Recently my old iPhone 5 battery started dropping it’s charge. So as a loyal long term Vodafone customer, one that had been with them for years, I decided to speak to them about an early upgrade. They said I could and I opted for Apple’s iPhone 6 Plus (64GB, GOLD) as a new handset, which they said would be delivered the next day.
After three weeks of telephoning Vodafone customer services practically on a daily basis and receiving many broken promises, I still had no new handset. I felt frustrated, that the order was no further forward and like anything that they said to me on the phone would be a lie. Despite how I felt, I always remained pleasant and patient. But I decided to cancel my telephone upgrade order and re-order the upgrade in store.
My local store had Apple iPhone 6 Plus (64GB, GOLD) in stock. Hurray! But wait, I couldn’t have it because of their IT systems still showing the original upgrade order as open – despite me cancelling it and reassurances from Vodafone customer services on the phone that I would be able order in store. I tweeted my frustration to them, not that the staff in store, on the telephone or on twitter seemed to care.
I’d lost my trust in them. A search online revealed that I wasn’t the only one experiencing issues upgrading. Vodafone’s problems seem to be:
- Their IT systems. An order gets canceled because they don’t have the handset in stock, but the order still shows as open and gets stuck.
- The warehouse stock levels, warehouse management (in terms of ordering more handsets before they run out) and distribution.
- No complaints department or way to escalate order issues to get them sorted.
Up until this experience, Vodafone have always been good with me. But this experience felt like a bad joke. I decided to show them what I thought of this experience by walking away and taking my wallet with me.
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A friend on Facebook recommended that I sign up with GiffGaff. I did and everything went smoothly. The handset was delivered the next working day as promised. It’s been a brilliant, easy and enjoyable service so far. |
Here are some advantages of being with GiffGaff and how they are different to other providers:
- They do sim only deals or handset and sim deals.
- You buy the handset as a credit agreement. Meaning you can pay a small or larger deposit, choose the term of the credit agreement and it’s all really clear and easy to understand.
- All handsets come unlocked, so can be used on any network.
- You buy monthly goodbag packages, rather than having a fixed term contract.
- You can leave GiffGaff at any time by turning off the auto-renew goodybag and getting a sim card for another network.
- They’re competitively priced – cheaper than most other companies from the prices that I’ve seen.
- Free GiffGaff to GiffGaff calls.
- They regularly listen to customers and take their ideas on board.
- And much more…
So if you’re looking to switch mobile phone providers, I’d highly recommend GiffGaff.
Blog soon,
Antony
