Yet another issue with Vodafone Customer Care!! Contract Cancellation?

[katy_kitsch]

Well, here I go yet again, fuming with Vodafone!!! 

I have never come across worse service. And I've worked in an industry where I was dealing with different customer service departments every day!

Two+ weeks ago my Sure Signal just stopped working. On investigation I realised it was completely dead. No power or response when resetting t, etc. It's plugged into an anit-surge bar so I have no idea what's happened. I contacted Vodafone by chat. The adviser agreed the Sure Signal was broken and asked me to take it to my local store which is over 25miles away. I asked the advisor if the store was open on a Sunday and the reassured me it was. On the Sunday I drove all the way to the store with the Sure Signal only to find the shop is always shut on a Sunday. A complete waste of my time, money and a 50mile trip!!

I was away on holiday after that so only contacted them again this week. The advisor this time was slow to respond, didn't seem to give a damn and then said I had to speak to them on the phone to check the Sure Signal was broken (yes, I think we already established earlier that it's not working at all). I pointed out (politely) that I was unable to speak on the phone as I have no reception on my mobile and.. They ended the chat!!!!!!

Disgusted yet again with the service and attitude of Vodafone. I've considered leaving so many times but have been tied by the fact I needed Sure Signal. Other networks do similar now so I think it might be time to leave. Can anyone advise me on  how hard/easy it would be to cancel mid contract (mine and husbands number are on the same account) given the poor service? 

[jeffkinn]

By easy I assume you mean cost free. The answer is it isn't possible. The only way to cancel is by paying the termination fee and if you are only mid way through the contract you'll have to pay it off.

Is the Sure Signal still under warranty? If so get it repaired. If not you'll have to buy a new one.

Also it's easy to check opening hours on the internet. My local store is open on a Sunday so I would they all are or are meant to be. Clearly some local issue stopped that from happening.

Other networks do have equivalent systems to Sure Signal now. EE has a signal box and Three has a Home Signal. Also Wi Fi calling is coming sometime soon with Vodafone so that'll help all of us with poor signals at home.

[Hazard10]

It is possible. Anything is possible. However it won't actually happen,  which amounts to the same thing - there is absolutely no chance that Vodafone will do it in these circumstances. 

[katy_kitsch]

Thank you both for your responses.

I'm going to consult the CAB and see if there is any way given the service I have had over the last year if I have reason to terminate my contract with no further cost.

I'm not sure about the warrantly, I did query this but didn't get a reply, only the request to take the unit into the store.

Just to be clear, I would normally check a shops opening hours online but as I was having a conversation with an actual memeber of staff and they went away specifically to confirm it was open on a Sunday, I didn't feel the need to check up on their answer. And as it turns out, it's never open on a Sunday in Elgin!

[jeffkinn]

Why would a broken Sure Signal, which has nothing to do with your contract, give you any right to cancel? You have the right to get it repaired if it goes wrong and it isn't your fault. 

But mobile phone contracts do not include any kind of equipment including the phone itself. Poor customer services don't give us that right.

Good luck anyway.

[katy_kitsch]

Sorry Jeff, I may have not been clear in the fact that this is only one occasion in a long line that has brought me to the decision to cancel. The Sure Signal itself is not the cause of my digust. But the customer service on top of the problems I had with huge mistakes made on my account at every upgrade and sheer incompetance I'm sure will build a reasonable case for cancellation in my favour. I've been charged incorrectly at the outset of each upgrade and had it corrected, been miss informed and basically lied to in order to get me to stay with Vodafone for around 6yrs now. I've always been with Vodafone and didn't want to leave. But, now that I can get a cheaper and better service elsewhere I think it's probably time.

Thanks again for responding.

[jeffkinn]

Hi Katy,

Thanks for the extra information. It doesn't really change my view though unfortunately. Once you're past the cooling off period you are locked in and none of these things, even cumulatively, give you the option to cancel free of a termination fee.

Mobile phone contracts just don't work like that because the T&Cs that we have all agreed to as customers are water tight and not in our favour.

You can leave when the contract is up but not mid stream.

[barclayiow]

If you can show Vodafone haven't done something they reasonably should have then you may be able to leave for breach of contract.

I achieved this when 7 months through a 1 yr sim only contract. In my case i had a good local signal. After 3 mths a local mast failed and despite multiple enquires vodafone failed to acknowledge it was their fault - rather it was my phone! After a protracted battle using the technical services i managed to get them to acknowledge the mast was down and they knew it and after a fair period, 2 months, had been unable to repair it. This constituted breach as i had purchased the sim with the functioning service.

Then on being passed back to customer service i was told this was not the case! I persisted and eventually a manager agreed "on this occasion" because i'd been told "incorrectly" i could cancel they honoured that i could cancel my contract without penalty.

They did constantly misquote terms and conditions at me though so it is vital to have the exact information you need to hand.

However I think i may be black listed now though, as 2 years later, and with the mast up again, they wont allow my application for a contract!!!

Good luck but make sure it is worth it because you may be burning bridges and spending more time than it is actually worth.

They do have shockingly poor customer service though but this does seem to be an industry standard which is a shame seeing how much we throw in their direction on mobile contracts.

[jeffkinn]

You were lucky as even a long term local outage doesn't give customers the right to cancel. Yours was the exception rather than the rule.

[katy_kitsch]

Looks like I'm stuffed... Certainly don't have £100 spare at the moment!