Vodafone - Terrible customer service, fobbed off and "inferior" 3G network

Hi folks

I need some advice. I recently purchased a Blackberry Bold 9700 on Vodafone but I have been having problems since day 1. When I am on 3G I have intermittent problems calling and receiving calls. I can still receive SMS/emails and access the internet. If I lock the phone to 2G I am able to call again. The result is I miss important calls and I can go through periods of hours when I am unable to make calls when on 3G.

The problem does not seem to be location specific (happened in towns across the North of England and Scotland) and I've replaced both the phone and the sim. I am left with the conclusion it is a network issue. Has anyone else experienced anything like this?

I have contacted Vodafone tech support who told me there was nothing they can do to help and I need to just put up with it. He suggested I just keep it locked to 2G. Unbelievable! I bought a 3G phone for a reason!! Surely it’s not acceptable to have to manually go into settings to switch between 2G and 3G every time I want to make a phone call?

When I protested and said that I never had call issues on 3G when I was with '3' and when I use my '3' sim card in the Blackberry I don't have the problem, he told me Vodafone's 3G network was “inferior” as it was "built on top of their existing network". He ended up saying it was tough and I have to put up with locking the phone to 2G because Vodafone's 3G network was so poor congestion and problems with calls are expected.

Surely this cannot be right?? I don't know what is worse - Vodafone having such an appalling 3G network as described or the tech support guy fobbing me off so blatantly!

Not that it helps you in this case but just to confirm what you are saying my mate is on the 9700 on Orange and he loves it. Not reporting any problems as of yet.

If it's any consolation i've just made a thread about Vodafone too as I'm not the best pleased at the moment. But hey ho, luckily my contract is nearly up.

Good luck getting your 3g issues sorted.

EDIT: Just a thought, if it is within 14 days am I correct in saying you can send it back due to some long distance buying act or something. Not too sure but might be worth exploring if you are within the 14 days.

Unfortunately it's more like a month since I got the phone

I reported it to Vodafone within the first few days but was told there was a problem with 3G in my area. When it happened again I was told they happened to have another problem too.

I should have been wiser to the fact Vodafone tech support's default position is to fob you off and realised they were probably biding their time until after the return date. It was only when I was on the phone to tech support and said I'd had the issue for nearly a month in various locations (inc Manchester, Dumfries, Glasgow and Edinburgh), replaced the sim and the phone that he said Vodafone's 3G network was poor and an inability to make calls on it is the norm.

I think I have a pretty good case for cancelling the contract - I signed up in good faith for a 3G handset and I am now being told by Vodafone's own tech department that their 3G network is crap and the only thing to do to make the phone useable is to lock it to 2G. The whole thing stinks and I've been let down by Vodafone. The fact their own tech support department’s view of their 3G network is that it’s crap is something I wish I’d known before signing up!

3G on Vodafone seems good when I can get it... but a lot of places I struggle to get on it and when I do its only 1-2 bars... thought it was the phone but swapping for the O2 sim in my other phone to test - it gets 3G no hassle and holds almost full signal... not quite sure what to do as in other regards Vodafone have been really good for me...

So is it generally the case that Vodafone's 3G network is poorer than the others?

I should add that my problem calling on 3G seems to have nothing to do with 3G signal strength - it happens when on full bars 3G signal, in city centres etc.

Well you could always give trading standards a call. That's probably what I'd do in your situation. Don't suppose you got in writing what the tech guy said did you? You say you contacted their tech support but not sure if you meant via 191 or via e-mail.

As before....Good luck! It does seem really slack to be honest.

Vodafone 3G network is better than Orange/O2/3 in my area, so its swings and roundabouts. Why not check the coverage maps on all the carriers for where you live/travel before forking out for a particular carrier.

Your obviously in a good area for 3 and bad one for Voda...its the nature of the tech I'm afraid.
Ive been on Voda for 14 years now and wouldn't consider going anywhere else but then I get a decent signal around my area.

And whoever that muppet on the end of the phone was, well he was not only wrong he was full of poo.

If you were so happy with your 3 connection why did you move?

It's not about signal strength or extent of their 3G network. As I mentioned in a previous post, I'm getting this issue when I have full 3G signal strength and in the centre of cities. I do know how to check coverage maps and this issue is occuring in good 3G coverage areas.

The reason I left 3 is because they have a poor 2G connection at my house, whereas Vodafone has a slightly more useable one. I did all the usual checks using Vodafone coverage map of the areas I usually visit and they had it covered with 3G. And they do....the signal strength is great, I just can't call using it!

If there is a problem with Vodafone's 3G network it's not down to coverage area, it's down to an inability to carry all the traffic and congestion.

I and other colleagues have had similar problems for the last few months with Vodafone and the 3G network. Sometimes we can't make calls out, just get a 'network busy' message and can't make the call, yet the person we are phoning always gets 1 ring before going dead. Reported it to Vodafone many times and they tell us its a problem with a local mast. Very annoying though, I have resigned to keeping my phone set to 2G

Vodafone has never done anything to wow me before and their shop in Aylesbury is the worst retail / service experience possible. I think its time to abandon Vodafone after 15+ years.

And today O2 have reported they are having huge problems with there network because of oversubscription and lack of infrastructure directly related to increase in data useage by smartphones (iPhone, Blackberry etc)

Personally in the areas I commute to and from (London, South-East) no problem with Vodafone, in fact I had a 3G USB dongle from 3 which I swapped out for a Vodafone one because the performance on 3 in London was so horrifically bad. Whereas the VF 3G dongle performed perfectly and fast.

The point here and in MANY other threads is that people will only start threads in forums when they have a bad experience. I have personally never had one single issue on Voda in 12+ years.

However last year I took a business contract out with O2 and it was the worst thing I've ever done with regards to mobile phones and has since been moved to Voda.

Yet a lot of people I know are perfectly happy with them.

If the dude did genuinely say the network was inferior, they will have the call recorded. These places record ALL calls and choose random ones for the team leaders to assess to see if they're meeting all of the personalisation requirements and the likes. Hated that.

We had it before where a customer called up and we had to go through all of the agents calls for that day to find the call.

on average im pretty sure vodafone are supposed to be the best for 3g

have you checked the coverage maps ? you might be in a blindspot. i used to be. it was horrid. every house in our area had 'good' 3g coverage and our house had none at all on the maps :/ grr

"andy" said:

on average im pretty sure vodafone are supposed to be the best for 3g

have you checked the coverage maps ? you might be in a blindspot. i used to be. it was horrid. every house in our area had 'good' 3g coverage and our house had none at all on the maps :/ grr

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nope, for 3G, it's 3, then Orange, then T-mobile. i think O2 and Vodafone tie-in at last place.

ManCuBuS said:

The point here and in MANY other threads is that people will only start threads in forums when they have a bad experience. I have personally never had one single issue on Voda in 12+ years.

However last year I took a business contract out with O2 and it was the worst thing I've ever done with regards to mobile phones and has since been moved to Voda.

Yet a lot of people I know are perfectly happy with them.

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It's not so much the fact I've experienced a technical issue, since I appreciate any network can have an off day and suffer problems. The greater issure is that I have been constantly fobbed off and customer service at Vodafone do not seem to care.

It's clear it is a network issue but Vodafone are dragging their heels and I'm yet to see any real action from them toward a solution.

"andy" - It's not about blind spots or poor extent of Vodafone's coverage as this problem happens across the country in areas with strong 3G strength.

Aod said:

nope, for 3G, it's 3, then Orange, then T-mobile. i think O2 and Vodafone tie-in at last place.

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Not quite,

Orange first, then Vodafone, then 3, then T-Mobile and then O2 according to the mobile press.

Edit: On the original topic, I have a Blackberry Bold 9700, I have no issues with signal, keep it on 3G all the time both at home which is pretty much in the middle of nowhere, and at work in the city. As somebody else said, its swings and roundabouts, also the problem you are experiencing could well be mast related - if you have a mast in the area that isnt routing calls properly, that would do it.

i'm having a very similer problem with my blackberry on 3g that has been lasting for about 2 months now. I have the storm 1, i can get full 3g reception, but i cant make calls on it. Everytime i do it just comes back "call Failed" It's crazy, i am really not sure whether it is my handset or the bb. I put it on to 2g and everything works fine. Very odd.

Rids said:

Not quite,

Orange first, then Vodafone, then 3, then T-Mobile and then O2 according to the mobile press.

Click to expand...

but i'm going by the OFCOM 3G reception report, which i have much more faith in than the mobile-phone companies own... propaganda

and my own personal experience comes in slightly

The eforum team unfortunately weren't much help since after filling in the fault report they sent me, apparently not all the data made it's way across to Vodafone's tech support...?

I also got a text message asking to call 191 to discuss, which I did, and had a conversation with the most dismally poor Customer Service advisor I have ever spoken to. After recounting the problem and telling him numerous times it was not location specific he goes away for 10 mins and then comes back telling me I was wrongly sold the contract as my home postcode has poor 3G signal.

Apparently the person who had been trying to contact me was from the Stoke call centre and the guy I was speaking to was from Belfast. He couldn't put me through the person who had called or even through to the call centre. Amazingly poor - a telephone company unable to transfer me to one of their a call centres. His only suggestion was to put me back through the general customer service number and randomly be allocated a call centre and "hope I end up at Stoke". Ridiculous.

After much needless battling with more incompetent Vodafone customer service agents I finally got through to Second Line Support and spoke to someone with sense. He cleared up the poor data collection of the eforum team. He was knowledgeable and efficient and I wish I didn't have to go through 10 fools to reach him. After receiving a further voicemail from Vodafone today from some else informing me my 3G signal at home is poor, I called and just asked to speak to Second Line Tech Support and got through to another very useful person. My problem still isn't resolved, but at least I feel I am finally being dealt with.

So....to all those people banging their head against a brick wall talking to Vodafone, the company does employ good people, just a shame they hide them away and let you speak to the monkeys first. Tip - if you have an issue try to go through to the Second Line Tech Team as they are staffed with far more useful people.

In conclusion - well done to the two chaps I've spoken to in Second Line Tech Support, high quality service. As for my general experience of Vodafone customer services - dismal and a waste of time. Vodafone desperately, desperately need better people answering the phones.