[orangeandlemon]

Vodafone for the past 4-6 has been inundated with extremely angry customers both on Twitter, Facebook, Network forums such as this:


http://forum.vodafone.co.uk/t5/Netwo...p/usingnetwork

customers throughout the country are experiencing network issues, no 3G, terrible customer services, calls dropping, and just generally a bad service.

Comparing this type of feedback to other networks, what is going on at Vodafone?

Personally I lost service in London just 20 minutes away from Central, the week I Phone 5 was released the same thing happened when the I Phone 4 was released.

Still to this day I am unable to use 3G! Unless Vodafone start dealing with all these issues soon, deal with all these faults, and start opening the customer service lines later than 8pm I honestly think they will run into big trouble in the near future.

[legends wear 7]

Award winning network 2 years running now.

I've had no issues from Vodafone at all, was in London recently with seamless service. Was even uploading photos to facebook without issues with 80k people in Wembley.

I get 3G everywhere I need it and at great speeds.

[ramzez]

Well, you see a lot of communication and usually it is a good thing, they replying trying to help. much more engaged then o2. t-mobile forums for example are not that active.

personally i quite like vodafone, i really hope their 3G service will improve even better. When i have trouble with them due to the billing error or other error, they sorting it out.

But when vodafone works, it works very very well.

[orangeandlemon]

I hear what your both saying, but the feedback by current customers are concerning

[andersonsonson]

I recently switched from Voda to T-Mobile and the 3g reliability and speed is so much better

[misar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ramzez

But when vodafone works, it works very very well.

You got it exactly right but as a disgruntled Vodafone 3G mobile broadband user I also totally agree with the OP. In fact I posted my views on this forum at the time Vodafone received their latest award: url]http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1741898&highlight=[/url] (Post #7)

The problems with Vodafone start when there is a network fault at a location which is essential to you. As far as I can see they almost never fix faults promptly (ie within a day or so) and many widely reported major outages are left for months or even indefinitely. If you don't believe us have a look at some of the hundreds of threads at the network forum which the OP linked to.

Superficially it looks pretty good, apparently with a large forum team quickly responding to every post. However, if you look more closely at the posts about network faults you soon notice the reality. The team very politely make endless unnecessary requests for more information, rarely achieve anything, and give the users little real information about a fix.

As I said previously, Vodafone's approach seems to be to politely run users round in circles until they give up and go away. I can't believe that Vodafone engineers are any worse than any others so the problems must arise from the top. It must be tempting to boost profits by cutting support staff to the bone or adopting a policy of not replacing faulty equipment once it has been scheduled for an upgrade (eg for 4G).

I still have the Vodafone business account for the moment but am now also using an O2 dongle. It is slower than Vodafone but so far has kept working reliably at every location I need. In fact I tried using Vodafone earlier but had to change to O2 for this post because an intermittent fault I reported back in July is still there.

[jabbamk1]

The title is a bit unnecessary every network has problems and complaints.

[f_196]

I haven't had acccess to any of my usage data for the last 2 1/2 weeks.

They're apparently "still investigating."

I've only just rejoined them. I'll be cancelling my contract sharpish if the don't provide the service you would resonably expect.

[orangeandlemon]

I have had no service on 3G for nearly two months and I live 10 minutes from Central London, 1 in every 3 calls drop.

If you compare the type of Tweets/Facebook comments to Vodafone compared with say 02/Orange or 3Mobile you will clearly see quite a problem. In fact the problem is so big customers are having to resort to designing website's and Twitter pages which warn users not to go with Vodafone.

[carguy143]

It seems the UK version is going the same way as Vodafone AU.

http://m.theaustralian.com.au/news/h...-1226496461128

[gold fire 201]

I was on Vodafone can not fault them for gsm coverage.But their 3G internet side is very poor i moved to Three even though its unlimited on Three i get much better internet experience with them.

[flagpole]

This thread is complete fiction. It's like a rumour that Vodafone is gay and or pregnant.

Vodafone has 15m customers in the UK it would be very strange if they didn't have some faults. But the idea that the OP has some how detected that they are on the verve of collapse is laughable.

I actually remember asking for them to add a faults board. And them saying that they were concerned that they were advertising their own failure. I assured them that their customers were smarter han that.

[legends wear 7]

Exactly, a company does not win best network 2 years running at the mobile awards by being rubbish.

[clonmult]

Quote:

Originally Posted by flagpole

This thread is complete fiction. It's like a rumour that Vodafone is gay and or pregnant.

Vodafone has 15m customers in the UK it would be very strange if they didn't have some faults. But the idea that the OP has some how detected that they are on the verve of collapse is laughable.

I actually remember asking for them to add a faults board. And them saying that they were concerned that they were advertising their own failure. I assured them that their customers were smarter han that.

+1

Anyone who thinks there is really much of a difference in overall service between the major telcos is living in cloud cuckoo land.

Note that I said service - as in signal, availability, etc. etc.

The mobile market is very competitive, if any company had obvious shortcomings in their offerings they'd be losing customers in a big way. And they aren't.

[moox]

Quote:

Originally Posted by legends wear 7

Award winning network 2 years running now.

I've had no issues from Vodafone at all, was in London recently with seamless service. Was even uploading photos to facebook without issues with 80k people in Wembley.

I get 3G everywhere I need it and at great speeds.

Didn't you work / don't you work with Vodafone?

Could that be why you're always quite complimentary of them?

[moox]

Quote:

Originally Posted by clonmult

+1

Anyone who thinks there is really much of a difference in overall service between the major telcos is living in cloud cuckoo land.

Note that I said service - as in signal, availability, etc. etc.

The mobile market is very competitive, if any company had obvious shortcomings in their offerings they'd be losing customers in a big way. And they aren't.

The wide gulf in 3G coverage between Orange/T-Mobile/3 and Vodafone/O2 is not fictional - especially outside of towns and cities.

[Stevie_Donald]

Quote:

Originally Posted by flagpole

This thread is complete fiction. It's like a rumour that Vodafone is gay and or pregnant.

Vodafone has 15m customers in the UK it would be very strange if they didn't have some faults. But the idea that the OP has some how detected that they are on the verve of collapse is laughable.

I actually remember asking for them to add a faults board. And them saying that they were concerned that they were advertising their own failure. I assured them that their customers were smarter han that.

The OP would seem to contradict that statement.

[prking]

Quote:

Originally Posted by moox

The wide gulf in 3G coverage between Orange/T-Mobile/3 and Vodafone/O2 is not fictional - especially outside of towns and cities.

In my experience it is. ALL the networks have places with little coverage; including your beloved 3. I travel quite widely.and find those networks with 2G have better overall coverage but there isn't much difference between Voda/O2/T-Orange.

[moox]

Quote:

Originally Posted by prking

In my experience it is. ALL the networks have places with little coverage; including your beloved 3.

You're not wrong there, the difference is that some companies have been trying to eliminate those places (for 3G) and others have not. As such Vodafone and O2 have bugger all rural coverage. Wasn't it O2 that got told to buck its ideas up by OFCOM, because they weren't meeting the coverage requirements of their 3G licence? Makes you wonder why...

I am not a 3 fanboy. My sole usage of the 3 network is a cheap eBay mobile broadband SIM in my laptop, because I'd like to actually get 3G coverage rather than be permanently on GPRS, which is what I would be on Vodafone or O2.

Quote:

Originally Posted by prking

I travel quite widely.and find those networks with 2G have better overall coverage but there isn't much difference between Voda/O2/T-Orange.

For 2G there's little difference but that is not the case for 3G. I never mentioned 2G.

[abs2512]

I can only speak for my experience with Vodafone, network and customer service, both of which have given excellent service recently.

I do occasionally get 'failed' calls, but think that is more to do with my phone than the network as others who I have spoken to, not on vodafone, have the same issue.

Personally whichever network provider you go to, some people will get excellent service and others will not. I have been with T Mobile, o2 and now Vodafone - out of all for network coverage and customer serivice I would always go with Vodafone.

[lost boy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by legends wear 7

Award winning network 2 years running now.

I've had no issues from Vodafone at all, was in London recently with seamless service. Was even uploading photos to facebook without issues with 80k people in Wembley.

I get 3G everywhere I need it and at great speeds.

Quote:

Originally Posted by moox

^ Didn't you work / don't you work with Vodafone?

Could that be why you're always quite complimentary of them?

Ha you read my mind, although to be fair the OP was rather dramatic.

Quote:

Originally Posted by moox

The wide gulf in 3G coverage between Orange/T-Mobile/3 and Vodafone/O2 is not fictional - especially outside of towns and cities.

I quite agree, and since 2G was the stick used to beat you with (even though you didn't actually mention 2G) looks like I'm not the only one.

I've ranted on here about O2's 3G before, so shan't bore everyone repeating myself, but the general rule of thumb I've found for 3G service is; see a bit of green and you can kiss goodbye to 3G from O2 and Vodafone. EE and Three on the other hand hold up well - with Three even offering some DC-HSDPA, which is nice.

Quote:

Originally Posted by gold fire 201

I was on Vodafone can not fault them for gsm coverage.But their 3G internet side is very poor i moved to Three even though its unlimited on Three i get much better internet experience with them.

Same here, I can't fault Vodafone for their 2G coverage either - I'd have to travel ~40 miles to hit a Vodafone 2G blackspot, whereas travelling less than a mile has 3G dropping out. If I wasn't bothered about internet I'd probably be on Vodafone as we speak, but like you I'm on Three as I get a much better internet experience with them - that calls, texts and customer service work well for me is a bonus.

Quote:

Originally Posted by abs2512

Personally whichever network provider you go to, some people will get excellent service and others will not.

Yes, I agree. As far as overall network service goes my experience (best > worst) is:

2G; Vodafone > T-Mobile > O2 > Orange
3G; Three > Orange > T-Mobile > Vodafone > O2

I'm certain other FMs will have a different opinion of experience though.

[legends wear 7]

Used to work for vodafone approaching 5 years ago until I was made redundant. Have also worked on orange and O2 network before leaving telecoms

I'm complementary of them because from my experiences working for most of the networks and as a customer of most of them they have been the best.

[misar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by flagpole

This thread is complete fiction. It's like a rumour that Vodafone is gay and or pregnant.

Vodafone has 15m customers in the UK it would be very strange if they didn't have some faults. But the idea that the OP has some how detected that they are on the verve of collapse is laughable.

I actually remember asking for them to add a faults board. And them saying that they were concerned that they were advertising their own failure. I assured them that their customers were smarter han that.

Neither the OP nor I have said that Vodafone is about to go bust or that they have the worst coverage or support. What we have said is that at the present time they are incapable of fixing serious local network faults in an acceptable time, if at all. The proof is on their own network forum if you look with an open mind. There are hundreds of threads reporting outages all over the country. Many have been open for months with more and more irate customers adding their complaints.

Those who have posted their praise of Vodafone in this thread will find out today's reality for themselves if a site critical to their use goes down.

[ramzez]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lost boy

EE and Three on the other hand hold up well - with Three even offering some DC-HSDPA, which is nice.

Vodafone has started to rollout DC-HSDPA as well.

[prking]

Quote:

Originally Posted by moox

You're not wrong there, the difference is that some companies have been trying to eliminate those places (for 3G) and others have not. As such Vodafone and O2 have bugger all rural coverage. Wasn't it O2 that got told to buck its ideas up by OFCOM, because they weren't meeting the coverage requirements of their 3G licence? Makes you wonder why...

I am not a 3 fanboy. My sole usage of the 3 network is a cheap eBay mobile broadband SIM in my laptop, because I'd like to actually get 3G coverage rather than be permanently on GPRS, which is what I would be on Vodafone or O2.



For 2G there's little difference but that is not the case for 3G. I never mentioned 2G.

Perhaps because , as I said, in many parts of the country 3 no longer have any 2G fallback. I can only speak about my experience but when in rural areas I would rather drop back to 2G than have no coverage at all. See 3's coverage maps for the gaps.

It was several years ago since Ofcom threatened O2.Since then ALL the networks have invested heavily in infrastructure. The situation isn't any where as clear cut as some people on here would like to make out.

People need to investigate coverage in the places they need a signal and stop relying on tired old cliches based on how the situation was four years ago.

This forum has become a place for fanbois to make sweeping generalizations, when the truth is EVERY network has coverage gaps and none is especially worse or better than any other.