Apologies for this long post... but I am having a terrible time trying to get Vodafone to sort a problem they created with my line/account... and today the line has a fault and I have spent ages going round in circles.... I'm also emailing these details to the Vodafone chairman's office and Ofcom as after near 3 months I've had enough...
Here's the story...
16th February – Ordered Ultrafast upgrade
Tuesday 15th March – Install day
Openreach Engineer (a subcontractor from Kelley Communications) arrives. Discussion about the Master Socket/PON location is had – nothing about the external wiring location or the cable to the pole – afterall I already have a Pole to House cable and fixing location for the current Superfast line and the new Master Socket/PON location is agreed to go next to the existing one.
After two hours, Engineer claims to have finished but has run the Fibre cable from the Telegraph Pole in the road to a totally different location on the front of the house away from the previous cable and location.. The new location chosen at random by the Openreach engineer is in the way of building works that I have starting in April 2022. As a further kick, the quality of the workmanship is also very poor with cable ties holding the fibre cable to a defunct Sky Satellite dish and cable run. I ask the engineer to move the line around the corner and to the other side of the wall. He refuses saying he’s run out of time on the job and if I have an issue to complain to Vodafone. As he is packing up I call Vodafone and they say that they aren’t happy but they can help sort it once the line is fully active. Engineer leaves.
Less than an hour later, the Ultrafast line is at least working.
I call Vodafone and raise the Cabling issue. They email me a link to the Openreach Complaint form. I am surprised that despite my contract being with Vodafone I am now being made to ‘manage’ Openreach myself. I complete the form, explaining the location is terrible and the workmanship poor and get a compliant reference.
Sometime between Tuesday 15th and Friday 18th – I can’t remember exactly.
Lady from VF broadband calls back I advise that I have had no response from Openreach, she says it could be 5 working days from submission and she’ll call me back on Monday 21st around 2.30pm.
Friday 18th
Morning – I received an email telling me my Static IP was being removed. I called the Broadband line gave them the details and they assured me they’d transfer the IP address to the new line and the email was probably just related to the old Superfast line being ended.
Morning – I checked my Vodafone account and noticed I had a £105 charge in the estimate April bill unaware what this was for and furious that something else had gone wrong with this install, I called the complaint line – Spoke to a lady in CS. She discovered that not only had my Superfast Line been cancelled, but so had my new Ultrafast line. The £105 charge was an early termination charge on the Ultrafast line. She was very apologetic at Vodafone’s mistake and after making several internal phone calls she said the line would be re-activated within 5 working days and the the charge removed… so by next Friday and she’d hope it would be quicker. She told me that I must NOT reboot the router as if I did it wouldn’t be able to re-connect due to the account being cancelled and I was on still connected as I had last rebooted when the account was still live.
She couldn’t sort the Static IP address as the line was not there to add it too. She agreed to phone back 5.30pm on Friday 25th.
Monday 21st
Broadband VF called – I advised there was no follow up from raising the complaint and the website was saying it was for Communication Providers only (ie: Vodafone). She got me onto the Openreach chat then left me to have to manage Openreach – The Openreach Chat Operator apologised for the delay and said they’d get back to me within 5 days……
Afternoon of 25th March
Having had no update from Openreach since the Monday chase and 5 days have all but lapsed, I go back on the Openreach webchat – they apologies and tell me they will be back to me in the next 5 days……………
Evening of 25th March
Having not received a follow up call from Lady in Customer Services despite being promised one and also checking my account and seeing the disconnection charge still there and no sign of a Broadband account element, I call VF Complaints line again. Of course the Computer routing system doesn’t work as my landline has been cancelled on the system so I have to go through multiple attempts to enter a number before the system decides it can’t help me and I can speak to a human. This really improves my mood.
The CS Rep is apologetic and helpful putting me in contact with the new connections line as it’s felt the fastest way to sort this is raise a new connection. I am passed to VF New Connections and a new connection process is started, however they believe it will be 2 weeks before the backend setup is performed and 3 weeks before an Openreach engineer can be assigned (11th April). I am then put through to the ‘Easy Switch team’ as the New Connection handler believes that they may be able to expedite the backend enablement so if the router reboots then I can re-join the network as afterall I have a working router and wiring.
I am transferred, the Easy-switch engineer misunderstands the issue with both the Wiring location (he thinks I want the internal socket moved) and also the expediting of the backend enablement and puts me on hold to ‘read the ticket notes’ after 10 mins of being on hold I am suddenly transferred without warning to a lady who has no idea why I have been put through to her and she promises to put me through to someone who can help at this point I had been on the phone for over 90mins. However she just transfers me to a queue and I still in the queue being told ‘you are really busy at the moment’. The line drops again.
I re-dialled the Complaints line and after sitting the Voice routing again and finally being put through to a human. This CS Guy has been most apologetic and is trying to be helpful… but he’s suggesting it will be longer. He reads the notes and is incredulous at what I have been put through and through no fault of my own. By now I’ve been talking on the phone for near 2 hours, and it’s close to 8pm and he regretfully asks to call me back at 8.30am tomorrow.
So, by the end of Friday 25th –
My Broadband connectivity rests on my router NOT rebooting or hiccupping. If this fails I will have no broadband for maybe 3 weeks maybe longer. My Job is heavily reliant on Broadband, my wife is also a homeworker and needs the broadband – the impact of this being unavailable will be significant on both our jobs.
I have a new connection in process but could be 2-3 weeks to sort and no one at VF seems to have any ability to escalate and accelerate the backend work – which is all that is needed remember – the line and router are in and working (albeit the line in the wrong place).
I have a Openreach cable poorly installed and in the wrong location which could impact my building work starting in April. Vodafone are taking no ownership of this issue and Openreach don’t seem to be doing anything but stalling me for 5 days at a time… this might accidentally be good as I bet we they move the line they may disconnect it briefly and need the router to re-connect… which if the account hasn’t been fixed….
I have £105 cancellation charge on my bill for a cancellation I didn’t request. In fairness I guess this isn’t the priority but I’d have thought one of the many VF people might just have pro-actively got a note to Billing to have it removed before the bill goes out and the money taken.
I only have ‘my’ Static IP whilst the router holds it – This static IP is whitelisted and on various VPN’s I need for work purposes – it will be a mass of work to change it, and I wonder how easy it will be for VF to issue me the same one once the account is fixed.
I have lost hours of my life on the phone to VF repeatedly explaining the issue as no one person has taken full ownership of the problem, and each time I call the complaints line I have to go through the whole IVR system as my very complaint is that I don’t have a broadband/telephone line number anymore due to the cancellation, so the system doesn’t recognise the number – this just feels like a slap in the face!
…and all I did was ask to upgrade to a faster line and potentially pay Vodafone more monthly money for the privilege….
So update –
Finally talk to someone who knows what’s happening –
Apparently the cancellation is only on the account and not on the actual service.
- Therefore my line will continue regardless of a reboot!
- The new order set up yesterday will be cancelled
- The Cancellation will be removed from my next bill
- The Static IP can be re-added, but only once the bill is sorted.
Openreach – I will chase this again but separately and give the VF team a chance to fix the account. Maybe Openreach will sort anyway in that time…. Probably wishful thinking.
Of course this may all be wrong, my router may crash and I may be without broadband for weeks… but lets be optimistic.
I was too optimistic
- My line has continued despite a reboot so I am at least not cut off
- Nothing has changed on the account – indeed it maybe that my direct debit has also been cancelled as it looks like my mobile charges which would have been on the same bill haven’t been paid despite being on direct debit and plenty of funds in the account?
- No bill = no Static IP address
- Openreach – chased twice – they promised to escalate both times – nothing happened and Vodafone Broadband don’t want to know. Nothing they can do ‘Openreach Problem’… missing the point that Openreach at Vodafone’s supplier.
Still no ownership from anyone at Vodafone.
Update 8th June – Still several issues and little progress and now a possible showstopper –
- At least Openreach have moved the line. This was because I contacted Kelley Communications and got them to resolve it directly with no help from Vodafone
- I got a sympathetic Customer Rep (who has since left Vodafone) who understood the issue and started getting things fixed, but Vodafone backoffice couldn’t fix the issue with my account as I had special pricing and that needs special permission and that team take weeks to deal with things apparently….
- I am now told the account will not be fixed until July at the earliest
- Today the line has a fault – red light on the BT Fibre box…. Called Vodafone 3 times get cut off after 30minutes each time after being told They are Very busy and then the line closes for the day
- The irony of being told to use the online help when I don’t have an internet connect is infuriating
- Used the chat on my mobile phone which is a waste of time as the 'Agent' doesn’t understand the problem thinking I am chasing the account issue and when they kind of understand it, they can’t do anything as the line isn’t showing as active. They say everything will be sorted in 24hours and point me back to the closed phone line, which of course points you to the chat…..
So… as at 9.40pm on 8th June…
I have no broadband service, no one on the chat is able to help as it’s not on the account. So I don’t know what me and my Wife will do tomorrow for work connectivity. I will be on the phone at 8am to see if I can get any help....
The core issue is my account is not showing the broadband line despite having raised this weeks ago and it is beyond Vodafone’s ability to fix this within any reasonable timescale.
I no longer have a Static IP address as they can’t assign it because there is no active line on the account. This is actually very inconvenient for me in my line of work.
I have been charged cancellation fees for the cancellation I never wanted.
I have wasted hours on the phone talking to Vodafone reps, none of whom take any ownership to resolve the problem or escalate it to someone senior enough who can?
My mental stress and time spend trying to sort this has been immense
I guess the next steps are posting this on the Forum and emailing the Vodafone chairman to see if that can get some ownership and accountability from Vodafone, with the National newspapers, OFCOM and the consumer TV programmes if that fails….
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