I HATE Vodafone. And will never use them again.

Forums › One New Zealand (including Vodafone, WxC, Farmside) › I HATE Vodafone. And will never use them again.

pctek

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#71298 8-Nov-2010 16:33

I moved house. First caller ID wouldn't work. After the usual round of unplug modem, unplug phones etc, I then get told it's Henderson Exchnage which can't do caller ID and voicemail together. Bollocks. After I insist they send a tech. Techs arrive wondering why they got sent out when caller ID hadn't been enabled at theexchange. Calls to Vodafone again and oh look, wasn't my fault after all - or poor Hsn exchanges - like I told them in the first place.

Then they switch me to the Red Network. See an earlier post about the immense mission trying to find out why suddenly my modem would no longer auto resolve DNS.

Then caller ID isn't working again. Almost a repeat of the first conversations.

Then interestingly modem number 1 craps out and starts dropping DSL and then progresses to stuffed and causing noise on the line.
Modem number 2 is installed. Wait a few weeks and repeat.

Modem number 3 arrives. Repeat.

At which point I get old Billion modem out and we reperat all our tests here all over again and discover another interesting thing. Real old dial phone (used for bell) doesn't break dial tone anymore. Why??? Suspicious.

Ok, never mind moving house again shortly. Suspect nasty Vodafone equipment but we'll see.

So give Vodafone 3 weeks notice of move. Ring to check status of new phone number after 2 weeks. Oh? Hasn't been logged at all? Why is that? Sorry, rush job then.

Move house, no net, no phone. Ring 3 days later to get status of rush job, now 1 week and 3 days old - no ETA>

Ring Telecom, when can get phone and net? 1 hours time. And yes it was 1 hour and at last I am on line again.

As for the weird problems? Ask me in a couple of weeks how number 5 modem is doing, but the old dial phone now works again, 100% perfectly. And I am never using Vodafone ever again.

Did I ever get an apology for all the times they stuffed up? hell no, I never even got a phone call. I always had to ring and go round and round in circles with the I No Nothing people on the other end.

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#401755 8-Nov-2010 17:04

I had a similar situation but with mobile. This was some years ago when I was with vodafone for 5 years and suddenly got a data call charge for $300 exact figure on my Post paid bill. This data call was made to Afghanistan or similar location where I have no idea or never heard of.

I call up vodafone telling it was not mine and I am using a Parallel imported phone which is not configured for MMS or anything similar to that (it was a motoralla flip back then) and I never had to use MMS or data on it, and was not configured to use on that phone.

Voda rep said he will escalate and come back to me, two weeks down the line when the bill was due i called up asking where it is now ? and they routed my call to a supervisor who said she is going to investigate on the call and confirms though that it was generated from my device. She even asked me to take the phone to a store near by and get it checked and they confirmed it was not configured to send or make any data calls.

I asked if I can get the evidence that it was generated from my phone? and she said she will come back to me with some evidence, and 1 more month after couple of calls chasing up for evidence, they said they cannot prove it and appologieses for the delay in coming back to me, i did not pay by bill due to the dispute and it was well over due by now (nearly two months).

Finally the supervisor i was speaking to called me after 2 months and said, since they cannot prove it, they are willing to take $150 off that bill (they are going to pay for it) and I need to pay the rest of the the $150.

I was obviously stuck with that answer for no where to go and denied paying any part of that bill which was not mine, and they refused to cancel that charge in full as well, I paid what was outstanding minus that $300 and said i wont pay and went to Telecom and been a Happy customer since then.

After around 8 months I got a letter saying the charge on my account is now dropped, but no explanation or appology for why and what happened.

I like telecom due to their customer service although the prices are a little higher and their products and services are much better now (i felt) since XT launched, specially with smart phones and data plans (faster).

chiefie

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#401756 8-Nov-2010 17:08

Shouldn't you be lodging a complaint with TDR instead? http://www.tdr.org.nz/consumers/make-complaint

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SteveON

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#401770 8-Nov-2010 17:22

+1 to this entire thread!

My dislike comes from the constant benefits that are given to Prepay customers where O/C customers are forgotten!

mattRSK

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#401795 8-Nov-2010 18:15

I'm with vodafone and I have never had a problem with their service. Get a great deal on my contract and when I have talked to customer service they have always been helpful.

billgates

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#401797 8-Nov-2010 18:15

mattRSK: I'm with vodafone and I have never had a problem with their service. Get a great deal on my contract and when I have talked to customer service they have always been helpful.

Do whatever you want to do man.

sbiddle

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#401802 8-Nov-2010 18:31

pctek: At which point I get old Billion modem out and we reperat all our tests here all over again and discover another interesting thing. Real old dial phone (used for bell) doesn't break dial tone anymore. Why??? Suspicious.

It probably has an incompatibility issue with the voice cards used since Vodafone run a NGN voice network, I'd pick that probably to do with voltage and the REN. When you moved back to Telecom you're back on a NEAX again.

pctek

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#401841 8-Nov-2010 20:32

Yes, incompatibility so I couldn't resolve DNS on the ASUS modem.
Incompatibility that wouldn't allow an old mechanical dial phone to work.
And incompatibility that killed 3 other different brand modems???

And incompatibility between my unreasonable expectations that 3 weeks notice would be enough to have a connection moved to new address and their actual real world customer service.

And incompatibility between my expectation that someone would eventually contact me and the reality of them never doing so?

I'll stay compatible with Telecom I think.

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eugeneykc

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#401843 8-Nov-2010 20:34

I had some serious issues with my Vodafone connection a few months ago, to cut a long story short: I made a complaint about my unstable connection and their fix completely knocked me offline for a week.

As a Vodafone customer for about 15 years, I did not use the forums to vent my anger, I have faith in the landline helpdesk which I believe is still located in NZ. By calling their helpdesk at least 3 times a day I discovered how little the person over the phone can do without escalation. It was clearly management who do not understand customer service and built multiple layers of bureaucracy to scare away customers who really need help. Once I'm back online, I have no faith in lodging another fault call and I am now sticking to my unstable connection. Being offline has major effects on my family members, I would not risk the trouble of asking for any fix / change again.

Given my experience you have to be patient. Make a note of all your calls, name of the person you spoke to and promises that they gave you. Call their helpdesk everyday to ask for an update, you will get one or two arrogant smart-ass, ask for their names too. As soon as your problem is fixed, write to Vodafone's complaint office with all your notes:

Customer Feedback and Complaints
PO Box 7281
Wellesley Street,
Auckland

They should get in touch with you in about a week. I was given quite a moderate sum of fee refund as compensation.

Good luck!

E

p.s. Get in touch with @vodafonenz on twitter, people like CW / CB / PB are really helpful. But they do have limited ability in terms of the real fix, however they do know their way to escalate your problem.. (most of the time

)

nbroad

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#401851 8-Nov-2010 20:51

my vodafone naked connection has crapped itself tonight.. taking minutes to load one page here. gmail took 3 attempts to load. i've only been on it a month and not that impressed! should have stayed on Snap! never had a problem with them.. grrrrr.

just now from vodafone speedtest:

Last Result:
Download Speed: 2967 kbps (370.9 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 38 kbps (4.8 KB/sec transfer rate)
Latency: 7406 ms
Jitter: 1 ms

sbiddle

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#401853 8-Nov-2010 20:54

pctek: Yes, incompatibility so I couldn't resolve DNS on the ASUS modem.
Incompatibility that wouldn't allow an old mechanical dial phone to work.
And incompatibility that killed 3 other different brand modems???

And incompatibility between my unreasonable expectations that 3 weeks notice would be enough to have a connection moved to new address and their actual real world customer service.

And incompatibility between my expectation that someone would eventually contact me and the reality of them never doing so?

I'll stay compatible with Telecom I think.

I'm not defending Vodafone in any way because it's obvious their service does have issues.

However expecting old rotary dial phones are now obsolete. Modern networks don't support decadic dialling so they won't work on ang NGN/VoIP networks (Orcon, TCL, Vodafone) or Telecom cabinets that use VMUX's for voice. They won't work at all once Telecom start their migration to VoIP.

You also need to understand the differences in compatibility between different brands of modems and the chipsets they use. Not all modems are built alike and many simply don't work well with different brands of DSLAMS/ISAMS. On Telecom's network for example there are plenty of expensive modems that will cause plenty of grief, while a cheap device with a Broadcom chipset will work great with an ALU ISAM.

quickymart

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#401910 9-Nov-2010 06:40

SteveON: O/C customers

O/C? On Call?

johnr

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#401913 9-Nov-2010 07:00

SteveON: +1 to this entire thread!

My dislike comes from the constant benefits that are given to Prepay customers where O/C customers are forgotten!

smart plans and iphone plans have come with an extra 3 gig + 1000 PXT messages to any network in NZ at no extra cost for 12+ months

I am sure those plans are on account and not prepay someone correct me if I am wrong please.

pctek

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#401916 9-Nov-2010 07:22

sbiddle:
I'm not defending Vodafone in any way because it's obvious their service does have issues.

However expecting old rotary dial phones are now obsolete. They won't work at all once Telecom start their migration to VoIP.

No kidding. I never once mentioned the dial phone to them. However I am not on VOIP, not migrated to any fancy pants tech as yet and it's just one symptom.

Telecom better make sure there are a few more cabinets around when they do change to VOIP for all those dial up modems out there people without broadband have to use. Not to mention faxes and old eftpos machines.

Besides the dial phone is plugged in mainly for the ring. Partner is a a bit deaf and can't hear the modern phones tweets.
Yes, one day it will go in the bin with the old brick cellphone and his master clock.

freitasm

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#401921 9-Nov-2010 07:46

pctek:
sbiddle:
I'm not defending Vodafone in any way because it's obvious their service does have issues.

However expecting old rotary dial phones are now obsolete. They won't work at all once Telecom start their migration to VoIP.

No kidding. I never once mentioned the dial phone to them. However I am not on VOIP, not migrated to any fancy pants tech as yet and it's just one symptom.

You don't think you are on a "fancy pants tech", but the network is. As Steve said Vodafone and Orcon use different technologies. Even Telecom uses a new technology and once they deploy NGN (Next Generation Network) then those old devices won't work at all.

eugeneykc: p.s. Get in touch with @vodafonenz on twitter, people like CW / CB / PB are really helpful. But they do have limited ability in terms of the real fix, however they do know their way to escalate your problem..

PB is Paul Brislen, who was Vodafone Head of Communications, and just departed to be TUANZ CEO. An interesting change, seeing TUANZ has exactly the opposite views of the market.

old3eyes

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#401932 9-Nov-2010 08:27

pctek:

At which point I get old Billion modem out and we reperat all our tests here all over again and discover another interesting thing. Real old dial phone (used for bell) doesn't break dial tone anymore. Why??? Suspicious.

Not really. Telecom's old NEAX exchanges are most likely the only ones that still support rotary dialing. Any new provider of services via LLU or the like will be DTMF only along with new PBX systems..

Regards,

Old3eyes

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