On 1st February I requested a replacement SIM as my iPhone was faulty and I had to swap it at the Apple Store that evening, as I didn't have the EID yet I requested a QR code. The old eSIM was deactivated but no new QR code arrived, in my experience, this usually means that the order has got stuck but customer services won't touch it until 24 hours have passed.
Called back the following day after 24 hours has elapsed and was told they had escalated the order to the 'higher technical team' who would resolve it within 24 hours, dutifully I waited 24 hours and got nothing, no call or email. Once again called CS and was told I would need to go to a store and get them to issue a physical replacement SIM, after which I could then request a new eSIM but they could not do it themselves.
Went to the store in Warrington where the person working tried to issue a SIM but said there was an error and the system would not let him do it. Was advised to contact customer services would look into the error. Called back and explained everything from start to finish, was told they should be able to issue a SIM card, they would escalate to the higher technical team but if I went to a store I would be able to get a physical SIM.
The following day I went to Leeds Vodafone store where the person there was unsurprisingly not able to issue a physical SIM due to an error in the system. They would update the notes but I can call customer services to get them to fix the account, they could not see any issues with the account themselves.
Called up customer services on Monday, giving the higher technical team 48 hours to look into the original ticket (which appears wasn't raised), and had to explain everything again, at this point I might ask one of the mods to rename me Polly the Parrot, they said they would escalate to the higher technical team and I needed to wait 24 hours (I kid you not).
Called back on Tuesday to ascertain what, if anything, had happened on the account, and had to explain everything from start to finish, they couldn't see any tickets and/or any action being taken on the account. Guess what they had to do? Raise it to the higher technical team and I would have to wait 24 hours.
Ended the call but furiously I emailed Ahmed Essam as the Exec Complaints team is usually hot on complaints. I received an automated message back and then a follow-up message to say a handler called Apple advising me they would call me between 18:00 to 20:00 that evening.
That call did not come and at 19:37 I got a message to say they'd tried to call me on my alternative number but they could not get through, a new call has been scheduled for 3 days.
If I needed to contact them more urgently here was a PIN and the phone number I could use. I question if a call was ever attempted, I did not get a voicemail or an SMS to advise I'd had a missed call which is usual. I made sure that I was available between those times and that my phone had good reception.
I called back immediately to be told Apple was unavailable and a call back has been scheduled but the handler would leave a message for them to call me back sooner (also didn't happen). They went through all of the troubleshooting from the first 3 calls and said it has been raised to the higher technical team who will resolve the issue within 24 hours (at this point that phrase is a real rage trigger for me). Once again, with hope in my mind, I called back after 24 hours had passed to see if anything has been done to my account to resolve the issue. They attempted to find my complaint handler Apple but they did not start work for a few more hours, but would try to help me, they conferenced in 1st line support who repeated the same message, they even offered to post me a physical SIM card but when they to issue it they got a system error message and they couldn't send me one. They advised they had to raise it to the higher technical team who would resolve it in 24 hours (LOL!).
Called back today, and got through to the elusive Apple who has taken no action on the account, because 'they couldn't contact me' which is rubbish. I asked about the previous call and they cannot see that anything was done, they do not have access to those systems but they needed to escalate this case to the 'priority technical team' who would take 24/48 hours to look into the issue. Apple advised they are not working this weekend so I now won't hear anything back until Monday, requested a callback tomorrow for an update either way.
It's insanity that the Exec Complaints team is supposed to be the highest level of customer support and service and it's taken days of chasing just to get the issue looked at with no resolution time frame. At what point can I ask for a deadlock letter? These calls aren't 5-minute calls they're hours at a time where you're put on hold endlessly, told they appreciate how frustrating it is, and then the person takes no action at all.
