Time for a Voda-moan

THE people of North Devon have had enough of patchy signal, crackly phone calls, late text messages and poor internet connection.

Hordes of angry Vodafone customers have contacted us in the past week to tell us about the problems they’ve been having with their mobile phones – despite the firm saying the problem has been fixed.

So this week the Journal and North Devon MP Nick Harvey are sending a clear message to the company:

Vodafone, sort it out!

Today marks the fourth week of reported problems with the Vodafone network.

Business customers claim to have lost trade due to the faults and personal phone users say the problems have been extremely annoying.

More than 130 people contacted us to tell us about their experiences.

Matthew Wordsmith-Hessing from Ilfracombe said: “No signal at home or work for over a week. It’s really annoying me now.”

Caz Whale from Barnstaple said: “I’ve had major problems, so much so it has affected my business – not happy. Sort it out Vodafone.”

Steffan Hughes from Barnstaple said: “I’ve had bad signal for the past four weeks.

“My girlfriend was heavily pregnant and I needed my phone working so she could get hold of me. I think Vodafone is a disgrace.”

Rachel Hadley from Braunton said: “I’ve had problems with 3G internet, customer services representatives at Vodafone are not very helpful in their responses.”

Philippa Willis from Ilfracombe said: “I’ve had no signal for nine consecutive days and been struggling to make calls for the past month.

“They offered me £5 off my bill as good will, what a joke.”

Matt Holmes from Ilfracombe said: “Myself, my wife and four children are all on Vodafone. It’s been a nightmare not being unable to get in contact with them.”

North Devon MP Nick Harvey has also been contacted by several irate Vodafone customers.

He said: “It’s clear that the problem is much worse than Vodafone have realised and affects calls as well as data services.

“The company has agreed to an urgent meeting to discuss the issue and find a way forward so customers once again get the service they are paying for.”

We put these concerns to Vodafone’s responsibility and reputation officer Jane Frapwellcorr.

She said: “Some customers will have experienced intermittent problems but generally our customers will have been able to use our services to some extent.

“In Barnstaple, for example, while some customers will have found it difficult to access the internet on their mobile phones, they would have been able to use their phones for voice calls and messaging.

“Any customer who has been unable to use their mobile service at all for three days or more should contact at us and we will arrange a credit for the rental charge during that period.

“Our engineers have now carried out remedial works and we are not aware of any ongoing problems.

“For the future, we are working on a programme of work to ensure continuing stability.”

We asked Vodafone if it would provide us with an email address so North Devon customers directly but it declined.

If you are having problems with your Vodafone mobile phone call 191 from your mobile or 08700 700 191 from a landline.

You can also contact the company at www.vodafone.co.uk, click on “Contact Us” link and use the key words “North Devon” in the query box.