Mobile Data Issues on iPhone 7

[smudger298]

Good evening,

I am looking for some help and advice, sorry if the grammar/ spelling isn't great as this was done on my phone.

I currently have an iPhone 7 with unlimited calls & text plus 20gb of data allowance which has worked fine since the release date until the 31st of oct.

On the 31st of oct I had approx 1gb of data remaining and received a text offering a free gb of data for 7 days by texting back, considering I had 3 days until the monthly renewal this seemed ideal so I text back to claim the 1 go of free data. Within a few hours none of my mobile data services were accessible.

The following day I contacted Vodafone technical, I followed their instructions (although I had already checked and reset all of my settings before contacting them) they said this would be fixed within 2-24 hours, on the 2nd mobile data services were still not working so yet again I contacted technical support and was told they could see the problem and that it would be rectified within 2-24 hours.

On the 3rd same story.... I told the operator I wasn't happy that this had not been resolved and wished to speak to a manager. Upon speaking to a manager he seemed to know what was going on and that the 1gb of data hadn't been added correctly and that he would sort this. I received a message stating that my data had been stopped and then a message stating it was restarted, I reset my phone as instructed and yet still no data. I informed the manger of this and he said it was probably a hardware issue and that I should check my sim in another device and he would do nothing else until this had been done. I informed him that I work away and this was impossible for a few days, but he didn't care and ended the call stating there was nothing that could be done from their end.

On the 4th still no access to mobile data, however having got wifi briefly my Vodafone app stated I only have 1 gb of data in my bundle, although I should have 20gb available as it had just rolled over???

Technical were useless so I phoned complaints, explained what was going on, the operator seemed sympathetic and said it doesn't seem right and was going to speak to his manager and put me on hold...... after a few minutes the Vodafone system automatically ended the call, I waited a few minutes but there was no call back.

I called complaints back and explained the situation and they put me through to an overseas call centre which was not what I wanted.... got back to complaints for the same to happen again.... getting really annoyed now as I have cleared Vodafone security approximately 16 times in the space of 90 mins!!!!

Phoned complaints back explained afresh and said I want to be put through to complaints at the highest level and not an overseas call centre operative.

I was put through to a another operator, at complaints explained the situation yet again. He looked into my account and said I only had 7gb on my bundle???? Says 1gb on my app, he says 7gb yet I have been paying for 20gb, long story short he adjusts my my bundle to what it should be and says he has reduced my payment slightly to compensate and this should be active by 1200.

5th I still have no data! The app states I have 1 gb of data as part of my bundle. Logging in directly to Vodafone website my bundle is correct??? I have deleted the app and reinstalled still says the same.

I phone technical to see what is going on, they say this has been escalated to the highest level but will take a further 48hrs to fix,
however they state I will be compensated for my lack of data i.e. I won't pay for the days I have had no access. I ask how do you compensate for the fact I can't Skype/ FaceTime my wife and kids as I work away? No answer to this.

Can't get back through to complaints and am really hacked off with Vodafone now.

As I said at the beginning any help and advice is gratefully received.

Jason

[BandOfBrothers]

Hi @smudger298

I'm not surprised your unimpressed and frustrated with the situation. 

Generic advice is indeed to test the SIM card in another phone.

Either one on the Vodafone network or one unlocked to all networks to see if data works. Does anyone close to you have such a phone ?

A sim can be replaced by any Vodafone Highstreet Store. It's worth having this carried out if services are glitching.

Also checking that Mobile Data is toggled on in the iPhone. 

Check in your online myvodafone to see if any data bars have been accidentally activated. 

Can I ask are you seeing the data symbols in the phones status bar ? I.e. 3G,4G etc.  Regarding the resets you have currently tried > is one to reset network settings

Another,

"Step 1: Press and hold the Lock/Wake button on the right side of your iPhone.

Step 2: At the same time, press and hold down the Volume Down button on the left side while keeping the Lock/Wake button pressed.

Step 3: Keep holding both the buttons until the screen turns black and then switches back on to display the Apple Logo.

Step 4: Wait for a couple of seconds until your iPhone boots up completely and displays the Lock screen." How-hard-reset-iphone-7.

If this is at account level then if this was my situation I'd ask them to fully reset the account. It's weird how one returned text to accept an offer has caused such issues. 

Can you refer to these iPhone Apn Settings from Geeksquad paying particular attention to the relevant Payg or Pay Monthly Specific Settings. Vodafone-apn-settings

I assume calling and texting remains unaffected. 

Now you've logged this with complaints they have 8 weeks to resolve the issue and if not you can then engage the Communications Omsbudsman. A person can circumvent the 8 weeks if Vodafone issue a Deadlock letter. 

The forum is owned and also monitored by Vodafone U.K. We have members of the Vodafone Tech Team who are available to respond and Help where they can. They have the Vodafone logo next to their name so You know they are officially from Vodafone.
 
All posts are read by them.
 


Hang in there and I'm sure they'll be in touch. 

[smudger298]

Many thanks @bandofbrothers for the time and effort to reply!

I haven't been able to try my sim in another device as of yet, from my online account there are no bars in place.

As for the phone a hard reset was done on a day one, as were the network settings and the Vodafone data settings checked to be correct.

Text and calls from the phone are unaffected and the phone displays the relevant 3G/ 4G symbol based on my location.

I think it may be a good idea to get them to fully reset my Vodafone account, as everything they are trying is either changing more things on my account or making it worse.

8 weeks for a complaint to be resolved, is this industry standard or part of the reason why Vodafone has been publicly chastised recently?

[BandOfBrothers]

You're welcome. 

The 8 weeks is highlighted in Vodafones Code of Practice Here.

It's the timeframe allowed.

Trying the SIM card in another phone and maybe trying another SIM card in your phone are good tried and tested troubleshooting techniques. 

As the iPhone is showing the data icons in its status bar this indicates to me its most probably account based. 

An Apple Stores Geniusbar can run diagnostics too. 

I have come across where a network has concentrated on just resetting the data part. I.e. Removing it and reapplying it which has worked but on occasion resetting the full account can be beneficial which is why I thought it worth mentioning. 

[smudger298]

I am aiming to try the sim in a different device later, hopefully that will narrow the issue a bit more and like yourself I am massively leaning towards it being an account based issue, however getting Vodafone to listen is a nightmare.

[BandOfBrothers]

I submit it can occasionally depend on the level of knowledge the agent has in relation to the the resolution applied. 

[smudger298]

Part of the problem is that Vodafone technical support, isn't very technical. Most of the operators are only allowed to follow the onscreen prompts, which is very frustrating from day 2 onwards as they always try to get you to do the same things no matter how much you explain that you have already tried it.

[BandOfBrothers]

I assume they'll be reading from system help and support notes. 

Most of the time this would go onto help the person experiencing problems,and if not they escalate to higher tiers of tech support. 

They do have SuperUsers who are in place to take ownership of more complicated issues to resolve them. 

[Retired-LouiseE]

Hello @smudger298

I'm sorry to hear about this experience with Vodafone, I understand your frustration and distress at this. I am going to send you a Private Message with further help. 

Louise

[smudger298]

So this weekend I finally managed to get near a Vodafone store, my sim in another device was tried... still no data, sim swap still no data!

The store manager said to the support team that an account reset was needed, however technical were reluctant to do this as it has been escalated.

I assumed on the 3rd when I was told by a technical manager that this had been escalated to the highest level, that a super user was already on the case. When I phoned technical today it turns out that the case was only just referred to a super user on Sunday and it will take up to ten days!

This seems absolutely rediculous that it has taken a week just to be escalated, and I will potentially be with out data for over 17 days. Let's just say I am not in the slightest bit happy with Vodafone at the moment and am considering terminating the contract if they don't sort it out quickly.