Vodafone, I am out of patience...

Forums › One New Zealand (including Vodafone, WxC, Farmside) › Vodafone, I am out of patience...

traker

9 posts

Wannabe Geek

#27530 29-Oct-2008 19:09

After 4 months of stree, untold phone calls & emails I have just today convinced a Vodafone Rep (only the second one that spoke & understood the english I speak, NZer, and he was able to find the payment sitting in the OLD ihug a/c.

The service response's have been terrible and I will be switching to naked broadband & VIOP at the end of the month, now all I need to do is find the right provider, bugger lifes not easy

traker

jesterpaul

98 posts

Master Geek

#174766 31-Oct-2008 03:38

Beware of inferior products out there. I'm on Xnet Naked and peak time international speeds are rubbish compared to what I can get at two Vodafone ADSL connections I have access to elsewhere. I've cheeck the forums. Orcon, Snap and Slingshot all cop flak for such issues.

I've posted a question as to which Naked DSL ISP I should consider switching to here: http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=49&topicid=27577
Maybe if I get some answers there it may assist you as well.

traker

9 posts

Wannabe Geek

#174769 31-Oct-2008 05:14

Thanks I will keep an eye on it.

traker

w2krules

492 posts

Ultimate Geek

#174811 31-Oct-2008 09:51

You could look into some of the 2nd tier providers (Actrix, Maxnet, etc.) depending on where you live.

I've had customer service problems with every major provider in the last 12 months. I'm currently with Orcon, who do actually answer the phone in a reasonable time and attempt to deal with problems. (They got a phone line fault fixed within 24 hours.)

Also, I think that every provider is going through major change at the moment, which inevitably results in problems. Hopefull things will start to get better soon.

I was a geek before the word was invented!

BurningBeard

1030 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#177545 12-Nov-2008 12:54

I'm so glad I moved away from Vodafone in every way.

I've got a work mate who I sit next to who has been spending three months trying to get her shoddy Vodem bill sorted.

They've charged her hundreds when all she's done is check email. No suggestion as to why her data use has been so high.

Poor girl has been going around in circles for weeks now. Talking to some idiot in Cairo who has been nothing but rude... the Auckland staff *said* they'd wipe the bill but instead she's had MORE $$$ accumulating on her bill. Vodafone say they have no record of the call! An outright LIE.

One CSS told her to take her laptop and vodem into a store... well the muppet that worked there didn't even know what to look for.

It's funny, because it all came to a head the day that woman up north stormed into a Vodafone store with a shotgun. Seems that might be the only resort left? LOL

They don't value their customers, obviously.

Rude. Unhelpful. Utter crap.

*edit* and she's just given up in the end, she's just gonna pay several hundred dollars for NOTHING.

My very metal Doctor Who theme

alasta

6709 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Subscriber

#177564 12-Nov-2008 13:57

BurningBeard: *edit* and she's just given up in the end, she's just gonna pay several hundred dollars for NOTHING.

She doesn't need to do that. Just because you've been sent a bill doesn't mean that you're obliged to pay it.

If the charges are not legitimate then tell her to close her account, take her business elsewhere and notify Vodafone in writing that the charges are in dispute. Keep a record of all written correspondence as this will be useful if debt collectors or lawyers come knocking.

eXDee

4032 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#177593 12-Nov-2008 16:50

No provider seems to do good customer service these days.
I suggest when you switch providers to take a good look at what people say about each. I believe currently only Telecom, Telstraclear and Maxnet are without issues, and have reliable latency and speeds at peak, most of the time.

As for their customer service, phone wait times are very long on Telstraclear at peak time but their CSR's are very knowledgable and understanding, and seem to get a good idea of the level of experience a customer is at rather than giving them the usual run around. Email support is fairly good too and again the CSR's know when to go into depth or not, such as MTR results etc.

traker

9 posts

Wannabe Geek

#177615 12-Nov-2008 18:24

I took the advice of w2krules & tried contacting some of the 2nd tier providers, the 5 that I contacted via email & leaving a voice message (only one had a human answer the phone) none of the others got back to me.

The one that answered my call was XNet and they have been reallu helpful through my process of defining their service offering, I aminterested in naked broadband and as I live in the rural area on the fringe of Auckland, my d/l speed never gets better than 1.2 to1.6kbps and 130kbps up so speed isn't an issue, response to phone or email is.

Thus far they have answered my email within 4-6hrs and phoned me back within 1-2 hrs on the two occasions I haven't got through to a human, that is lightyears ahead of the experience with my current provider, so I will be switching to XNet naked..... however, and surely this could only happen in NZ

XNet cannot switch me from Vodafone and if I disconnect from them I stand the chance of losing my current telephone line and being put on a waiting list for another one, maybe months so Telecom tell me today. Soooo, I am required to cough up $139.40 to Telecom which is one current month of basic telephone service & one month ahead (1 month refunded as I will be on a 1 month contract) and $52+ to switch the phone line from Vodafone to Telecom just so XNet can switch me from Telecom (cost of another $25) and then disconnect Ihug broadband across to naked DSL from XNet.

This is crazy money churning, when will it be sorted

Sharesies

Trade NZ and US shares and funds with Sharesies (affiliate link).

w2krules

492 posts

Ultimate Geek

#177908 14-Nov-2008 05:04

This does not sound right at all. I chenged from Clear to Orcon at no cost last year. Are you on their Red network? (unbundled Vodafone)

You might want to check the Xnet forum before changing to them... I hate to say this, but your safest bet might well be Telecom. Given your location, you could benefit from their cabinet rollout - you can see if this is likely by checking ADSL2+ availability for your number on their website.

I was a geek before the word was invented!

traker

9 posts

Wannabe Geek

#177912 14-Nov-2008 06:43

w2krules: This does not sound right at all. I chenged from Clear to Orcon at no cost last year. Are you on their Red network? (unbundled Vodafone)

You might want to check the Xnet forum before changing to them... I hate to say this, but your safest bet might well be Telecom. Given your location, you could benefit from their cabinet rollout - you can see if this is likely by checking ADSL2+ availability for your number on their website.

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No I am not on Vodafones Red network, I am rural.

Clear to Orcon or Orcon to Telecom etc is not a problem however a second tier ISP cannot directly switch a land line from Vodafone to them without first being taken up by Telecom, they can then switch. I would not be paying the fees unless I had thoroughly checked it out.

Telecom is never going to be an option because they will not offer 'Naked Broadband' they are after all primarily a telephone company, and I reckon I would be a very old man if I waited in the hope that a Rural connection will be able to take advantage of the cabinet rollout, they can't even replace 250mtrs of faulty 50yr old copper line to my house, no I won't hold my breath.

Regards,

traker

tony0709

31 posts

Geek
Inactive user

#178868 19-Nov-2008 17:32

Called vodafone up yesterday. They were compeltely useless.

Had to wait 5 hours in total
talked to over 5 cutomer service reps
2 team leaders

in the end all I wanted to know is when my adsl2 /adsl+ was going to go though.

last week my data cap was maxed, and I wanted to double my data.
I am on 1 year contract with vodafone on 20G plan, and they wont let me update
so i am basically stuck with 64kb/s for the rest of the month....very disappointed