I realised this weekend that we have been with Vodofone at work now for almost 12 months. We had been with O2 (since the launch of the iPhone in the UK) and the move to Vodafone was on the back of a great deal (they wanted us) and the promise of much better coverage of the UK.
So, how has the first 12 months been?
My great hope was that Vodafones ‘famed’ coverage would be much better than O2′s. Unfortunately I have to report that I have actually been very unimpressed! In my view it is not any better than O2, and in many cases is worse!
At home on O2 I had a fantastic 3G conection – on Vodafone its poor, GPRS at the best (luckily I have a wireless router so can use my excellent Virgin broadband connection).
Out and about it is possible that the basic phone coverage (for voice) is slightly better. But 3G coverage is not, and in some cases it is worse than their competitors! As an example when I visit my Mother in Malmesbury in Wiltshire my iPhone on Vodafone is GPRS only, my wife is on Virgin (who I believe use T Mobiles masts), she gets a full 3G signal!
So thats a fail for signal on Vodafone. What about customer service?
On O2 we had an account manager (as we do on Vodafone), he was always easy to get hold of (even when away on maternity leave!), any request was quickly and efficiently dealt with (we have 35 iPhones so often have issues).
Our Vodafone account manager models himself on the Scarlet Pimpernel! He is difficult to raise and when you do finally get hold of him he passes you onto someone else – he was much more attentive when trying to get us away from O2!
So my overall impression after 12 months with Vodafone? Could do better! (and the grass is not always greener on the other side!)
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