It seems the only way I’m going to get anything done here is to Name and Shame.
So here you go Vodafone.
Let me tell you a story...it all began in December 2010
I can’t access the online service, I’m moving to South Africa and I need to ensure there are sufficient funds in my UK bank account to cover the direct debit...
My phone is faulty, it keeps switching itself on and off, but I’m emigrating shortly?
How much would it cost me just to pay the contract off? Can I transfer it to South Africa? Could you provide me with a reference to say I’ve been a long standing and reliable customer of 10 years? Tis is done via email, visits to many stores and several phone calls
Account is allegedly reset
We move then to March 2011...I’ve been busy settling the family into our new lives.
So I write to customer services, outlining the above problems, I receive a reply
Blah, blah, blah committed until December 24th 2011 , price plan has been changed, need to give 30 days notice so November 20th 2011 is the earliest I can write back to do so.
Online billing is active and here’s your account user name and secret question to reset your password, last 3 months of bills are being sent and you will be charged £1.54 +vat for them.
I never requested the bills and don’t want to be charged and I still can’t sign into my account despite resetting my password.
I forget all about it, well not really but I’m not getting anywhere so on May 24th 2011 I write back.
I enclose a screen shot of the message I receive every time, which says ‘Your account administrator hasn’t approved your account yet. Until then there may be some parts of your account you can’t access’
I tell them I’m living in South Africa; I tell them I’ve tried to sort this in store, online, over the phone, via email and letter. I tell them what the last letter said, how I’ve been charged for services I didn’t request.
I TELL THEM AGAIN, ONLY REPLY VIA EMAIL AS MY POST TAKES UP TO 4 WEEKS TO BE FORWARDED TO ME.
I tell them again my phone is faulty.
I ask again for a reference so I can take an account with Vodacom.
I tell them that this situation is ridiculous.
I receive a reply, via post, June 9th 2011
They’ve checked my account details and if I still wish to leave, I have to give 30 days notice.
Three paragraphs follow re how I do this and that is all. They have IGNORED the other points, but I know they’ve had the letter because they’ve WRITTEN back to the new address I requested.
I start tweeting, I start emailing off their web page, I don’t have a copy of the sent emails, via this system...I give up
August 2011
I arrive in the UK, I visit my son, I visit my Mother in Law and I visit Vodafone in Bath. I explain the problems and the staff in the shop are aghast, they call up customer services, they have the letters and emails in front of them, they explain the whole situation...the account will be reset and someone will call me in 72 hours, guess what? Still can’t access account and no phone call. I continue with my HOLIDAY, I visit my Mother, I meet my new niece, I go out with friends for meals and I return to the shop in Bath on the way back to my Mother in Laws and I explain the whole situation, all over again. This time however the account is reset and my account is credited, I need to wait 48 hours before I can set the account up again and I return to South Africa. I’ve spent two whole afternoons in the shop sorting this out.
Tah dah...I get the same message I’ve been telling them about since December. I’m angry now, I tweet, I ask for an email address, I get NO apology, NO explanation, NO reply to my email, I email again and low and behold I’M BACK ONLINE...September 2011
But they still haven’t addressed my other issues, they still haven’t said sorry and quite frankly I AM PISSED OFF
Last week, as I’m still unable to get a contract with Vodacom, I request via email on their web page for information as to how I can unlock an out of contract UK Vodafone BlackBerry as my phone is now stuffed. Automated response...’we will contact you in 24 hours’ that was the 19th of September...so I tweet
»
VodafoneUK Vodafone UK
@
@chickenruby Do you have the reference from the auto-response so that I can chase this up for you? ^SM
20 hours ago Favorite Retweet Reply
»
chickenruby Suzanne J S
@
@VodafoneUK 7396031
20 hours ago Favorite Reply Delete
»
VodafoneUK Vodafone UK
@
@chickenruby You can request unlocking codes online directly here http://goo.gl/9waLh ^SM
20 hours ago Favorite Retweet Reply
chickenruby Suzanne J S
@
@VodafoneUK it wouldn't let me do it as phone is out of contract that's why I was told on here to email you with info..any idea why no reply
19 hours ago Favorite Reply Delete
»
VodafoneUK Vodafone UK
@
@chickenruby I can see your email is assigned to one of our Customer Services Team. They'll be in touch shortly. ^PW
18 hours ago Favorite Retweet Reply
»
chickenruby Suzanne J S
@
@VodafoneUK they said 24hrs...it's really not good enough ESP as they took 9 months to sort out online access and still haven't replied to
18 hours ago Favorite Reply Delete
in reply to ↑
@VodafoneUK Vodafone UK
@chickenruby Sorry to see you feeling that way. They'll be in touch as soon as possible for you. ^PW
18 hours ago via CoTweet Favorite Retweet Reply
And I’m still waiting for a response......
I think I should ask for compensation, payments on my account since December 2010 to be refunded and my contract cancelled with no further costs at the very least.
I dread to think how much of my time has been spent on this matter, family time, holiday time, my time right now, phone calls, time spent on emails and visiting the store.
I have names, I have letters and if Vodafone need proof they can trawl through their emails and tweets to see I’m NOT making any of this up.
