26 Mar 2012 - Update Highest Rated Pain Stories Highest Rated Gain Stories Vodafail Local Facebook Page
Dear visitor,

Since its inception Vodafail.com has made a significant contribution towards raising awareness of the problems and issues faced by Vodafone customers.

Vodafone Australia customers have had the opportunity to voice their concerns, their fears and their troubles from every corner of Australia and beyond our borders. You have gathered the courage to stand up for your rights as consumers and to make your voice heard.

Each and every person who shared their story should have a sense of pride in this achievement and the changes that have occurred since the start of Vodafail.com.

More recently, traffic to Vodafail.com has declined significantly. Having achieved the goal of raising awareness and promoting concrete action in early 2011, we have now reached the point of closing Vodafail to new complaints. The site will remain online for as long as possible as a reminder and an example of what is possible when we share our experiences.

It has been a privilege to run this initiative and I'm am forever grateful for the help and support I've received. In particular I would like to thank Melissa, David and Travis for their continued efforts over the past 15 months. I'm also thankful and humbled by the support of ACCAN, Choice magazine and a wide range of media outlets, blogs and websites.

You can still browse existing stories and find out how to file a complaint if you are experiencing problems.

Until next time,

Adam Brimo

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9827 Someone from NSW thinks vodafone is Severe at 1 Jan 2011 07:08:08 PM
Relating to mobile broadband coverage.

On 27 December I purchased a "wifi in your pocket" prepaid pack, complete with SIM before I left on vacation. Once I reached my destination I installed the software and attempted to activate the service. I could not do so without the phone number attached to the SIM. The pack in the "wifi in your pocket" box did not include the phone number anywhere; only the SIM number and control number.

So I called Vodafone. Waited on hold for 45 mins. Then they hung up on me. So I called back. This time I selected the "activate a new SIM option". It also required me to have the phone number and because I did not, the automated service told me to call Customer Care on 1555. How do they think I got through to the activation option in the first place?
So I called back again, was on hold for about 50 minutes. Finally, the person I spoke to said he would would transfer me to the correct department. They hung up on me. Again. Tried calling back later in the evening only to learn that the activation department was only operational between 8am and 8pm.

I backed up again the next morning. Waited about 55 minutes on hold. When someone finally answered, seeing I was calling from a Vodafone phone, the woman I spoke to gave me the phone number attached to a mobile broadband service I had 5 years ago. Yes, 5 years ago. I asked her how she knew which service I was calling about since the one I had just bought was not yet attached to me. She said it was. I said no, it's not. This is a brand new service, it does not have my details on it, you are talking about an old one. I need the phone number for this new one, the SIM number is..... She hung up on me too!

Irate, I called back AGAIN. After another 50 minute wait the woman this time told me that the SIM I had was blank and I needed to buy a $2 SIM for it to work. I said no, that cannot be right because this SIM came in the "wifi in your pocket" box. I asked why they would provide one if it was useless and another needed to be bought. She kept repeating that the SIM number I had quoted was blank. And then she hung up on me.

I called back. Waited on hold about 20 minutes and the man I spoke to provided me with the number for the new SIM in less than a minute.

This is not my first problem with Vodafone. I have had many. I dread to think how many hours I have wasted on the phone with them. My last issue was about 2 months ago and it took about 3 weeks to resolve. Mat with one T must be the rudest CSR in the world. He should be fired.

The staff at Vodafone's customer care centre are appalling. They just have no idea. They don't record file notes as they should, you get different answers from every person you speak to. It's absolutely disgraceful. And that is a real shame because I don't have problems with the coverage per se, only specific aspects of set-up and account maintenance and it is such a terrible experience.

Good luck in your action.
Rebekah, NSW

P.S. After all this my "wifi in your pocket" is still not working. What a surprise.
1 Jan 2011 07:11:50 PM: all sims have a phone number...they must have....the WiFi does not but operates off the sim card....however Vodaphone can supplt the number from the coded number on the sim....they should have done this...
1 Jan 2011 07:22:41 PM: that means you threw shit away with out paying attention
1 Jan 2011 07:26:46 PM: To the first respondent, exactly.

To the second, I did not. The plastic card which I removed the SIM from was still glued to the booklet it came in. All pieces of paper, and the plastic from the box and individual parts, are still in my possession. So I'd thank you to not cuss blindly.
1 Jan 2011 07:39:12 PM: I also purchased one of these packs and the phone number was not included! I had to call, put up with Lara then wait almost an hour to tell someone who barely spoke English what had happened. It was as simple as saying "I just purchased mobile broadband, but the sim has no phone number written anywhere".

This did not go smoothly. I had to re explain to her multiple times after she thought I was trying to change the phone number on a handset, then I got transferred, another long wait, to a person who "handled" mobile broadband issues, who also thought I wanted to change the phone number on my handset.

1 Jan 2011 07:47:10 PM: that piece of paper that had the sim stuck to it....i'm holding mine right now, underneath the bar-code it has two numbers one being the control number, above the bar code it has the mobile number, it's on my receipt too
1 Jan 2011 07:47:58 PM: Dude mine too, think you need glasses dude
1 Jan 2011 07:49:09 PM: Mine does not have a barcode on it. I am also holding it.
1 Jan 2011 07:52:52 PM: I didn't buy a pocket WiFi, I bought a modem, the number is on my green paper thingy it's called a MSDIN, also on the back of my box and recipt
1 Jan 2011 07:57:04 PM: well i defiantly didn't have one on mine, and needed to recharge, I didn't even know they had a number, i went into the shop and the guy rang up they asked me some ID type random questions and they found it from the SIM card, problem solved
2 Jan 2011 09:30:44 PM: Sigh.. your MSISDN is your mobile phone number.