[Ben]

Some swings and some roundabouts today. Typical of a mobile network, perhaps.

While in town earlier today I visited the Vodafone store, and was excited to see the N95 8GB dummy on display. First off I asked if there was any stock, and was told, in no uncertain terms, yes, there was. Great.

Next came the dilemma. Only 18 month contracts are available in store, a little fact I'd managed to forget. But that wasn't the only problem, the slightly dippy assistant didn't think it'd be possible for me to upgrade from SIM Only to a term contract. Another assistant put her right.

Anyway, off I went, pondering whether I really wanted a contract. Well, no, I didn't, but I also wasn't leaving Vodafone and was under-using my SIM Only since data and MMS were removed. So, I decided to go for a contract at the same price as my current one with less minutes and texts but with the N95 8GB for £200 rather than a whopping £550.

Back in the Vodafone shop, and after a 15 minute wait, I spoke to the dippy assistant again. I'd been trying to catch the attention of her more competent colleague but to no avail. She realised she hadn't actually checked if they still had stock... and surprise surprise they didn't. She suddenly remembered that they sold all four handsets they received on Wednesday. Bleh.

Well, by now I'd done the hard part and made the decision. So I called Vodafone to do the upgrade over the phone instead. Now, this is the second time I've called Upgrades, the first being to ask when the handset was out, and I'm getting the distinct impression that the Vodafone Upgrades dept is where they put people who aren't good enough to work elsewhere in the business. The guy I spoke to today insisted that for a SIM Only tariff I needed to be transferred to New Connections, despite my suggestions otherwise, and so transferred to New Connections I was.

The lady at New Connections was unsurprisingly lovely. She asked why I had been put through to her, and I told her I was equally as confused as she was. Not only did she transfer me back to Upgrades, but she spoke to the agent first to protect me from being "bounced around all day". Bless :)

Back with Upgrades. They decided they can't upgrade me, suggesting that they can't offer me one of their current tariffs - only crappy ones. So, I was transferred to Promotions. *yawn*

Promotions were also very good, as I expected them to be - it was the Promotions team that moved me to SIM Only in the first place. As it turned out, the N95 8GB wasn't even on the system yet, but he (a very nice man) used another system to check stock (1600 of the buggers!!) and I waited while he manually entered lots of data to place my order. I also got the tariff that I wanted.

So, all's well that ends well. Or is it? Delivery is scheduled for tomorrow. Fingers crossed?

To be continued... Eastenders theme tune kicks in

[superfakename]

Hi,

Was the price of the handset through the promotions line still £200? Also what is your tariff and monthly cost?

Thanks

[Ben]

Hello :)

£25/pm, handset £200 (I was told it would be £200 regardless of tariff amount, so I wasn't inclined to go higher - particularly as MMS aren't included anyway and I always send at least some every month, pushing up the cost). My regular spend is over £30, often more since I added the £7.50 Internet add-on.

I was charged postage, which is a bit rich given the £200 fee, and also had to have insurance which I then have to call back and cancel within 14 days, or give notice after 2 months of 3 free months to prevent being charged.

Today is becoming a bit of a blur.

[getti]

i would have paid more and gone sim free personally. I would never buy anything from brandafone simply cause the branding can ruin a perfectly good phone.

[whatleydude]

S'funny - been playing with the 8GB over here in SF.
Doesn't actually float my boat..

[miffed]

The way things stand, software branding is not really a problem anymore - Nokia virtually hand the generic-flashes out on a plate now - the physical branding is more of a problem though (IMO) - Vodafones certianly seems to be the worst , in tems of obtrusiveness and removability in my experience
But TBH I would still buy one if the susbsidy was worthwhile - getting handsets on contracts serves as a 'timed release' mechanism for me, if I were to start buying sim free I would probably end up divorced !
Enjoy the n95 Ben ! - The thing that put me off , was that , as a previous N95 owner, the N95 had me bored within a couple of weeks , and although the 8GB was better looking , bigger screen, more memory etc - I worry that is is still an N95 , and would not hold my attention for very long ! , I suppose you are fortunate that you didn't jump on the original N95 bandwagon - so you should get double the fun out of this one - one thing is for sure , it certainly looks better in black IMO

[gorilla]

Just to rock the boat...:D

After reading the OP I was shocked to realise that you weren't talking about 3. Being told one thing by one person, then told another thing...etc

Get head offices number... :p

So is this the great vodafone customer experince we all here so much about:confused:

Now, if you had have just gone to 3 in the first place you'd be enjoying nice high speed data on a fancy handset (presuming it's out on 3!)

[miffed]

So is this the great vodafone customer experince we all here so much about:confused:




LOL , the last time I went into a Vodafone shop the Guy blantantly lied to me about a recall issue that is all documented all over the internet !

Personally I think that the 'Great Vodafone Customer experience' is only visable through rose tinted glasses - but you all know about my opinions on that ! :p

[Ben]

...I have my N95 8GB ;)

Minimal branding. There's a tasteful Vodafone logo on the back, in the same silver ink as the Nokia one but much smaller. The Live! softkey was quick to change, and I set the (horrible) theme back to the Nokia one. I wont need to change my product code and reflash unless I run into an issue that requires specific firmware to fix :)

I'm not going to talk about the phone in any more detail here, that's going to come later. What I will say is that the Vodafone drama was well and truly over yesterday, as I had hoped.

I received a text message this morning to confirm my phone had been dispatched for delivery today, which contained the consignment number so I could track it myself with Parceline. Plain sailing.

I'm not going to give any credit to the 'Vodafone Upgrade Experience' - it wasn't good. Fraught is probably the right word to use.

However, this doesn't detract from Vodafone as a whole. The Vodafone Customer Experience includes such things as basking in glorious strong coverage, 2.5G, 3G and 3.5G, reliability, excellent call quality, free SMS delivery reports and generally good customer service in other areas of the business.

I also want to point out that I haven't been massively wronged in any way. I'm not out of pocket. I had to wait a day longer for my phone than I thought I would have to, and the whole process was confusing and poorly executed, but I have no lasting grudge. I've simply, honestly shared my experience so that other folk can make up their own minds and Vodafone can take note.

All's well that ends well, as they say ;)

[Hands0n]

Nice one Ben - good to see you got there, in the end. But it shouldn't be that, "in the end" business. Vodafone have a very strong brand, backed up by an equally strong network and quality goods.

Their CS, like others, is a tough role to deliver and I tend to feel that Vodafone do it better than many but perhaps not the best of all. These days I am quite a fan of T-Mobile's CS and their shops which seem very professional and well stocked. But returning topic, Vodafone, they do seem to have become a bit lacklustre of late. That shouldn't be, they are better than that.

I know some have had appalling treatment from Vodfone CS and it is a complete mystery to me why that should be. How do Vodafone CS single some out to be treated like a king (me) and others like something that has been stepped in?

CS should be evenly applied, impartial, professional and expert. Nothing less will do.