How can Vodacom improve?

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Hi there

This is your chance to tell Vodacom how they can improve. Please tell Vodacom where they fall short and what they can do to make you a happier customer.

Please try to steer clear of obvious suggestions like “cut prices”, and try to give valuable input about the company’s products and services.

  • Which new products would you like to see?
  • Are there areas where Vodacom can improve its support?
  • Can they make it easier for you to buy their products?
  • Where do you think the company is losing ground against its competitors?

By giving your input you will stand a chance of winning a Sony 10’’ 32GB Android Tablet PC or branded gear bundles.

Please post all your feedback to Vodacom in this thread.
 
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I think Vodacom needs to have better 3G covergae around more rural areas. I still struggle for signal in my office, and I'm in the mddle of an industrial area in a big city... Better covergae, more towers if possible, to maintain a good signal. Too many times when I'm at home, and I live about 200m away from one of their towers, I struggle to even get 3G speeds on my mobile device, and I put that down to too many users trying to connect to an already overcrowded network. So they need to increase their bandwidth allocation for certain areas, to improve it's service to many of their mobile users....
 
1) Do away with advanced bundles and change IB = OOB on the standard bundles. That way everyone on post-paid X+X promo's should immediately benefit.
2) Any bundle, be it on post-paid or top-up should have IB = OOB applied to it.
3) Promo prices for bolt-on data products. I want to bolt X+X onto my existing voice contract and share it between all my devices using DataSIMs.
4) Proper real-time hard cap on data for post-paid customers (although implementing items 1-3 would go a long way to negating the negative effects of OOB). PS. Call limit is not the same as a data hard cap.
5) Show contract costs and handset cost as separate items on contract. This leads into the next point:
6) More realistic cancellation fees for terminating contracts. Presently Vodacom thinks charging a customer in full for the outstanding months is reasonable. Implementing this in addition to item 5 means customer should be able to simply pay the outstanding handset amount along with a month's notice to terminate.
7) Vodacare service needs a shake-up. Often OoB failure doesn't result in a direct replacement. Phones requiring "advanced repair" are all sent to JHB, which leaves people who are not in JHB without phones for extended periods of time. The most used excuse not to repair a phone under warranty is water damage even if the water sensors show no indication of water damage. They also refuse warranty repairs based on client damage to the handset (dents, scratches etc.), yet once the device is in the repair chain damage incurred by Vodacare goes on without any recourse.
8) Better training and more accountability for Vodashop staff and owners. We often see statements in the forums where Vodashops have given customers bad advice which often leaves them stuck in a contract, and more importantly with a foul taste in their mouth. There should be an easy method for these customers to be helped and the Vodashop to be held accountable (either by way of financial penalty or loss of franchise status, depending on severity of said advice).
 
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Vodacom Improvements

I think Vodacom should firstly allow all consumers to access the LTE network and not just the Post Paid clients. I've been a Vodacom Top-Up client for years and I've upgraded frequently yet I am not able to access the LTE network. Secondly, the promotional 1GB for R99 is a really good deal but prepaid or top up bundle prices are still to high. Even as a Value Added Service Data bundles are too expensive and the Smart Packages just don't have enough data included. As an android user I go through about 1.5 - 2 GB a month and that does not include downloads, which I do on my computer with my 2GB Top Up contract. In terms of in-store Customer Service, it should be more consistent. Had some excellent service at Vodacom Castle Walk, Erasmuskloof. Went to Menlyn and got poor service and waited in a line for quite some time. Further on Vodacom is an excellent.
 
Vodacom can win clients with one special.
1GB bolt-on bundle for R99.

Run it it for 3 months, see how it goes... do it already!
 
-Allow contract customers to bolt-on the specials on data (month to month or ad-hoc)
-Make it possible to upgrade within the specials
-Larger reasonably priced bundles please (like the 20Gb you had last year)
-Kill the possibility to go OOB. Permanently
 
1 OOB should be charged at the pro-rata rate of the package bundle you subscribe too.
2 I should be able to have as many data contracts on one account as I want.
3 Loyalty rewards please! Been with vodacom since 1996/7 and nothing....
4 Discounts for more than one contract per person.
 
Sell reasonably priced accessories as a pack when you get a phone. EG screen protector, case and bluetooth headset. Using your prepaid credit to buy apps in the app store.
 
Promo prices for bolt-on data products. I want to bolt X+X onto my existing voice contract and share it between all my devices using DataSIMs.
Make IB = OOB. Notify the customer when about to go OOB.
Still get too many dropped calls on Vodacom's network.
Blackberry speed seems to be better at the moment, but keep it consistently good.

Experience at Vodaworld is the queues take too long to see a consultant. Twice went to Vodacom 4 u store for much better service in the last 6 weeks.
Vodacom is losing ground to competitors on pricing - why should a customer sign up on a per minute price of over R2 per minute, when they can go to Cell-C for 99c per minute and easier to understand contracts?
 
Exactly what memphis32 said.....Vodacom must jack up their game as far as coverage and download speeds in the rural areas go.
here in White River i have a directional Poynting yaghi antennae on top of my roof and still battle to get a good signal.

Then when all the workers come home...even if I get a good signal the throughput is patthetic because too many users are online.:wtf:
 
Better 3G coverage would greatly add to the services offered by Vodacom.
Even in built up areas of Joburg (Northcliff and Randburg) I often encounter connection issues where it drops to EDGE which is painfully slow and barely workable on my smartphone.
 
I would love uncapped for my phone and if I reach 100MB in a 24 hour cycle you are welcome to throttle me to 384kbps for the next 24 hours. The packages should be structured that if I pay R99 for this package I will pay R1.99 per minute for voice calls. If I take the R199 package I pay 99c per minute. It should be per second billing.
 
Upgrade towers in places like Stilbaai... While I'm sure Vodacom will stick their heads in the sand and say 'it's only a tiny holiday town', they forget how upset they make the hundreds of business people who are here on holiday and are getting no calls (in or out) plus SMS delayed between two to three hours! Plus of course no data available between 08.00 and 23.00 hours!

If Vodacom really are a World Class network, you need to think about such things!

If not, I'll carry on selling Cell C and MTN SIM cards to these people so they can at least make phone calls and download emails etc.
 
Put the cost per MB on a sliding cost scale and allow subscribers to enforce restriction when bandwidth limit is reached.
 
Vodacom must work on improving 3G stability and coverage. I left Vodacom because their 3G was so unstable in my area. They could also work on introducing 3G coverage to rural area's, those guys are still on EGDE, which is sad.

I would REALLY REALLY REALLY go back to Vodacom if they decided to offer bigger capped products for their LTE network, which will probably be deployed accross the country very soon. They could sell lets say, 50GB of data for R499 per month, 100GB for R899 per month and 150GB per month for R1299 per month. Also they should make it around R30 per GB of data to top up onto an existing LTE plan.

I think Vodacom falls short because of their pricing as well as their network coverage. They must work on making their pricing more competitive and improve their network quality.
 
1. stop ripping people off with OOB rates. Yes people sign a contract and should be aware, but the non tech savy ppl are getting raped over and over. Im sure as a company the money is good, and you dont mind, but your rep is sliding fast.

2. stop advertising data specials as "specials. they not specials. In fact, most of the deals I have seen are more expensive than that from Cell C and MTN. Its mis-leading and blatant lying

3. people dont care about 24 month data contracts. we want pre-paid with OOB=IB. Paying R99 for 1GB in a 24 month contract is all good and well but its pretty retarded for someone to have to pay R249 for 1GB of data to bolt-onto their voice contract.

4. people dont care about a "premium" network that you offer. they want good prices, and as long as speeds are bearable in the metro areas they gonna be happy. People arent gonna pay double for 20ms less to EU. People want "bang for buck"

5. Get Shameel away from the mic. He has said more retarded things in the last 2 months than we can bear. Please.
 
Don't force people to stay with 24 month contracts. Make them want to stay because of superior pricing and network coverage.
 
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