Fudgey

iTrader: (1)

as title, i have been with vodafone for about 15 years now, and last year got an iphone 4s and ever since not had any signal coverage to use the damn thing.

now i called vodafone within 3 days of receiving the phone so say that the signal was non existent at home, or where i work. all i mostly get is 'no signal'

im on a £36 a month contract, for 24 month duration and i have 11 months left and had more than enough.

i get 3000 minutes, unlimited text and 1gb of data PER MONTH so when the phone usage for the last year had been about 4500 minutes, and 770mb of data for the last 13 months, you can see that i just cant use the phone for what i am allowed.

after i complained they sent me new phones and sim cards to try, and that took me past the 14 days to cancel the contract.

last time i phoned them and said i wanted to cancel they said i had to pay £600 odd to finish early.

does anyone have any advice on basically telling them to shove the phone and end the contract?

i do of course get signal in certain places, just not where i work/live and spend 99% of my time lol

cheers for any info before i call them again!

Tidgy

your pretty much stuck, phones4u will buy you out but prob not for another 6 months.

what have vodaphone said about the signal issues?

blackvenom

Not have a sure signal? It's a box from vodaphone that you plus Into a land line. Get a 3G signal for upto 150m of the box,

jaygsi

iTrader: (46)

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GSM-MOBILE...item3384f2f58a

Fudgey

iTrader: (1)

Tdgy, they basically said they cannot guarantee signal reception, but i never assumed it would be **** poor. so as i can get some signal sometimes at home, then thats that....

BV no point having the sure signal box at home, as i use wifi for the internet, and if i really need to make a call i can use the house phone.
and at work they wont allow us to use the wifi etc, so i couldnt use one here either (plus they want £100 for one!)

so im stuck then! great

Tidgy

vodaphone has always had decent signal for me where ever i've been, pretty lucky on that front i expect.

sounds like you may be stuffed for another few months then

Fudgey

iTrader: (1)

looks like it then

jay, as good as it sounds, for £109 i may as well pay that towards ending the contract and going with orange lol

also, my missus has just got an iphone 4s, she was with vodafone too but i got her to end with them and go on orange. at home she has good signal and 3g, today i brought her phone to work and it has full signal and 3g....

so if orange can do it, why the hell cant vodafone!?!

and one more thing, i have been on the vodafone eforums moaning and they found an antenna was down in the area where i worked, and after about 6 weeks is supposedly up and running again. signal is a tad better but still not great and often it says i have none, but still do not get 3g.

its just VERY frustrating!

LuckyWelshchap

i-phones and Vodaphone are very popular, so I'm sure that there'll be someone in your home and work areas that will have an i-phone, will be with Vodaphone and quite likely someone with both.

Have you compared experiences with them eg. does their phone indicate reduced signal in the area(s)?

I've had a similar experience with O2.
My phone (HTC HD2) has had numerous things done to it (they won't replace it) but it's not the best (I maintain that the antenna is naffed). As soon as I could I changed to SIM-only, waiting for 4G and a move to a more customer-oriented company.

Anyway, the first thing to do is to (try to) prove that you have some fault, hence try to get good circumstancial evidence that Vodaphone's lack of adequate provision of total service (ie. phone and coverage) is specific to you, which would prevent them quoting the 'coverage cannot be guaranteed' clause. (This is because if the general coverage is OK then clearly the phone must be at fault in some way, and they are contractually obligated to provide one that works properly).

Hopefully you'll find someone with an i-phone, in one of the areas and they'll have no problem at all, thereby pointing the finger at the phone.

Can I ask one question - are you left-handed?
Or another - do you hold the phone in your left hand?

hpoolsteve

iTrader: (4)

"Can I ask one question - are you left-handed?
Or another - do you hold the phone in your left hand?"

Love this line of questioning. Valid one at that

Cpt Jack Sparrow

iTrader: (14)

I've heard of this ^^^^

its the palm of you hand shorting the aireals, surley that would only drop the signal when you pick it up???

jaygsi

iTrader: (46)

You can get cheaper, just keep plugging away at them

Fudgey

iTrader: (1)

Cheers Jay.

Steve, right now the phone is on my work pc, not being touched at all and says no service.
sometimes in the exact same position it will get maybe 2 bars...
the missus phone is right next to it, 5 bars and 3g lol

but yes, i do hold it with my left had while using it, but around here it doesnt matter what you do with it, 'no service' is the norm...

LuckyWelshchap

Yes, but I wasn't sure if the op picks the phone up and sees no signal.
It might also be the same if it's in a pocket, but close enough to flesh itself.

The other thing is that if the phone is iffy anyway (and apparently it's not a bog standard occurrance, a bit like 2.5l engine probs or not) then it's likely that it will be hit and miss even without being handled.
I know they've had replacement phones. Have they all been iphone 4s ?

The main problem is that it's gone too far down the line to have a strong case imo.
If it had never really worked and the matter had been pushed - I notice they ensured the 14-day cooling-off period came and went - then perhaps yes.
(I have to say I let O2 off too easily, but I'm hoping to have revenge when I tell them I'm off somewhere else after 14 years and by my estimate around £7,000, so I can understand).

However, if the op can either a) use someone else's i-phone on Vodaphone OK but simultaneously can't use their own; or b) someone else can't use his either then there is a chance of persuading Vodaphone that something's up.

Slim I know.

MattyB1983

iTrader: (51)

You said you've been with Vodafone for 15 years. Was signal coverage not an issue before you got the iphone 4s ??

Fudgey

iTrader: (1)

Welsh chap, the 14 day thing was partly my fault, as i rushed and got the phone a couple of days before i went on holiday for 2 weeks.

i called them said it was ****, they sent a new sim card next day and while it wasnt great at home i went to the **** end of spain and it worked perfectly, full signal, 3g the lot in a little barely heard of village in spain...

got home and it was still very poor.

ive had i think 3 sim cards and 2 phones.

matty, this is my first 'smart phone' before it i had some nokia crap that didnt go on the net, and the signal still wasnt great then.
i got the iphone thinking i could access the net anywhere, which is simply not the case.
i guess i should have checked the vodafone coverage before rushing into it as i said.

the village i live in has never been great for signal, but everyone at work bar those on vodafone do not have any issues. one other guy in the workshop is on vodafone and has a htc phone, he does not get good reception either.

everyone else seems to be on either orange, 3 or o2... and now we know why lol

MattyB1983

iTrader: (51)

Unfortunately then, 13 months in, you don't have a leg to stand on. If you were 2 or 3 months into your contract then you would of had grounds to cancel the contract free of charge but waiting so long then you've got no chance.
You've got circa 11 months left to go so at the minimum monthly fee you've got about 390 left to pay. I'd sell the iphone for about £200 and then start a new contract with a different company and carry on paying the vodaphone bill every month until the contract is finished. Minus the £200 from the phone you'll be about another £190 out of pocket.

LuckyWelshchap

Sorry for you then m8.
It does look like you're in a bit of a Vodaphone low-go area.

A similar thing's happening with 4G now.
People assume that since 3G's OK then 4G's available and/or will be OK. It's the only reason why I'm waiting and still with O2.
The providers are signing people up to 4G, charging them 4G prices even though some are living in 3G-only areas.

I take it the other phones weren't i-phones?
(Just dotting i's etc. - I never take anything for granted).

LuckyWelshchap

The only problem with this though is that the number won't be ported.
If it's not a big problem then that's a very good way out.

need4speeduk

iTrader: (26)

Also had the same problem on vodaphone.

1 minute I've got signal, then in exactly the same spot it's only got 3G, then some E sign, then nowt.

Hardly ever get through a conversation without the signal cutting out at least once.

Had new phone, new sim etc. last time I called guess what. Lost signal.

3 months of a 24 month contract left and its the last 3 months I will ever be on vodaphone.

Feeling your frustration.

Fudgey

iTrader: (1)

Dont get me wrong, for the first few months i was calling vodafone and complianing and basically just got fobbed off, or had reset instructions text through. They even said they would send an engineer out to the areas to do site tests, so i asked for a copy of the reports only to be told that they couldnt do that... Hmm...

I have been complaining a bit on the eforum and the closest mast was indeed out of action, and it must have been like it for a coule of years as they have now fixed it, and signal is marginly better, but not great by any means.

As for phones, at least 7 people i know of at work have iphones, most on orange and one or two on 3 or o2.
Two of my collegues have htc, one on vodafone who has problems, one on orange with no problems. So i dont think its a phone issue, just coverage.

BoozyDave

iTrader: (8)

don't think you'll be able to get out of it now, sell the phone, pay the contract up and move on

i moved from three (avoid at ALL costs) to vodafone. at first signal was ok, now i work near meadowhall sheffield and struggle to get a signal and an 'E' if i'm lucky (every other network gets full signal and 3g). no signal in a major city like sheffield FFS

we went to newquay last month and i didn't get a signal or 3g at all. the wife is on 02 and her phone was fine. i phoned up to complain when i got home and they just said 'tough', they know their signal is poor in cornwall. i said 'if you know you have a rubbish signal in cornwall, do you sell phones to people that live there?' he replied 'yes, of course we do'

i know when my contract is up, i won't renew.

Fudgey

iTrader: (1)

Hmm it is area dependent but in big towns etc you would expect it to be fine.

LuckyWelshchap

As I see it the main probelm here is trying to establish/prove if the companies have knowingly mis-sold.

BoozyD's post is a fine example of misselling (of course it has to be backed up with evidence that will stand up in Court - no disrespect BD but an email etc, not the verbal one they gave you).

If I signed up for 4G now, and didn't receive it, I'd have the Mobile Provider in Court within a few months. I signed up, they knew my area and clearly knew that they didn't provide 4G there at that point in time, yet still entered into a contract with me.

However, you'd have to prove that 3G wasn't viable/practical in your area when you signed up, or has become unviable/impractical since you took the contract out.

That's a different ball game, sorry.

I think all you can do is rubbish them on 'tInternet and think 'revenge of some sort is sweet'.

You could have a go in the Small Claims Court and like an acquaintance of mine (who took BT on) get a ruling in your favour because they failed to turn up, but if they do then it's a few more quid wasted.

BoozyDave

iTrader: (8)

Virgin media were in the news last year with a similar thing. They were giving customers the 'superhub' and 60 meg broadband, and signing them up to a 2 year contract. Certain places haven't got the 60 meg, and when questioned, virgin said it was due to upgrade the service in about 18 months! Customers have been told they can't leave the contract early because 'before the contract is up, they will be getting 60 meg'!

It just shows what some companies will do to get cash out of people

Fudgey

iTrader: (1)

im not trying to claim any moneis back, im just pretty peeved that i have an all singing and dancing phone that i simply cant use as it is intended and im paying what i feel is quite a high price.

i guess ill just have to ride it out then **** vodafone off next year as soon as i can and go to orange.

unless they somehow put up another 20 masts around the area and make it decent.... but i cant see that happening!

cheers everyone

Tidgy

stay well clear of orange, there completley rubish.

dropped calls, calls failing to connect incoming or out going etc etc

voda or o2 are the only two i'd use

Tidgy

well just rung to try and sort out upgrade with vodaphone, they can't get near what i can get on o2, so looks like i'm waiting till September then cancelling and switching back to o2.

Fudgey

iTrader: (1)

BUT orange is the best for this area lol.

MattyB1983

iTrader: (51)

Im with three. Great price and perfect signal 99% of the time.

LuckyWelshchap

VirginMedia is effectively ntl:
It had such a bad reputation that it bought Branson's name (and reputation) to give it credibility.

It had fibre optic years ago, but ran out of money and only the higher populated areas had it, yet the company still advertised the fastest and best. Those who fell for it ended up with broadband via telephone line, 1-2mb when ntl:/VM were claiming up to 20 on fibre.