Just wondering if anyone could advise what would be the best course of
action here:
About three months ago I relocated to Roma, a smallish town in
south-western Queensland. I have for some years had a mobile account
with Vodafone and they do have service here, so I thought I would have
no issues just continuing with them.
About 3 weeks ago, on returning from the Sunshine Coast (where I was for
working for a week), I noticed that any incoming callers could hear me
fine, but I could not hear them at all. I tried my SIM in three
different phones just to make sure the problem was not on my end (as
there was no indication of an outage in this area on the Voda site),
then I called Vodafone help line.
I got to talk to someone in India, who put me through the usual rubbish
of "turn your phone on and off...select your network manually...etc
etc...." Eventually it was admitted there was a local problem and it
would be fixed within a couple of days.
Nothing improved - in fact, a day later, the Voda network (this is the
old-fashioned GSM; I don't have a 3G-compatible phone and I don't
believe it is offered here on Voda anyway) went off the air altogether.
A fault was registered through the Voda site. A couple of e-mails later,
I was advised "the local cell was being upgraded, and this was to be
completed shortly".
A few days later, the network reappeared on my phone - but again I could
not hear the caller. Another call to India followed, with the same,
predictable results.
I then went to Toowomba for a day and my phone worked perfectly in all
the places along the highway where Voda has coverage - Dalby, Miles,
Chinchilla and so on.
On return back to Roma, no Voda signal. This was last Wednesday.
Since then, no signal, no network outage on their site and no reply to
e-mails.
I am well aware that Voda would have next to no subscribers here and
their service corresponds to that; their "normal" signal cuts out about
5 kilometres out of town at best of times and it is common to experience
dropouts in buildings within the "CBD" - i.e. the main street. In all
fairness though, the situation is not much better with Telstra and Optus
GSM - pretty much all the locals here use NextG.
However Voda does state they have coverage here and I am getting sick of
weeks of no service and no explanation as to when they will restore it.
I don't want to port to another network if I can help it; I am on a plan
that is no longer available and it suits me just fine.
Tom wrote:
> Just wondering if anyone could advise what would be the best course of
> action here:
>
> About three months ago I relocated to Roma, a smallish town in
> south-western Queensland. I have for some years had a mobile account
> with Vodafone and they do have service here, so I thought I would have
> no issues just continuing with them.
>
> About 3 weeks ago, on returning from the Sunshine Coast (where I was
> for working for a week), I noticed that any incoming callers could
> hear me fine, but I could not hear them at all. I tried my SIM in
> three different phones just to make sure the problem was not on my
> end (as there was no indication of an outage in this area on the Voda
> site), then I called Vodafone help line.
>
> I got to talk to someone in India, who put me through the usual
> rubbish of "turn your phone on and off...select your network
> manually...etc etc...." Eventually it was admitted there was a local
> problem and it would be fixed within a couple of days.
>
> Nothing improved - in fact, a day later, the Voda network (this is the
> old-fashioned GSM; I don't have a 3G-compatible phone and I don't
> believe it is offered here on Voda anyway) went off the air
> altogether.
>
> A fault was registered through the Voda site. A couple of e-mails
> later, I was advised "the local cell was being upgraded, and this was
> to be completed shortly".
>
> A few days later, the network reappeared on my phone - but again I
> could not hear the caller. Another call to India followed, with the
> same, predictable results.
>
> I then went to Toowomba for a day and my phone worked perfectly in all
> the places along the highway where Voda has coverage - Dalby, Miles,
> Chinchilla and so on.
>
> On return back to Roma, no Voda signal. This was last Wednesday.
>
> Since then, no signal, no network outage on their site and no reply to
> e-mails.
>
> I am well aware that Voda would have next to no subscribers here and
> their service corresponds to that; their "normal" signal cuts out
> about 5 kilometres out of town at best of times and it is common to
> experience dropouts in buildings within the "CBD" - i.e. the main
> street. In all fairness though, the situation is not much better with
> Telstra and Optus GSM - pretty much all the locals here use NextG.
>
> However Voda does state they have coverage here and I am getting sick
> of weeks of no service and no explanation as to when they will
> restore it. I don't want to port to another network if I can help it;
> I am on a plan that is no longer available and it suits me just fine.
> What options do I have?
Work out who locally is looking after the vodafone base. The locals should know.
Give up on Vodafone, use Optarse instead.
> The TIO?
Unlikely they will be much use.
> Thanks for your suggestions.
Even a suggestion to shove your head up a dead bear's arse ?
Rod Speed contributed these words of wisdom on 05/25/2009 07:27 PM:
> Tom wrote:
>> Just wondering if anyone could advise what would be the best course of
>> action here:
>>
>> About three months ago I relocated to Roma, a smallish town in
>> south-western Queensland. I have for some years had a mobile account
>> with Vodafone and they do have service here, so I thought I would have
>> no issues just continuing with them.
>>
>> About 3 weeks ago, on returning from the Sunshine Coast (where I was
>> for working for a week), I noticed that any incoming callers could
>> hear me fine, but I could not hear them at all. I tried my SIM in
>> three different phones just to make sure the problem was not on my
>> end (as there was no indication of an outage in this area on the Voda
>> site), then I called Vodafone help line.
>>
>> I got to talk to someone in India, who put me through the usual
>> rubbish of "turn your phone on and off...select your network
>> manually...etc etc...." Eventually it was admitted there was a local
>> problem and it would be fixed within a couple of days.
>>
>> Nothing improved - in fact, a day later, the Voda network (this is the
>> old-fashioned GSM; I don't have a 3G-compatible phone and I don't
>> believe it is offered here on Voda anyway) went off the air
>> altogether.
>>
>> A fault was registered through the Voda site. A couple of e-mails
>> later, I was advised "the local cell was being upgraded, and this was
>> to be completed shortly".
>>
>> A few days later, the network reappeared on my phone - but again I
>> could not hear the caller. Another call to India followed, with the
>> same, predictable results.
>>
>> I then went to Toowomba for a day and my phone worked perfectly in all
>> the places along the highway where Voda has coverage - Dalby, Miles,
>> Chinchilla and so on.
>>
>> On return back to Roma, no Voda signal. This was last Wednesday.
>>
>> Since then, no signal, no network outage on their site and no reply to
>> e-mails.
>>
>> I am well aware that Voda would have next to no subscribers here and
>> their service corresponds to that; their "normal" signal cuts out
>> about 5 kilometres out of town at best of times and it is common to
>> experience dropouts in buildings within the "CBD" - i.e. the main
>> street. In all fairness though, the situation is not much better with
>> Telstra and Optus GSM - pretty much all the locals here use NextG.
>>
>> However Voda does state they have coverage here and I am getting sick
>> of weeks of no service and no explanation as to when they will
>> restore it. I don't want to port to another network if I can help it;
>> I am on a plan that is no longer available and it suits me just fine.
>
>> What options do I have?
>
> Work out who locally is looking after the vodafone base. The locals should know.
All the locals I've spoken to were surprised there exists a mobile
company of that name...! :-)
>
> Give up on Vodafone, use Optarse instead.
Trouble is, they are really not much better around here. At leas their
cell shows as being active, but who knows how they would handle any
problems?
>> The TIO?
>
> Unlikely they will be much use.
But why not? Voda advertises they have coverage here and yet they've
been off air for weeks. Plus they tell lies about there being no network
disruptions.
>> Thanks for your suggestions.
>
> Even a suggestion to shove your head up a dead bear's arse ?
It's still a suggestion, so it complies with my original statement.
>>> Just wondering if anyone could advise what would be the best course of action here:
>>> About three months ago I relocated to Roma, a smallish town in
>>> south-western Queensland. I have for some years had a mobile account
>>> with Vodafone and they do have service here, so I thought I would
>>> have no issues just continuing with them.
>>> About 3 weeks ago, on returning from the Sunshine Coast (where I was
>>> for working for a week), I noticed that any incoming callers could
>>> hear me fine, but I could not hear them at all. I tried my SIM in
>>> three different phones just to make sure the problem was not on my
>>> end (as there was no indication of an outage in this area on the
>>> Voda site), then I called Vodafone help line.
>>> I got to talk to someone in India, who put me through the usual
>>> rubbish of "turn your phone on and off...select your network
>>> manually...etc etc...." Eventually it was admitted there was a local
>>> problem and it would be fixed within a couple of days.
>>> Nothing improved - in fact, a day later, the Voda network (this is
>>> the old-fashioned GSM; I don't have a 3G-compatible phone and I
>>> don't believe it is offered here on Voda anyway) went off the air
>>> altogether.
>>> A fault was registered through the Voda site. A couple of e-mails
>>> later, I was advised "the local cell was being upgraded, and this
>>> was to be completed shortly".
>>> A few days later, the network reappeared on my phone - but again I
>>> could not hear the caller. Another call to India followed, with the
>>> same, predictable results.
>>> I then went to Toowomba for a day and my phone worked perfectly in
>>> all the places along the highway where Voda has coverage - Dalby,
>>> Miles, Chinchilla and so on.
>>> On return back to Roma, no Voda signal. This was last Wednesday.
>>> Since then, no signal, no network outage on their site and no reply to e-mails.
>>> I am well aware that Voda would have next to no subscribers here and
>>> their service corresponds to that; their "normal" signal cuts out
>>> about 5 kilometres out of town at best of times and it is common to
>>> experience dropouts in buildings within the "CBD" - i.e. the main
>>> street. In all fairness though, the situation is not much better
>>> with Telstra and Optus GSM - pretty much all the locals here use
>>> NextG.
>>> However Voda does state they have coverage here and I am getting
>>> sick of weeks of no service and no explanation as to when they will
>>> restore it. I don't want to port to another network if I can help
>>> it; I am on a plan that is no longer available and it suits me just fine.
>>> What options do I have?
>> Work out who locally is looking after the vodafone base. The locals should know.
> All the locals I've spoken to were surprised there exists a mobile company of that name...! :-)
Ring around the local operations flogging comms gear, they'll know.
>> Give up on Vodafone, use Optarse instead.
> Trouble is, they are really not much better around here. At leas their cell
> shows as being active, but who knows how they would handle any problems?
They are putting a lot of effort into expanding in western NSW, dunno about western Qld tho.
Use NextG, it does work pretty well. Main problem is its pretty lousy value.
>>> The TIO?
>> Unlikely they will be much use.
> But why not?
Essentially because Voda uses locals to look after their bases.
If the local looking after the base is ****ed, there isnt much they can do about that.
The only time the TIO might be useful is if you are on contract with Vodafone
and want to get out of the contract because they cant deliver a viable service.
> Voda advertises they have coverage here and yet they've been off air
> for weeks. Plus they tell lies about there being no network disruptions.
Sure, but thats because they use India for 'support'
and there is **** all that the TIO can do about that.
>>> Thanks for your suggestions.
>> Even a suggestion to shove your head up a dead bear's arse ?
> It's still a suggestion, so it complies with my original statement.
But I was asking whether you would thank me for that particular suggestion.
Rod Speed contributed these words of wisdom on 05/26/2009 05:31 AM:
> Tom wrote
>> Rod Speed wrote
>>> Tom wrote
>
>>>> Just wondering if anyone could advise what would be the best course of action here:
>
>>>> About three months ago I relocated to Roma, a smallish town in
>>>> south-western Queensland. I have for some years had a mobile account
>>>> with Vodafone and they do have service here, so I thought I would
>>>> have no issues just continuing with them.
>
>>>> About 3 weeks ago, on returning from the Sunshine Coast (where I was
>>>> for working for a week), I noticed that any incoming callers could
>>>> hear me fine, but I could not hear them at all. I tried my SIM in
>>>> three different phones just to make sure the problem was not on my
>>>> end (as there was no indication of an outage in this area on the
>>>> Voda site), then I called Vodafone help line.
>
>>>> I got to talk to someone in India, who put me through the usual
>>>> rubbish of "turn your phone on and off...select your network
>>>> manually...etc etc...." Eventually it was admitted there was a local
>>>> problem and it would be fixed within a couple of days.
>
>>>> Nothing improved - in fact, a day later, the Voda network (this is
>>>> the old-fashioned GSM; I don't have a 3G-compatible phone and I
>>>> don't believe it is offered here on Voda anyway) went off the air
>>>> altogether.
>
>>>> A fault was registered through the Voda site. A couple of e-mails
>>>> later, I was advised "the local cell was being upgraded, and this
>>>> was to be completed shortly".
>
>>>> A few days later, the network reappeared on my phone - but again I
>>>> could not hear the caller. Another call to India followed, with the
>>>> same, predictable results.
>
>>>> I then went to Toowomba for a day and my phone worked perfectly in
>>>> all the places along the highway where Voda has coverage - Dalby,
>>>> Miles, Chinchilla and so on.
>
>>>> On return back to Roma, no Voda signal. This was last Wednesday.
>
>>>> Since then, no signal, no network outage on their site and no reply to e-mails.
>
>>>> I am well aware that Voda would have next to no subscribers here and
>>>> their service corresponds to that; their "normal" signal cuts out
>>>> about 5 kilometres out of town at best of times and it is common to
>>>> experience dropouts in buildings within the "CBD" - i.e. the main
>>>> street. In all fairness though, the situation is not much better
>>>> with Telstra and Optus GSM - pretty much all the locals here use
>>>> NextG.
>
>>>> However Voda does state they have coverage here and I am getting
>>>> sick of weeks of no service and no explanation as to when they will
>>>> restore it. I don't want to port to another network if I can help
>>>> it; I am on a plan that is no longer available and it suits me just fine.
>
>>>> What options do I have?
>
>>> Work out who locally is looking after the vodafone base. The locals should know.
>
>> All the locals I've spoken to were surprised there exists a mobile company of that name...! :-)
>
> Ring around the local operations flogging comms gear, they'll know.
Good suggestion; I'll try that. Thanks!
>>> Give up on Vodafone, use Optarse instead.
>
>> Trouble is, they are really not much better around here. At leas their cell
>> shows as being active, but who knows how they would handle any problems?
>
> They are putting a lot of effort into expanding in western NSW, dunno about western Qld tho.
Well it's not the coverage, which is pretty pathetic when it comes to
GSM on all three networks. It's the service provision.
> Use NextG, it does work pretty well. Main problem is its pretty lousy value.
Yes, and it requires a different phone to what I have, plus I won't be
here for ever...
>>>> The TIO?
>
>>> Unlikely they will be much use.
>
>> But why not?
>
> Essentially because Voda uses locals to look after their bases.
>
> If the local looking after the base is ****ed, there isnt much they can do about that.
OK; I wasn't aware of that - that's another good suggestion. Thanks, Rod!
The Indians don't tell you much of use when you call "support" -
providing you can get past "Lara" in the first place...!
> The only time the TIO might be useful is if you are on contract with Vodafone
> and want to get out of the contract because they cant deliver a viable service.
Well I would have thought advertising a service which they are not
delivering would be in the same category, but perhaps I'm wrong.
I mean, if I went still further west to Charleville, which has no Voda
coverage and none is advertised, I would not expect any. But in Roma
they do advertise it on their site, and yet they are not providing it.
>> Voda advertises they have coverage here and yet they've been off air
>> for weeks. Plus they tell lies about there being no network disruptions.
>
> Sure, but thats because they use India for 'support'
> and there is **** all that the TIO can do about that.
Not too good for PR though...
>>>> Thanks for your suggestions.
>
>>> Even a suggestion to shove your head up a dead bear's arse ?
>
>> It's still a suggestion, so it complies with my original statement.
>
> But I was asking whether you would thank me for that particular suggestion.
Polly the Parrot contributed these words of wisdom on 05/25/2009 09:23 PM:
> On Mon, 25 May 2009 17:57:42 +1000, Tom <t.ronalds@connect.com> wrote:
>
>> What options do I have? The TIO?
>
> Are you on a contract?
>
> If not, simply dump them.
I'm not on a contract, but I don't really want to leave Voda if I can
help it, because I'm getting a very good deal on a plan that is no
longer being offered, and I don't think I could get the same thing
elsewhere.
Besides, they have been fine for my needs; it's just a local issue.
> I'm not on a contract, but I don't really want to leave Voda if I can
> help it, because I'm getting a very good deal on a plan that is no
> longer being offered, and I don't think I could get the same thing
> elsewhere.
What's the deal? Maybe one of the other carriers has something comparable.
> Besides, they have been fine for my needs; it's just a local issue.
If it's your main base of operations then it sounds like that it's no longer
"fine" for your needs.
It might be time to look for another provider. Certainly, when discussing this
with Dev at Tecknobable, suggest that unless the problem is rectified that
you'll take your business elsewhere. Of course you need to be prepared to follow
through. It might get you somewhere. But if you're on a good plan that Voda
would like to dump if not for people such as yourself, then it won't do you much
good.
Network problems - what to do? 
Linear Mode
