[Hands0n]

There is an old saying about snatching defeat out of the hands of success. Vodafone, gawd love 'em, are apparently trying very hard to cause a repeat of that adage WRT the supply of a brand new contract handset to the Mrs who I've persuaded to change over to from O2.

The order has been placed via the online web page several days ago, an email was duly received saying the handset should be with her within four days. Delivery requested to her place of work and confirmed.

On the fifth day (Friday) I got my good lady to call Vodafone's CS on their non-geographic number to find out what was happening. The kindly CS op informed her that the order was received but had not been processed for delivery. Do I begin to detect a breakdown in the workflow betwixt Web Form and Warehouse Despatch? The CS op placed the task right there and then, informing my Mrs that the handset would be with her the next day (a Saturday). My Mrs asked for delivery to the home address as her work was closed over the weekend, the Voda CS arranged this online. However, I exclaimed my severe doubts about this as the courier companies typically do not deliver on Saturdays.

Sure enough, the first half of Saturday came and went without a delivery being made. So it was back on the phone for the Mrs to find out what today's story is. The CS advised that the order had been processed but delivery would not be made until Monday (so where is the darned thing now then?). The problem is that the handset, if delivered to our home, will not be received as we're not here in the day. So the Voda CS suggested my Mrs call again on Monday morning to arrange redirection of the package. But if it is at Voda's despatch then there is absolutely no chance of a Monday delivery anyway. Someone's telling porkies!!

All in all a bit of a cock up, I think. The new contract handset is somewhere within Vodafone's "system" but it sure as hell isn't here. A full week is going by with nothing much happening. Absolutely atrocious and makes me feel kind of stupid for pointing her in Vodafone's direction.

My own experience with Vodafone when ordering the pair of SE W900i's in late 2005 was flawless. If they had done this to me then I'd have returned the pair of handsets immediately upon receipt to save myself easily anticipated further pain at their hands.

How can an order process workflow break down so hopelessly in an organisation that must be doing this many hundreds of times each 24 hours!

As it is, the Mrs is not a happy bunny and vocally beginning to regret taking my advice!

[miffed]

Oh dear - another lamb to the slaughter ....


How can an order process workflow break down so hopelessly in an organisation that must be doing this many hundreds of times each 24 hours!


Never underestimate Vodafones ability to screw up even the simplest of procedures

I recently wrote to terminate my contract - got a letter through acknowledging my letter & begging me to stay (confirmation indeed that they had received the cancellation letter ) ....only this is Vodafone isn't it ?

...So as sure as night follows day - the next billing date comes around and my line is not disconnected (naturally) ... ring CS "We haven't received a request for disconnection sir " :mad:

Vodafone really are Bafoons of the highest order and I wouldn't trust them to make me a cup of tea , let alone handle an account of mine
In my experience they have taken poor CS to a level Three could only dream of - I will my it my lifes work to discourage anyone considering a Vodafone contract from making such a mistake

Hope your situation is resolved soon :)

[Ben]

Well, they do say good things come to those who wait ;) I think Vodafone deliberately throw a spanner in the works sometimes, just to check that the customer really wants to be on Big Red :D

[vfDeac27]

Hi HandsOn,

I hope you don't mind, I still have a copy of your email address following our previous communication last month - I've sent you an email over to you from my Vodafone office address this afternoon to see if I can help with this.

miffed,

Sorry to hear that. I know that when still in contract commitment and a request to cancel is made a letter is then sent out advising of the shortfall (up until the end of the commitment). The letter includes a contact number which you can then call to confirm you accept the shortfall, this fully actions the cancelation. It does sound like there's been a breakdown in communication somewhere from what you're saying. Like HandsOn, if you wanted us to look into this for you we'd be happy to, you'd just need to go to www.vodafone.co.uk, select 'contact us' then 'email'. (you might have seen on here already, leaving the shortcode FIT135 in the email body will send you through to a team of Vodafone staff who monitor internet forums. Additionally, if you do have any problems getting in touch you could always drop me a private message through Talk3G).

[Hands0n]

Hi vfDeac27

Thanks a whole lot for your help. I don't mind your direct contact at all and greatly appreciate your approaching me about this. I have replied to your email with the detail you asked for, plus some additional info that we have to hand.

It is always quite frustrating when something that should be a simple linear process goes awry. Re-entering and resolving these process breakdowns is often difficult to achieve in one hit, often requiring a higher level intervention than is available at first line. I wonder, then, if all service providers have not really connected properly with this phenomenon as it is not at all uncommon.

Trouble shooters in Vodafone bring forth effective results but it always feels a bit awkward bringing problems of this nature to the higher level teams. One feels that "The System" should be able to resolve matters such as these without recourse to a high level support intervention. But, I can vouch for Vodafone's effectiveness in such cases, the team works well. I hope that Vodafone do not do anything to weaken it, and other network providers could learn from your team.

Now, if only the process and software QA were tighter (giz a job, I can do it :D )

[Hands0n]

Thanks to the troubleshooting efforts of vfDeac27 the Mrs' new contract handset is expected to be with her tomorrow (Thurs). There was a hiccup in the order process - a euphemism for the web order not being processed. This was remedied online with the Mrs. After that things went wronger and wronger :rolleyes:

Eventually we got to the point where we found out that the handset was temporarily out of stock but due in the next day. That in fact happened, stock arrived at Vodafone :eek: Shipment was scheduled for the same day, and we were informed that was the case, due today or tomorrow. It didn't arrive today, so tomorrow it must be then.

I am pleased that the troubleshooting was enacted on my behalf, as I do believe that we'd have been languising somewhere inside the Vodafone "system" until something snapped (the Mrs' patience or my neck in her hands!).

Clearly something went very wrong with the original order, and there was not an automated process for picking up the failed/dropped order. The problem with this is that it does rather miff off the customer. Such orders should be cookie-cutting routine, bread and butter, done blindfolded etc..... But I do know that process flow is a notoriously hard thing to get right. If anything falls outside of the flow it can take herculean effort to get it back on track. Some process flows do not even allow re-entry, and very few have good MIS on what and where things went wrong. So to back these supposedly automated flows up there needs to be a credible Customer Service operation that is able to manage out such process glitches. This team is one such, and very successful it is too. I've said it before, the other networks [all of them] could learn from Vodafone in this respect, at least. Don't get me wrong, the "big red" is not perfect, but it does clean up its own spills quite successfully.

So it is a big Thank You to vfDeac27 and the people who got involved in resolving this silly but very tiresome issue. Unless the gods are still frowning upon us I suspect that I'll have a happy Mrs come the weekend (I'd better, or I'm giving her your lot's office address - lights blue touchpaper and stands back). :D

[Hands0n]

Good news, at last. The Mrs' handset arrived via courier today. She's really quite taken with it, a Nokia 7390 (http://shop.vodafone.co.uk/index.cfm?go=paymonthly.productdetails&pid=430). Its pink, its twee, she's a woman, what more can be said :p

The next delay is that the SIM will not be connected until Tuesday morning because she has applied her O2 PAC to the new order. So the delivered SIM has no number and is not activated to the network. Strange one this. When I bought my new contract on T-Mobile they gave me a temporary number to get me going until the 3 PAC could be applied. But Vodafone have done it this way - she's happy with that, I'm bemused.

I can't say much about the 7390 as it hasn't left her side this evening, so I guess she's impressed. We're already talking accessories, always a good sign of contentment.

When we get connected (next Tuesday) I'll check out audio and video calling. The 7390 has a 3Mpxl camera which seems to be taking quite good images, and the flash actually works as it should - i.e. it lights things up :eek:

The saga draws to a close - untidy, but resolved by the Vodafone people to a satisfactory state.

[Ben]

Looks pretty cool for a girly phone! According to the Vodafone page you linked us to the handset doesn't support GPRS - given that it's 3G I think it's safe to assume that's incorrect? ;)

A 3mp camera on that? Has Nokia realised that girls like their phones to pack a punch, too?

[Hands0n]

I cant say for sure yet, as it is not connected to the network, but I cannot imagine how else they are going to send MMS without GPRS over 3G! I think an error on Vodafone's web page for the device.

The 3MP Camera is good, very good! Will have to get some pix up on here for the photo comp once she's got it working with her PC.

It is actually very nice to hold in the hand and the buttons etc are all very easy to use and functional. One of Nokia's nicer handsets, and one that I think they have spent a bit of time with regard to aesthetics.

The on-screen graphics on the main and the outer screen are all in keeping with the handset schema. The games included are all fast and reasonable to watch and play (I don't use such things). It even has a built-in Suduko for those of that persuation.

[vfDeac27]

The Nokia 7390 supports GPRS (I've asked our website to update the check box on co.uk) below is the full spec we have on the Vodafone intranet

Band Frequencies: GSM 900/1800/1900 Tri-band
Vodafone live!: Yes
3G: Yes
GPRS: Yes
WAP: Yes
HTML: No
Digital Camera: Yes, 3 megapixel
Wireless LAN: Yes
Infrared Port: Yes
Bluetooth: Yes
Incorporated E-Mail: Yes
MMS: Yes
Video Messaging: Yes
Max Message Size: 300KB
Video Calling: Yes
Voice Dialling: Yes
FM Radio: Yes
Colour Display: Yes
Loudspeaker: Yes
Internal Memory: 21MB
Memory Card Slot: Yes, MicroSD
Internet Browser: No
Phone Memory: 1000 + SIM
Predictive Text: Yes
Conference Call: Yes
SIM Toolkit: Yes
Weight: 115g
Size: 90 x 47 x 19mm
Talk Time: 200 min (max)
Standby Time: 260 h (max)
Video Call Time: 1.5 h (max)

[Hands0n]

You'll laugh at this vfDeac27 - we had a delivery of a second 7390 hansdet and Vodafone SIM! It took around half an hour on the phone to get it all straight and arrange collection of the surplus equipment. :D

That is a ripping spec - we tried out the radio, quality is good.

[3g-g]

Band Frequencies: GSM 900/1800/1900 Tri-band
...
3G: Yes
GPRS: Yes
...
Video Calling: Yes


Not to be pedantic or anything ;) but technically should it not be quad band? i.e. 2100 UMTS as well? If it's 3G?

So the intranet and internet are both wrong? :p

[Ben]

No :p GSM and WCMDA is dual-mode. Quad-band is four frequencies on one mode.

[3g-g]

No :p GSM and WCMDA is dual-mode. Quad-band is four frequencies on one mode.

Ahh, I stand corrected! ;) Stupid other frequencies!

[Hands0n]

Woo hoo! We're there! The Mrs is up and running on Vodafone with her Nokia 7390, her original O2 number and is cook-a-hoop about it. :cool:

To recap the past two weeks;

Monday, Order placed online via web form
Got email confirmation, advised to wait four days
Friday, waited the four days, called Vodafone, no order placed on system
CS placed order on our behalf on a Friday, told it would be here Sat! (no chance)
Checked with Voda on the Saturday, sure enough they dont deliver weekends (thought so!)
Monday comes and goes, no phone delivery
Tuesday, phone arrives at wife's work, so does card in door at home
Thursday, another Nokia 7390 arrives at the home address!
Friday, calls to CS, lots of confusion, convince CS that we really did not order two handsets/contracts, finally work out which SIM to port O2 number to, call transferred and spend another 15 mins talking with Returns to arrange the ...... return.
Weekend passes with not much happening - wifey spends Sunday evening porting contacts into new phone (SE to Nokia ain't funny).
Monday, O2 number ports - success! Calls/Texts made/receved, woo hoo!


The final delay from delivery to live was caused by the requirement to port her O2 number across. In other lives I have been started with a number from the new company while the port happens later. This time they left the SIM dead until porting - is this the norm for Vodafone, one wonders?

In the background to all of the above the most excellent vfDeac27 has been oiling wheels in the Vodafone mechanism to actually get this all done - otherwise we'd still be hacking away at the problem. I'm terribly grateful that there are his type of troubleshooter available to us punters in these more extreme circumstances.

And so it all ends on a very positive note - the handset has impressed a few other of the female persuation, so Vodafone can anticipate a few orders coming their way as a result.

Me? I'm not due an upgrade until June 2007 - by then I rather fancy I may be wanting the Nokia N92, announced in 4Q/2006 (!!!! WTF !!!). So Vodafone have plenty advance notice about that then :D