Applied for Vodafone Essentials Broadband over TWO MONTHS ago - still no contact from Vodafone!

[Yogafone]

Hi, I'm hoping someone from Vodafone can look into this and help me resolve the issue.

I applied for Vodafone Essentials Broadband on 27th November 2022. I am eligible, being in receipt of one of the listed benefits.

Straight away I received an email confirming my application. Part of it read: "We've received your form and we'll be in touch soon to let you know if you qualify. What happens next? A member of our dedicated team will give you a call within five working days to check your eligibility and process your order. Our team will contact you from an 01482 number so keep an eye on your phone."

I never received a call from Vodafone within the specified 5 working days, neither did I have any missed calls from that 01482 prefix. Over the next couple of weeks I wasted ages on the phone and live chat, trying to find out the status of my application. The so-called 'support' I received each time was utterly useless. One advisor even asked me if I was applying for a business account, despite me making it clear it was the social tariff that I had applied for (and how can a business be on benefits?). Another advisor kept switching between telling me that my application had been refused (I asked how, given nobody had even been in touch with me to confirm my eligibility, but she couldn't answer that) and telling me that it was still in progress (but could give no indication of what stage it was at). And, obviously, she was at complete loss to explain how my application could be simultaneously rejected and still being processed. She clearly didn't know what she was talking about, and - like the other advisors I spoke to - was not at all interested in helping me. I got the distinct impression that I was low priority as I was applying for a cheap package, and, since I was technically not a Vodafone customer, they didn't really need to bother assisting me.

Eventually I gave up, as nobody I spoke to at Vodafone was bothered about helping me. However, I'm posting now two months on (yes, I know it's a long time, but I just lost the will to keep contacting them and being let down), as I need to know whether the application was processed or not.

I'm also concerned about the fact that a credit check may have been conducted by Vodafone as part of the eligibility check (the T&Cs state that this can happen). That would be fair enough if Vodafone had at least contacted me to let me know that my application had been refused on credit grounds.

So, at the moment, I've no idea what happened. Since nobody contacted me to discuss my eligibility as per the application confirmation email, I'm assuming that Vodafone never even started processing my application. But I don't know for sure, since Vodafone haven't gotten back to me at all.

Even without being a customer (yet), I feel very let down by Vodafone's exceptionally poor customer service. Somebody should have contacted me within a week of my application as stated in the email, but nobody did, and my attempts at chasing up the matter were frustrated by clueless and very unhelpful advisors.

Two months down the line my application seems to be in limbo. I'm still interested in the Essentials package, so I would be grateful if someone here could look into just what happened (or didn't), and help me get some closure on the matter. I'm reluctant to make another application (either with another company or re-applying with Vodafone) in case Vodafone did in fact run a credit check.

I was going to say that I'm happy to share my application reference number, but looking at the aforementioned email again, I see that there wasn't one!

If Vodafone did run a credit check, and my application was refused, then they should at least have the courtesy to inform me, both of the fact that it had been turned down, and that a check had been carred out. But it wouldn't make sense for that to happen, since Vodafone never contacted me to even discuss the application as the email stated. So, on top of being very disappointed, I'm also understandable confused about the whole situation!

Any assistance from a Vodafone rep would be most appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[Gemma]

@Yogafone - I understand why you don't want to contact us again to chase up what's happening. I agree that you shouldn't have to do this. I can see how long ago you first posted here and it's disappointing that you haven't had an update. I can see @Mark has mentioned before, that we can find out what's happening. I've just searched our Social platforms via the name you have registered to the Community with and nothing's showing from your name. In order for us to move forward and help with this, please contact us on Social Media. If you include a link to this thread, my colleagues will see we've asked you to get in touch. 

[Chris67]

I too applied for Vodafone essentials and did get a phonecall and a contract but although it was meant to start as said by the guy who rang me there was no contract start date on what he sent me and after waiting and receiving another bill I went online to chat about it that's when I got passed around 4 times only to be told that it had been cancelled and they were sorry and told to reapply again which is probably a waste of time as someone else I know has applied twice and never even had a phonecall yet 

[Mark]

If you pop us a message via out social channels @Chris67, we'll be able to take a look into why your previous order was cancelled and help with the next steps.

[Silver-505]

Hello, I recently applied for a social tariff for broadband. After filling out the application, I was contacted by Vodafone and signed up. But then I decided to cancel because I was unsure of the package's broadband speeds, etc. I contacted Vodafone by phone to see if I could reverse the cancellation. The agent told me they'd never heard of the package, and the only advice he could give me was to fill out the application again and I would be contacted by a team member. I have filled out the form at least 4 or 5 times and nobody has contacted me, and I have waited the required time each time, but I'm obviously being blatantly ignored. Why? Is there anything that can be done? Thanks.

[Chris67]

I don't have any social media accounts so can't speak to anyone this way to sort out the problem about why my account was cancelled 

[Gemma]

I'm sorry to hear you both haven't been contacted after filling in the form. You should receive a confirmation email to confirm we've received your application. Please double check your junk/spam folder. 

If it isn't there, then @Silver-505  please message my team on Social Media, we can then complete the form on your behalf. @Chris67 - with you not having access to a social account, please reach out to our team on Live Chat or call 191 free from a Vodafone phone or 03333 040 191 from a different phone. 

[Silver-505]

Thank you gemma much appreciated for the help 🙂

[Anonymous]

I also applied for essentials on 27 April but have not afaik had a phone call. I'm not on social media, I don't have a mobile phone. On live chat they said they don't deal with Essentials package applicants and gave me an 0333 number to call.

I haven't tried it yet because of the cost. 

[Jayach]

03 numbers are charged at local rates, and are included in any call allowance you (or a friend) may have.

However you could use the social media route, and ask if they could chase for you, as others on this thread have done.

But yes, it does seem from this thread that the timescales for the initial contact are not being adhered to.

[Anonymous]

As I said, I'm not on social media and have no call allowance with my landline. 0333 numbers are charged at 13.5p a minute with my current provider (a recent call to their customer services cost over £5). So I'm not keen on clocking up more expenses if I can avoid it.

I don't see why the Vodafone 'dedicated team' don't just email you to say roughly when they are actually going to phone.  Then at least you can know to stay within easy distance of the phone, but I guess not many people are totally reliant on a landline these days.