Your Support and stupid SMS are useless

[NoneOfYourBusin]

Details here:

Terrible website, numerous links are dead, including the link to provide feedback.
The option to chat with support also does not work - it allows to enter your name and description of the issue, then the 'chat' button underneath does not do anything at all.
All I am trying to clarify is the following unwanted message THEY sent me via SMS:
"calling to the Netherlands and locally costs
0.25 euro p/m, sending SMS 0.00, receiving SMS free, internet costs 2044.42 per MB."

-> "2044.42 per MB"??? is this in euros? are you out of your mind?

Of course, you cant block those SMS, and you cannot answer them either. And company like this wonder why they are hated by their customer.. go figure, if you make sending feedback impossible, then you don't get the feedback you need tom improve the service.

I also found out my account had the option for 5 euros a day (???!?) for communication from abroad. I never asked or agreed to this. This is just theft at this point. And still no answer from your support. Now I have registered to this community as this seems to be the only way. I hope I can delete this account asap.

This plus the fact the site is broken every time you use google translate to make sense of it.. I cant wait for the end of this contract to change provider. 

45 minutes in just to leave this feedback and still getting:

Je bericht is gewijzigd omdat er ongeldige HTML in de hoofdtekst is gevonden. De ongeldige beheerHTML is verwijderd. Controleer het bericht en dien het opnieuw in wanneer je tevreden bent met het resultaat.

This is just terrible.

[Energieboy]

Hi @NoneOfYourBusin 
Welcome to the Customer Helping Customer Community of Vodafone.

I'm going through your message a bit, so it won't be the order you indicate. I myself have no problem creating a topic on this community. If you wait too long and take too long to create a topic, the system will say that you have taken too long and you have to start over. But let's face it, spending 45 minutes on this message is a very long time. I now also use **Google Translate because I normally only communicate in Dutch. So I don't think this is really a big problem.

I don't know whether or not you can block text messages from Vodafone. It is quite logical that you cannot answer them because it is very inconvenient if they receive messages back. And in that you have made a great move to open an account on the community. Here you can tell your story and that will probably relieve you a bit. Feedback to Vodafone is always possible, you can do this via customer service (call or chat) and you can fill in a complaint form. People in the right department will handle your complaint and you will receive a response. It is therefore perfectly possible to provide feedback and help Vodafone improve their service.

Then I come to your text message, which is, what you say yourself, quite a strange message. Which is now 2044.42 per MB, no idea and quite strange. Fortunately there are people from Vodafone here on the community to report this error, although I don't know if it is an error, and they can sort it out. On behalf of the people of Vodafone, thank you for reporting, they will probably work on it 😉

It is a pity that you do not like using the Vodafone website and that you cannot click on certain links because they do not work. I myself am also fairly familiar with the website, but I can not discover so many dead links. There may be a mistake here and there, but it's not too bad. Every company sometimes makes a mistake on their website. You may also be able to discover something with other providers. But here too I can tell you, if you have discovered this, send it to Vodafone via the complaint form and they will get to work.

Finally, I would like to comment on the 5 euro theft that Vodafone would commit. You are probably talking about the All-in-1 World (XL)  option? This is active because there are people who come outside the EU and then suddenly get a hefty bill because they have not looked closely at whether the country falls within the EU at Vodafone or not. Then this option is very nice. And now say, how often do you just leave the EU and Vodafone steal 5 euros from you? It is right to help people, not to steal. And if you don't want this, you can just turn it off via My Vodafone (online on your browser or via My Vodafone APP).

I don't work at Vodafone myself and I think it's a pity that Vodafone can't do much good and that you want to switch. That is of course you're right, but the grass is not always greener on the other side. There is something going on with every provider. With your message on this community you are already well on your way to helping Vodafone with their shortcomings. Precisely because of your message, Vodafone now knows that their text message is not completely in order and they will certainly look into it. Of course you can always report your problems here, but filling in the complaint form is also an option and then it will go directly to the right department and they will give you an answer immediately.

Wish you a very nice day, don't worry too much, it's way too hot for that. I mean well and hope I was able to help you a bit. Oh yes, I do have one last question: What country were you in when you received this text message? Was that in France? (I think it's already in the text message, but it's even better to know for sure, then Vodafone can do something with it). Thank you!


**Sorry, I also used google translate. It will not be translated very well here and there.

[NoneOfYourBusin]

Thanks,

This in indeed received from France.

I already did fill the complaint form 4 days ago and never received any reply except for the automatic email (see picture attached).

I do not plan to use any mobile data while I am in France. I found that option for 5 euros a day already ticked on my account while I never asked for it. I selected to disable it, but apparently this will take 3 more days to be effective. I hope they won't take 5 euros a day until then.

I went to my account and I can see my subscription is called 'Launch XL'. I am not able to see the ' All-in-1 World (XL)' anywhere, and I never subscribed for this either.

As far as I know I have the cheapest contract plan I could select, with used to be called 'Start L 2 jaar' and which was probably renamed, adding more confusion. I can see the name is now 'Type abonnement: Start XL 2 jaar 10 GB data, 150 minuten bellen, onbeperktsms'en.' on my contract. Still. no mention to any international contracts or additional options on my contract, yet checking under my account, this 5 euros option was enabled without my knowlege. I am unsure if I can downgrade my current plan to ''Start L 2 jaar' (if this still exits). The numerous options from my account only seem to present the options to pay more to add subscriptions or other options, nothing to downgrade any contract to a cheaper one. I find the site very confusing, and I suspect this is made intentionally to cause customer to spend more than what they actually need. The fact they block the user from answering the very SMS they sent is a proof they are not really interested in receiving feedback for this, even when the very SMS sent makes no sense.

I am surprised Vodafone nl support is taking so long to help their customers. I ll consider KPN or T-mobile once this contract ends.

[Energieboy]

Since you're already considering switching, I don't think I'll put that much effort into it. Once you have completed the form, it may take 5 to 10 working days before you receive a response. Very annoying that Vodafone indicates 2 days in the email and cannot live up to it. It will probably be very busy, I don't know. I always tell people that it can take 5 to 10 working days. This was also indicated to me by Vodafone, so I don't understand why they wrote in your email for 2 days.

To come back to that 5,- euro. This is only if you come from outside the EU and you are now in France, so that is of no use to you. Vodafone may not use this at all now and therefore no 5 euros will be debited. Within the EU you can simply use your data bundle from your subscription (if you have a data bundle). If you now have a subscription with 10GB data, you can also use it abroad, within the EU.

Every provider, including the one you want to switch to, has a new name for their subscriptions every few years and they change it. This can turn out positively, but sometimes also negatively. That is why you should also check every 2 years whether your subscription still suits you and whether you might want to switch. That's quite normal, if I may be so bold as to say this. Vodafone does not make its website more difficult to acquire customers. You can see what you have now and whether you are satisfied. Perhaps the data bundles of the new subscriptions are better and suit you better. Then the price can be in your favor, but sometimes also against you. That is why you should also check every time whether your subscription still suits you. And if you can't figure it out yourself, you can always call customer service to ask if they want to help you. You can call them on 0800-0001 (from France you can Call +31 654500100).

Not being able to return to a NOTIFICATION SMS is quite normal. This is not possible with any provider, including KPN or T-Mobile. So I don't understand why you're so upset about it. It is a REPORT SMS, nothing more and nothing less. And if it is not correct, or if you have questions about it, you can report it here or via the complaint form.

I would like to come back to that extra service that Vodafone offers you so that you do not incur so many costs outside the EU. It is just a service and something that is of no use to you and costs nothing. You can also disable this service. But beware if you come outside the EU! Then you will incur high costs, which Vodafone would have wanted to avoid.

But what I wrote in the beginning. You already have one foot with another provider and that is of course fine. I'm not going to defend or highlight Vodafone because every provider has its advantages and disadvantages. Look at what you are doing and if you now have a subscription that has already expired, you can get rid of it every month. You will then be bound by a one-month notice period. So if your subscription has now expired and you are no longer committed to your 2-year contract, you can cancel every month (with a one-month notice period). That's what I can give you.


**Sorry, I also used google translate. It will not be translated very well here and there.

[NoneOfYourBusin]

Thanks for your answer.

To answer your question, I am mad about this because it is always over complicated to obtain basic information from Vodafone. 

My request was eventually answered with the following:

"Good afternoon,
I can well imagine you find this a bit weird, but the rendering is not quite right and you can ignore it further.
You can use your subscription in France as in the Netherlands since France is one of the EU roaming countries 🙂
However, there is a maximum use of data and up to 40gb per month within the EU
This is because of the Fair Use policy that applies to all providers within the EU
I have a link with more information about this but it is only available in Dutch
[link removed to post here]

Best regards."

Checking the page they sent, none of the plans outlined there mention my current plan ('Launch XL').

Moreover, the email says the SMS can be ignored, but it seems they are not fixing it.

The SMS for instance says the phone communications are 0.25 euros per minutes, but the email says the communications are part of the plan and thus should not cause additional charges outside the plan. But since the page does not even list my current plan, I have no way to confirm this or even find the details of the plans tom understand what are the extra costs if any.

So yes, I am still quite unhappy with the info provided by Vodafone support. I find it bad enough they keep coming up with new plan  names for similar plans and are unable to keep their site up to date to prevent this kind of misunderstanding.

The website shows:

Start and Red subscription

Red Together subscription

Red Unlimited subscription

Vodafone Prepaid Unlimited

Red Pro Unlimited subscription

Flex Mobile and Business Mobile subscriptions

And my plan is apparently called 'Launch XL' (and does not show anywhere of course. I guess they assume I should find out what this correspond to, but it seems they make it just more confusing for the customer to navigate this and understand what the real conditions are, so I have no clue.

To me, it seems there is no effort to make things simpler or to fix mistakes in the SMS alerts they sent. I did turn off data as soon as I enter France and did not use my phone for the period I am there for this very reason. I hope this will be enough to avoid any bad surprise on the next invoice but I find this whole experience quite terrible from an established mobile provider. I should not have to do this for a simple trip in France.

As I said I will change provider at the end of the contract period (as I always do as staying with the same provider is never rewarded and you are better off changing every 2 years while keeping your number to be able to get the cheaper offers only reserved for new customers only). But this is still about 16 months away.

[Energieboy · Accepted solution]

ElWhere is "Launch XL" on you? Let's start with that first. Because that is not entirely clear to me and I don't think the employees of Vodafone are either (or maybe they are).

The employee's message was probably written too simply. As long as you stay within the EU, it is actually not relevant at all because your data usage can be used throughout the EU and will not cost you anything extra. Only if you go beyond your bundle, but most people don't. Nevertheless, it is not written quite correctly. And you submit your complaint about that and they don't understand that. Maybe a language problem? I now assume that a Vodafone employee, who is always present online on the community, will forward your findings to the correct department and report that it is not in the right place.

Coming up with new plans every time is of course not the case. Vodafone adjusts its subscriptions once a year and often to the benefit of the customer. Maybe a small price increase every now and then, but data is always good. And yes, there are many subscriptions, but several providers have them. They want to serve everyone and then have something for everyone. You say that Vodafone does not have "Launch XL" anywhere, then show here where it is for you and whether it is stated in your contract. **Please delete all important information such as your private information from the message**

This is what can help you:
You can disable text messages if you no longer wish to receive them. Then you will no longer receive a text message when you enter France or another country. You can switch off your welcome text message with rate information in your My Vodafone, click here for the direct link.

If you do not want to see any unpleasant surprises on your invoice, it is best to activate BloX limited Internet. With BloX Limited Internet you avoid those extra costs. The BloX lowers your internet speed in the Netherlands and the EU so that you have free internet. Your download speed will go back to a maximum of 64 Kbps. Uploading is at 32 Kbps. Watching videos or playing online games becomes a bit difficult, but you can still app and surf.

If you already adjust your subscription every 2 years, then it really doesn't make much sense to try whether you want to stay with Vodafone. You don't plan to stay, that's a pity. I'm still doing my best to substantiate my story and explain everything. Not that this is so bad, that's why I'm a Super Expert at Vodafone (and no, not an employee, I don't work for Vodafone). That is why I can also agree with you if you switch to a different provider every 2 years. Other than that I can't really say much more. Just curious where your "Launch XL" is now standing.

**this text has been translated by Google Translate

[Energieboy]

Hoi @Cecilia 
Ik ga er een beetje vanuit dat je mee leest in dit draadje. Mochten jullie vanuit Vodafone nog aanvullende informatie hebben, laat het weten. Volgens mij heb ik er alles aan gedaan om het duidelijk uit te leggen, ook al gaat het via Google Translatie. Dus mocht ik iets hebben gemist om uit te leggen, breek gerust in 😁

[NoneOfYourBusin]

Thanks for the link to disable these SMS, I have been looking for it for years!

Indeed, Launch XL is what google translated for Start XL, it makes sense now, thanks for your help.