Saved voicemail missing

[lovelyhubster]

iPhone XR, IOS16.1, 

my father passed away last year and I had a voicemail he left saved on the Vodafone voicemail service, 

I was going to record it but when I went to retrieve it to do this there is no option to go to the saved voicemails, is this a new thing with the Vodafone voicemail service ? Or as I was told by a member of the Vodafone support chat team an issue with the IOS software ? 
Please can anyone shed any light on this, thanks

[BandOfBrothers]

Hi @lovelyhubster 

Voicemail is a service driven by the network exclusively and are kept on the Vodafone Servers.

From this Vodafone link there is the option to listen to messages > How-do-I-check-my-voicemail. 

And here > https://www.vodafone.co.uk/mobile/visual-voicemail 

To test out the Vodafone Agents theory of the issue being iOS related you could try your sim card in an android phone, however my thoughts are it's nothing to do with iOS software.

For some reason it appears the Voicemail may have been deleted.

Unfortunately once this happens the Voicemail is typically lost.

I appreciate how dear the Voicemail is to you so you could speak with the Vodafone Social Media Teams via Facebook Messenger or Twitter DM > Contact-us-for-account-specific-queries to clarify.

If I can be of any further help then please don't hesitate. Take care.  😎 

[AnnS]

In these circumstances @lovelyhubster I really don't like being the bearer of bad news. 

As far as is known a voicemail will be deleted after 30 days, it was previously 7 days, but if you saved the voicemail it would have been saved for an additional 30 days before deleted from the system.  

Unfortunately, once a voicemail has been deleted from the system it won't be able to be recovered.

edited to add:  According to this link Can I recover a deleted voicemail? if you were using visual voicemail and accidentally deleted the voicemail from the delete folder, it can be recovered during a 30 day time limit.  

[BandOfBrothers]

Just seen this @lovelyhubster 

From https://support.vodafone.co.uk/Phones-devices/Voicemail/1464047952/Can-I-recover-a-deleted-voicemail... 

" If you delete a voicemail, you can find it in the Deleted folder.

If you also delete a voicemail directly from the Deleted folder, you can contact us within 30 days to retrieve a voicemail with the help of one of our advisors. "

[lovelyhubster]

Thanks for the replies, I understand that if it’s gone it’s gone, but what I don’t get is the answerphone option for hearing the saved voicemail is not there, i.e. option 2 is voicemails, personal message is option 3, but no saved voicemail option number, I am absolutely sure there used to be one,

also, my father left the voicemail November last year, so the saved voicemails being deleted after a month doesn’t seem to have occurred as I have listened to it not long ago.

[AnnS]

I know it's upsetting @lovelyhubster  when you were planning on recording and saving the message.   If the voicemail was left November last year it has exceeded the time limit for the message to be stored on the server and the message should have been deleted around March this year.

If there are any further messages in saved messages you will still have the option on your voicemail.

It's unlikely anything can be done to retrieve the message but no harm dropping the Social Team a message and asking the question.

[lovelyhubster]

I’ve listened to the message recently, so I’m guessing it’s only just been deleted off the server then, so it’s gone, 😞

that still doesn’t explain why I don’t have the saved voicemail option when I ring to hear my voicemail, unless the fact that I no longer have any saved voicemails negates the need for that option

[AnnS]

Thank you for your replies @lovelyhubster , voicemails are not kept indefinitely and you are correct the message is more than likely gone.

At least you will have many pleasant memories of times with Father to keep and treasure for the future.

[Gemma]

Morning @lovelyhubster I’m sorry to hear of your loss and that the voicemail is no longer available. I can imagine how upsetting this must be.

I’ve double checked and if it was a normal Voicemail and not a Visual Voicemail, then it isn’t possible to retrieve it.

When you’ve a saved Voicemail in the future, this option will be available through your Voicemail settings again.

I’ve just tested it on my phone by calling 121, and I then selected option 2. It straight away come up with my saved voicemail. If there aren’t any there, then this doesn’t happen. 

Please let us know if you need help with anything else.