So here's my "I'm highly disappointed in Vodafone and will probably not be continuing my contract after this year" story.
New customers, please read and reconsider joining Vodafone, if you haven't already.
Vodafone tech, maybe you can do something to salvage the reputation of this phone company in my opinion.
So 2 days ago, Vodafone called me and asked if I was interested in an early upgrade. I said sure, why not?
I've been with Vodafone for about 10 years and had no interest in leaving (before now) so, cool.
This time round, I chose the iPhone 5c and it was sent to me first thing the next day (yesterday).
Great.
Got the phone, but my Galaxy S3 sim didn't fit, of course.
I went to my local Vodafone store (20 minutes away) to get a nano sim and secure a sim swap.
Fab.
About 4 hours later, my new sim still wasn't working - i.e. I couldn't make/receive calls or texts.
So I call up Vodafone and asked what the problem was, the man on the phone told me to remove the new sim from the iPhone and "pop it back in".
Before I did this, I asked the Vodafone employee over the phone how to put the sim back in (because I'm new to the iPhone and didn't know how the whole slider thing worked). He told me, "put the sim in first and then put the slider in".
I did.
The sim got stuck and was wedged inside.
I told him.
"The sim is stuck in the phone and the phone is still saying 'sim not activated'".
He said, "take it back to Vodafone, they'll sort it out."
So I did.
Another 20 minute drive to Vodafone (I live in a village) and the employees there tell me there's nothing they can do. I must either pay £190 for them to try to take out the sim, or head over to an Apple store (nearest Genius Bar is 90 minutes from me) who could probably do it for free.
I was confused.
I'm 2 days into my "14-day return" guarantee, and Vodafone is telling me there's nothing they can do about a problem they indirectly caused through bad advice from their employee. I wonder, if the sim was wedged in by their own hands, would they still be turning the responsbility back on me? Probably not.
In any case, I got home, called up again and asked to speak to management, twice. The employees refused to let me speak to a manager, claiming they were "out" - at 3pm on a weekday??
So, where am I now?
I've been left to deal with the situation myself, with no compensation.
And until I get compensation, I'll be spreading the word about a company who takes no responsibility for their own liability, and leaves their loyal paying customers to deal with issues themselves just because it is "outside warantee" - even though it's well within the 14 days.
Disappointed isn't even the word.
But if I get compensated, or at least better treatment, I'll be back to say so.
I don't believe in unfair reviews. Just the truth.
