Must thank @HAYSIE for an education in 'friendly' haggling, shutting up and making them talk first, especially when you're getting what you want, and remembering that when they go to speak to their Line Manager, they are actually just having a Cup of Tea, and hoping you will accept their offer when they get back to you
I appreciate that you are able to point out how much compensation Vodafone has paid me since the installation of my broadband in October last year. The tone of your email suggests that I should be grateful, and just shut up. However I feel that the amount of compensation I have received reflects Vodafones incompetence, rather than my good fortune. From memory the compensation breaks down as follows, £120.75 auto compensation, in respect of the delayed broadband installation. I didnt ask for this. £100 in respect of the mobile dongle, which I had to purchase from Currys, in order to give me internet access from the time you were supposed to turn up, until the time you did. £20 which was the actual cost of the call from my mobile, to activate the dongle. £120 in lieu of the vouchers you offered for the switch to Vodafone broadband. It was suggested that a credit would be more convenient for you, than supplying the vouchers. £50 that you have offered this month, in compensation for my phone purchases, which exceed this figure.
So the total figure you quote relates more to covering the costs I have incurred, caused by your incompetence, rather than actual compensation.
I have also gone through my landline bills. You have charged me for a total of 2 landline calls, between November, and May, one of which lasted for 8 seconds. Then £91 worth of calls in June, where 20 of the 68 calls lasted for one minute or less, as do 9 of the 12 calls you intend to bill me for in July. So why have you started charging me, all of a sudden?
Despite the fact that you know that these calls arent real, you seem reluctant to do anything about it. All my previous broadband providers have included free landline calls.
I intend to run through the full story as concisely as I can. I will refer to the events as the mobile con, the broadband fiasco, and the landline ordeal.
I will start with the mobile con. In 2021 I bought a new iphone from Vodafone. The cost of the phone was spread over the 2 year contract. This contract ended in March 2023. So in April 2023 I was expecting my monthly bill to decrease. The bill increased. I was surprised by this. Although the fact that I had received a couple of texts offering a choice of free gifts, one of which was for 12 months Amazon Prime, made me smell a rat. I ignored the texts, and made no attempt to take up any of the offers. I contacted Vodafone, and was told that I had a new contract. The offers then made sense. I had no knowledge of this contract. Vodafone offered me a £26 credit in respect of the difference in the charge made in April, and the £19 which it should have been. Vodafone fabricated this contract without my knowledge in an attempt to overcharge me. A number of emails followed before the £19 per month contract was agreed. I found a number of your arrogant staff very difficult to deal with, some of whom denied that this had occurred.
Moving on to the landline ordeal. The engineer eventually turned up in early October. We talked about the installation, and he suggested that the landline was set up next to the router. I asked if it was possible to set it up in the kitchen, as this was where it was set up at the time. He said that this would be no problem, although he would be forced to leave the phone connected to the old connection, and not the new fibre broadband. He maintained that the phone would continue to work without a problem. I had not had any landline problems up to this point. My wife tried to use the phone soon after he left. The line was dead. I then realised that he hadnt tested the phone. I contacted Vodafone, and was immediately told that the landline would not work on this basis. The person I spoke to kindly talked me through setting it up next to the router. The phone worked. It has worked sporadically from then until now. We have continued to have problems from that point. My wife has constantly had to dial numbers up to ten times before the phone actually rang. She also got connected on many calls, where she could hear the person on the other end, but they couldnt hear her. The same was true on some of the incoming calls. This is the reason why I believe I have been billed for so many short calls, that last for less than a minute. This problem has been running for 8 months, although I think it may now have been solved. I had purchased a new phone shortly before the broadband installation. This problem has caused me to contact Vodafone many times. The usual routine was as follows. I called Vodafone, and explained the problems. Vodafone would say, ok I will test the line. They would come back and say the line is fine, let us know if you get any more problems. That was it until the next time. Out of the blue in January a young lady said it must be a problem with your phone. No further advice. So I bought a new phone. It cost £65. Nothing changed. My wife regularly complained to me about the problems. I contacted Vodafone to no avail.
Each phone call was an ordeal. Your phone system is designed to get customers off the phone and onto the website, to sort your own problems out. You are directed through a series of hoops, which ends in the recorded message saying goodbye. Your Webchat rarely works. I perfected a method of not getting cut off, and was able to speak to a person. If one thing is guaranteed in Vodafone, it is that 100% of the time you will get through to the wrong person. In every job I had during my whole working life, if you got through to the wrong person, that person would put you through to the right person. Not so in Vodafone. You get through to the wrong person, they run you through security, then put you on hold. They usually come back with more questions, and put you back on hold after you have answered them. Maybe more questions, and maybe back on hold. You can check my calls as they were made on 191. The last one lasted more than 2 hours. It is a shambles. I resented my wife having problems with the landline, as I knew this meant that I would be forced to contact Vodafone again. I would have preferred to pull 3 or 4 of my toenails out.
So we went through 8 months of the same landline problems. Contacting Vodafone, the line being tested, and me being told everything was ok. Despite the fact that I knew that everything was not ok. The one exception to this was the call in January, where I was told there must be a fault with my phone. No further information was forthcoming. So I bought a new phone, and the problems continued.
My understanding is now a little better. I am now aware that you need a voip phone or you must fit an adapter. Of course the engineer wouldnt have fitted an adapter because he wasnt connecting the phone to the router. When the Vodafone guy talked me through the set up, he didnt mention an adapter. In short, this was a simple problem that could have been sorted out 8 months ago, I could have avoided all the hassle, and the purchase of 2 phones.
On to the broadband fiasco. You were due to turn up in mid September. You just didnt turn up. Because of The Queens funeral. You reappointed for mid October. After a bit of whinging you brought this forward to 4th October. I phoned Vodafone to find out what the plan was for internet access in the meantime. I was reliably informed that the mobile broadband would give me adequate internet access. As a result of this advice, I entered a number of poker tournaments. I quickly found out this advice was untrue. I was disconnected from a number of tournaments that I was playing, and lost stakes in the others due to the fact that a lack of internet meant that I was unable to de-register from them. These losses were not included in the huge compensation packages. I was forced to purchase a mobile dongle instead. The cost of this was included in my massive compensation package.
I think it fair to say that my dealings with Vodafone have been miserable. The senior staff cannot possibly see the Vodafone operation from a customers point of view. If they did, surely changes would be made. I think the whole thing has been a shambles. I have often been listening to my wife saying hello, hello, hello, hello, hello, hello, hello, when she answers the phone for the last 8 months, before slamming the receiver down, out of frustration.
Must thank @HAYSIE for an education in 'friendly' haggling, shutting up and making them talk first, especially when you're getting what you want, and remembering that when they go to speak to their Line Manager, they are actually just having a Cup of Tea, and hoping you will accept their offer when they get back to you
I appreciate that you are able to point out how much compensation Vodafone has paid me since the installation of my broadband in October last year. The tone of your email suggests that I should be grateful, and just shut up. However I feel that the amount of compensation I have received reflects Vodafones incompetence, rather than my good fortune. From memory the compensation breaks down as follows, £120.75 auto compensation, in respect of the delayed broadband installation. I didnt ask for this. £100 in respect of the mobile dongle, which I had to purchase from Currys, in order to give me internet access from the time you were supposed to turn up, until the time you did. £20 which was the actual cost of the call from my mobile, to activate the dongle. £120 in lieu of the vouchers you offered for the switch to Vodafone broadband. It was suggested that a credit would be more convenient for you, than supplying the vouchers. £50 that you have offered this month, in compensation for my phone purchases, which exceed this figure.
So the total figure you quote relates more to covering the costs I have incurred, caused by your incompetence, rather than actual compensation.
I have also gone through my landline bills. You have charged me for a total of 2 landline calls, between November, and May, one of which lasted for 8 seconds. Then £91 worth of calls in June, where 20 of the 68 calls lasted for one minute or less, as do 9 of the 12 calls you intend to bill me for in July. So why have you started charging me, all of a sudden?
Despite the fact that you know that these calls arent real, you seem reluctant to do anything about it. All my previous broadband providers have included free landline calls.
I intend to run through the full story as concisely as I can. I will refer to the events as the mobile con, the broadband fiasco, and the landline ordeal.
I will start with the mobile con. In 2021 I bought a new iphone from Vodafone. The cost of the phone was spread over the 2 year contract. This contract ended in March 2023. So in April 2023 I was expecting my monthly bill to decrease. The bill increased. I was surprised by this. Although the fact that I had received a couple of texts offering a choice of free gifts, one of which was for 12 months Amazon Prime, made me smell a rat. I ignored the texts, and made no attempt to take up any of the offers. I contacted Vodafone, and was told that I had a new contract. The offers then made sense. I had no knowledge of this contract. Vodafone offered me a £26 credit in respect of the difference in the charge made in April, and the £19 which it should have been. Vodafone fabricated this contract without my knowledge in an attempt to overcharge me. A number of emails followed before the £19 per month contract was agreed. I found a number of your arrogant staff very difficult to deal with, some of whom denied that this had occurred.
Moving on to the landline ordeal. The engineer eventually turned up in early October. We talked about the installation, and he suggested that the landline was set up next to the router. I asked if it was possible to set it up in the kitchen, as this was where it was set up at the time. He said that this would be no problem, although he would be forced to leave the phone connected to the old connection, and not the new fibre broadband. He maintained that the phone would continue to work without a problem. I had not had any landline problems up to this point. My wife tried to use the phone soon after he left. The line was dead. I then realised that he hadnt tested the phone. I contacted Vodafone, and was immediately told that the landline would not work on this basis. The person I spoke to kindly talked me through setting it up next to the router. The phone worked. It has worked sporadically from then until now. We have continued to have problems from that point. My wife has constantly had to dial numbers up to ten times before the phone actually rang. She also got connected on many calls, where she could hear the person on the other end, but they couldnt hear her. The same was true on some of the incoming calls. This is the reason why I believe I have been billed for so many short calls, that last for less than a minute. This problem has been running for 8 months, although I think it may now have been solved. I had purchased a new phone shortly before the broadband installation. This problem has caused me to contact Vodafone many times. The usual routine was as follows. I called Vodafone, and explained the problems. Vodafone would say, ok I will test the line. They would come back and say the line is fine, let us know if you get any more problems. That was it until the next time. Out of the blue in January a young lady said it must be a problem with your phone. No further advice. So I bought a new phone. It cost £65. Nothing changed. My wife regularly complained to me about the problems. I contacted Vodafone to no avail.
Each phone call was an ordeal. Your phone system is designed to get customers off the phone and onto the website, to sort your own problems out. You are directed through a series of hoops, which ends in the recorded message saying goodbye. Your Webchat rarely works. I perfected a method of not getting cut off, and was able to speak to a person. If one thing is guaranteed in Vodafone, it is that 100% of the time you will get through to the wrong person. In every job I had during my whole working life, if you got through to the wrong person, that person would put you through to the right person. Not so in Vodafone. You get through to the wrong person, they run you through security, then put you on hold. They usually come back with more questions, and put you back on hold after you have answered them. Maybe more questions, and maybe back on hold. You can check my calls as they were made on 191. The last one lasted more than 2 hours. It is a shambles. I resented my wife having problems with the landline, as I knew this meant that I would be forced to contact Vodafone again. I would have preferred to pull 3 or 4 of my toenails out.
So we went through 8 months of the same landline problems. Contacting Vodafone, the line being tested, and me being told everything was ok. Despite the fact that I knew that everything was not ok. The one exception to this was the call in January, where I was told there must be a fault with my phone. No further information was forthcoming. So I bought a new phone, and the problems continued.
My understanding is now a little better. I am now aware that you need a voip phone or you must fit an adapter. Of course the engineer wouldnt have fitted an adapter because he wasnt connecting the phone to the router. When the Vodafone guy talked me through the set up, he didnt mention an adapter. In short, this was a simple problem that could have been sorted out 8 months ago, I could have avoided all the hassle, and the purchase of 2 phones.
On to the broadband fiasco. You were due to turn up in mid September. You just didnt turn up. Because of The Queens funeral. You reappointed for mid October. After a bit of whinging you brought this forward to 4th October. I phoned Vodafone to find out what the plan was for internet access in the meantime. I was reliably informed that the mobile broadband would give me adequate internet access. As a result of this advice, I entered a number of poker tournaments. I quickly found out this advice was untrue. I was disconnected from a number of tournaments that I was playing, and lost stakes in the others due to the fact that a lack of internet meant that I was unable to de-register from them. These losses were not included in the huge compensation packages. I was forced to purchase a mobile dongle instead. The cost of this was included in my massive compensation package.
I think it fair to say that my dealings with Vodafone have been miserable. The senior staff cannot possibly see the Vodafone operation from a customers point of view. If they did, surely changes would be made. I think the whole thing has been a shambles. I have often been listening to my wife saying hello, hello, hello, hello, hello, hello, hello, when she answers the phone for the last 8 months, before slamming the receiver down, out of frustration.
Kind Regards
Tony Hayes
As a resolution for the issues related to the landline charges, we'd like to add a goodwill credit of £45.50 to your account with this. This covers 50% of the landline charges you received. We'd also like to add on the £26.00 goodwill credit as you've mentioned as an apology for the poor customer service you've received. These credits would be added to your Vodafone account and would be used towards your future bills with us.
Comments
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/news/british-gas-reports-record-969m-profit-after-price-cap-increase/ar-AA1epNi0?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=63b1833a059a406b9b613e998ffaca7d&ei=78
A man who rages against a company gaming "the Government's subsidies regime".
Remind me, JRM. Which Government introduced this? And who should be responsible for any faults inherent within it?
Why is everything this Government does always someone else's fault?