As bad as ever

[Anonymous]

I made the mistake of coming back to Vodafone 3 months ago after a year of trouble free internet with Now.

Switched to fttp. It’s been ok up until now, but of course when something goes wrong then the ineptitude and technical flakiness really shines through.

There is an issue with the network in my area. It’s either a technical fault or high contention.
Vodafone thinks it’s a faulty router and sent me a new one this morning. The old one had to go back with the courier so I had no chance to test that the new one worked. I won’t bore you with the details, because I’m sure those reading this will have gone through the same tortuous procedures. Suffice to say that I can’t change the router admin password, I can’t change the SSID name nor the WIFI password because ‘the router needs to settle in for 24 hours’. I can’t change the admin password because the  poorly designed interface tries to validate an empty field, fails and then won’t validate any new password that’s entered. Really, really poor programming.
So, on e the poor little new puppy has settled itself in ##~## then I have to go through the whole abysmal process again (because it’s not a router issue anyway).
There is absolutely no sense of customer experience with Vodafone. Poor communication, little technical know-how and shoddy technology.
I’m counting  the days already ….

[Jayach]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Suffice to say that I can’t change the router admin password, I can’t change the SSID name nor the WIFI password because ‘the router needs to settle in for 24 hours’. I can’t change the admin password because the  poorly designed interface tries to validate an empty field, fails and then won’t validate any new password that’s entered. Really, really poor programming.

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Where on earth did you get the idea a router "needs to settle in for 24 hours", what nonsense.

Did you try a factory reset on the router? What firmware does it have? Does it appear to be brand new or could it have been refurbished?

Edit: I assume it's the THG3000.

[Anonymous]

I got the 'idea'  from the 'experts' at Vodafone. (2nd line 'technical' support are not technical at all).

I know it's nonsense, you know it's nonsense but we're dealing with a communications company that is atrociously bad at communicating and employs staff who have no technical knowledge at all.

I didn't correct the expert. I was at the end of my tether after having to phone them 3 times because, I suspect, they sent me a router which had been used before so none of the passwords worked.
The Vodafone hub interface on an iPad is useless too, so it was extra challenging to say the least.

Yes, I did reset the router. Had to do it more than once. That was then Vodafone's super technical wizard man told me not to do that because 'the router needs to settle for 24 hours'. I think Vodafone must use some third-party customer service centre which deals with animals too and he got mixed up and thought I'd just brought home a kitten.

Anyway, as I mentioned above and as I mentioned to the geniuses on the phone more than once, the issue is not with the router.  So, I have to go through the whole thing again with them.

I am of course taking records of the poor speeds (Vodafone has no idea how to deal with high pings) so I can claim my tuppence or whatever it is back.

The router is the same one that I had a couple of years ago (grey upright slab) and the firmware is 19.4.0551-3261126

[Ripshod]

You're on fttp so no need for the router to settle in for 24hrs (maybe 15mins if there's a firmware update)so you should be ready to go. 

[Anonymous]

Absolutely! Remember we are dealing with a company that does not seem to employ anyone with any technical knowledge.

[Aveit]

DONT BOTHER WITH THEM !

I've had the same problem only I know about mobile phones and bandwidth etc.

I was on Asda mobile who use this crappy network as a carrier and after yrs of getting the streaming plan of 10mbps it dropped to 0.59mbps on a daytime, they tried all the not so technical jargon and blaming user devices etc despite not knowing much themselves which was pointless and repairs nothing, you hit the proverbial nail on the head when you mentioned VODAFONE HAVE EXCEEDED THEIR BANDWIDTH and have now done the same in Peterlee and it's imidiate areas.

I had customer services like repeatedly and try and tell me as a software designer myself that my device was faulty etc, they continued to try and say my plan was UPTO 10mbps and not 10mbps yet it's sold as the HD STREAMING PACKAGE which needs a minimum of 6.5mbps to stream full hd.

The faster package now is slower than the standard cheaper package so why would anyone pay the extra ?

I in the end tired of the rude hardly understandable Indian call center staff even being insulted at one point which I recorded and now have gone to an ombudsman, I simply emailed them the evidence via email of their network speed and the phone recordings of their names and since recieved a refund despite them saying only 6 days compensation is allowed.

I'm still taking it further as the service especially customer service is criminal, they say they record their calls yet insult ppl in Indian which I simply ran through a translation app, they didn't endeavour to think customers might record their calls in return, I was called a "sister f?? cker" on two occasions after pointing out that a streaming package should be fast enough to b able to stream with.

At one point a guy said the streaming package is not always fast enough and only states its qoute "ideal" for streaming?🤣🤣 I simply responded by telling him the English definition of the word IDEAL and he in turn called me a "sister f??ker" 

I've since shot a YouTube video with the recordings included and the evidence of the network speeds including other people's experiences I've gathered, this network is an insult in itself, the customer services are literally criminal and Vodafone know this but prefer cheap overseas call centers located in the scam capital of the world, the fraud I've discovered which is included in the YouTube video is blatant and leaves Vodafone with no wiggle room for denial.

I've only used proven cases and am in the process of editing it all together but be sure to check it out in the coming weeks.

What pains me is that Asda mobile had English call centers my reason for staying with them but since migrating them to Vodafone's Indian call centers the network has nose dived, they repeatedly refuse to connect you to a tiny handful of English call handlers when requested stating they don't exist.

Just another greedy provider that will soon be gone, they are being ditched faster than hot lead thankfully, voted worst customer service 8 yrs running now they have hit there maximum bandwidth, the end is near especially now independent providers are on the rise, I suggest ID mobile if running a hotspot or grain internet if using home internet, both much faster and both much cheaper.

The YouTube video will aptly be called "UK's worst network" until then there is plenty of other videos of ppl being duped by Vodafone but mine will b the first bold enough to play the recordings of them in action 

[Janey]

Hi @Aveit 

I've replied to your post here