirm that error had been rectified and guess what nothing. Additionally, I still do not have a fixed ip address, but that’s another issue. I have been a loyal Mobile Vodafone customer since day one and loyal internet / cable tv subscriber since their purchase of Telstraclear. I cannot afford to wait another 4 hours hours trying to resolve this. Other than changing providers I am at a loss of what to do. Any suggestions on how to resolve this would be appreciated.

johnr

19282 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#1490299 11-Feb-2016 12:34

Hi @kelp

DM @VodafoneDylan some details but if you are a VDSL port waiter this is out of retail ISP control, In mean time you may have to request ADSL2+ services,

John

Edit: I have also emailed Dylan at work about this thread (I am off work today as I worked last night)

John

phantomdb

583 posts

Ultimate Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#1490304 11-Feb-2016 12:38

would the customer care people given the OP the option of adsl untill a vdsl port becomes available?

im sure thats call keeping the customer happy or informed.

[ SIGNATURE HERE ]

johnr

19282 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#1490305 11-Feb-2016 12:41

@phantomdb Yes they should be able to ADSL2+ in mean time but if a order is sent to Chorus for VDSL then it's VDSL order with Chorus, They don't just put them onto a ADSL port then, You can't have 2 orders in the system at the same time

Retail ISPs update customers when they are updated from the wholesale service provider,

kelp

4 posts

Wannabe Geek

#1490335 11-Feb-2016 13:21

Thanks for the quick responses. We have a port now, that has been resolved, and yes the telephone number has been ported. Here I was highlighting how long it took to get these services up and running. My biggest fear now is that if we choose to change providers we will end up loosing the port and again having to wait weeks to have it reconnected.

My biggest issue is that I still have a charge for a service that I disconnected from and keep getting told that it will be resolved and that, when requested, they would send an email confirmation stating this. To date nothing has happened as I called again this morning to check and was again transferred to another team to look into the issue. I waited 20 min listening to music before being disconnected. I can understand this happening once or twice but not all the time. You cannot keep getting passed from team to another achieving nothing other than wasting my time. 2Degrees were prompted in responding and, on the surface, appear to be offering a better deal. I will give Vodafone one more try.

UHD

655 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

#1490355 11-Feb-2016 13:32

johnr: Retail ISPs update customers when they are updated from the wholesale service provider,

This seems to be the exception rather than the rule.

johnr

19282 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#1490357 11-Feb-2016 13:33

What 0800 / 0508 number are you calling ?

Jaxar

383 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1490362 11-Feb-2016 13:38

phantomdb:

would the customer care people given the OP the option of adsl untill a vdsl port becomes available?

im sure thats call keeping the customer happy or informed.

As JohnR said this is possible but not as simple as it sounds. On average it would be a net negative experience for customers.

First thing to understand is the type of port waiting status is not something an ISP can know in advance. I can't say for sure but I suspect Chorus doesn't know in advance either.

Second as JohnR said you can't have two orders at the same time.

Assuming best case scenario sale happens on day 1 is processed by ISP and submitted to Chorus same day.
1 - 3 working days pass and information is obtained that this might be a problem. Might is a key word. A lot of the time this problem is resolved before the actual install date with nobody but the ISP back end provisioning teams seeing it.
Lets deal with the times then that it is not resolved before hand.
Roughly 5 to 9 work days have passed and the customer has not gotten service when they expected and are rightfully pissed off because not having internet is annoying for regular people let alone the type of people like myself who hang out here.

Now lets say best case scenario the customer on the same day the install has not gone through (which frankly is unlikely the next days is more realistic) gives the go ahead for Plan B the ADSL temp fix.
First thing that has to happen is the old order has to be cancelled by the ISP and then on Chorus' end. You are look at between 4 to 20 working hours.
Now the customer has waited 1 to 3 working days before an ISP even has the new order into Chorus. The next wait time comes down to availability of techs. You are looking at 1 to 5 working days maybe more. If you can get an intact install of ADSL with no splitter install which geekzone specifically recommends you get then you are looking at the 1 to 2 day mark. This means your later upgrade to VDSL would still need that splitter install though.
Also without that first splitter upgrade you run the risk of a failed install. Basically you are adding another day where the customer has to wait around for the tech. This alone would put some customers off. Another fun part for the customer is where they need to reconfigure the VDSL equipment to work on ADSL. I'm not sure if it requires more reconfiguration when it would need to go back again. I'll grant you no big deal for the techy ones here but less fun for you average mum and dad.

Basically at the unlikely best case scenario you are at 2 working days realistically you are adding an extra week on just to get ADSL which isn't even what the customer wants. In that time the VDSL issue may already be resolved and often is.

Right so lets say everything went well for the ADSL install. Now we need to wait 1 to 3 working days usually 1 for the service order to close off on Chorus' end after the install. Now the provider can start the process to upgrade the ADSL to VDSL. I'm not going to take you through the specifics of that.

The last thing to note is you are talking about 4 orders to get VDSL instead of 1 now. That works out to be more than 4 times the chance for things to go wrong due to the added complexity for all parties involved.

Basically it all boils down to if an ISP could know in advance that there would be a delay reasonable expectations would be able to be set for the customer at the very least and in some cases having ADSL as a short term solution would be a good option. Without knowing this however once you include all the above context most of the time a customer is better off waiting.

Please note: I have a professional bias towards Vodafone.

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kelp

4 posts

Wannabe Geek

#1490365 11-Feb-2016 13:42

Regarding phone number, I can't remember probably the 0800 version but am always directed to overseas call centre, I think as I didn't like to ask. Even thought of sending email through to Matt Williams, Vodafone Consumer Director. Still might do that.

johnr

19282 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#1490398 11-Feb-2016 14:12

If you are / was a HFC customer you should be calling the number as shown on the invoice which I am sure is a 0508 number

kelp

4 posts

Wannabe Geek

#1490923 12-Feb-2016 09:51

Not too sure what you mean by a HFC customer but it is a 0800 number. Sorted out Fixed IP within 30 sec when dealing with AKL office. Charge for the disconnected service is still ongoing and I am still waiting on a email confirmation.