Vodafone Advantage code not arriving

[Nichrome]

Hello,

I'm having hard times with Vodafone, maybe there's some at least half competent person on the forums as neither  live chat nor 191 seems to help.

I'm currently working for an employer that is registered for VA scheme.

The full story:

Excited about upcoming iphone 13 pro, I preorder it on Friday as that'd be my first iphone (thought to give it a try).

Upon doing my little finance spreadsheets (my spendings tracking) I check the contract details, and rather than 20% Vodafone Advantage discount, there's just 5GBP.

I call up 191 and ask about it and if it can be applied.

They said I have to cancel my order, apply for the code, and re-upgrade providing the code in the checkout. On that same call, I asked them to cancel my preorder. They said it'll be sorted out within 72 hours.

72 hours later I go on live chat, they apologise and what not, and say it'll be cancelled within 48 hours.

Here comes Friday, launch date of new iphones, and courier is meant to come around. They actually haven't as ETA was 14:20-15:20, but point 15:00 I see live tracker that courier is heading back to Depot in Cardiff (I'm in Bristol). Eventually it arrived next day on Saturday.

Well done Vodafone, in total I went through 2 phone calls and 2 live chats to cancel this preorder and giving you full 5 working days, just to receive it anyway. I brought it to local store and they returned/cancelled whole thing immediately without any hassle.

At the same time after I ended first call with 191, I applied for Vodafone Advantage code. Just work email didn't work, neither for myself nor colleagues, so I went the registration path by providing employer name, work email address and proof of employment.

5 working days later I call 191 and ask why I didn't get the code yet. They said there is something wrong with the system and will get back to me by Wednesday (today).

I went on live chat today, and I learnt 2 things:

1. "Customer service" employed in India are incompetent. I ask about the code, and they keep going on about that I already have the discount. Well no **** Sherlock, I need new code for the upgrade.

2. Whoever in Upgrades team I was transferred to, told me I cannot use the code on any iphone 13 as they all come with 5GBP discount and it cannot be overriden. Well, fine, but what if I want different phone? Why wasn't I told this when I called 191? [[silence]]

So:
Who do I contact to get the code sorted out? I no longer want any iphone, and I have an Android phone in my mind. But I need to get the code first regardless of what phone I want to upgrade to.

Thanks, and sorry for lengthy post.

[MarkD]

Thanks for the update @Nichrome, we're sorry that the experience trying to get this sorted hasn't been as smooth as we would like. Let us know how you get in the next couple of days 🙂

[Nichrome]

Same support agent called me yesterday evening.

He explained the situation why the code is not arriving, and proposed a workaround which was approved by back office and resolutions managers.

What was said, is that the system refuses to give a new code because my line already has the VA discount.

The workaround, is that I do the upgrade. Then apply for new code, as current discount will disappear. Once new code arrives, call Vodafone, tell them reference numbers for my case calls and let them manually apply the discount.

Funny enough, prior to that, I was tild this is not possible over the phone and can only be done online in the upgrade checkout..

I will try...

[Nichrome]

New contract is in place according to MyVodafone.

I have now applied for the code, providing same information as before...

[Nichrome]

Email with one time login has arrived. I will generate the code later today and will call the almighty 191.

What are the odds I get told to cancel my contract again?

[Nichrome]

Glad to see the login link doesn't work. Being let down by V on every single step...

[Amanda]

Thanks for keeping the thread updated @Nichrome 

Please let us know once you've logged in and obtained another code. 

[Nichrome]

Called 191 again, lady got in touch with back office again and they will supposedly apply the discount manually within next 48 hours OR will send me an email why it can't be done.

[Nichrome]

I got no email, no call and no discount. Big disappointment Vodafone. I can't even tell how many support agents promised and reassured this to be fixed. After 3 broken promises heads should be cut down..

[Mark]

I'm sorry to hear you're having difficulty requesting your advantage code @Nichrome If you've got a work email address, I believe the code would be sent to this. If you don't, you can select a personal address to request the code to be sent. Be sure the addresses provided are correct and also check your junk mail inbox incase these have been moved by an over zealous spam filter. If they're not there, pop us a message through our social channels and we'll be happy to offer more help requesting this 😊

[Nichrome]

I might open up twitter account just for the sake of sorting this out...