Since yesterday afternoon, I haven't been able to access Google Mail or Blogspot via my pre-pay Vodafone.
On the Vodafone 715, I get a grammatically interesting "Received a invalid response". On the Motorola, I get a more direct Error 502.
I called Vodafone and paid the $1 to speak to Customer Service. They told me the problem was a known one caused by upgrades to Vodafone Live and would be resolved....whenever. No, I would not be notified.
I tried a few minutes ago and it's still not working. That's a 31 hour outage by my count.
[UPDATE: 07:47am Monday - Still can't get to gmail.com. http error 503.]
Back of mind wonders: Do they create problems after introducing the $1 charge to drive some revenue? Or to see what call numbers are like? Or to see how many people objectto loosing this part of the service? They ditched CNN from Sky Mobile without a word....and appeared not to inform Customer Service beforehand as they had no idea what was offered, never mind what they had stopped offering.
Vodafone is starting to feel like just another concrete-eared telco.
[UPDATE: 07:47am - Still can't get to gmail.com. http error 503.]
This is why I think this $1 fee is absolute BS.
ReplyDeleteThe spin they put on it is worthy of any major political party and quite simply ridiculous.
Charging people $1 to do things they can otherwise do using the phone IVR (interactive voice response) or online is one thing. Even more, it's something I agree with! Especially since prepay services are run fairly close to the margin and one call to the help center can tip the balance.
But charging people for calling up and asking why their service is not working is another. Why should you get charged if some chump technician messes up any part of your service from switching, text messaging, voicemail or even your ability to make calls?
Some problems cannot be fixed without escalation via the helpdesk and follow up calls during the investigation - and they want to charge you $1 for each one???
If I was calling up about a problem with my service I would kick and scream until they refunded my $1. It's obvious that they're using it to reduce call center volumes, thin out the Customer Services Representitives and bring it into their plan for outsourcing the majority of their business (except for the marketing and sales folk of course) to bigger corporates.
Remember, Vodafone isn't a technology or telecommunications company. It's a marketing company with the unfortunate side effect of having to provide a service.
Cheers,
Chris
(Disclaimer: I was a technology contractor under VF until I quit a few weeks ago)