I would just like to share my experiences that I have recently had with Vodafone. At this point I will point out that my experiences in this review refer to Vodafone's Pay as you go service, not monthly contract.
On the whole I have found them to be good in terms of the services that are ... Read review
A review by cindyhigham on Vodafone July 24th, 2007
Author's product rating:
Customer service quality
Very Poor
Tariffs & Charges
Cheap
Range of services (e.g. voicemail, messaging)
Good range
Value for money
Good
Advantages:
Lots of flexabiliy
Disadvantages:
Customer Services very poor
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
I would just like to share my experiences that I have recently had with Vodafone. At this point I will point out that my experiences in this review refer to Vodafone's Pay as you go service, not monthly contract.
On the whole I have found them to be good in terms of the services that are offered and the network in general. However I have recently found myself in the need to have a major winge with regards to how easily accessible their customer services are.
As stated though generally I have found them to be good in many respects. I think we are all very quick to slag off companies when they get things wrong, but not always so quick to sing their praises when they get things right. In the interests of providing a balanced view, I will list both the good and the bad points as I have found them. I will start by listing the good points, followed by the not so good points.
GOOD POINTS ***************** The Pay as you go service offers a very wide range of price plans to suit your lifestyle. The main two services offer are "Anynet" and "Anytime". Both of these plans cost 30p per minute. "Anytime" offers 30p per minute for the first 3 minutes and then 10p per minute after that. "Anytime" offers 30p per minute for the first three minutes the same but then allows you to add "stop the clock". With this option the price of the call is frozen at 3 minutes up to a maximum of 60 minutes. There are many other offers such as passport which enables you to take your tariff abroad.
A very good feature is the "friends and family" package. This allows you to add 4 Vodafone numbers to a circle of friends. For £5 per month, this allows each member of the group to call each other for up to 60 minutes without being charged. As long as the call does not exceed 60 minutes, there is no limit as to the amount of calls that can be made during the month. The big advantage of this service is that a call can be made to another group member at any time of the day regardless of whether there is credit on the phone or not. This is a great service if you have kids, as you have the knowledge that they can always call home if they are stuck, even if they have no credit on the phone. There is an upgrade to £7 per month which will allow you to add 6 numbers to the group.
Depending upon how much you use the phone, Vodafone offer a free weekend option. If you spend £5 during the week, you will qualify for free calls and texts on Saturday and Sunday. I would say however that if you are spending £5 per week on a mobile then a monthly contract should be considered as there are more benefits such as inclusive calls.
Network coverage I have found with Vodafone to be very good. There are a few black spots where signal is weak or non existent, but I have found these to be very few and far between, even in remote areas.
Topping up with Vodafone is very easy. Vouchers are obtainable from most supermarkets, petrol stations, corner shops etc. A useful feature with Vodafone is the ability to top up by £5. Although this is offered by some other networks (Orange is the only other that comes to mind) most have a minimum top up of £10. The £5 option is very useful to people on low wages, or for those who only use a mobile on seldom occasions. Top up is also available by either registering a credit / debit card, thereby allowing you to top up your phone wherever you happen to be.
Your account is also very easy to manage via the Vodafone web site. There is the option to change your price plan, top up, manage your calling groups or even add extra services. If you purchase just a sim card to put into an existing phone, you can send all the settings for GPS, SMS, WAP etc via their website to update your phone automatically without the need to spend ages doing manual input, or spending hours on the phone to an advisor.
NOT SO GOOD POINTS *************************** There are three bad points I have found with Vodafone, the first two being a major point and the other not quite so major.
I recently had a problem with my friends and family group in that one of the numbers was unable to call any other group members without having any credit on the phone (defeating the whole point of having the friends and family feature). I had specifically set this service up as the person in question very rarely has credit on the phone. Because this person suffers with illness, the free call to another family member was an ideal solution especially as they could do this without having to top up the phone. I contacted Vodafone on four separate occasions before they actually managed to rectify the problem. Each time I contacted them I expressed a concern to resolve the matter urgently due to the illness of the other person concerned. On each occasion I was told a different story and told the problem would be resolved within 72 hours. In view of the nature of the service Vodafone are offering with this feature, I find it abysmal there willingness to resolve an issue with any sense of speed. The matter was eventually resolved after 10 days, so much for having the use of a free call when you need it!!
My next complaint is the ability to actually contact customer services to report a problem. The only way to contact customer services is by dialling 191 from your phone. The problem is that this call costs a flat rate of 25p per call. I actually made 4 calls to get my problem sorted which cost me £1. Admittedly Vodafone did refund the cost of the calls (but only after complaining and asking for the contact details for oftel), however it seems very poor customer relations that you are expected to pay for Vodafone for the privilege of sorting out their cock up. I asked Vodafone the question "What if I only topped up by £5 per month to cover the freinds and family option, thereby having no spare credit, how would I report a fault?" The answer was, "You wouldn't without topping up your phone first". To me this is mind blowingly poor and a kick in the teeth for customer service.
My final complaint is an anomaly in the top up procedure. For some bizarre reason it is possible to register a solo debit card for topping up by phone, but not via the internet. Apparently the web site is not able to accept this type of card. My answer to this one would be quite simple....update your website so that it does?
SUMMARY ************ Overall I have been pleased with Vodafone. The network appears to be good and able to handle a large volume of traffic. I have certainly not experienced the problems with some networks where you cant make a call or send a text because the network is busy. The range of facilities offered are good and the price plans are either on a par with others or offer something a bit extra. My observation is that although Vodafone have grasped the concept of the "customer" part of "Customer Services". All they need to do now is grasp the "Services" part of it.
Finally my review may or may not be of some help to someone deciding which network to go for. My opinion may well differ entirely from that of someone else, it is always good to get more than one. Hopefully I have tried to offer a balanced view of the good and bad.
Thank you for taking the time to read, and hope it has been of some interest.
Advantages: Price Plans, Coverage, Ethics Disadvantages: The TV adverts
~~~ Vodafone History ~~~
Vodafone is the largest mobile network provider in the UK and it's headquarters is based in Newbury, Berkshire close to junction 13 of the M4, which is home to over 6000 employees.
Back in 1983, a small electronics firm called Racal teamed up with an American telecoms company and together they bid (and won) one of the 2 mobile phone operators licenses which were put up for grabs by the government.
Vodafone was launched ... ...the block called One-2-One, prompting Vodafone to look beyond the UK to increase it's revenue and co-inciding with the launch of digital technology or GSM as it is referred to now.
The next 6 years saw Vodafone buying out smaller operators and spreading it's tentacles around the globe to bring it where it is today - - 165 million customers worldwide
- over 15 million UK customers
- market value of £94 billion
- employing over 60,000 staff
Vodafone ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: Good price plans, good reception Disadvantages: May not work in some countries abroad
...we did was phone the vodafone customer service line and they did something to my simcard so that it changed (probably all very complicated) but Im guessing that most of you will probably be buying your phone brand new. Vodafone sell a huge range of different mobile handsets from nokias and sagems to sony and trium. All of which come in a reasonable price range. The more expensive phones have a lot more features for example a phone with a built in ... ...also be purchased from the vodafone shop itself or online. Also many stores such as Argos and major catologues stock Vodafone mobiles.When you buy your Vodafone mobile it comes in a box along with a charger and £2.50 woth of free calling credit. Your mobile will automatically be programmed into the Smartstep price plan but if you're not happy on this you can change free of charge within the first 28 days after sending your first text or making your ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: great UK customer service, great coverage Disadvantages: NA
Vodafone is a phone company I used to be with years ago, but due to the rest of my family members switching, I had to make the switch to the same provider as them.
Now, they have made the switch back to Vodafone, and I have recently done the same, and have to say, it's a great network to be with, and has a vast amount of call plans
Making the Switch
To make the switch to Vodafone, I ordered a Sim Pack online, which was free with free deliver- ... ...delay in between, but the Vodafone customer service and e-forum team kept me up to date, and in contact until my Sim Card arrived, which was within a few days of contacting them. I have now been with Vodafone again, for about a month, and can honestly say, the network has not changed since last time I had it, which was a good 3 or 4 years ago - it still has fantastic network coverage, and good customer service Customer Service
This leads me ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: Free info service, good coverage Disadvantages: Slightly expensive calls
Vodafone Pay as You Go was the first mobile service I ever used. I now use several networks, since my phone is not locked. Vodafone Pay as You Go has two tariffs: Smartstep and Allcalls. If you're on one, it costs £5 to change to the other. However, you can change free of charge within 7 days of purchasing your phone, so it doesn't matter what your phone is initially set to.
THE TARIFFS
Standard calls are calls to land lines or Vodafone mobiles, ... ...So it may seem like Vodafone is a bad choice on price alone. However, the Vodafone network does has its redeeming features.
The best thing about Vodafone is its free information service 'Scoot'. By calling 333 you get through to someone to whom you can ask cinema times, taxi booking numbers, and many other things its useful to know when you're out and about. These calls are totally free. I find this service very useful, since other networks often ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: good customer service Disadvantages: few hiccups but resolved quickly
I've been with Vodafone for eight years now and I consider Vodafone being one of the exeptions when it comes to service providers. Majority of service providers are absolutely appalling and we come across problems with them more or less all the time, however I would recommend Vodafone to anyone.
Having had 6 phones from them, currently a Sony Ericcson, on every occassion when I have come to upgrade I have looked around at what deals are available ... ...and I have contacted to Vodafone to either terminate or see what they have on offer, they have always come up trumps and give me a better deal than what I have been offered by other service providers.
This particular phone that is with Vodafone is my personal phone and I am on a tarriff whereby I pay £30 per month and I have two hundred free minutes anytime and five hundred free text messages. As a text a lot they do come in useful however I do ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: Staff available to give demos Disadvantages: Not all phones in stock
...I am basing this review on one of the two Vodafone stores in Meadowhall shopping centre in Sheffield.
The main store in Meadowhall is situated on Market Street. This store is reasonably large and has just undergone a major refit to install a new demo bar and to provide customers with increased access to the phones, enabling them to explore the features on the phones.
There is always plenty of staff available in the store to help, and all seem knowledgeable on the phones and technology. If one member of staff is unsure about a feature on one particular handset then another will be willing to provide assistance.
The store is divided into two sections one side for contract handsets and the other for pay as you talk. Whilst I was in the store a few customers seemed a little confused as to which handsets were for pay as you talk...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Advantages: The Vizzavi site is utter brilliance in its own way! Disadvantages: It takes a long time to down load.
...Vodafone, one of the biggest retailers on the high street. Well, actually I would like to talk about their Vizzavi site on the internet. On this site after you register you can email, send SMS and do lots of things provided by Vodafone. This site is rapidly gaining on the message giants UBoot. I think this is because vodafone customers can make vizzavi relate to their specific needs. The site also contains lots of information as well so if you are thinking of buying a mobile phone from Vodafone you should read it. Even though I wrote an opinion the other day about vodafone charging for most things and I was not a bit happy about it, I believe that they make up for this by providing an excellent site, which has lots of free utilities. Also the service is good here and I think if Vodafone maintain the right proportional size...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful
Advantages: Good range, able to offer you good customer care and change talk plans top up e.t.c because they are part of Vodafone. Disadvantages: Slightly more expensive for Accesories.
...Vodafone Retail have always been very helpful, I brought my first mobile from them and have always used them ever since. The provide good customer service and because they are part of Vodafone you can top up automatically rather than having to buy a voucher and call the top up line.
They sell a good range of phones always seem to know what they are on about. There computers actually let them do things so you can go in and they will do whatever you want there and then rather than ringing up or sending off forms.
They are definatly the best place to go if you are looking to buy a mobile on the UK's No. 1 Network.
The only negitive thing is that there accesories can be more expensive tham other places and if purchasing from their website you have to pay a delivery charge.
http://www.vodafone-retail.co.uk...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Vodafone Family (& Friends) is a nice little add-on available for both contract and Pay As You Go users of the network. For just £5 a month unlimited calls can be made between up to four different Vodafone numbers, and if bigger group is required then... more
21.06.2001
12.07.2000
