Anyone know how to talk to an actual person at vodafone?
I've been having issues with billing and my online account, in the fact that it wont let me log on to the online system, or verify over the phone.
So when trying to call their customer service line, the stupid auto prompt "Lara" bitch thingo, asks for my details, when I give them to her, it says "I'm sorry there seems to be a problem with your account, putting you through to an operator" then promptly disconnects me. I KNOW THERE IS A PROBLEM WITH MY ACCOUNT, THAT'S WHY I'M TRYING TO CALL!!
yes i just wrote a nasty 3 page email about how many times ive had to try and fix it and i attached an invoice for my time and said i wont pay my bill untill the either send me a paper copy or fix my online service :)
i got a reponse within 2 days and my account was fixed in 3 days and i had $350 creditted to my account for the invoice :)
I've been uncontracted on Voda for years. Apart from the coverage issue, it's been up more than Telstra in that time.... I'm on the 150 cap and never hit the limit.
My sister is with Vodafone and has coverage in all of the areas I need it (Casuarina, Darwin City). Even so, it's probably a fair sacrifice considering the money I'm spending with Telstra at the moment.
Quote from Brookie23;355257: My sister is with Vodafone and has coverage in all of the areas I need it (Casuarina, Darwin City). Even so, it's probably a fair sacrifice considering the money I'm spending with Telstra at the moment.
No it won't have coverage in all areas you need it dude. It all depends where you're talking from. If you're in the middle of Casuarina shops then maybe... For example I have a unit in Leanyer where my mobile is the only one that consistently gets signal (I'm with Telstra)... my gf is with Optus and it's touch and go... and Vodafone... pffft... you're lucky if you get through a minute's convo without it dropping out.
Sure it's cheaper... but I guarantee you that a Vodafone service will have more signal problems than both Telstra and Optus. But at the end of the day you get what you pay for... People complain about Telstra (and rightfully so a lot of the time), but they do offer the best quality product out of them all IMO.
I don't think that not being able to talk on your phone is a 'fair sacrifice'. But hey, it's up to you. In my experience Vodafone has the worst coverage... period.
I've spent hundreds of dollars with Telstra over the past 3 months or so. That could have been $90 with Vodafone. I was with Optus about 6 years ago and their reception was a joke (probably the worst of all providers in Darwin at the time), but even they've improved greatly since then. I don't know any Darwinites today who have a lot of trouble reception-wise (by a lot I mean anything more than having to walk outside to make a call/SMS) with any provider.
I don't go down the track very often (well I do for work, but I'm not going to pay for that ripoff NextG crap so I can get hassled while I'm working), and if I can get reception in Palmerston, Casuarina and the city, I'm happy. If there's any blind spots in those areas, it's usually just a matter of walking outside to get reception, and I don't mind doing that for the amount of money I could save.
I think I've called Telstra maybe 5 times in the 3 or so years I've been with them, so slow phone support doesn't really bother me - unless there's any major problems I should know about that I would need to call them for?
Over the past 8 years I've been with Optus, Telstra, Virgin and Vodafone.
Telstra had the best actual phone service (coverage, call quality etc), but the worst prices. You know the old saying; you get what you pay for.
When I was with Optus, their coverage was crap, and so were their plans (Telstra-esque pricing).
I personally have found a happy medium with Vodafone. Great plans, good coverage, great online services for convience. Just don't try and call them for support - but the same goes with Telstra anyway.
I've signed up with O2 in the UK as they're the country's most well established provider, and I can call 10 other O2 numbers completely free (various friends there). I won't hesitate to switch to Voda at the drop of a hate if the service is unpleasant, however.
I just switched from vodaphone to virgin as their prices aren't as good as they used to be (and the millions of calls to get me to renew my contract). Virgin mobile isn't too bad, reception is slightly better than voda (optus towers) and price is better. But i was only on virgin for around a month as i found a better offer from another small company. They use optus towers as well, but im paying $20 per month for $300 credit which ain't too bad at all.
Hah, SimPlus used to call me every month asking if i wanted to upgrade my plan - finally got the shits and told the person to **** off, if they EVER called me again for anything NOT relating to an overdue payment or error in billing, then i would dump their arses in a shot. That seemed to work - 6months and no calls (from them, plan is fine :P )
Quote from rec;355294: Over the past 8 years I've been with Optus, Telstra, Virgin and Vodafone.
Telstra had the best actual phone service (coverage, call quality etc), but the worst prices. You know the old saying; you get what you pay for.
When I was with Optus, their coverage was crap, and so were their plans (Telstra-esque pricing).
I personally have found a happy medium with Vodafone. Great plans, good coverage, great online services for convience. Just don't try and call them for support - but the same goes with Telstra anyway.
I've signed up with O2 in the UK as they're the country's most well established provider, and I can call 10 other O2 numbers completely free (various friends there). I won't hesitate to switch to Voda at the drop of a hate if the service is unpleasant, however.
Quote from grandinferno;355308: You do know that Telstra has caps too.
Yeah, but they're not half as good as Vodafone's, because they have more limitations on who you can call and what you spend the credit on. I don't remember specifics because it was a few months ago that I researched the details, but it didn't sound like a fair comparison to me.
Doesn't include data and international SMS and international calls. At least mine doesn't.
...but you can get a piss load of info through Telstra's default web portal for free now, including yellow pages, where-is maps, news, weather... blah blah... lots.
I don't use internet on my mobile. That's what my new computer is for :P And I don't know anyone overseas, nor do I plan on going overseas any time soon :)
I can access Hotmail, Gmail, MSN Messenger, Yahoo Mail and Yahoo messenger for free with Vodafone if I wanted to though.
Edit: The cheapest cap-type offer I could find on the Telstra website was Telstra Prepaid Friends. $40 would get me: "$260 of extra credit for 30 days of talk, text and MMS to five numbers on ANY network in Australia."
Only 5 numbers?
There was another option to recharge $60 and get 250 voice minutes & 250 SMSs that I can use with any Australian mobile, but that's still not as good as the Vodafone $30->"50 cap, which is more in line with my budget.
Telstra also charge " each time I switch between such offers (maxmum 10 switches in 1 year), while with Vodafone I can pick and choose as often as I like.
Vodafone's portal virtually cost free, and internet use only costs " per 5 minutes, even if browsing via a laptop or PC, and regardless of how much data you download (which can be a lot if in a 3.5G area).
"2 an hour aint bad considering the speed, especially if you're only doing it from time to time - better than most airport Wi-Fi services.
Quote from grandinferno;355262: No it won't have coverage in all areas you need it dude. It all depends where you're talking from. If you're in the middle of Casuarina shops then maybe... For example I have a unit in Leanyer where my mobile is the only one that consistently gets signal (I'm with Telstra)... my gf is with Optus and it's touch and go... and Vodafone... pffft... you're lucky if you get through a minute's convo without it dropping out.
Sure it's cheaper... but I guarantee you that a Vodafone service will have more signal problems than both Telstra and Optus. But at the end of the day you get what you pay for... People complain about Telstra (and rightfully so a lot of the time), but they do offer the best quality product out of them all IMO.
I don't think that not being able to talk on your phone is a 'fair sacrifice'. But hey, it's up to you. In my experience Vodafone has the worst coverage... period.
strange. i work 4 km from wickam point, on the new wedell power plant, have had no issues with coverage
Vodafone has the worst coverage in Australia out of the big three! Fact! I'm glad your phone works out there... good for you. What I am saying is that out of Optus, Telstra and Vodafone, V has the worst coverage. I'm not saying it has NO coverage. I'm not saying it doesn't work anywhere...
Is that clear enough for you?! Or are you receiving this on a Vodafone computer...?
i disagree grandinferno i use telstra and vodafone daily and voda is more reliable imo i have never personally used optus but a few mates used to use it, switched to voda because of the bad coverage in darwin.
Quote from grandinferno;355423: Vodafone has the worst coverage in Australia out of the big three! Fact! I'm glad your phone works out there... good for you. What I am saying is that out of Optus, Telstra and Vodafone, V has the worst coverage. I'm not saying it has NO coverage. I'm not saying it doesn't work anywhere...
Is that clear enough for you?! Or are you receiving this on a Vodafone computer...?
Vodafone does have the worst coverage in my personal experience. I base this on a trip I did 6 years ago through Australia... Where anytime I wasn't in a city, I'd never have coverage, where as my mate was on Telstra and ended up having coverage about 95% of that time. I didn't even have coverage in Mt Isa for crying out loud! That said, that was a while ago, but on that alone, I'll never go back. Telstra all the way as far as mobile coverage goes. ^_^' Bad service and plans though.
Quote from rec;355736: I dont really have Vodafone reception issues in country South Australia, even hours out of country towns. This wasn't always the case, though.
Yes you do. Don't lie. Apologise to the children Jamie.
Had to call Vodafone on Sunday as my Telstra number hadn't been written over the Vodafone number in the time they said it would. Turns out the people at the Casuarina Vodafone store had submitted my details with my birth date in the wrong field or something, so it rejected. Needless to say, 2 hours after I called, I had my old number back.
I don't like Lara though. Must have sounded a bit weird to my workmates, saying random words like 'problem' every 10 seconds or so.
When I spoke to a real person, the lady on the other end was very helpful and had the problem sorted in a few minutes.