Vodafone Liability = No Compensation

[JoannaEwuosho]

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. 

[jeffkinn]

That is just a mad way of looking at the world. How can you be blamed for something that someone else does when you are on the phone and they don't follow your instructions?

Personal responsibility - people need to take more of it.

[Hartluck]

From what I read she did follow instructions which damaged her device.  

[drey_p]

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@Hartluck wrote:

From what I read she did follow instructions which damaged her device.  

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From what we can see here, she didn't.  We're going back to the what she was told and what she understood and from what has been written, it appears that the 2 things were different.  So technically she didn't follow instructions - she followed what she thought were the instructions.

[thesoupdragon]

All Phones come with a user manual and/or easy setup guide. Usually within the first few pages it will have a diagram showing how to insert the SIM card.

Following verbal instruction over the Phone can be down to interpretation.

Ultimately the person holding the device and sim card is the person that caused the damage.

just my opinion...

[Hartluck]

Customer is always right.  As none of us had a part in this call this should be the default stance Or are we deeming the customer as untrustworthy?  I certainly would never nor do I have the right too.

Joanne I am on your side.

[drey_p]

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@Hartluck wrote:

Customer is always right.  As none of us had a part in this call this should be the default stance Or are we deeming the customer as untrustworthy?  I certainly would never nor do I have the right too.

Joanne I am on your side.

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From personal experience, I can assure you that the customer isn't always right.  I deal with customers in my job and a lot of the time they mess up.  There are 2 types, the type that will mess up, accept that they have messed up and will be greatful for any help you can give them.  The second type, messes up and will blame absolutely everyone else rather than see that they are at fault.

Now, we have to base our assumptions on what we have been told, and the OP clearly stated that she was told to "put the sim in first and then put the slider in".  She did was she thought was right and not what she was told.  From a logical point of view, if the sim is in the slot, how on earth would the tray / slider actually fit?

[hrym]

Personally, I can see how this confusion arose.  I have quite a lot of experience of mobile phones and I've seen the slider thing, so I knew what to do with it when I came across one.   The OP has, apparently, put the SIM in correctly in the first place, so you'd assume they'd know what to do a second time.  However, the instruction as relayed is ambiguous and I can see how, when you're talking to technical help, you might do something counter-intuituve if you understand that's what you're being told.

What can be done?  Well, the first thing I'd try is pushing the ejector tool into the little hole beside the SIM slot (the iPhone has one of those, I think?).  Does that eject the SIM, even a little bit?   If you can see the SIM, see if you can grab it with a pair of thin tweezers and remove it.  BE VERY CAREFUL WHEN YOU DO THIS.   Any further damage to the phone will be your responsibility and you proceed with my words of caution ringing in your ears.   I'm not a Vodafone representative and I'm not advising you to do this, juts making a suggestion that might work.  You get my caveats?   Whatever you do, don't force the tweezers into the slot in an attempt to reach the SIM and don't force it if it won't come out easily!

I can see that the Vodafone shop wouldn't have the expertise to be able to do this themselves, which is why they're suggesting a repair.  Honestly, I think a trip to the Apple shop would be your best bet.  They'll be able to do it and they'll also be covered if they damage the phone trying.  You could persist in a claim against Vodafone for wrong advice, but it'll be time-consuming and, if you want your phone up and running quickly, this is going to be your best route.  Put the whole thing down to experience.

As to the "customer is always right" thing.  No, they're not.  If I dropped my phone down the loo, then ran over it with a monster truck, would I be right when I demanded a free replacement?   N.O.

However, the OP has an issue, so let's see if we can solve it as quickly and painlessly as possible.

[Ellis_VF]

Good afternoon

I understand that there is an ongoing discussion on this thread regarding the OP’s issue. The correct advise has been given and the customer must either put it in for a repair or visit an Apple store for them to attempt a fix.

I do appreciate everyone’s opinion and I encourage discussion. That being said, please keep it polite and free from personal attacks. Thank you.

[JoannaEwuosho]

I see most of you have decided to pick at the fact that I was "dumb" enough to follow VF instruction, and not at the instruciton itself.

Of course, in hindsight I had considered whether I misinterpreted the instruction, but then I thought... If the Vodafone employee on the phone had not meant to instruct me the way I had "interpreted" the instruction, i.e. to put the sim in the phone first, then put the slider, he would've said something along the lines of "that's not what I meant, you should've put the sim in the slider first" once he realised I had followed his instructions to a fault (because I repeated his instructions as I did it). Instead, after I had explained the situation he simply said, "does it work? Ok. Take it to Vodafone". Now personally, if I worked in a technical department and I'm instructing someone who says "I've never used this product before so I don't know what I'm doing" I would give them clear and precise step-by-step instructions or guide them to where these could be found. 

I stand by my point when I ask hypothetically, if the VF employee had made that mistake directly and lodged my sim in by his own hand, would he give the phone back to me and say "sorry, go get it fixed" or would he take it in and do something for his own mistake? 

I understand completely what personal liability is, but I am not of the opinion that this is one of such.

So to you who liken this situation to throwing your phone down the toilet or running it over, I disagree.

I'm not writing to convince fellow customers who are clearly smarter than everyone else and have never been in a vulnerable situation. But if you ever did find yourself in such situation, I hope you will be humbled.

Thank you all for your time and overflow of haughty opinions. 

(And thank you Hartluck for understanding!) 

[thesoupdragon]

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@JoannaEwuosho wrote:

Thank you all for your time and overflow of haughty opinions. 

(And thank you Hartluck for understanding!) 

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That's the thing with opinions, sometimes people wont share the same view as yourself...

Glad to see you remained adult about it though...!