Nightmare before Christmas as woman is left with no TV due to Vodafone problems

Shortly before Christmas we heard from a reader called Mary who was having a most distressing time dealing with Vodafone.

The issue started in the middle of November, when her internet service stopped working.

A couple of days later Mary called the company and was told she needed a new router and TV box. “They also encouraged me to sign a new contract with them, which I did. On November 21st the new router was delivered and connected. The TV did not work with the old TV box,” she says.

More time passed and a new TV box was delivered. “I could not connect it myself, so waited for my son to arrive from the US,” she writes.

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The son arrived home on December 5th and connected the new TV box but the TV was still not working and was giving Mary an “error message about not being able to connect to my account. On December 7th my son phoned Vodafone explaining there was a problem with connecting the new TV box. They undertook to call back about this.”

The call never came.

They advised me to reconnect the old box. I told them I am 77, have osteoarthritis and couldn’t reach the plugs and connections

—  Mary

On December 11th she phoned Vodafone. “They told me the issue was being elevated to the next level to solve. I gave them the number on the bottom of the TV box, as requested. I turned router and TV box off and on again as directed. No success – same message about not able to access my account,” she writes.

Mary was told it was being elevated to the next level and the TV box would be updated, a process that would take three to five days.

“They advised me to reconnect the old box. I told them I am 77, have osteoarthritis and couldn’t reach the plugs, connections etc. They said they will get in touch and I will be fully refunded for lost time.”

By December 15th she was still getting the same error. “I phoned Vodafone. Told them it’s been five days and I still have no TV. Was transferred to the next level. They ‘understand my problem’, making it a priority, will be solved ‘as soon as possible’. They told me to install the old TV box. I explained again that I couldn’t do this and the old box wasn’t working anyway. I’m now facing into the weekend and looking to a Christmas with no TV.”

We contacted the company and hours later heard back from both our reader and Vodafone to say that the problem had been resolved and Mary’s TV was up and running in time for the festive season.