Incompetent customer service - iPhone unlocking problem

Robbiengall

New Member
Apr 11, 2013
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After her contract with Vodafone finished, my sister upgraded from iPhone 4s to iPhone 5. She decided to give the iPhone 4s to our friend but as the sleep/wake button in it was broken we've been told we can exchange it at the Apple Store for £140. We've paid, we got the new iPhone 4s from Apple and this is when the problems began.

As the contract has finished my sis was entitled to unlock the phone (so our friend could use it. She's in different network).

To make it clear: I’m going to call the original iPhone 4s she my sister had as ‘the old handset/iPhone’ and the exchanged iPhone 4s as ‘the new handset/iPhone’. The iPhone 5 my sister got with the upgrade is not the subject of that story.

Vodafone was telling us it's up to Apple to unlock the new handset while Apple said there's no way they can do it and it's Vodafone’s responsibility. After visiting the Apple and Vodafone stores several times and keep contacting their customer services for 2 weeks we finally got to the point where it was obvious it's Vodafone's fault. They should unlock the iPhone for us. And they haven’t done it so far.

FYI: Every single handset has its own specific IMEI number. When the network is unlocking your iPhone it's actually unlocking its IMEI number so you can use it with any other network.

Vodafone couldn't recognise the IMEI number of the new phone, even though [1] it was sent to them via specific unlock request form on their website, [2] given them on phone by us [3] and by Apple as well, [4] updated at the Vodafone store a couple of times, [5] sent to them in the document confirming we did exchange at the Apple store.

What's worse, Vodafone unlocked the old handset by (their) mistake and then refused to unlock the new one as you, as a customer, are entitled to unlock only one handset per contract! So we had to explain everything over and over again.

Every time we were trying to solve the problem we were forced to talk to a different person who didn't know the whole story. That was extremely frustrating and annoying.

By the way the email addresses provided by Vodafone Customer Service to send the documents seemed to be wrong several times. We had to re-call them and were suggested to try another address again and again.

A few days ago, while visiting the Vodafone store, we've been told their customer service can't really help us because their offices are placed in Egypt and they can't understand a thing! Would you believe?!

Yesterday my sister and I visited the Vodafone store again. And the lady who’s the store assistant manager told us we should jailbreak that phone because she had no idea what the problem might be. Obviously she sent another email to their technical team and we're forced to wait again.

It's been 3 weeks now and there's no hope for any solution. We still cannot use the iPhone we’ve paid for as it’s locked.

The Vodafone sellers were unwilling to help, they never offer calling Customer Service and help us with solving problem. They always persisted we need to send the unlock request form from the website to unlock the phone, even though we had done it before several times, and if that doesn't help than there's nothing they can do. So, for Christ sake, who can?!

We're going to contact Custom Advise Bureau and Watch Dog and let them know about it.

Sadly, I understand they're Goliath and we're David in this case. But at least we can warn some people to avoid Vodafone and their outrageous customer service.

Think twice before you decide to sign a contract with them, please.

Any helpful suggestion would be highly appreciated. Thank you.

Kind regards,

Rob
 

ALewis

Moderator
Nov 23, 2010
691
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South Wales
Hi Rob,
A Vodafone employee checks this forum to deal with Vodafone problems, he will no doubt provide you with an email address / phone number for you to contact him personally,
We've never had someone cone back and say he didnt sort out the problems, so we can only assume he does a good job.
Vodafone_Lee , over to you!
 

Lee_Vodafone

New Member
May 9, 2012
18
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0
Hi Rob,

Thanks for making me aware of this.

To enable me to get this matter looked into further could you ask your sister to email me with her details via the Contact us form here quoting the code WRT135 - Fao Lee in the subject line.

Once sent she'll receive an automated reply with a reference number. To ensure that it reaches me could either of you update the thread with this and I'll get back to her as quickly as possible?

Hi Rob,
A Vodafone employee checks this forum to deal with Vodafone problems, he will no doubt provide you with an email address / phone number for you to contact him personally,
We've never had someone cone back and say he didnt sort out the problems, so we can only assume he does a good job.
Vodafone_Lee , over to you!
Hi Adam,

Whilst it would be good to have a few people returning to their threads with some feedback you can see evidence of some of our successes on the Consumer Action Group Forum here.

Kind regards,

Lee

Web Relations Team

Vodafone UK
 

Robbiengall

New Member
Apr 11, 2013
8
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0
Hello Lee,

She has already filled that form and sent it through to customer service. This is the message we have received from one of your colleagues (Andrew):

"Thanks for the information you’ve provided. As we didn’t supply the exchange handset to you, we won’t be able to supply the NUC for the phone. In this case you’d need to deal with Apple directly for them to arrange the NUC for you"

Can you please confirm whether it's correct? Apple says it's up to Vodafone and they can't do anything with this.

Thank you,

Rob
 

Robbiengall

New Member
Apr 11, 2013
8
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0
Hi Lee,

She filled the form once again anyway. I'll post the reference number once she sent it through to me.

Thank you,

Rob
 

Robbiengall

New Member
Apr 11, 2013
8
0
0
Once sent she'll receive an automated reply with a reference number. To ensure that it reaches me could either of you update the thread with this and I'll get back to her as quickly as possible?
Hi Lee. The reference number is: #11350984

Thank you for your help.

Rob
 

Lee_Vodafone

New Member
May 9, 2012
18
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0
Hi Rob,

Thanks for coming back to me.

Although the reply from Andrew is correct it's a little confusing that she's being referred back to us when she speaks to Apple about this.

However, I've please be assured that I'll get this looked into further and update your sister accordingly.

Kind regards,

Lee

Web Relations Team

Vodafone UK
 

Robbiengall

New Member
Apr 11, 2013
8
0
0
Hi Lee,

It's been confusing to us as well. We're talking to Vodafone and Apple as both companies trying to blame each other. And we're not really sure who should and can help us. Apple claims it's 100% Vodafone responsibility to unlock the phone as it's in your network, even though it was swapped at the Apple Store due to its faulty wake/sleep button.

Rob
 

Rjc1986

New Member
May 23, 2016
2
0
0
Hi I am having the same problem right now I've now been two weeks without a phone and noy getting anywhere with Vodafone or Apple!!! What was your outcome please tell me it was successful eventually
 

Robbiengall

New Member
Apr 11, 2013
8
0
0
Hi I am having the same problem right now I've now been two weeks without a phone and noy getting anywhere with Vodafone or Apple!!! What was your outcome please tell me it was successful eventually
Hi. It was a long time to. I remember it was Vodafone's fault, but eventually there was a guy from Apple who helped us. All I can suggest is visit your nearest Apple Store, call the Vodafone customer service and ask a Genius Bar expert to talk to Vodafone customer service on your behalf.

Good luck!

Rob
 

Rjc1986

New Member
May 23, 2016
2
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0
Was it Apple who eventually unlocked it? It's driving me mad keep getting pushed from pillar to post and being told a different story each time I ring up even the ceo can't be bothered to reply to my emails!
 

Robbiengall

New Member
Apr 11, 2013
8
0
0
Was it Apple who eventually unlocked it? It's driving me mad keep getting pushed from pillar to post and being told a different story each time I ring up even the ceo can't be bothered to reply to my emails!
Yes, it was Apple, however it's supposed to be Vodafone. I am really sorry I can't remember how Apple managed to help us. Like I said we called Vodafone customer service and passed the phone to the guy from Apple Genius Bar, and somehow he found a solution. That's all I remember.