Sony

[NickMH]

So... after all the kerfuffle, broken promises, late delivery..... I still get a bill for £4.94 for delivery!!!

But I never got an answer to my last question....

[gaxor]

Just to give you my woeful tale. I am the Managing Director of a medium sized electronics company.

Firstly in response to an earlier post from one of the Vodafone Team, if it is not possible to upgrade a business account handset on-line, why do I have a specific option on my account page to upgrade handsets, with a tick box next to each number (and I have 9 of them) that is eligible for upgrade.

The answer is actually that the upgrade option page in my Vodafone Business Account like most of the options actually doesn't do anything. I found this out when on the 15th of February I requested an upgrade to a Sony Experia Z in black, which was auto acknowledged with an email giving me a reference number, saying that my request had been forwarded to my business team for action and I should hear back within 48 hrs. Of course I didn't hear back, so on the 20th Feb. I called Vodafone and my order was taken over the phone.

Since then I have had various conversations with Vodafone chasing delivery, with a whole myriad of different answers, ranging from will be delivered on the 21st of Feb, well I knew that to be a lie as the phone wasn't released until the 28th, I was later told it was awaiting pick on the 28th, and the latest fiasco was told it will definitely be shipped on the 5th as stock was received that day. I chased delivery again this morning and was given a delivery time of between 1pm and 2pm today. Guess what, it wasn't. I phoned again at 4pm to be told this handset I'd out of stock, no deliveries have been received since the original launch quantity, and no firm date was available. I shall therefore return the handset when it is eventually received as I have bought one sim unlocked from Expansys, delivery is confirmed for tomorrow!

This is the second time in 2 months that Vodafone have badly let me down with untruths, and I am now seriously considering moving my business elsewhere, which is a shame as I have been a Vodafone customer since 1983. Oh did I say I had 9 handsets, that is only one of my business accounts, I also have a One-Net account with 12 extensions and another 4 handsets. All of which are now under consideration of not being renewed when their respective contracts are due to be renewed.

[Ian_Mc]

Gaxor,

I was told just prior to the release date that my order was out of stock.  On Sunday I received a mail to say that it was despatched to the store as requested and I picked up on the Monday.

I think once again Vodafone are getting lost in what they are telling people and will say anything to get you off the phone.

[Dave]

Hi guys,

JasonShiers - I'm sorry to hear that you won't be staying with us. 

I would just say that, rather than declining delivery of the handset, the best way to cancel the contract is to accept delivery and then speak with our Returns Team. By doing it this way, you're following the specific process we have in place rather than it just being bounced back via the courier depot.

NickMH - I can see from the posts you've asked this a couple of times, so I do appreciate the frustration.

Business customers have access to alternate price plans including services such as Business Sharer, Data Sharer and Vodafone One Net which aren't options for consumer customers, as well as our Business Insurance.

In many cases, business accounts will also take out or upgrade multiple lines at the same time based on business needs. Consumer customers more commonly will take out a single line based on personal preference. 

gaxor - We have a specific team for business customers who are trained to help ensure that the deals you get meet your specific business requirements. To ensure this, the system advises them when you're looking to upgrade. I'm unsure why you didn't get the callback within the expected timeframe though, so apologies for that.

Ian_Mc - The system would always show the phone as "out of stock" prior to release date as it is not available at that point. Apologies if the advisor did misunderstand this.

Dave

[gaxor]

Dave,

Not only did I not receive a callback, but my nominated customer contact will not answer his direct line, it always goes to voicemail. Despite leaving several messages he has never called me back, although to be fair I have had vague answers to my emails - 24 to 48 hours later. Unfortunately none of the replies gave me any firm information.

It seems to me that Vodafone have fallen into the same old trap of cutting back on resources and seeing customer services deteriorate as a result.

[JasonShiers]

my best advise is, stop asking questions, make your own solution, dont expect any sense from vodafone, got mine  2 days ago and love it. I thought BT were the worst people I had ever dealt with, but i got more sense out of an indian call centre than i did out of vodafone in who are just down the road!

[NickMH]

Thanks for your response Dave,

I do not see any 'benefits' of business customers which justifies them being excluded from a promotion such as was the case for the Xperia Z.

Everything you give the business customer we actually PAY for....for inst.  Business phone insurance is 20% more expensive than personal customer insurance, for which the only additional benefit is a 60 day overseas trip cover rather than 30 days. Whilst some of us do have o/seas trips of more than 30 days, I suspect that it is the minority so the additional 30 days trip cover should be offered as an option... not just used as a cynical means of pulling even more money off the customer.

I'm sorry... I think Vodafone are just thinking 'on the fly' to come up with reasons why Business customers are excluded from promotions. The truth, IMHO, is that Business Customers will find it more of a hassle to up sticks and find another Service Provider and therefore don't need to be courted as much as Personal Customers who can more easily vote with their feet and find an alternative.

Regarding gaxor's issue about upgrades for Business users being apparently available through an online account facility but, in reality, not being available, again I find your response implausible. I tried the email facility that pops up when you try to upgrade online... in fact I tried it THREE times and on each occasion the response was Zippo! Zilch! Nothing!! One never gets an email response or a callback, let alone within the specified time-frame. When I mentioned this to somebody in customer relations, she said it was a bug in the system, Business Customers shouldn't be offered upgrades online and someone was going to look into it. So your story about the dedicated business team being alerted about upgrades would appear to be complete hogwash....

[ajj]

I picked up my pre ordered z  this afternoon.

Vodafone really need to look at their systems!

We pre ordered this, as it was going to be a birthday present. it seems ridiculous that they take over a week after launching the phone to dispatch them. it isnt like there was no notice or they didnt know what orders they had to get out.

Really, what is the point of pre ordering? 

Local store had them in stock, but because we pre ordered they couldn't hand it over, so we had to wait, the staff were great but couldn't do anything but apologise. little short of disgraceful organisation zero communication and lamentable customer service.

seriously why would anyone pre order with you when you clearly aren't able to cope? 

[ajj]

I finally picked up my pre ordered z  this afternoon.

Vodafone really need to look at their systems!

We pre ordered this, as it was going to be a birthday present. it seems ridiculous that they take over a week after launching the phone to dispatch them. it isnt like there was no notice or they didnt know what orders they had to get out.

Really, what is the point of pre ordering with vodafone? 

Local store had them in stock, but because we pre ordered they couldn't hand it over, so we had to wait, the shop staff were great but couldn't do anything but apologise. I am bitterly disapointed, this is little short of disgraceful, poor organisation, zero communication and lamentable customer service.

seriously why would anyone pre order with you when you clearly aren't able to cope?

[Ian_Mc]

Well disappointed not to get the headphones but apparently I should have known that as the order confirmation did not say headphones on it.  I'm wondering why so many people were asking the question and I assume it is because they didn't qualify either.

Answer from Vodafone -

Thanks for getting back to us with the order confirmation email.

The first 1000 online orders placed were only eligible for the free headphones offer. If an online order is placed and it is eligible, the free headphones will be included in the ‘Order Confirmation’ email.

I’ve checked your online order and it doesn’t include the free headphones promotional offer. This does mean that your order was outside of the first 1000 ones we had allocated. As such, your order was not eligible for the free headphones offer.

[seagullsfan]

No mention of headphones in my confirmation and I received them. Picked my pre-order on the 1st March.

[biffo1963]

L & G,

In my humble opinion there is never any point in pre-ordering a potentially very popular handset via Vodafone.  If you read the various threads relating to releases over the last 2 years you'll see that the actual release invariably goes  wrong in spades, leading to several weeks of vitriol on this forum accompanied by much ducking and diving from embarrassed Vodafone staff.   Sometimes this is the manufacturer's fault, sometimes the network's, but it always happens and the fallout is the same.

All in all it would be FAR less stressful to wait until the handsets hit the shops and then grab one from there !

[ajj]

you are probably right,

Learnt my lesson about relying on Vodafone.

At what point will the senior management realise how appallingly bad their systems really are, why on earth in this day and age do they repeat the same mistakes and allow such avoidable events to happen? People like me wont make the same mistake again.

Perhaps someone from vodafone might like to answer the question, why should anyone pre order any phone given your appalling record of costomer service in this area? Pre orderd phone customers should be a priority, something vodafone dont seem to grasp.

[cockyp]

There was no mention on my confirmation - and I received the headphones.  

[Ian_Mc]

No surprise that Vodafone have been proven wrong again in their excuses.

I can't wait for the farce when 4G comes out and everyone needs to buy their way out of their current contract to take advantage.

[JasonShiers]

thought i would update that my phone arrived this morning WITH HEADPHONES!! to add insult to injury after conversations with the customer care and directors office, telling me how i wasnt even qualified for that offer and how i was never getting headphones in first place..so bit of salt in the wound after getting my phone from orange a week ago, shame i cannot return and keep the new one but oh well, more reason never to trust vodafone eh! phone return arranged now

[RickThompson]

i upgrade on saturday for pre order but still no news please can someone give me a date please?

[Jenny]

Hi RickThompson,

Have you received any confirmation of the order?

If it’s a black Xperia Z that you’ve ordered then we’re currently awaiting further stock so as soon as this has been dispatched, you’ll be notified.

Thanks,

Jenny