Number not ported correctly?

[Anonymous]

I joined Vodafone for full fibre broadband and landline phone calls a month ago - and I wish I hadn't bothered! 

First of all, there were issues with the installation which were finally sorted two weeks late.

The installation has now been complete for almost two weeks - and the broadband is great - BUT I've not been able to receive incoming calls at all since joining Vodafone. I can call out - and my phone number displays to the person I'm calling - but I cannot receive calls. Callers get a "You have dialled an incorrect number" message.

I've spoken to Vodafone twice on the phone about this - and they insist that my number has been ported in from my old provider (Vonage) correctly.

I've also been passed to umpteen people via the Tobi chat system - including the so-called Broadband Experts who transferred me back to the department I was speaking to first.

NOBODY seems to have any idea at Vodafone - and I'm now on the verge of cancelling under my 14 day cooling off period because I have never dealt with a company with such appalling so-called "customer service" in my life. 

I'm sick of being passed to different people via Tobi chat, and getting nowhere on the phone too.

I am not convinced that Vodafone have ported my number in from Vonage correctly. 

How can I get a deadlock letter so I can go to Cicas because I'm getting nowhere with Vodafone.

Thanks! 

[pjz]

I switched on the 15th and i cannot get incoming calls. (now the 20th) I have entered a complaint into their system, registered a complaint with ofcom. I have requested a deadlock letter for the cifas complaint. I have written a complaint to the ceo, in the post today. I have been contacted by a call centre monkey so they know it is a problem.

They are refusing to give me a deadlock letter. This is a deadlock situation as they can not be ##~## to register my phone number.

No point bothering with their customer service, you just get the run around.

They had at least two weeks to get this switchover right. Vodafone is a shambolic organisation.

Vodafone

[Jayach]

Do you realise you have to give them up to 8 weeks to resolve the problem before you get the deadlock letter?

Complaints Code of Practice | Vodafone UK

[pjz]

Yes, is that fair for this type of "problem" ?

[Cynric]

@pjz As you seem to be so unsatisfied by your experience you could leave before the cooling off period ends.

As much as I would agree with you that there are occasions when Vodafone may make you pull your hair out, I think that referring to them as "monkeys" and that they "cannot be ##^#" is going a bit far, and possibly not going to help you to get your issues resolved.

[pjz]

i take it that you have not experienced problems then. None of this is my fault and yes, I have mentioned in my complaint that if they cannot sort it I want out.  They say, and i quote "Unfortunately, we cannot issue a deadlock letter unless we have made an attempt to fix the issue and have been unable to resolve the same".

So applying logic here, they have not made an attempt to fix the issue. So how long are they going to take ?? 1 day, 1 week or possibly 8 weeks.

The whole ofcom complaints setup is a travesty. Why should I wait 8 weeks once i have a deadlock letter before complaining ? They are obviously trying to deflect as many complaints as possible. This is not helping the powerless consumer get redress for bad management.

This issue is trivial for them to sort out. For gods sake its a phone number and numbers are core to their business. They must do thousands of these requests and should have a proper procedure in place to handle this. This is plainly bad management.

When they did the switchover, they never contacted me to check everything is ok. The onus should not be on me to tell them their system is not working. This is poor customer relations.

[Ripshod]

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@pjz wrote:

i take it that you have not experienced problems then.

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I can't think of a single member here that signed up to say how great the service is. We've all had our own experiences.

Wouldn't it be great if someone would contact us to make sure everything is okay. Unfortunately, with a company that provides budget broadband and is now laying off 11000 employees wordlwide, that will never happen. Name any companies that make such courtesy calls.

Problems do happen quite frequently, and not just with vodafone. Go check out the other forums. Thinkbroadband is a great example. The vendor specific forums are always buzzing with complaints about the service, yet the Vodafone specific forum can go months without a single post.

Yes, you've had a bad experience. But it's you that's colouring the picture in your mind.

[Cynric]

@pjz  Yes I had problems after the cooling off period. After providing evidence I was free to leave the contract early without penalty.

Reading your post I believe that you are still in the cooling off period and therefore you should be able to leave without going to deadlock, unless things have changed.

[Jayach]

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@pjz wrote:

i take it that you have not experienced problems then. None of this is my fault and yes, I have mentioned in my complaint that if they cannot sort it I want out.  

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I'm not sure who your comment was directed at, but my first 3 months with Vodafone were atrocious.

Router constantly rebooting, and speeds all over the place.

It took many calls, a replacement router and 2 Openreach call outs to resolve it. However it has been fine since, so much so that I have contracted for another 2 years.

Telephone number porting seem to be a problem for most ISP's, especially since the advent of VoIP.

If it didn't work at the time, it is unlikely Vodafone will be able to resolve it.

As this is not your thread, you say you can't receive calls. Are you able to make outgoing calls, and do they have the correct telephone  number?

Is the PHONE led lit on the router? (assuming you have the THG3000)

Is it possible the calls are coming in, but there is no ringing sound?

[pjz]

hello,

I am not a novice dealing with large companies and suffering their "customer services". The problem is you know you are right but you cannot get access to someone who knows what they are doing and can understand your problem. I do know what i am doing and am tech savvy. I put my problem succintly to Vodafone. My router is working fine, internet up and ok, i can initiate calls from my phone (connected to router) to another mobile phone. My phone number is correctly identified as caller id. When i phone my home number i get an immediate error message.

As to the point of a courtesy call back to check everything is ok, yes, I expect this as part of a switchover. It doesn't have to be voice, a contact email or text would do.

This seems to be a problem in their switchover procedure, maybe to previous company is being awkward or communication between the two is sketchy, but to me as customer it is very poor.

incidentally, is the cooling off period from the contract signing or when the "service" begins ? I shall have to navigate customer services on Monday to cancel. I don't want to be charged for the router and the fibre connection. It seems they will lose money on such a simple problem. No doubt I will need to start another complaint with the ombudsman over this.