Mobile Broadband

[unimpressed123]

For the past two weeks my mobile broadband at home AND the internet connection via my iPhone have been absolutely disgusting!

Mobile Broadband: Pocket Wifi indicates good connection but I keep dropping out. I've tried rebooting the Pocket Wifi, and on 3 different devices to see if that would make a difference but it doesn't. It dropped out and lagged badly lastnight again - lastnight's disconnection has actually landed me in some trouble and unfortunately for me an unreliable internet connection was not considered an excuse!

This is not the first time I've had issues with my broadband, but it is the first time in a while that it has been this bad.

iPhone: Internet connection is erratic and drops out unexpectedly all the time. Have rebooted my phone NUMEROUS times but that doesn't help. Even calls drop out or won't connect on a regular basis.

It isn't even worthwhile calling customer service (as I tried again lastnight) as tech services weren't available and I got mixed messages about when I'd "get a call back" from the "Retentions Department" (tomorrow vs 72 hours?). The last time I had issues like this I ended up cancelling an appointment relating to my wedding planning which cost me $100 and was not refundable as I was told by customer services to stay at home and wait for a call from tech services and be in front of my computer - the tech called 8 hours late, didn't apologise and was rude about it when I said I wasn't at home anymore!

To top it off, myVodafone's records are completely screwed up! I've been trying to deal with this with another customer rep, and I know she is trying but the system is so far gone that I STILL can't rely on it.

I'm seriously considering cancelling my contracts with Vodafone as I'm not convinced the service will EVER improve! It seems to be okay for a while and then becomes rubbish again.

[James]

Hi unimpressed123,

I am sorry to hear about the network issues you have been experiencing in the last two weeks, and I would love to ask you a few questions to isolate the cause, and get you back to enjoying your service again.

If you could supply me with your postcode and the name of your Suburb, that will allow me to perform a few quick investigations into your area, and sight any temporary problems that may be hindering your network experience. It will also allow me to check your suburb for any upgrades that may be in progress, which can slow your service for a short period of time.

Are you finding that the slow signal and dropouts are only happening in your area, or do they continue to happen when you move to sorrounding suburbs and towns? Also, Do you find there is a marked improvment in your coverage when you move from indoors to outdoors, or does it largely remain the same? 

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To top it off, myVodafone's records are completely screwed up! I've been trying to deal with this with another customer rep, and I know she is trying but the system is so far gone that I STILL can't rely on it.

What kind of issues are you having with your MyVodafone records? If you could give me a little more detail on the situation, I will be able to look into it for you to determine as to why the records are not correct.

Again, I apologise for the experience you have had, but I would like to provide you with the support you need to get these issues solved.

Regards,

James. 

[dommerc]

Hi, I am also not very impressed with vodafone mobile coverage. I had issues in the past, and for a short time all appeared to be going well. In the last two to three months, coverage has been very poor, lots of dropouts, slow speed, and very rarely does my pocket wifi stay in 3G. I have placed my modem both in and outdoors with no difference. i am not impressed, and was of the belief that the new 850 was supposed to fix the problem. I am in Craigieburn Victoria, 3064. What else am I supposed to do, when service is not being delivered.

Dom

[pat-pat]

I am not sure if I needed to set up a new topic or not, but this topic is perfect describing my issue.

In December 2011, I moved from Telstra to Vodafone with the lure of  "good" deal on Galaxy S2. 2 months have passed and I regreted to have made the move.

I use my phone on daily commute in sydney northshore line between hornsby and city. Hardly ever that I had ever successful in watching a clip from youtube on my phone. When I was with Telstra, youtube clips loaded quickly and played with little glitch (on iphone 3gs).

I called voda call centre and the lady in India helped me with a solution by clearing the cache and history of the internet browser on the phone. This did not help but I could not verify at the time because I was not in the commute. I tried this solution myself while I was on the train. No luck.

Am I getting what I am paying for?

Can I just return the phone to vodafone and say good bye to the 24month contract without paying huge amount of money?

Shocked

pat-pat

[Bree]

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dommerc wrote:

Hi, I am also not very impressed with vodafone mobile coverage. I had issues in the past, and for a short time all appeared to be going well. In the last two to three months, coverage has been very poor, lots of dropouts, slow speed, and very rarely does my pocket wifi stay in 3G. I have placed my modem both in and outdoors with no difference. i am not impressed, and was of the belief that the new 850 was supposed to fix the problem. I am in Craigieburn Victoria, 3064. What else am I supposed to do, when service is not being delivered.

Dom

---

Hey Dom,

I certainly understand your frustration here, and I would love to look into this and see what may be causing these problems.

I have just checked out our coverage map for the coverage details in  Craigieburn Victoria, 3064. And you Should be able to get really strong 2G Indoors and Outdoors and also, pick up the new 850MHz Network. 

Have you completed any troubleshooting at all? If so what have you completed? If you haven't completed any, can you please complete a Network Reset of your device, and let me know how you go. 

What device are you using? - Have you tried your sim card in a different device and if so have you received better/worse coverage? If you haven't can you please try this and let me know how you go. This will allow us to rule out if this is a device or Sim issues. 

Can you please also try, someone elses Vodafone Sim in your device. 

Once you have completed this for me, please complete this troubleshooting and let me know how you go with part III. This will allow me to investigate this and see if a Network Investigation needs to be raised for you.

I can see on our Network Updates and Status Page that there are a number of updates coming to your area this month, which should also improve your Network. 

Please let me know how you go with the troubleshooting I have provided you with and I can assist you further. 

Thank you,

Bree 

[Bree]

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pat-pat wrote:

I am not sure if I needed to set up a new topic or not, but this topic is perfect describing my issue.

In December 2011, I moved from Telstra to Vodafone with the lure of  "good" deal on Galaxy S2. 2 months have passed and I regreted to have made the move.

I use my phone on daily commute in sydney northshore line between hornsby and city. Hardly ever that I had ever successful in watching a clip from youtube on my phone. When I was with Telstra, youtube clips loaded quickly and played with little glitch (on iphone 3gs).

I called voda call centre and the lady in India helped me with a solution by clearing the cache and history of the internet browser on the phone. This did not help but I could not verify at the time because I was not in the commute. I tried this solution myself while I was on the train. No luck.

Am I getting what I am paying for?

Can I just return the phone to vodafone and say good bye to the 24month contract without paying huge amount of money?

Shocked

pat-pat

---

Hey pat-pat, 

You're in the right place for us to help you. 

I can definitely understand your point of view here, have no coverage is certainly frustrating and I would really like to look into this for you.

Can you please complete this troubleshooting for me and let me know how you go with Part III. This will allow me to assess your situation and see if we need to raise an investigation for you. 

Please let me know how you go, and I can certainly assist you further. 

Thank you,

Bree

[unimpressed123]

Hi James,

Mobile broadband:

My suburb is Gordon NSW 2072. I only use my mobile broadband at home. We were getting decent reception for the most part until recently.

iPhone:

Signal dropouts happen all the time and wherever I am. Worst is along north shore line and at home, where it is not just my internet connection but also my phone connection. Often I have to try more than 5 times to actually get a call connected. I am also experiencing difficulty in North Sydney and Sydney CBD.

Records Issues:

A customer service rep has been keeping me up to date, however the issues have related to usage not updating and some usage not appearing at all. I have struggled to keep track of how much I am using and actually got to a point where I don't use most of my allocation as I don't want to get penalised for going over. I can't get my full usage out of what I'm paying for, and feel like I'm being penalised for being responsible while Vodafone can't get it's system sorted out. Recently my system also started reflecting incorrect caps on my account (20GB with 6GB already used on the day my cap rolled over when I only have a 14GB cap????) and no-one seems to know why this is.

Customer Service:

I rang into Customer Service the day before posting this (but they couldn't help) and was told I'd get a call-back between 8 and 9 on Wednesday night. The call only came through after this when I was busy and unable to answer. No call-backs since. It is not the first time I've had customer service promise to call back and either call back later than advised or not call back at all.

I'm really unhappy with the general service and issues and feel robbed - I'm paying a lot for very little return, and if these issues aren't resolved asap I will go to the Ombudsman and request that I be at very least partially refunded and that my contracts be cancelled without penalty. I've been loyal despite numerous issues with Vodafone (including one of which was extremely serious - bill reflecting thousands when I hadn't even used my full cap due to a Vodafone system error, and another where a customer service rep LIED to me leading to numerous calls to Vodafone to check what the truth was only to be treated like cr@p).

[unimpressed123]

Just on the records - I've JUST checked my mobile broadband usage - it now says I have a 16GB allocation???? WTF??

[unimpressed123]

No response from Vodafone nearly a day later. And no call back from Customer Service since their last LATE call earlier this week.

And today my broadband and phone signal are AGAIN absolutely dismal.

I've now really had enough, and will be lodging a complaint with the Ombudsman come Monday. I have NO FAITH in Vodafone anymore.

[Charlotte]

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unimpressed123 wrote:

Mobile broadband:

My suburb is Gordon NSW 2072. I only use my mobile broadband at home. We were getting decent reception for the most part until recently.

iPhone:

Signal dropouts happen all the time and wherever I am. Worst is along north shore line and at home, where it is not just my internet connection but also my phone connection. Often I have to try more than 5 times to actually get a call connected. I am also experiencing difficulty in North Sydney and Sydney CBD.

Hi Unimpressed123,

I've checked your area in Gordon and I can see that our new 850 Network has been rolled out in your area. Your iPhone is certainly compatible with the new Network and to gain a better understanding of your specific location in Gordan I'd like to check your exact home address and the service you should be experiencing. 

unimpressed123 wrote:

Recently my system also started reflecting incorrect caps on my account (20GB with 6GB already used on the day my cap rolled over when I only have a 14GB cap????) and no-one seems to know why this is.

Customer Service:

I rang into Customer Service the day before posting this (but they couldn't help) and was told I'd get a call-back between 8 and 9 on Wednesday night. The call only came through after this when I was busy and unable to answer. No call-backs since. It is not the first time I've had customer service promise to call back and either call back later than advised or not call back at all.

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I'll also be able to investigate why your seeing incorrect details. The next step for us now is for me to look into your account so we can discuss the issues more specifically. You've come to the right place for help and I'll be able to work with you to investigate your issues. I've sent you a Private Message with my contact details. Please email me your account information I will be able to help you further.

Thank you,

Charlotte