My callers hear no ring tone when I'm abroad

[muppix]

I'm on an Unlimited Max with Entertainment plan and travel a great deal for work, predominantly in EU but occasionally further afield.

For the past year or so, people who call me when I'm abroad don't hear my phone ring, they just get silence until I answer. The behaviour is the same in all countries and on all networks, and has been described in detail by user PDC_UK in this post from 2017, though unfortunately no solution was posted.

My wife is also on Vodafone but with a different package, and has the same issue. 

[BandOfBrothers]

That's a conundrum @muppix as they obviously should hear the normal tone or international tone at least.

Typically this is driven by the network a person is latched to while roaming.

Do you both use the same make and model of phone with same software ?

Perhaps speak with the Vodafone Social Media Teams via Contact-us-for-account-specific-queries so they can look at your account and pass this onto the networking teams.

I'd suggest to use Twitter and link back to your thread here including your forum username so your not having to repeat yourself.

Unfortunately there isn't always a quick fix to such issues and typically includes trial and error troubleshooting.

I wish you all the best with this situation. 

🌈 Stay Safe  🌈 

[lowmtr]

I and my wife are currently in Spain and I have EXACTLY the same issue across both an IOS (Iphone 10) and Android (Samsung S10) phones. It is 100% repeatable and we get the same problem calling inbound from the UK and even get it calling from either phone to the other.

We have wasted over 2 hours with Vodafone chat, asking us to reset both phone settings (when it clearly is most likely a network issue not an individual phone issue), they promised to do something on the network to fix this but I've faced disappointment before with Vodafone support and another chase up 2 days later reveals they have done nothing despite the empty promise and want to start the whole "have you reset the phone" antics all over again.

This is quite serious, we are here for another 2 weeks and we've heard more than once that because there is no dial tone callers from the UK are abandoning the call before connection, thinking both the phones are off.

GIven we are roaming on Vodafone ES, they own the entire network, surely we could expect even a base level of support from Vodafone?  Failing that any help or suggestions from the forum would be appreciated

[muppix]

It appears that all Vodafone are interested in is preserving the illusion that they have a functioning support channel.

[donnyguy]

Same issue a couple of weeks ago roaming on SFR in France. 

Incoming callers hear silence until we answered. Not a biggie for me but it does surprise the caller when they go from silence thinking the call hasn't connected to me speaking.

[lowmtr]

Thanks to both replies, I guess I'm just so disappointed in Vodafone, we have a 100% repeatable problem and it appears there are more than a few users experiencing it over what appears a protracted time. I'm happy whilst I'm out here in Spain to help them resolve their issue, on their network to improve their service and customer satisfaction but I'm under no illusions they will bother.

As others have mentioned, there really isn't any true support from Vodafone for their users, the chat service is really a facade and the silence is truly deafening when it comes to real user support from Vodafone (and I've asked for it to be escalated more than once). 

I'm guessing unless their social media team feel any responsibility to manage Vodafone's customer service perception I'll hear absolutely nothing further.

I guess after 20 years with Vodafone I guess I'll just vote with my feet next time the contract comes around for renewal

[Adam]

Hi @lowmtr I appreciate it's important being able to have people contact you when you're out the UK. Just out of interest, the people that are calling, do they have dial assist turned on? If not, are they dialling your number with +44 instead of the number saved in the contacts starting with a 0? 

[lowmtr]

Thanks, basically it is as follows:

1) Any caller from the UK (Corporate, private, mobile or landline) will never hear any form of connection or ringing tone at their end. It will be silent until the point they either abandon the call because it seemingly went awry or by luck they hand on and we hear it ring on our vodafone mobiles here in Spain and answer. At that point the call is fine, but of course we have no idea who or how many people abandoned a calls to us.

2) We can totally and 100% reproduce the problem from either of our UK vodafone phones (S10 android and Iphone 10)  now roaming on Vodafone ES network. Symptoms identical to 1).

3) We spent almost two hours with vodafone chat, resetting both phones, reconnecting to the networks etc etc even though it was pretty obvious from the start that its a network problem. They promised to do some more work on the network, they clearly didn't and nothing more was ever heard, not even the courtesy of an update despite requesting escalation.

4) I know from previous experience of issues that Vodafone chat has absolutely no sense of problem ownership or follow through, the empty promises and profuse apologies are given but once you close the chat you can forget it, you will hear no more. I'm sure their organisation's call close performance statistics look wonderful but not surprisingly the customer experience is dire.

5) I checked again yesterday, problem remains and is still 100% solid. 

Just so disgusted with Vodafone that they can't even be bothered to lift a finger here. I'm sure if Vodafone did the right thing and got this escalated to one of their network experts whilst I am out here to help this could be solved, not just for me but for other frustrated customers and the betterment of their own network.

[muppix]

Note that "abroad" also includes the Isle of Man in my case, which shares the UK's +44 international code but has its own fixed line dialling codes, 01624 and 07624 respectively. Symptoms identical as those reported by @lowmtr - no sound heard by incoming callers until Vodafone roamer answers.

To answer the question posed by moderator @Adam, dial-assist isn't a factor when calling from Isle of Man to UK Vodafone, people just dial the area code and then the number. If the UK Vodafone number they are calling is in the UK they get a ringtone until the call is answered, if the UK Vodafone party is abroad they get nothing. 100% reproducible.

And now a question from me: what do we (Vodafone customers) have to do to get this fixed?

[lowmtr]

Thanks muppix,

Yes, just to be clear and answer the direct moderator question as well, this is nothing to do with dial assist, as per muppix, you call your Vodafone UK number from the UK anyhow you like it doesn't matter. In my, case right now, across multiple roaming phones if that UK Vodafone phone is roaming the caller will get nothing.

>And now a question from me: what do we (Vodafone customers) have to do to get this fixed?

absolutely!  same question from me

come on Vodafone, unless you have total disinterest in your customer experience you can't hide from this one, it is time to shape up. As I said, I'm roaming right now, I'm technically literate and I'm offering to help with YOUR network problem, escalate as I asked almost a week ago and make contact!!!