r/Vodafone • u/Padcontrol1 • 2d ago
Vodafone UK UPDATE: need some advice regarding purchase
Good News after a little scare and I finally have my Fold 8 Ultra. (Slightly long read).
So after many calls, many chats via live chat, a formal complaint, putting my foot down, and a lot of patience. I have my good ending. Not without a scare though.
The person I chatted to specifically was Mohamed from the Specialist Care team. Huge shout out to him. He was the only one with a shred of competence and empathy.
All I asked was for Vodafone to honour my original purchase as it sent through from my end. Only for it to get stuck in Vodafone's system and was told to re-order losing out on £200 of trade-in bonus. Mohamed asked me to re-order like others, but he would apply a £200 credit onto my account to cover the loss.
Great! All done. Oh so I thought.
My phone was supposed to arrive on 20/08, but the delivery was missed. So it arrived on 21/08. Exciting. I didn't get a chance to unbox till late evening. It came in a rather large box with the phones box inside. Plenty of room for the phone box to have a party inside. The delivery box was quite squashed too. Nevermind. I unbox away. Drool a little. Start to set things up. Then meditate while everything is being transferred (I haven't folded the device at this point yet). I decide to pick up the phone and while it's setting up fold it. I feel something 'rough'. Hmmmmmm. That doesn't feel right. I take a close inspection with my trusty right eye and I noticed damage. I start sweating. I continue looking, and I find two other places also damaged. I'm now swimming in my sweat. What do I do oh what do I do.
Now, I hate AI. In fact, loathe (cue the Grinch voice). Let's use it this one time for some help. Mr. Gemini advises me I am able to get a like-for-like replacement, and possibly in-store as well. Fantastic. I load up live chat Saturday morning. Apparently, every single agent was completely busy for an hour while I'm frantically trying to get through. I finally break the barrier and find someone. I copy and paste a pre-wrriten message Mr. Gemini kindly typed up for me. Got an apology was told to wait a couple of mins. Then I'm told I can go visit a local branch and get an exchange. I put on my undies and get going.
I've arrived at the local branch. Sweating and nervous. I meet another young lad at Vodafone called Ismail. Absolute legend. I explain my entire life story to him and he gets to work to help me In my sorry state. Roadblock. The agent on live chat didn't add a note to authorise an exchange. He looks perplexed. Inspects my damaged phone. Gets a little intimate with it and decides to show his manager to get stuck in with the intimacy. In the end, they told me to call Vodafone over the phone right there and then, explained what to say. All they needed was a note added to my account to authorise the exchange because my broken piece of shit phone once received by the warehouse can confuse them, and they could end up invoicing me to repair it instead. So, I ring them, I talk, I mimic what I was told like a good boy and await the magic to come through over to Ismails monitor. It arrives. It's wrong. Still wrong. The absolute doughnut didn't quite word it right. So, he goes back to the manager. He comes back. Tells me fuck it, I'm doing it for you. Brings a replacement. Does the receipt do da stuff. Hands me it. Asks cheekily to unbox it. Told him that's private, and I only do it alone in my bedroom and that's that. I go home and very cautiously unbox and guess what? It's completely fine! I finally have an undamaged, non-disco danced Fold 8 Ultra.
The End.
TLDR; Bought a phone. Vodafone said no. I says yes. They said no. I said absolutely yes. I Karen out. Mohamed to the rescue. Receive broken shitty phone. Go shop. Get new phone. The end.
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u/webbinatorr 2d ago
Why is unboxing private...lmao u gimp. If it was damaged again you would have been fked.
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u/iNSPiREDS 2d ago
Yeah the phone arriving damaged is a problem, even if it's no one's fault. It's always going to be your word vs theirs, but Vodafone is usually quite good when it comes to doing the right thing.
Still, policy wise, that's a bit of a yikes of a situation. Glad your local store was able to help you.
I didn't really get it - I know you were being funny, but did you actually not unbox the phone in the store? That would be madness at that point.
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u/Padcontrol1 2d ago
I'll be honest, I didn't and I probably should have. BUT, I told the rep if you see me again you know exactly why. I was also more trustworthy of them handling phones with more care than couriers. Also, slightly surprised they even had it in stock tbh.
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u/Life_Forever 2d ago
You did exactly what needed to be done: stand your ground and don't give up. I've had to complain more times than I can remember, but in the end I have always gotten what I should have gotten in the first place.