“A Nightmare with Vodafone Broadband: A Heavy Toll on Business and Mental Health
Where do I even begin? My experience with Vodafone broadband has been an absolute nightmare from the start, and it has caused me a significant amount of stress and professional damage. While I'm sure their service works perfectly fine for some, if you encounter a problem, be prepared for a truly appalling customer service experience that I would not wish on my worst enemy.
The saga started when my broadband stopped working. What should have been a simple troubleshooting process became a maddening ordeal of nine separate attempts to get a resolution. Each phone call and online chat was utterly pointless. I was met with overly confident agents who repeated the same unhelpful, scripted answers and never seemed to listen when I tried to explain the unique and convoluted situation. The lack of communication and care was astounding.
The situation was made infinitely worse when, in a bizarre attempt to fix the issue, Vodafone sent me a second router on what turned out to be a second contract. This not only failed to solve the problem but created a new layer of chaos. Thankfully, this new contract allowed me to cancel within the 14-day cooling-off period, but the damage was already done.
As soon as the contracts were canceled, Vodafone pulled the plug on everything, leaving me without any internet connection at all. As a result, my ability to run my business has been severely impacted. On top of that, the immense stress and frustration from being constantly messed about and ignored has taken a heavy toll on my mental health. I am now forced to wait until September 23rd for my new provider, Sky Broadband, to connect, leaving me in a state of professional limbo.
I will never, ever recommend Vodafone to anyone. Their customer service is an absolute disgrace, and they have shown a complete disregard for their customers' well-being and livelihoods. Save yourself the trouble and choose a provider that actually cares when things go wrong.”
“Spent 2hours on phone to call centre in India then another 45 mins to call centre in South Africa wall said they would call back never did Vodafone are not contactable in uk only by a bot which goes round in circles no email address so if you have a complaint don’t bother as you cannot tell anybody worst customer service ever not that they have a customer service”
“Awful customer services! Very rude and aggressively speaking, interrupting and speaking over the top of me when I was just trying to explain the issue I was having. I, along with my family members will not be renewing my our contracts with them when they come to an end.”
“Worst service ever! I took the time to get a tourist sim card in the airport and the women forgot to write the passeport number. They contacted me with a phone call and the women only spoke Italian, which I don't speak. I sent them the information and they sent back a reply IN ITALIAN. After which they still cut my service. Worst service ever. You should try speaking the same language as your customers or at least default to english. Overpriced and inefficient, that's voda for you.”
“Asked rep is this call in uk said yes she was in india made 2. 1 hour calls both then just hung up on me said I was 20 pounds in credit then said I owed 413pounds vodaphone is the worst customer service off anybody why don’t they have uk call centres at least you can tell what they are saying last time I will ever use them”
“I moved home & gave plenty notice for Vodafone to connect me (I couldn’t take virgin with me) there has been a catalogue of problems mainly due to no one caring one iota about providing even a basic service. From getting past the nasally intro woman with the adenoid problem to talk to some human - from constantly explaining to a myriad of uninterested “workers” to being basset from an Egyptian call Center (who told me to go out & buy a phone line splitter) to a delightful Indian call centre worker who refused to answer a single question I had. I’m moving to another broadband provider & I wish Vodafone ill….”
“I ordered a switch from my old broadband provider and was given a provisional date of transfer which changes from time to time. The phone line is atrocious, crackling and fading and since I have hearing problems I have been unable to understand calls from agents who do not have English as a first language, a point I have already made to Vodafone. I am considering cancelling the whole shebang!”
“I needed a SIM card when I was studying in Ireland last fall. I tried signing up with Vodafone but was experiencing some technical difficulties with the number and it was hard to reach a representative. I was frustrated with the customer service so I switched to Three soon after that.
I cancelled my Vodafone membership and deleted my account. I used Three for the entire duration of my stay in Ireland, before I moved back to Canada.
It’s now July and I’m noticing monthly charges to my credit card from Vodafone since October. I haven’t used this SIM card at all since then and it should not be possible to still keep getting charged.
I contacted an online representative and gave them the Vodafone number and every possible email that could have been linked to my account. I gave them every transaction number I have access to and I had to call my bank for assistance just to make double sure there was no missing information on my end. The online agent for Vodafone can’t locate my file or identify me AT ALL.
So I have no account, and yet I am being charged. Now I am going through a painstaking process of disputing these transactions and HOPEFULLY will get at least some of my money back.
I’m no longer in Ireland so I can’t exactly go to the store in person.
I do not recommend this service whatsoever.”
“Order on 13th May today 24th June no broadband
I made the order on 13th May to have a full fibre broadband connected on 4th June. Today is 24th June and the broadband is not connected. I have been waiting every time 3 working days and they were promising to activate it. I am wasting every day of 5hrs to call them. Now I cannot cancel and take another provider because they didn't complete the order!!!!!!!!!!!!! the back end team, engineers and senior engineers are useless and incompetent. The managers are liars. I am in the loop without the internet and possibility to move to other provider.”
“Absolutely terrible service - after waiting 70 days waiting for a Broadband connection, it was cancelled. The updating throughout that time was non existent. I am still waiting for the promised compensation. I must have spoken to over 20 different ‘advisors’ - none of them connected any dots or resolved any of the queries relating to the provision of an alternative service. If I could give zero points I would. I will NEVER use Vodaphone again.”
“The amount of time and complexity required to complete basic administration is appalling. No shade to the actual customer service agents who are lovely, but as a company it is ridiculous that to upgrade a phone I have had to do 3+ hours on webchat, back and forth between different “teams”, 1 hour in store to be told I need to do it online, and then 50 mins on the phone. Just for an upgrade. And this is not helped by the repetition of questions every single time you are passed on to a new agent or team. I have had to repeat the same information a million times. Ive had to answer the same questions over and over again. As someone with ADHD who struggles to hold attention for over 10 minutes, tell me why each transaction takes hours due to the amount of pointless questions. It is extremely inaccessible and not inclusive for neurodivergent people who struggle with even short admin transactions and they cause extreme anxiety and overwhelm. Imagine a total of 5+ hours! I don't recommend vodafone as they are extremely inflexible with customers.”
“The amount of time and complexity required to complete basic administration is appalling. No shade to the actual customer service agents who are lovely, but as a company it is ridiculous that to upgrade a phone I have had to do 3+ hours on webchat, back and forth between different “teams”, 1 hour in store to be told I need to do it online, and then 50 mins on the phone. Just for an upgrade. And this is not helped by the repetition of questions every single time you are passed on to a new agent or team. I have had to repeat the same information a million times. Ive had to answer the same questions over and over again. As someone with ADHD who struggles to hold attention for over 10 minutes, tell me why each transaction takes hours due to the amount of pointless questions. It is extremely inaccessible and not inclusive for neurodivergent people who struggle with even short admin transactions and they cause extreme anxiety and overwhelm. Imagine a total of 5+ hours! I don't recommend vodafone as they are extremely inflexible with customers.”
“I have wasted an entire week trying to refer a friend to Vodafone. Vodafone advertise a £25 or £50 voucher for this referral. After hours of wasted time trying to complete this cycle of action, unable to even make a complaint on their website for incompetence, not to mention their AI bot which is worthless a Vodafone customer agent has finally advised me today that Vodafone do not offer this rewards scheme. Do yourself a favour and find a more competent company to provide your broadband.”
“Goodbye Vodafone, a company I've been loyal to for 15 years. I won’t be back.
I never write online reviews. Truly. But after the experience I’ve just had with Vodafone, I felt compelled to make an exception.
Let’s start from the beginning. My phone was stolen in London — an unfortunately common occurrence.As part of the usual security protocol, I cancelled all cards that were active on Apple Pay. I went into a Vodafone store the very next day, reported it stolen, and was issued a new SIM card. So far, so good.
Then I headed to Apple to sort out a new device. Problem solved? You'd think so, hey.
Not a matter of a week later, I began noticing App Store charges coming through on my Vodafone bill — not my Apple account. Confused? So was I. How on earth were App Store payments appearing on my Vodafone bill, especially after I had cancelled the linked cards and replaced the SIM?
Turns out Vodafone had, without my consent or knowledge, authorised a remote payment sync between my Apple account and Vodafone billing. Something I never agreed to — and something that, according to some Vodafone reps, should have been deactivated the moment I reported the phone stolen.
I spent a total of six hours on the phone with Vodafone. If I ever hear their hold music again, I might lose my mind. I spoke to countless customer service reps, each with conflicting explanations. Some admitted that the charges should never have gone through. Others tried to shift the blame onto me. All this, despite the fact the charges appeared after I had reported the phone stolen and the SIM replaced.
I was told I owed £380. Absolutely not. I refused to pay for a mistake that was clearly theirs. I’ve been a customer for 15 years — paying a premium for an overpriced and frankly sub-par service — and now I’m down £2,000 on a new phone and being asked to cover Vodafone’s screw-up?
Eventually, after what felt like hostage negotiations (first they’d cover 20%, then 50%, then 75%), they finally agreed to remove 100% of the charges. Sounds generous? It wasn’t. It was damage control — for their own mistake. And it took an enormous amount of pressure on my end to get them to do the right thing.
This was back in October. So why am I writing this review now?
Because it got worse.
After clearing the charges, I asked Vodafone to move my account to Pay As You Go, as I’d recently relocated to the U.S. for 18 months. All seemed fine. Then, during a routine credit check, I discovered a late payment flag from Vodafone had hit my credit score.
Baffled, I logged into my account — nothing there. I'm on PAYG, so no bills, no charges, no notifications. I call Vodafone again. Guess what? That mysterious late charge? It was from the original bill before they agreed to remove the Apple charges.
So despite agreeing to waive the fees — again, their error — they reported me as having defaulted on a payment. That one flag has now trashed my credit score. For no reason.
So here we are. Months of stress, hours of phone calls, gaslighting customer service reps, and a financial headache that’s still causing ripples.
Vodafone: you failed on every front. You mishandled a stolen phone report, tried to make me pay for unauthorised charges, strung me along with inconsistent support, and ultimately damaged my credit over your own mistake.
What happened to customer service? What happened to accountability?
I’m done. 15 years of loyalty — flushed.
Goodbye Vodafone. I won’t be back.”
“Absolutely dreadful - the last 18 months have been hell with Vodafone and customer service is terrible, there is no continuity, you are never believed , awful awful, the amount of stress that has been caused by a terrible connection and at one point nothing for 2 months, we were never believed until a technical support team a line manager 2 months down the line in DECember 2023 informed us major issue , things have never been right. Absolutly awful experience - the hours we have spent and you never get anywhere as you hae to explasin everything from the start and wait ages for them to read your notes and then come back with a less than satisfactory reply that shows they don't know what is going on at all with the case. AVOID AT ALL COSTS”
“Too technical just send me a new router and my problem will go away!!! But no, hours wasted on the phone instead. I want to be paid for those lost hours that filled me with dread. Grr...”
