My bad experience with Vodafone Spain, Barcelona,
I had been a client with Vodafone since moving to Barcelona, I used for business and personal use and over the 7 years or so have had mobile contracts, a tablet, fixed line (fijo), internet connection and 2 dongle wifi usb's. My monthly bills were often over 1000,00 euros per month, and in 2012 spent over 12.000,00 euros with Vodafone, being classed as a "Platinum" client by Vodafone.
Over the years I have changed/upgraded my phone to newer mobiles, always Blackberry models using my points I gained from spending so much with Vodafone every month.
MAJOR PROBLEMS WHEN YOU HAVE A PROBLEM
The first problem I encountered was when one of my mobiles stopped working, I went to the shop and was told it had to be repaired and that could take over a month, and they would not give me a like for like phone to continue working, although I would not be able to use the service I had to continue to pay for the service I could not use.
The only solution I had was to buy a new contract and swap sim cards over so I still had a working phone, obviously meaning now I was paying two contracts for no reason, only Vodafone logic.
THEN THE MAJOR PROBLEMS BEGAN
Mid 2012, I again upgraded my phone and also added my wife's phone to my account, giving vodafone even more money. When I tried the phone later that day (Friday) I found it to have a problem and would not recognise the sim card, I returned to the shop on Monday, (2 working days later) they confirmed there was a fault with the phone but refused to change the phone. The manager of the store in Barcelona said it was not their problem and it needed to be repaired by Blackberry and could take a month, and again no replacement phone for me to use, and again I was going to have to pay the monthly charge even though they could and would not provide me a service. The manager of the store in central Barcelona even threatened to call the police even though I was always calm and never raised my voice or made any threat.
I could not get to through to the head office so I wrote 2 faxes, neither did I get a reply from, eventually I did speak to the head office Vodafone Spain and was told.
We cannot do anything as it was not Vodafone you purchased the phone from, this was news to me!! Big shop, Vodafone all over the front of the shop and inside, receipts all said Vodafone. Yes that was true it was all Vodafone but apparently a franchise store that was not under the rules of Vodafone Head Office.
So, Vodafone could do nothing they said, a different company they had no control over. If they did not want to give me a new phone then they did not have to.
EVEN THOUGH THE LAW IN SPAIN SAYS YOU CAN HAVE A REPLACEMENT IF THE PHONE IS FAULTY WITHIN 7 (SEVEN DAYS) OF PURCHASE.
After a few months without being able to use my phone correctly because I had to use my old phone I cancelled my contract with Vodafone to a new provider, even though Vodafone refused to give me a new phone I still had to pay 300,00 euros to cancel my contract with them.
At this point I decided to cancel all but one contract with Vodafone, they did not seem to care the amount of money I spent with them or the total lack of customer care they provided.
FIXED LINE/FIJO AND INTERNET CONNECTION
From the date we had Vodafone internet connection and fixed line installed we had problems, sometimes having to call an engineer out more than once a week. Because the internet and fixed line were together when we lost one connection we lost both, so NO INTERNET OR FIXED LINE. I work from home and need an internet connection all the time, we were without for days at a time every week with no answers to our problems. Also having no internet or fixed meant using our mobiles for calls, making us pay even more money and still having to pay for a service we could not use, as Vodafone could not provide.
We asked Vodafone how much it would cost to cancel the internet and fixed line, they said a TOTAL of 200,00 euros as the contract had time to run. They asked us why and we explained all the problems and it was not correct to charge us anything as they could not provide a service to us, although we paid for a service. They offered us 3 months FREE connection and we explained what was the point of free if the service did not work, which they agreed, but STILL CHARGED US THE 200,00 EUROS, EVEN THOUGH THEY COULD NOT PROVIDE THE SERVICE. They then in future months charged an extra payment they said was due to the loss of the months we had cancelled!!
We changed to another provider and since then have never had a problem with the internet or fixed/fijo.
BEWARE, NEVER GET A COMBINED INTERNET AND FIXED/FIJO SERVICE, YOU LOSE ONE YOU LOSE BOTH.
After a few more months I received more bills/invoices from Vodafone with the extra charges, even though everyone was their fault they demanded money. I cancelled every contract I had with them except my wife's phone which was relatively new. So, I have had to keep one contract as I cannot afford to give more money to Vodafone.
TODATE
I receive a call from Vodafone demanding I pay for contracts I have cancelled, December and January, I explain I have cancelled them and they say they will check, then more calls from them saying the same, one call at 22:00 at night! This is harassment! I explain as from December I have only 1 contract and I cancelled all others. Then Vodafone change the story and say I owe for November and December, in one morning I received 4 calls one after the other. They have threatened to now cut off the servie of my only phone with them even though all invoices have been paid if we do not pay these totally unrelated invoices.
Even if they are correct, we are talking 80,00 euros, against the hundreds if not over a 1000,00 euros they have charged me for services I have not received, the hassle, inconvenience, and stress they have caused. When I try to explain this their answer is simple, we don't care, if you do not pay we will sue you.
Vodafone refuse to listen, they are more interested in getting you to sign contracts and charging for services they do not deliver, when you complain they do not listen or acknowledge your complaint, the only time they care is when they think you owe them money, then they harass you and threaten you, disregarding any problems they have ever given you, hiding behind what they say is a contract.
CUIDADO VODAFONE, BEWARE VODAFONE SPAIN
It should not matter how much money you spend, everyone is entitled to a good service, with Vodafone Spain this is not the case, and if they were prepared to lose a client giving them over 12.000,00 euros a year then be careful, because that says they will not care for normal usage of a phone.
In these fiscal climates it is amazing that a company can treat a client this way, people complain of no jobs and then wonder why clients change when they receive poor service. I am sure the Chairman of Vodafone knows nothing about my situation, I am just a number, but I am sure if they knew I would not have to write this and all my problems would have been resolved, as they would understand of the importance to keep clients in the world today, not let them go and even worse tell others how bad their company is to their clients.
Click here to see the faxes I sent to Vodafone with the problem of not changing my faulty phone, to-date I have never received a reply.
If you have similar problems please let me know, cuidadovodafone@gmail.com
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