Vodafone UK...some advice on cancelling contracts needed

[londoner888]

I bought an IP4 last week on Vodafone and subsequently signed a new contract.

Thing is the Voda coverage in my home is very poor, I think this is unrelated to the "death grip" antenna issues because even when not holding the phone I seem to get a maximum of 1-2 bars.

My mum who is on O2 gets full bars all the time on her 3G.

I was previously on Orange and never really had a problem, and being in London, I didn't think Voda would have a poor coverage where I live.

I now know this not to be the case... does anyone know if I can cancel my contract and return the phone. I'm 9 days into the contract now.

I want to sign onto O2 seeing as reception is better, should have went with them from day one tbh but my friends kept recommending Vodafone.

 

[Lingham]

Did you not think to check voda signal before you took out the contract?

I think and dont quote me on this you either have 9,10 or 12 days to cancel a contract depending on network. Look at the T&C on the website

 

[guicane]

Mate, I had the exact same problem!! It was a headache to cancel!!

I got the phone on launch day in the oxford st store and all good, came home and poor reception, in central london poor reception... I wasn't happy. So I decided I was going to return and cancel the contract BUT by the time I did go back to the shop it had been seven days, exactly SEVEN days. I got to the shop about 2h before it was seven days of me signing the contract and... they didn't want to cancel because I had only 7 days to do so.

So I had to fight saying that I was still within the 7 day cooling off period and they tried everything they could not to cancel.

The girl in the shop kept calling somewhere trying to cancel my contract as she understood my situation but they weren't having it so I had to call the manager and still nothing... At the end I was there for almost 2 hours and at the end the girl found someone on the other end of the line that agreed to cancel my contract. I returned the phone and got a refund on the money I paid for it.

Then I went with 3 and couldn't be happier.

Hope I could help. Remember the 7 day cooling off period.

Gui

 

[netdog]

You have 14 days to return it and cancel the contract. That's the law. Of this I am certain.

14 days is the cooling off period regarding cancelling a mobile contract in the UK.

 

[tiptopp]

You have 14 days to return it and cancel the contract. That's the law. Of this I am certain.

14 days is the cooling off period regarding cancelling a mobile contract in the UK.

I don't think you should be too certain...

This link to a gov.uk site gives the summary. No joy on this front for the OP.

However, I went with Vodafone because I wasn't sure about their coverage where I live, and they are the only UK network to offer a guaranteed signal in your house via broadband and this.

In the end, I haven't had to use it, but know people who do, and they love it.

Regards,

TT

 

[mroddjob]

Just call vodafone and check.
A friend had the same problem and was able to send his phone back.
From what i've read there is a 14 day cooling off period for phones ordered online or over the phone, perhaps due to distance selling laws, but not for phones bought in store.

 

[WelshBluebird]

AFAIK you only get 7 days cooling off period, and that only applies if you bought it over the phone or online (Distance Selling Regs). If you bought it in store, then you are stuffed.

Some networks will be more sympathetic than others.
I know T-mobile have a thing where if you check your coverage before you buy, and it tells you that you would get signal, but it turns out you don't, then you can cancel without penalty.
And if you cause enough hassle for the staff they may let you cancel just to shut you up. But other than that, there is no way you are getting out of the contract.

Its just wrong that they can get away with blatantly lying on their coverage checkers, and conning people into 2 year contracts that are effectivly useless to the customer.

However, to the OP. You get signal. So I really don't see why they would cancel it for you. The networks are bad enough when you can't get signal full stop, so I doubt Vodafone are going to be sympathetic to someone who can get signal.

You have 14 days to return it and cancel the contract. That's the law. Of this I am certain.

14 days is the cooling off period regarding cancelling a mobile contract in the UK.

Not true.

 

[londoner888]

Before switching my network I did type my postcode in the voda coverage checker and it said very good for 3G and excellent 2G

It's annoying because I notice that the bars constantly fluctuate between 1-3 bars and it's seems to be more on Edge than 3G. I know at home I can use wifi but that's not the point. With Orange I had four to five bars and 3G almost all the time.

Like some have mentioned I read that the cooling off period is only if you buy online or over the phone...

Guicane did they say anything to you when you Tried to cancel the phone, ie saying cos u bought in store cooling off period doesn't apply?

 

[tiptopp]

Before switching my network I did type my postcode in the voda coverage checker and it said very good for 3G and excellent 2G

It's annoying because I notice that the bars constantly fluctuate between 1-3 bars and it's seems to be more on Edge than 3G. I know at home I can use wifi but that's not the point. With Orange I had four to five bars and 3G almost all the time.

Like some have mentioned I read that the cooling off period is only if you buy online or over the phone...

Guicane did they say anything to you when you Tried to cancel the phone, ie saying cos u bought in store cooling off period doesn't apply?

But if you can make a call on the phone between one and three bars, does it really matter? The bars indicate strength, not reliability. The thing is, all the networks are different, have masts in different places and use different strengths from those masts. Without getting simcards for each network and testing them on the same phone you won't ever be sure which is best. I never had more than one bar on 02, and often none, whereas I always have at least 2 on Vodafone, and I've not dropped a call. Yet I'm closer to the O2 mast than the Vodafone one.

The Sure Signal isn't a wifi solution - it physically plugs into your broadband and gives you a 5 bar 3g signal in your house (for up to 4 registered phones). It might not be ideal, and it would be preferable to get a perfect service from the native signal, but it's a solution which works. And my experience with Vodafone so far is that they have pretty good coverage for 3G and their customer service is good too. So that and the pricing (don't forget you still get 1gb download from them in their fair usage policy, as opposed to 500mb from the others) meant that my decision was to go with them on the basis that if the signal was rubbish I could fix it.

What I'm really trying to say is that, rather than being peeved that you can't get out of the contract - because you'll have a hell of a battle on if you try it - be pleased that you've got good coverage generally, can get perfect coverage in your house (better than any other network) if you want it, have a generous mobile data download allowance and get pretty good customer service.

Over the years, I've decided that I spend much too much energy being angry about decisions I've made, where they turn out to be wrong to some degree, and too little energy on looking at the positives. I take ages to make decisions (a month on which network to choose) so I now make sure that I focus on the positive aspects of the decision, rather than the negatives. It makes me sad to see others getting stressed by the negatives, especially where it detracts from the enjoyment of the product, so please take this as it is intended - positively!

Regards,

TT

 

[JakeSully]

But if you can make a call on the phone between one and three bars, does it really matter? The bars indicate strength, not reliability. The thing is, all the networks are different, have masts in different places and use different strengths from those masts. Without getting simcards for each network and testing them on the same phone you won't ever be sure which is best. I never had more than one bar on 02, and often none, whereas I always have at least 2 on Vodafone, and I've not dropped a call. Yet I'm closer to the O2 mast than the Vodafone one.

The Sure Signal isn't a wifi solution - it physically plugs into your broadband and gives you a 5 bar 3g signal in your house (for up to 4 registered phones). It might not be ideal, and it would be preferable to get a perfect service from the native signal, but it's a solution which works. And my experience with Vodafone so far is that they have pretty good coverage for 3G and their customer service is good too. So that and the pricing (don't forget you still get 1gb download from them in their fair usage policy, as opposed to 500mb from the others) meant that my decision was to go with them on the basis that if the signal was rubbish I could fix it.

What I'm really trying to say is that, rather than being peeved that you can't get out of the contract - because you'll have a hell of a battle on if you try it - be pleased that you've got good coverage generally, can get perfect coverage in your house (better than any other network) if you want it, have a generous mobile data download allowance and get pretty good customer service.

Over the years, I've decided that I spend much too much energy being angry about decisions I've made, where they turn out to be wrong to some degree, and too little energy on looking at the positives. I take ages to make decisions (a month on which network to choose) so I now make sure that I focus on the positive aspects of the decision, rather than the negatives. It makes me sad to see others getting stressed by the negatives, especially where it detracts from the enjoyment of the product, so please take this as it is intended - positively!

Regards,

TT

Totally agree with TT and his philosophy.
I was in a similar situation and bought SureSignal.
Pleased with the results. Stable, reliable connection and 5bars at all times.
I belive if you complain enough you might get SureSignal for a lot less.

 

[OutSpoken]

AFAIK you only get 7 days cooling off period, and that only applies if you bought it over the phone or online (Distance Selling Regs). If you bought it in store, then you are stuffed.

Some networks will be more sympathetic than others.
I know T-mobile have a thing where if you check your coverage before you buy, and it tells you that you would get signal, but it turns out you don't, then you can cancel without penalty.
And if you cause enough hassle for the staff they may let you cancel just to shut you up. But other than that, there is no way you are getting out of the contract.

Its just wrong that they can get away with blatantly lying on their coverage checkers, and conning people into 2 year contracts that are effectivly useless to the customer.

However, to the OP. You get signal. So I really don't see why they would cancel it for you. The networks are bad enough when you can't get signal full stop, so I doubt Vodafone are going to be sympathetic to someone who can get signal.

Where did you get that info from?

Normally it's 14 days if ordered over the phone or online, as already mentioned due to distance selling laws and 7 days if bought in store.

I made an extra effort to buy my phone either over the phone or online, therefore I could have the extra 7 days to check things over and make up my mind.

Unless given your name, its different laws for Wales?