Broadband Activation issues, lack of support!

[TomOwen93]

Hi Guys,

Decided to switch to Vodafone broadband due to them being much cheaper than BT and could provide it as quick as BT.

BT had a date of 15th September, the guy in the Vodafone store near me said they can definitely do 14th September and he can even see that on the screen. He gives me a router to take home and I cancel with BT.

I receive NO confirmation or anything and it turns out the order couldnt be done in store. I phone cust. services and they say no problem, here is a new order and you will get a new router sent. Activation date: 06 SEPTEMBER 2016.

AGAIN, zero confirmation of my activation dates by email/text or even an account set-up. I do receive an email about the router order but that's it.

I then try livechat a couple of days later and they say activation date 29/08/2016 (err obviously not!) so I try to get through to home broadband team on phone. They say activation will be 29TH SEPTEMBER 2016 (!!)

and they are really really sorry. 

WHY has this been allowed to happen? and why does it take one month to reactivate an existing broadband line? The previous tenants had talk talk and as far as I can understand it wouldn't need an Openreach engineer visit.

Feeling very let down, not sure if I even have any options here  

[drg]

@Louise_E,

We've been there:

1) spend an hour on hold,

2) get through to be told you don't know anything,

3) and it's BT's fault (at the last minute)

4) you assure us of a call back the next day with an update

5) late in the day, we stop waiting and call the telephone team again,

6) return to step 1

7) eventually go back to a live chat, despite them telling us "we're not supposed to deal with broadband queries", because they seem to be the least painful way to get something actually done.

I know your job must be to try to encourage patience so, hopefully, a prospective customer doesn't go elsewhere, but the fundamental thing that needs to happen is Vodafone sorts out its utter shambles in the back room. This shambles spans failure to supply broadband, getting the start date wrong in billing, completely messing up the supposedly included spotify subscription with a pay monthly contract, not honouring promises to call back with updates etc. I'm sure the party line is that broadband issues are to be dealt with by the telephone team, but saying those words is cheap when it means customers waste hours on hold for absolutely no gain whatsoever.

I never got a single useful thing from the telephone team, but at least with the live chat I could do it durng the day and get some work done whilst waiting. The most useful, and decent, thing Vodafone did was give me unlimited mobile data to see me through the period I didn't have broadband because you'd cancelled my previous supply before being able to replace it. And that was arranged via live chat!

The functionality of the product, technically is fine; my broadband speed essentially reaches what I expected, and mobile coverage is good. The organization behind the scenes, though, actually getting those services provided as they're supposed to be, is a complete and utter shambles.

Guy

[diligence]

Due to BT's upcoming price hikes I decided to change my broadband and phone provider to Vodafone as it worked out £27.50 cheaper per month.

I received a letter from Vodafone on the 25th January thanking me for choosing Vodafone Broadband and Home Phone service. The letter also stated that "Your broadband service will be activated by midnight on the 10th February 2017".

On the 10th February I made sure that my Vodafone router was connected correctly by 0800. At around 1800 the same day I called Vodafone Broadband CS (Customer Service) to see if there were any problems with my activation as my broadband was not working but the phone line was. They explained that it can take up to midnight, so I therefore waited until midnight, but still it did not work. I called Vodafone Broadband CS at 0001 on the 11th February, but the office was closed. At this point I was disappointed, but I thought by around 0800 it should be working.

It was not working so at around 0900 on the 11th February I contacted Vodafone Broadband CS and I was told that there was a delay, Openreach did not specify what the delay was and therefore Vodafone were unable to give me any more information until 13th February as it was a weekend and Openreach do not work on weekends. Now as you can imagine at this point I am more than disappointed, I am fuming. I was told in the letter from Vodafone that "Your broadband service will be activated by midnight on the 10th February 2017".

On the 13th February I contacted Vodafone CS at around 0800 to find out why my broadband had not been activated and I was given the same explanation. There has been a delay and Openreach have not given an update as to why it has been delayed (I am not interested in the details of the delay; I just want Vodafone to supply the service that they said will be provided by midnight on the 10th February). They did offer me 50GB of mobile data as a good will gesture, however, the mobile reception has degraded in my area due to technical issues with the mast and I am therefore unable to get a 3G let alone 4G service, so the 50GB of mobile data is pretty much useless.

I explained that this was totally unacceptable, I had to pay £6.95 for BT open zone for one day and that there should be some form of compensation as the broadband was not activated on the specified date, Vodafone said that unless you are a business, you are not entitled to any compensation but you will not be charged until your broadband is activated (and rightly so). I contacted Vodafone Broadband CS again at around 1648 the same day for an update, but was again given the same information. I asked when my broadband service was likely to be activated as I cannot afford to keep paying for BT Open Zone. I was asked to contact them again the next day.

On the 14th February I contacted Vodafone CS at around 0830 to find out why my broadband had not been activated and again I was given the same explanation and again I said that I was extremely annoyed and that I should be compensated for the delay in my broadband service and again I was given the same explanation of no entitlement to compensation. So as you can now imagine I am livid.

It is now the 15th February and I am still without broadband. At around 0850 I contacted Vodafone Broadband CS for another update, and I am still given the same explanation that it is an issue with Openreach and they have no further information. But this is the best bit, I was told that as a good will gesture I will not be charged for the first month once my broadband has been activated. What? I was told that there would be no form what so ever of any kind of compensation!! So really I am just being lied to. I declined the offer as I am confident that I will still be delayed for days to come and I have just had to pay for another 5 days of BT Open zone at a cost of £17.95 all because Vodafone have failed to activate my broadband on time. So, I don’t think one-month free service is much of a good will gesture.

[drg]

I hear you, @diligence.

I can't believe they either still have this fundamentally broken relationship with OpenReach or are just still so utterly incompetent at setting up a broadband service and are still using that tired old (OLD) excuse. There never seems any delay in cutting off your old service. That always seems to happen on time!

Can OpenReach blatently be delaying enabling the Vodafone connection? In my case I got two months unlimited mobile data off VF, which helped, and my VF broadband ended up being enabled I think something like two weeks late. Appalling inability to organize a drinking session in a brewery, but at least it works okay once it's up. Eventually.

[kelmister]

My 'live' date is tomorrow. If same thing happens to me I will just cancel straight away.

Feel your pain and even tho my service hasn't even started I'm getting second thoughts already.

[Becca_P]

@diligence

Sorry to hear you're still experiencing issues with your broadband setup.

Please follow the instructions provided in the private message that I've just sent to you.

Once completed, a member of the team will be happy to look into this for you.

[bryant496]

Any still September 2017 Vodafone still appear to have issues getting service activated.

Having left Virgin Media as I had ended my contracted term and they wouldnt offer me a new deal less than £47, I ordered Vodafone as a long term mobile customer.

Order 13th Auguest for a line install and activation date of 1st Sept. After no visit on the 1st I was told engineer due 2nd sept during morning. 2nd Sept afternoon i enqueired again and was told 2nd October and now today I am getting told 14th October. 6 weeks after my requested install date.

Im being told there is a issue with the line to the property, but as a network engineer for a local Police force, I have checked the socket as I was moving my interall sockets to the Openreach socket, the outside line is not connected to the socket. How any test to the property could be made I dont know as the line will always be open.

But I am being told theres issues with the line to my property, issues with wiring within the property, network issues in the area. I'm starting to think what a load of rubbish.

Today NO ONE has contacted me via any means to let me know whats going on, or even about a delay.

[Carly]

Hi @bryant496

Sorry to hear that there's been issues with your broadband installation.

We do work closely with Openreach to assess what lines are already at each property and if there's room in the green cabinet to accommodate us.

It seems like there may be an issue with this from the post you've added on here. The Broadband team should keep you updated with the progess. However, you can chase this up with them via Live Chat if you wish.